In Parshas Mishpatim we are introduced to myriad laws that govern social order. Following Parshas Yisro, and the Revelation at Sinai, Mishpatim outlines many laws that dictate the daily life of a Jew. The Torah delineates mitzvos regarding ownership of oneโs slaves, injuries and damages, respect for parents, care for the downtrodden and the convert in society, an ox that gores (a first time goring ox vs. a habitual goring ox), the prohibition to stay away from words of falsehood, the imperative to judge fairly, Shabbos as a day of rest for oneโs animals and servants, the Shalosh Regalim, not to charge interest, not to accept a slanderous report, not to accept bribery, and the first fruits, amongst many other mitzvos.
One of the prohibitions in the parsha is: ืึฐืึทื ึฐืฉึตืื-ืงึนืึถืฉื, ืชึดึผืึฐืืึผื ืึดื; ืึผืึธืฉึธืืจ ืึทึผืฉึธึผืืึถื ืึฐืจึตืคึธื ืึนื ืชึนืืึตืืึผ, ืึทืึถึผืึถื ืชึทึผืฉึฐืืึดืืึผื ืึนืชืึน - and men of holiness you shall be to Me, and torn meat in the field you shall not eat, to the dog you shall throw it (Shemos 22:30). If a kosher animal was torn in the field by a wolf (or other predatory animal), and thus, it was not slaughtered according to halacha, the meat becomes prohibited to us, irrespective of the fact that the animal itself was kosher. What we eat is dictated by the Torah, and as this pasuk reminds us - what and how (as well as where, when, with whom) we eat, reminds us that ืึทื ึฐืฉึตืื-ืงึนืึถืฉื, ืชึดึผืึฐืืึผื ืึดื, we must be men of holiness unto G-d.
Another mitzvah, also related to the consumption of foodstuffs, is ืึนึฝืึพืชึฐืึทืฉืึผึตึฅื ืึผึฐืึดึื ืึผึทืึฒืึตึฅื ืึดืึผึฝืึน, you shall not cook a kid/lamb in its motherโs milk (Shemos 23:19). The Sages explain that this prohibition is written multiple times in the Torah to prohibit us against different prohibitions: ืึผืึฐื' ืึฐืงืึนืืึนืช ื ึดืึฐืชึผึทื ืึผึทืชึผืึนืจึธื, ืึถืึธื ืึฐืึดืกึผืึผืจ ืึฒืึดืืึธื, ืึฐืึถืึธื ืึฐืึดืกึผืึผืจ ืึฒื ึธืึธื, ืึฐืึถืึธื ืึฐืึดืกึผืึผืจ ืึผึดืฉืึผืึผื - it is written three times in the Torah. One time to prohibit eating milk and meat, one to prohibit benefit/enjoyment from milk and meat, and one time to prohibit cooking milk and meat (Rashi, ibid.).
These mitzvos are the foundations of our lives as Torah observant Jews - kosher shechita and not mixing basar bโchalav, as well as the list of permitted and prohibited animals that we may or may not consume (see Vayikra 11 and Devarim 14). The laws of kashrus govern our food choices; including our grocery shopping, cooking, serving, consuming, enjoying and partaking of food.
It is now widely known that Agam Berger, freed from captivity on January 30, was as meticulous as possible in regard to her observance during her 482 days in captivity. Her bravery, courage, defiance, religious commitment, strength and hope have been widely reported in many news outlets and social media posts, in the days since her release.
From hostages released in the November 2023 exchange, the Berger family was already then informed that Agam was observing Shabbat in captivity. The terrorists forced the young women they held captive to cook for them. Agam cooked for the terrorists the rest of the week, but on Shabbat, she refused to light a fire. The terrorists threatened her, but she held firm. After Agamโs return, more information came out about her Jewish observance in captivity. Agam made a special effort to keep kosher. She refused to eat meat given to the hostages, even though food was sparse in captivity.
In captivity, Agam prayed a lot. She wished she had a siddur, a traditional prayer book, but it was not something easily found in Gaza. Agam even asked one of the terrorists who held her if they had a siddur. The terrorist laughed at her. Undeterred, Agam prayed in her own words, asking God to send her a siddur. Two days later, that same terrorist brought Agam a siddur. โYour God loves you,โ he told her. โWe found this in Khan Yunis.โ The siddur had likely been left behind by an IDF soldier (https://aish.com/courage-in-captivity-agam-bergers-faith-in-gaza/).
In regard to the prohibition not to mix milk and meat, Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch writes, โPrecisely at such a time [of eating], we are in need of an admonition to remain conscious of our higher calling as members of the human species: Even while we are engaged in the permitted, and at times even prescribed, assimilation of animal matter into our bodies, we are to elevate this animal matter to the heights of the destiny of the human body; we are not to permit the human body to sink to the instinct-bound level of animals, even though we regenerate our bodies by dint of the animal world.
โThis prohibition - issur basar bโchalav (the mixing of milk and meat) - speaks directly to man, in a clear voice of reproof: Keep the Torahโs sanctity, remembering that the rule of G-dโs Torah does not begin on the level of the Jew, but, rather, is everywhere present in every fiber of organic life. In essence, the Torah, our Law, is nothing but the precise specification of the universal law of โeach according to its kindโ for the way of life of the Jewish-human species. This is how we understand the interweaving of this law of the separation of the species into every sphere of our home consumption. None of the other dietary laws so dominates the Jewish kitchen and the Jewish table as does the separation of milk and meat; and more than all the other dietary laws, this separation is meant to be G-dโs messenger, to make us ever aware of G-dโs Torah, of our human duty as Jews, and of our human dignity as Jewsโ (The Hirsch Chumash, Shemos, p.515, commentary to Shemos 23:19).
In his Holocaust memoirs, entitled โIn Seven Camps in Three Years,โ my maternal grandfather, Yitzchak Kaftan, Yitzchak ben Moshe aโh, from the town of Krasnik, Poland, writes (originally in Yiddish), โThe first Pesach in Budzin we arranged a kitchen which cooked holiday soup. Whoever so wished, did not have to eat chometz during Pesach. Yom Kippur, when we came from a hard dayโs work, we quickly went in to the barracks so that Neilah could still be davened with a minyanโฆ all of us together vigorously pleaded for help.โ
The laws of kashrus elevate us to levels of holiness, for we are a nation that lives - and eats - by the word and command of G-d. For us, โkeeping kosherโ requires nowhere near the mesiras nefesh of my grandfather aโh, or Agam Berger shetichyeh. Let us give thanks to Hashem ืฉืืืืืื ื ืื ืืชืืขืื ืื ืชื ืื ื ืชืืจืช ืืืช ืืืื ืขืืื ื ืืข ืืชืืื ื, as we proudly embrace, adhere to, and live by, the precepts of Torah in our kitchens, at our tables, and in every aspect of our daily lives.
ืืืจืืช ืืฉืืจืืช ืืืืืช ืืฉืืช ืฉืืื
0 comments Leave a Comment