And HASHEM spoke to Moshe and to Aaron, to say to them: Speak to the children of Israel, saying: These are the creatures that you may eat among all the animals on earth: Any animal that has a cloven hoof that is completely split into double hooves, and which brings up its cud that one you may eat. But these you shall not eat among those that bring up the cud and those that have a cloven hoof: the camel, because it brings up its cud, but does not have a [completely] cloven hoof; it is unclean for you. And the hyrax, because it brings up its cud, but will not have a [completely] cloven hoof; it is unclean for you; And the hare, because it brings up its cud, but does not have a [completely] cloven hoof; it is unclean for you; And the pig, because it has a cloven hoof that is completely split, but will not regurgitate its cud; it is unclean for you. (Vayikra 12:1-7)
Here we have a technical outline for determining animals Kosher and not. There may just be a deeper metaphorical message embedded here to help us figure our way through the map of history and life knowing with clarity what’s Kosher and not.
It’s not my idea. The Midrash asks, “Why is it [i.e. Edom or Rome] compared to a swine? To tell you this: Just as the swine, when reclining, puts forth its hooves as if to say, ‘See that I am clean,’ so too does the empire of Edom [Rome] boast as it commits violence and robbery, under the guise of establishing a judicial tribunal.
A prime example of Essav’s wicked practice is openly on display when at the very end of Toldos Essav takes a daughter of Yishmael. Supposedly a daughter of Yishamel, a relative and a granddaughter of Avraham would be a more Kosher match than the local ladies he had chosen earlier. After realizing his parents’ distress he made a better choice. Rashi keenly observes the superficial and mere symbolic nature of his response, “He compounds wickedness with wickedness, because he never divorced the first wives!” If he wanted to really do the right thing he would have cut his ties with the ones that were the source of pain. Instead he just jutted out his two front hooves as if to say, “Look now I’m Kosher!”
While Edom- the Roman Empire is metaphorically matched with the pig, the descendants of Yishmael are associated with the camel. They have internal worth but their externality, outward behavior is reprehensible. Now we can revisit this wedding of convenience between these two non-Kosher empires that join forces in the end. Please study this brief but brutally honest and stunning essay and consider what is becoming of the European landscape and why!? It is entitled ALL EUROPEAN LIFE DIED IN AUSCHWITZ By Sebastian Vilar Rodrigez. It was written under a pseudonym in Spain in January of 2008.
I walked down the street in Barcelona and suddenly discovered a terrible truth – Europe died in Auschwitz … We killed six million Jews and replaced them with 20 million Muslims. In Auschwitz we burned a culture, thought, creativity, and talent. We destroyed the chosen people, truly chosen, because they produced great and wonderful people who changed the world…The contribution of this people is felt in all areas of life: science, art, international trade, and above all, as the conscience of the world. These are the people we burned.And under the pretense of tolerance, and because we wanted to prove to ourselves that we were cured of the disease of racism, we opened our gates to 20 million Muslims, who brought us stupidity and ignorance, religious extremism and lack of tolerance, crime and poverty, due to an unwillingness to work and support their families with pride.
They have blown up our trains and turned our beautiful Spanish cities into the third world, drowning in filth and crime. Shut up in the apartments they receive free from the government, they plan the murder and destruction of their naive hosts. And thus, in our misery, we have exchanged culture for fanatical hatred, creative skill for destructive skill, intelligence for backwardness and superstition. We have exchanged the pursuit of peace of the Jews of Europe and their talent for a better future for their children, their determined clinging to life because life is holy, for those who pursue death, for people consumed by the desire for death for themselves and others, for our children and theirs.What a terrible mistake was made by miserable Europe …
What a terrible mistake! DvarTorah, Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Label Lam and Torah.org.