(1) And the Eternal spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them: (2) Speak to the B'nai Yisrael, saying: These are the living things which you may eat from all the beasts that are on the earth.
(44) For I am the Eternal your God; make yourselves holy, and be holy; for I am holy; and do not defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moves upon the earth. (45) For I am the Eternal that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; be holy, for I am holy (46) This is the law of the beast, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that swarms on the earth; (47) to make a division between the tamei and the tahor, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.
(א) כי אני ה' אלהיכם. כשם שאני קדוש שאני ה' אלהיכם, כך והתקדשתם קדשו עצמכם למטה:
For I am the Eternal your God. Just as I am holy, for I am the Eternal your God, so too you must make yourselves holy below.
(א) להבדיל. לא בלבד השונה, אלא שתהא יודע ומכיר ובקי בהן:
(ב) בין הטמא ובין הטהר. צריך לומר בין חמור לפרה והלא כבר מפורשים הם, אלא בין טמאה לך לטהורה לך, בין נשחט חציו של קנה לנשחט רבו:
(ג) ובין החיה הנאכלת. צריך לומר בין צבי לערוד, והלא כבר מפורשים הם, אלא בין שנלדו בה סימני טרפה כשרה, לנלדו בה סימני טרפה פסולה:
1. To make a division. Not only that one should be able to repeat the law, but so that you will know, and recognize and become an expert in them.
2. between the tamei and the tahor. Does it need to say between a donkey and a cow? Are they are not already explicit? Rather between what is tamei to you and tahor for you, whether an animal's throat was cut halfway or a majority.
3. and between the living thing. Does it need to say between a deer and a wild donkey? Are they not already explicit? Rather, between one in which there developed signs of a defect, which would render the animals unfit.
(א) ולא תטמאו בהם ונטמתם בם (מד) כי אני ה' אלהיכם, והתקדשתם. אל תטמאו בהם באופן שתהיו טמאים ומטומטמים בם, וזה יקרה באכילתם. כי אמנם בהיותי אלהיכם חפצתי שתתקדשו ותכינו עצמכם אל הקדושה:
(ב) והייתם קדושים כי קדוש אני כדי שתהיו קדושים ונצחיים בהכירכם את בוראכם והלכתם בדרכיו, וזה חפצתי כדי שתתדמו אלי כי קדוש אני. וכל זה תשיגו כשתתקדשו ותשמרו מאסורי מאכלות, כאמרם ז''ל (יומא סוף פרק אמר להם הממונה) אדם מקדש עצמו מעט, מקדשים אותו הרבה וכו':
1. Do not contaminate yourselves in a manner that will make this contamination really serious, and this would happen by eating them. Seeing that I am your God, I desire that you will make yourselves holy, and prepare yourselves for holiness:
2. So that you will be holy and eternal, and will recognize your Creator, and walk in God's ways, and this I desire so that you will become similar to Me, for I am holy. All of this you will achieve when you make yourselves holy, and observe the practices governing what you may and may not eat. As our sages said: “when a human make themself holy a little, they are made holy many more times than this.” (Yoma 39).
Rabbi Ira Stone, A Responsible Life (pp. 119-120)
Halakhah...is the Jewish way of keeping us awake in our infinite desire for the Infinite Beloved. This involves a thorough review of our behavior, focusing both on desirable actions that we need to foster and harmful actions that we need to avoid.
Halakhah emerges from the contemplation of Torah. It is based on Torah, but it is equally based on avodah (worship) and gemilut hasadim (acts of lovingkindness). These three pillars of the world...always undergird and anchor the halakhah.
- Insofar as halakhah is based on Torah, the shape of the acts it requires is determined by Jewish experience.
- Insofar as halakhah is based on avodah, the shape of its acts is determined by the voice of those who suffer and cry out.
- Insofar as halakhah is based on gemilut hasadim, the shape of its acts is determined by the imperative to respond to another's suffering.
Halakhah, therefore, cannot be subdivided or compartmentalized: it cannot be adequately described by a division into ethics and rituals...It is a whole cloth constantly being woven, un-woven, and re-woven, depending on the circumstances.