02 Nov THE CHAZIR IS NOT KOSHER

The Torah

tells us that a

kosher animal

is one which

has split

hooves and

chews its cud;

pigs have split

hooves, but

because they

do not chew their cud, are not kosher.

The Rabbis of the Medrash tell a parable

of a pig stretching out a leap in order

to display its split hooves, and attempt

to fool everyone into believing that it is

kosher.

Esav, Yaakov’s twin, claimed to follow

the same tradition as Yaakov. When

Yaakov left to Padan Aram to marry a

girl from the family , Esav followed suit

and also married a girl “from the family,”

but did not divorce his non-Jewish

wives. This act of marrying a “girl from

the family” was solely in order appear as

though he was following in the footstep

of Jewish tradition.

The so called “Judeo-Christian”

tradition is merely a facade. Despite the

fact that the two brothers were twins,

and had a lot in common biologically,

they had very little in common in

terms of lifestyle. There is an oftenquoted

medrash which states, “Why is

the pig called a ‘chazir’? Because some

day in the future God will give it back

(“lehachziro”) to the Jewish people.”

The Rishonim ask how this can be.

The Rambam postulates, as one of the

thirteen principles of our faith, that the

laws of the Torah will never change. Can

it be that some day it will be permissible

for us to eat Pork?

Some of the Rishonim explained

that “the return of the pig does not

refer to eating pork, but rather to the

restoration of the Jewish government in

place of the Christian one.” The “pig” is

the faker who makes believe that he is

kosher by showing his split hooves, just

as Christians claim that theirs is a twinreligion

with ours, and just as Esav was

a twin brother of Yaakov.

The prophet Malachi points out in

the haftorah that the fact that they

were twins has nothing other than

biological significance: “I love Yaakov,

while I have rejected Esav, and I disdain

him.” Throughout the generations the

Jewish people have adopted a dual

position vis-a-vis the Christians and

mankind. Namely, the position of

Avraham Avinu (in the beginning

of Chayei Sara): we exist as both

strangers and citizens with respect

to the rest of mankind. Regarding

fighting crime, terror, disease, poverty,

improving the economy, and delving

into the science of nature, we are

equal partners, and all work together.

But, with respect to the purpose of our

lives, and lifestyle – the Jewish people

feel “as strangers”, and share nothing

in common with anyone else. We are

“the nation that lives alone” (parshas

Balak), and will

always remain

so. The Jews live

alone, die alone,

and are buried

alone. When Ruth

converted and

joined the Jewish

people, she said to

her mother-in-law

Naomi, “Where

you go I will go;

where you stay, I

will stay; the way

you will die, I will die; and there too

will I be buried.”

After living for many years in peace

and harmony in Eretz Canaan, after the

passing of Sara, Avraham Avinu insists

on buying her a separate burial plot. The

Jew lives differently, dies differently, and

is even buried differently to emphasize

this point. We share biological

similarities with others, and work

together with others on many different

projects for the purpose of improving

man’s position here; but we do not share

their weltanschauung. “Asher bochar

banu mikol haamim.”