Parsha Perspectives
by Ozer Alport

(ואהבת לרעך כמוך אני ד' (19:18

“You shall love your fellow as yourself – I am Hashem.”

The Torah commands us to love other Jews as we love ourselves. In his commentary on this verse, Rashi quotes Rabbi Akiva, who states that this is the fundamental rule of the Torah. However, this commandment seems difficult to reconcile with another concept.

In seeking out a prospective spouse whom one will love more than any other person, American culture teaches us that it is easiest to love a person who is similar to us in our backgrounds, values, and interests. If so, how can the Torah command us to love every single Jew when so many of them are so different from us in so many ways?

A young man who grew up as a non-practicing Jew had a tattoo on his chest, something forbidden by the Torah (19:28). When he was older and became more observant, he decided one Friday to immerse in a mikvah in honor of Shabbat (a custom observed by some men) but he was mortified at the prospect that somebody might see his prominent tattoo.

He crossed his arms over his chest to cover his tattoo and approached the mikvah. Due to his anxiety, he didn’t watch where he was walking and slipped on a puddle. His instincts took over, and he threw out his arms to brace himself. Although he was uninjured by the fall, he suddenly recognized that all eyes had turned to him to see if he was okay.

Realizing that his tattoo was now bare for all to see, he was paralyzed by intense feelings of humiliation. Not knowing what to do next, he was startled by an elderly Chasidic Jew who approached him and stuck out his hand. Thinking that the man was simply offering to help him get up, he was left speechless when the man, a Holocaust survivor, showed him the numbers tattooed on his arm and remarked, “You and I may appear to be very different, but at the core, we have so much more in common .”

The Apter Rav (1748-1825), Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel, was once teaching a class about love of one’s fellow Jew between the afternoon and evening prayers. Extending Rabbi Akiva’s statement, the Rabbi provokingly stated that this is such an important mitzvah that it is alluded to in every word of the Torah.

One of the listeners was skeptical questioned this claim. That week was Parshas Balak. The cynic challenged the Rabbi to find an allusion to this commandment in the word Balak, who was hardly a lover of Jews. The Rabbi replied, “That’s simple. The letters in the word Balak (ב ל ק- Beis or Veis, Lamed, Kuf)) are the first letters in the words ואהבת לרעך כמוך.(V’ahavta l’reyacha kamocha)”

Suppressing laughter, the skeptic responded that although the letters may make the same sounds, the in Balak isn’t the same as the ו in ואהבת and the ק in Balak is different than the כ in כמוך. The Rabbi rejoined, “That’s precisely the point that is hinted to. If you’re always focusing on the small differences instead of the larger similarities, you’ll never be able to fulfill this mitzvah!”

Although the point was made by the Rabbi in a tongue-in-cheek manner, the underlying idea couldn’t be truer. Several commentators suggest that Hashem answered our original question by following this commandment with the words, “I am Hashem.” For all of the differences we may find in another Jew, none of them outweigh the overwhelming similarity that we are all members of Hashem’s people. Wise is the person who realizes that although our tattoos may look different, our souls are united as one and every Jew is deserving of our love.

Please pray for a Refuah Shleimah for Abram ben Yenta

talking points - parshas Kedoshim
Rabbi Elazar Meisels

1. Isolation vs. Integration

“Hashem spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy for holy am I, Hashem, your G-d.’” 19:1,2

• Speak to the entire assembly…You Shall Be Holy – [This] teaches that this Parshah was said during a mass assembly, since most essentials of the Torah are dependent on it. - Rashi

How does one achieve holiness? The Chasam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer, 1762-1838) writes that the message of this verse is that holiness can be achieved only through integrating oneself with the public, and not through seclusion on a mountaintop. Many of the mitzvot articulated in this Parshah relate to how one interacts with his fellow. This skill is just as integral to one’s spiritual growth, as the mitzvot that pertain to man and his Creator.

2. What Could Possibly Be Wrong?

“You shall distinguish between the clean animal and the unclean, between the clean bird and the unclean; and you shall not render your souls abominable through such animals and birds…” 20:25

• You Shall Distinguish – There is no need to exhort us to differentiate between a cow and a donkey, because they’re inherently dissimilar and easily identified. Rather, the Torah asks us to carefully examine an animal that was ritually slaughtered to determine whether the cut was sufficiently or insufficiently deep. An insufficiently deep cut renders even a kosher animal non-kosher. – Rashi
• You Shall Distinguish – The verse obligates us to actively determine whether an animal possesses the requisite characteristics of a kosher animal [i.e. chews its cud, split hooves] and not just to assume that it does. – Sefer HaChinuch (The Book of 613 Mitzvot)

There are two prevalent attitudes regarding the mitzvah of kosher. Some are of the opinion that so long as an item is not explicitly non-kosher, we may assume that it is acceptable. Others maintain that unless the kosher status of an item is verified, it may not be eaten. According to the Sefer HaChinuch, this verse teaches that the Torah sides with the latter view, that there is a special mitzvah to determine that that which enters our mouths is kosher, and not to rely on mere assumptions. The outdated practice of scanning the ingredient list for non-kosher ingredients is unacceptable in the eyes of the Torah. Knowledge of the kosher status of an item must be pro-actively acquired, not inactively assumed.

