This sheet on Leviticus 11 was written by Jordan Shaner for 929 and can also be found here
From the time we are able to speak in sentences, we ask the same question over and over again about everything: Why?
Why is the sky blue? Why do we go to sleep at night? Why do some people have everything they want and others can't even get what they need?
This question has been asked many times throughout history about Judaism's food laws. Why does the Torah teach us not to eat pork, shellfish, insects, or certain kinds of birds?
The answers that scholars offer tend to focus on health, or history, or ethical behavior as reasons to keep or reject the commandments laid out in Leviticus. Famously, the Sefer HaHinuch (13th century, Spain) which systematically explains the 613 commandments of the Torah, teaches that the prohibition of certain foods is meant to provide for our physical health. Other voices in Jewish thought have pointed to other rationales behind these rules for Jewish eating, seeking to defend their practice by grounding them in a logical explanation. Later, in the modern period, Jewish reformers like David Einhorn and Kaufmann Kohler sought to rationalize these laws in order to reject them. What both the defenders and the rejecters had in common, however, was focusing on whether or not the laws of kashrut benefit us. This kind of rationalizing gives us a sense of control. We can point to the explanation and say, it makes sense, we'll keep it; or else: it is no longer relevant, so don't.
But what these explanations ignore is that the Torah provides us with a reason to keep kashrut: for the sake of kedusha, for holiness. At the end of a long list of dietary laws in this chapter, we read (Leviticus 11:44): “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Holiness is a slippery concept, but in the Torah it often means set apart, or other. Otherness requires boundaries, some of which may seem arbitrary, but without which, there can be no distinction. The Sabbath is holy, because it is set apart from other days of the week. The Temple was holy, because it was set apart from other places. God is Holy, because God is set apart from the world, entirely Other. We are meant to experience holiness— not for our own sake, but because God is Other.
No matter what our religious background, the practice of kashrut has something to teach us about the limits of reason. Sometimes explanations fall short. Sometimes, boundaries seem arbitrary. Sometimes, we can’t answer why something is, because it’s not all about us.
Why is the sky blue? Why do we go to sleep at night? Why do some people have everything they want and others can't even get what they need?
This question has been asked many times throughout history about Judaism's food laws. Why does the Torah teach us not to eat pork, shellfish, insects, or certain kinds of birds?
The answers that scholars offer tend to focus on health, or history, or ethical behavior as reasons to keep or reject the commandments laid out in Leviticus. Famously, the Sefer HaHinuch (13th century, Spain) which systematically explains the 613 commandments of the Torah, teaches that the prohibition of certain foods is meant to provide for our physical health. Other voices in Jewish thought have pointed to other rationales behind these rules for Jewish eating, seeking to defend their practice by grounding them in a logical explanation. Later, in the modern period, Jewish reformers like David Einhorn and Kaufmann Kohler sought to rationalize these laws in order to reject them. What both the defenders and the rejecters had in common, however, was focusing on whether or not the laws of kashrut benefit us. This kind of rationalizing gives us a sense of control. We can point to the explanation and say, it makes sense, we'll keep it; or else: it is no longer relevant, so don't.
But what these explanations ignore is that the Torah provides us with a reason to keep kashrut: for the sake of kedusha, for holiness. At the end of a long list of dietary laws in this chapter, we read (Leviticus 11:44): “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Holiness is a slippery concept, but in the Torah it often means set apart, or other. Otherness requires boundaries, some of which may seem arbitrary, but without which, there can be no distinction. The Sabbath is holy, because it is set apart from other days of the week. The Temple was holy, because it was set apart from other places. God is Holy, because God is set apart from the world, entirely Other. We are meant to experience holiness— not for our own sake, but because God is Other.
No matter what our religious background, the practice of kashrut has something to teach us about the limits of reason. Sometimes explanations fall short. Sometimes, boundaries seem arbitrary. Sometimes, we can’t answer why something is, because it’s not all about us.
(מד) כִּ֣י אֲנִ֣י יְהֹוָה֮ אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒ וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם֙ וִהְיִיתֶ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אָ֑נִי וְלֹ֤א תְטַמְּאוּ֙ אֶת־נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכׇל־הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ הָרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
(44) For I the LORD am your God: you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean through any swarming thing that moves upon the earth.
Jordan Shaner is a rabbinical student in his final year of studies at the Hebrew Union College--Jewish Institute of Religion in Manhattan, New York.
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