08 Aug RE’EH: HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE ALIVE? HOW TO BECOME A KOSHER HUMAN BEING: DO YOU HAVE STANDARDS? DO YOU CHALLENGE YOURSELF?

David Goldberg
bumps into
somebody in the
street who looks
like his old friend
Jack.

“Jack,” he says. “You’ve put on weight
and your hair has turned gray. You seem
a few inches shorter than I recall and
your cheeks are puffy. Plus, you’re
walking differently and even sound
different. Jack, what’s happened to
you?”
“I’m not Jack,” the other gentleman tells
him. “My name is Sam!”
“Wow! You even changed your name,”
David says.
Two Signs
Land animals that are permitted, or
kosher, for Jews to consume are
identified in this week’s parsha by two
distinct characteristics.
Firstly, the animal must bring up its cud

and chew it. This means that after
swallowing its food, the animal must
regurgitate it from the first stomach to
the mouth to be chewed again. This
regurgitated food is called “cud.”
Second, the animal must have completely
cloven hooves.
For example, the cow, goat, sheep, and
gazelle possess both these characteristics
and are thus kosher. The donkey and the
horse, on the other hand, which lack both

of these features, are defined as non-
kosher animals. The pig, which has split

hooves but does not chew its cud, and
the camel, which chews its cud but has
no split hooves, are non-kosher animals.
Why do these particular characteristics
cause an animal to become kosher?
The Power of Food
Judaism teaches that the physical
attributes of an animal reflect the distinct
psychological and spiritual qualities of
its soul.

Another point expounded by
Judaism is that the food a person
consumes has a profound effect
on one’s psyche. When a
person eats the flesh of a
particular animal, the
“personality” of this
animal affects, to some degree,
the identity of the human
consumer.
The split hooves and the chewing
of the cud represent two qualities
of the soul of these animals that are
crucially necessary for the healthy
development of the human character.
When the Jew consumes the substance
of these animals, he becomes a more
“kosher” and refined human being.
Moral Self-Discipline
Cloven hooves — the division existing in
the coverings on an animal’s feet — are
symbolic of the notion that one’s
movement in life (reflected by the
moving legs) is governed by a division
between “right” and “left,”
between right and wrong, between
the permissible and the prohibited. A
split hoof represents the human
capacity to accept that there are
things to be embraced and things to
be rebuffed.
This process of moral self-discipline
is the hallmark of living a wholesome
life, physically, psychologically, and
spiritually. A violin can produce its
exquisite music only when its cords
are tied, not when they are loose and
“free.” Similarly, a human being who
allows himself to do whatever he
wants, whenever he wants, wherever
he wants and with whomever he
wants, robs himself of the opportunity
to experience the inner music of his
soul.
And when we have no clear
differentiation between right and
wrong, in a short time we tend to lose
the very foundation of civil life.
Nothing is a given, nothing is
important, nothing is sacred, because
nothing is even real. We end up in an
endless wasteland, trying to numb
our pain and anxiety through every
possible distraction. The very core of
the “I” gets lost in world where

nothing matters besides the fact that
nothing matters. Semantics, rather than
conviction, becomes the stuff our soul is
carved of.
Rabbi Adin Even Yisroel-Shteinsaltz
(1937-2020), one of the luminaries of
our generation, once shared a story about
a philosophy professor in Israel who
asked one of his students to make a
presentation. The student began by
saying, “I speculate that …” The
professor interrupted him: “Please,
before you continue, define the meaning
of the word ‘I.” The student attempted
thrice to define the word “I,” but the
teacher refuted every definition. The
student gave up and sat down.
The professor stood up and said: “How
many times did I instruct you guys not to
use terms which you cannot define?!”
Challenge Yourself
The second quality that characterizes a
“kosher” human being is that he or she
always chews their cud.
Even after a person “swallows” and
integrates into his life certain values,
attitudes, and behaviors, he must never
become totally self-assured and smug
about them. The spiritual human being
needs to continually regurgitate his ideas
to be chewed and reflected upon again.
Man must never allow himself to become
fully content in his own orbit.
Contentment breeds smugness;
smugness breeds boredom, arrogance,
and judgementalism. A person ought
always – till his last breath – challenge
himself, examine his behavior, and refine
his character.
Or as Rabbi Adin Even Yisroel–
Shteinsaltz once said: How do you know
if you are alive or dead? If something
hurts you, it means you are alive.