STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
KI SEITZEI 5776
“ELEVATING
LIFE”
One day during the summer of 2011/5771, our family
visited Quiet Valley Historical Farm in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. It is a
historic farm preserved exactly as it was in the early 1800s after a German Lutheran
family settled it in the late 1700s.
The tour was especially meaningful because so many
concepts mentioned in the Gemara relating to agriculture and production of
textiles came to life. Many of the 39 forbidden categories of labor on Shabbos
are directly related to primitive methods of farming and making clothes. It is generally
difficult to visualize those concepts in our world of modern technology when
most people no longer live on farms. But as I listened to the guides discuss
and demonstrate their way of life I saw the words of the Talmud come to life[1].
In one home the guide described the process of
making clothes. She described how after they sheared the sheep, they dyed, combed,
and spun the wool. She also described the process of making linen from the flax
plant. The seeds are removed (rippling), the outer stalk is retted to get to
the strong inner fibers. It is then crushed (scotching), and the fibers
straightened by pulling them through a metal comb (hackles).
She then demonstrated how
the wool and linen was mounted onto the loom, one as the woof, the other as the
warp. At that point I asked why they preferred to use a mixture of wool and
linen (called linsey woolseys). She replied that the linen provided greater
strength while the wool provided greater warmth. Then she quipped, “Now I know
some of you don’t mix plant and animal. But we German Lutherans do!”
It took me a moment to
realize that she was referring to the Biblical prohibition of wearing
sha’atnez: “You shall not wear combined fibers, wool and linen together.[2]” I was intrigued by the fact
that she referred to the prohibition as being a mixture of plant (linen, a
derivative of the flax plant) and animal (wool, which comes from sheep). I had
never thought of sha’atnez in that manner and I wondered if any of the
commentaries explained it as such.
I found it indeed
explained in that vein by Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch. He explains that within
man’s makeup there is an ‘element’ of plant and an ‘element’ of animal. A plant
is a source of nutrition which contains within itself the ability to reproduce.
An animal has the added ability of perception and mobility. An animal utilizes
its unique capabilities of perception and mobility in its quest to gratify its
vegetative desires of nutrition (food) and reproduction.
Man however, must
subordinate his plant-like needs to his animalistic abilities. In other words,
he must use his superior perception and mobility to control his base desires
through his ability to understand, distinguish, and conceptualize. Rabbi Hirsch
explains that man is a pyramid containing certain components of plants and
animals. His goal is to elevate those components so he can stand upright before
G-d. His plant-like abilities subordinate themselves to his animalistic capabilities,
which he in turn subjugates to the fulfillment of his responsibilities as superior
man.
The prohibition of
sha’atnez symbolically reflects this idea. Wool represents the animalistic element
within a human, while linen represents the vegetative element in man. In man,
the animalistic abilities of mind and will power, must not be inclined toward
the vegetative urges for reproduction and food (nutrition). Rather, these two
components must be separated so that it is not used “downwards towards vegetative
sensuality, (but) upwards towards the pinnacle of Mankind.”
Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner zt’l
offered a beautiful explanation for the universal custom that a groom gives his
bride a diamond ring: At the time of Creation, mankind was charged with the maintenance
and furtherance of the world. “Let us make man in our image… they shall rule
over the fish in the sea, the birds of the sky, and over the animal, the whole
earth, and every creepy thing that creeps on the earth.[3]” When G-d initially created
the world, “He saw that it was good[4]”. But after He created Man,
“G-d saw all that He had made, and it was very good[5].”
There are four levels
of life in the world: inanimate, plant, animal, man. Plant and animal serve Man
by providing him with food and clothing. How do minerals and the inanimate
serve Man? One way is that man wears precious stones and diamonds as ornamental
jewelry. The beauty of the human countenance is enhanced by the evocative
quality that gems and diamonds provide.
When man dons inanimate
objects as jewelry it is the greatest demonstration of man’s ability and responsibility
to elevate all of creation. It symbolizes that the highest level of being in
this world elevates even the basest level of being in this world.
At a wedding the second
of the seven special blessings recited is “Blessed are You… the fashioner of
the Man.
Twice a
year – on Tisha B’av and Yom Kippur – it is forbidden for a Jew to wear shoes
made from leather. What is the reason behind this prohibition?
Divrei
Shaul[7] explained
that man wears leather constructed from the hides of animals as a symbol of his
dominance over animals. With every step he takes he asserts his superiority and
dominance over all of creation.
However,
during two days we are removed from that symbolic dominance. On Tisha B’av when
the Bais Hamikdash was destroyed, and we were shamefully banished into exile,
we lost our superiority over creation. Thus we remove our shoes to symbolize
that loss of greatness and status. On Tisha B’av we forfeit our elevated
status.
On Yom
Kippur we seek to temporarily divorce ourselves from our physical selves so
that we can spend the day focusing in spiritual meditation. On Yom Kippur we
remove our shoes to symbolize that on this day our focus is not on dominating
this world but on living an other-worldly life, divorced from our animalistic
urges and drives.
In a sense
on Tisha B’av our shoes were removed from us; on Yom Kippur we remove our shoes
willingly[8].
A Jew is
charged with elevating, not only the plant and animal components within
himself, but also to elevate all of creation. He does so by adhering to the
laws of the Torah and mitzvos. Through his deeds and actions the whole world
merits blessing and prosperity.
May we
indeed be the conduits to merit such blessing and goodness.
“You shall not wear combined fibers, wool and
linen together”
“Let us make man… they shall rule the whole earth”
Rabbi
Dani Staum, LMSW
Rabbi,
Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance
Counselor – ASHAR
Principal
– Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] When I mentioned this to one of
the guides, she retorted, “You know, you’re the fourth person today to tell me
that!”
[2] Devorim 22:11; also in Vayikra
19:19 “And a garment that is a mixture of combined fibers shall not come upon
you.”
[3] Bereishis 1:24
[4] Ibid 1:4
[5] Ibid 1:31
[6] Note: he cannot give her a
diamond ring under the chuppah because at that point she is agreeing to a
halachic acquisition through her acceptance of the ring. She must therefore know
about how much the ring is worth, otherwise she can claim that she only agreed
to the marriage on the assumption that the ring was worth much more. To avoid
this problem, under the chuppah she is given a ring which she has a relative
idea of how much its worth. At the engagement however (or sometime thereafter),
the custom us to give her a diamond because of its symbolism.
[7] Derush l’Shabbos Shuva 5631
[8] The Divrei Shaul utilizes this
idea to explain why chalitzah is performed with the removal of the Yavam’s
shoe.
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