Parsha Paragraphs
Rabbi Naftali Kassorla
Rabbi Naftali Kassorla
Parshat Noach 5779
Bleeding Hearts
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ר׳ אלחנן יעקב ז״ל בן מורי וחמי ר׳ שמואל פנחס
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In this week's parsha, we are introduced to Noach, a righteous man in his generation, a man chosen by G-d to save humanity from destruction.
In this week's parsha, we are introduced to Noach, a righteous man in his generation, a man chosen by G-d to save humanity from destruction.
The verse in Bereishit (1:29) says: “Behold I have given to you all seed-bearing plant that is upon the surface of the entire earth,” explains that originally man was only allowed to eat from the vegetation of the earth, but from the flesh of the animals, man was not permitted to eat. Only later, after the flood was Noach and his offspring granted permission to eat meat (Noach 9:3, Sanhedrin 59b).
The Ohr HaChaim gives us a reason as to why Noach was permitted to eat the animals in spite of a millennia prohibiting their consumption:
שבאמצעותו מצא ה׳ לקיים המין וזולתו לא היה מקיים מין הרמש בלא אדם ובזה זכה הוא בהם. שהוא טרח בהם ויגע בהם
It was because of him [Noach and his family] and for his needs that G-d had spared the animals; were it not for man they would not have been spared, and because he toiled over them and attended to their needs in the ark.
The Ohr HaChaim says that permission was granted to Noach and his children: 1) Specifically because he was the reason for humanity’s continuation and 2) for the care and toil he gave to the species in the Ark.
At first glance, the connection between the saving of the animals and the permission to slaughter them seems tenuous. How is it logical to say that since Noach and his family saved the animals from their death and extinctions, that their death would be allowed to come from Noach’s hand? Wouldn't it follow, and be more fitting to say, that since Noach saved them from death he would not and could not be the one to cause their death?
In fact, we find a precedent for this kind of sensitivity elsewhere in the Torah. The first plague that G-d decreed upon Egypt was the transformation of the Nile River into blood. As opposed to many others, this plague came not through the hands of Moshe, but rather by his brother Aharon. As Rashi explains, “since he [Moshe] was saved through the Nile it would have been wrong for him to be the instrument to inflict a plague upon it.”
Here we see that the relationship between Moshe and the Water made it inappropriate for him to strike it. So too, one could argue that Noach had previously formed a bond and a “relationship” so-to-speak with the animals. The hand that saved them could not be the very instrument in their death.
However, upon deeper reflection, we realize that truly the only ones to whom permission to slaughter the animals could be granted were Noach and his children. Precisely because they displayed such sensitivity to the pain of the animals, they were the most appropriate candidates for such a right. Noach and his family would serve as examples for the coming generations as to how we should relate to G-d’s creations.
Only Noach and his children, who toiled for forty days and forty nights with great care in serving and feeding the animals, could be the first ones allowed to eat from their flesh. Only those so perfectly and sensitively attuned to the needs of the animals could be the ones to kill them.
When eating from an animal it is of utmost importance to remember that we are consuming a living and breathing entity. We cannot lose our humanity through that process. It requires us to re-double our sensitivities to all of G-d’s creations.
This level of sensitivity to animals is echoed by Rav Shamshon Rephael Hirsch:
There are probably no creatures that require more the protective Divine word against the presumption of man than the animals, which like man have sensations and instincts, but whose body and powers are nevertheless subservient to man. In relation to them, man so easily forgets that injured animal muscle twitches just like human muscle, that the maltreated nerves of an animal sicken like human nerves, that the animal being is just as sensitive to cuts, blows, and beatings as man. Thus man becomes the torturer of the animal soul, which has been subjected to him only for the fulfillment of humane and wise purposes . . . (Horeb, Chapter 60, Verse 415)
In connecting the permission for slaughtering and eating animals with Noach’s saving them from extinction, the Ohr HaChaim is telling us something very meaningful: by caring for animals, Noach and his family demonstrated that they were most capable of maintaining their humanity and sensitivity while using animals for their personal benefit.
This idea goes much further. It is not limited to eating meat; rather it applies to all aspects of our life. Too often, due to various constant exposures, we can become jaded and callous to the circumstances of the world around us. Regular experiences become just that - regular. Whether it is the Doctor who (understandably so) numbs himself to crisis, the yeshiva/seminary student who has learned the subject before, or the community Rabbi who has “seen it all,” - we cannot allow the flow of life to detract from our basic humanity.
Hearing the news can make anyone want to close his heart and turn it to stone, but the Torah expects more of us. The world is filled with living, breathing creations who feel pain, and we must maintain an open and sensitive heart to each and every one.
From Noach, we see that the Torah values kindness on every level, and no matter what we are doing, we must act with love and care.
Shabbat Shalom
