Why Keep Kosher?

(30) You shall be holy people to Me: you must not eat flesh torn by beasts in the field; you shall cast it to the dogs.

(1) לא תאכל כל תועבה; Before the Torah was given the difference between impure and pure animals was known as is clear from Noach (who differentiated between them in the Ark). Nevertheless it was not prohibited for non-Jews to eat non-kosher animals. But you [the Jewish people], since you are holy, it is not fitting for you to be sustained by these forbidden things.

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(54) Their details are numerous, all being familiar laws which are explained in the books of halachic rulings. One who is lenient in them when the sages ruled that one must be stringent is only destroying his soul as the sages said in the Sifra (parsha Shmini): " 'do not defile yourselves, becoming Tamei (spiritual contaminated) with them' (Vayikra 11:43) if you defile yourself in them you will in the end become Tamei in them".

(55) This is because the forbidden foods bring in Tuma (spiritual contamination) in a person's heart and soul so that the holiness of G-d, blessed be He, departs and withdraws from him. This is also what they stated (Yoma 39a): " 'becoming defiled with them' (Vayikra 11:43) - read not ve-nitmetem [that you will be defiled], but ve-nitamtem [that you will become dull-hearted]".

(56) For sin dulls a man's heart, causing to depart from him true knowledge and the spirit of wisdom which the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows to the pious, as written "for G-d grants wisdom" (Mishlei 2:6). Thus he is left animal-like and material, sunk in the coarseness of this world.

(57) The forbidden foods are worse in this regard than all other sins since they literally enter a person's body and become flesh of his flesh. And in order to teach us that it is not only the unkosher animals and creatures that contain this Tuma (spiritual contamination) but rather even the disqualified Kosher animals themselves (Treifot) also. Scripture says: "to distinguish between the impure (Tamei) and the pure (Tahor)" (Vayikra 11:47), and the explanation received by our Rabbis of blessed memory:

(58) "It is not necessary to teach us about the distinction between a donkey and a cow. Why then does scripture state: 'between the impure and the pure'? [Answer:] Rather it is referring to between impure to you and pure to you, namely, between a kosher animal whose majority of the windpipe was cut to one where only half of its windpipe was cut. And how much difference is there between a majority and a half? - one hair's breadth" (Sifra Shemini ch.12).

(59) The reason they concluded their teaching with the words "and how much difference between a majority, etc." is in order to demonstrate how wondrous is the power of the Mitzva whereby a mere hair's breadth separates between Tuma (impure) and Tahara (pure).

(60) Behold, any person with a brain in his head will consider forbidden food as poison or like food which has been mixed with poison. For behold if such a case would present itself would he be lenient on himself and eat from such food?

(61) If there were reason to suspect, even the slightest one, would he be lenient? Certainly he would not. And if he were lenient, people would consider him to be a complete fool!

(62) The prohibition in the food, as we explained, is literally a poison to the heart and soul. If so, then who among the sensible will be lenient in a situation where there is suspicion of prohibition in the food? On this it is written "and put a knife into your mouth if you are a sensible person" (Mishlei 23:2).

(1) Not to eat a torn animal: Not to eat from a torn animal, as it is stated (Exodus 22:30), “and meat in the field of a torn animal, you shall not eat.” And the obvious understanding of this verse is to warn us about an animal that a wolf or a lion tore in the field, and that it is torn in a way that it is inclined to die from this tearing. As certainly, its understanding does not include that if [the wolf or lion] touched the tip of its ear or tore from its wool, that it be called a torn animal for this. Rather, its correct understanding - and the tradition supports this - is that it was torn enough that it will die in the hour, or soon, because of that tearing. And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Chullin 57b) that this time is [up to] a year. And it should also be understood by all those that understand, that the Torah is not exacting that the tearing be by a wolf or a lion or a bear, but rather any animal that inflicts a wound which brings [another animal] to die is forbidden regardless. And those are the wounds that the sages enumerated that kill, and it is as is it comes in the Mishnah (Chullin 42a), "This is the general rule: anything that nothing like it stays alive is a torn animal." And that which the verse stated, "in the field," is not specific, but rather it is the way of Scripture to always state what is common, and it is the way of animals to get torn in the field. And so is it [found] in the Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 23:30), "The Torah stated what is common." And it was also needed to write, "in the field," in order to teach many other things. As the words of the Torah are expounded in different ways - outside, they wear clothing of majesty, pure linen and silk and embroidery, and inside, there is gold and many pearls. And the clothing of this verse that is revealed and more obvious at the beginning of its study is to teach only about the torn animal, as we have written; and [also] about meat from a living animal, which is included in the [concept of] meat of a torn animal. And that which is inside is this - that it teaches about any meat that went out of its boundary, that it is forbidden and becomes like a torn animal - for example consecrated meats that went outside [the Temple] courtyard, and lightly consecrated meats that went outside of [Jerusalem's] wall, and the meat of a Pesach sacrifice that went outside of its assemblage and so [too,] a limb that went out from its mother's womb. And the understanding of the Scripture comes like this, as if it stated, "and meat in the 'field' is 'torn,'" meaning to say, meat that went out of its boundary - as that is [the meaning of] the expression, 'field'; that it has no boundaries - is a 'torn' animal. And the law of all of these that we mentioned is like a torn animal, and one who ate a kazayit from them is lashed.