3. Because He Said So

“You shall be holy for Me, for I Hashem am holy; and I have separated you from the nations to be Mine.” 20:26

• And I Have Separated You…To Be Mine – If you keep yourselves apart from the nations and their ways, you will be Mine. Otherwise you will belong to Nevuchadnezzar and his followers [i.e. the nations will subjugate and persecute you]. Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya taught, “Do not say, ‘I abhor pig meat!’ Rather you should say, ‘I may actually enjoy pig meat, but what can I do – Hashem forbade it, and commanded me to separate myself from the nations in order to serve Him and to accept His sovereignty upon myself.’” – Rashi
• One who internalizes the above attitude and refrains from engaging in a forbidden act purely out of a desire to serve the Almighty, has not only avoided transgressing a prohibition, but has actually performed a mitzvah! – Torah Temimah (Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein, 1860-1941)

There is no question that our differences notwithstanding, we are obligated to treat every person with respect and dignity. Nevertheless, we are commanded to live life on a different standard; one in which the sole determinant of right and wrong is the will of Hashem, not personal proclivities. Maintaining this lofty standard is a difficult but rewarding task, made possible only by molding our lifestyles in a manner that easily accommodates the Torah’s standards. These standards diverge greatly from those of the nations of the world, and our only hope for success, is to respectfully, but proudly, maintain our differences. In this manner, we will earn the respect and admiration of the nations of the world, rather than their enmity.

An Egg-cellent Question

Dear Rabbi,
I wrote to you some time ago with questions on keeping kosher and you graciously responded with detailed answers. So far it’s going great in my new kosher kitchen and I’m hoping you won’t mind if I ask about something else that I only recently became aware of. I thought that eggs did not require kosher certification, but I just read that we should check the eggs for blood spots and I’m not sure what that’s all about or how to actually do it. Can you please explain?
Thanks so much,
Sharon

Sharon,
I’m so glad that you wrote to me because your question is a very important one and deserves a proper response. Nor is it an imposition on my time whatsoever; it’s what I enjoy doing most! I consider it a great honor to be able to assist you in your quest to observe the mitzvah of kashrut, and I invite you to write again whenever the need arises. The obligation to check eggs for blood spots is often misunderstood and it’s important to understand why we do so and when it’s unnecessary.

Although the Torah explicitly forbids the consumption of blood, that is not the reason that we check raw eggs for blood spots before adding them to a recipe. Rather, the issue is that blood in the egg indicates that an embryo has begun to form, and we are prohibited to eat embryos. This possibility forces us to conclude that where blood is found, both the blood spot and the egg must be discarded.

In practice, however, only a small minority of eggs that reach the market contain blood spots, and since we follow the majority, there really isn’t a definite obligation to check each egg prior to consumption. However, Rem”a [Rav Moshe Isserles Y.D. 66:8] rules that it is a widespread custom to do so whenever possible, and this is the accepted practice. Of course, where this isn’t possible, such as a hard-boiled egg, one may rely on the fact that the majority of eggs do not contain blood spots and enjoy them without checking for blood spots beforehand.

Nowadays, the need to check for blood spots is even less clear, since most eggs come from egg farms where the hens are entirely isolated from the roosters and there is no possibility of their being fertilized. Based on this fact, some very prominent halachic authorities took a lenient approach to the consumption of such eggs. All one must do where blood is found, is to discard the blood, and the rest of the egg may be eaten. Nevertheless, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l, a leading authority on Jewish law, ruled that we must still be wary of such occurrences since not all eggs are unfertilized, and an egg is an inexpensive item whose disposal would not cause a great loss. Therefore, he ruled that we must adhere to the custom to check eggs even in light of the new reality. In any case, a pot in which such an egg was cooked retains its kosher status, since we assume that the blood is not an indication of f ertilization.

What further complicates this issue is the growing trend in some circles to purchase eggs only from free-range hen farms. These eggs are assumed to be fertilized if found with a blood spot, and their growing popularity supports Rabbi Feinstein’s position that we must continue to check eggs for blood spots wherever possible.

Egg powder and commercially processed eggs are considered acceptable since we assume that the eggs used are unfertilized, and the miniscule number of them that contain a blood-spot represent an insignificant minority that may be disregarded. To summarize, it is a long-standing custom to check all eggs for blood before using them, and this is still the accepted practice today among Jews worldwide.

Regards,
Rabbi Elazar Meisels

Hey, I never knew that! By Ozer Alport

Amazing Insights About the Weekly Parsha   

Q: How was Jacob permitted to marry Rachel and Leah, two sisters, when the Torah forbids a man to marry two sisters?

A: Nachmanides maintains that the Patriarchs only kept the mitzvot inside the land of Israel, whereas Jacob married Rachel and Leah outside of Israel. The Paneiach Raza answers that Rachel and Leah were only paternal sisters, and before the Torah was given, relationships were determined through the mother’s side. Alternatively, he suggests that Rachel and Leah were considered converts to Judaism, and the Talmud rules that a person who converts is considered as if he was newly-born and is no longer legally related to his blood relatives. As a result, Rachel and Leah weren’t viewed as sisters. Others explain that the Patriarchs only observed the mitzvot as a stricture not required by the law. Because Jacob promised to marry Rachel and he wanted to keep his wo rd, he felt that voluntarily observing the Torah’s prohibition against marrying two sisters wasn’t as important in this case as it was to avoid hurting Rachel’s feelings. This reason obviously applied only to the Patriarchs, who lived before the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Now that the Torah has been given and we are obligated to observe its commandments, such considerations could no longer be made.

SHIDDUCHIM for RUSSIAN BAALEY TESHUVAH Worldwide in Russian

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