LEV93 It was said to Aharon, “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons after you... that you distinguish between the sacred and the common... and that you teach the Children of Israel” (Vaykira 10:9-11). This cautions anyone engaged in an act of God’s service, that he not involve himself in anything that may keep him from completing that service to perfection, as our Masters, of blessed memory, said: “If one drank a fourth [of a log] of wine, he should not render a legal decision; if he drank a fifth, he should not pray” [see Eruvin 64a].

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LEV94 It was taught: Fortunate are the righteous. Not only do they bring merit unto themselves, but also to their sons and to the sons of their sons, until the end of all generations. For Aaron had several sons who would have deserved to be burned, as Nadav and Avihu, is being written: "his remaining sons", but the merit of their fathers saved them (Yoma 87a).

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LEV95 Anger breeds arrogance in a man, and because of it he will not submit and will not acknowledge the truth. The Sage has said, "When you wish to choose a man as your friend, make him angry. If he admits the truth to you in his anger, make him your friend, and if not, leave him." Anger produces error. Who is greater than Moshe our teacher, may peace be upon him, who became angry three times and erred because of his anger? As it is written [this verse]: "And he became angry with Elazar and Isamar," followed by (ibid: 17): "Why did you not eat the Sin Offering in the sacred area?" [A question indicating a misapprehension on Moshe's part], and (Bemidbar 20:10): "Listen, you rebellious ones," followed by (ibid. 11): "And he smote the rock" [instead of speaking to it], and (Bemidbar 31:14): "And Moshe was angry with the commanders of the army," followed by (ibid.:21): "And Elazar the priest said to the men of the army who had gone to war, 'This is the law of the Torah,'" indicating that Moshe had forgotten the law (Sifri, Mattos 31:21) . And now, understand, if this happened to Moshe our teacher, may peace be upon him, the father of the Sages, what happens to fools who become angry? It is for this reason King Shelomo wrote (Koheles 7:9): "Do not be hasty in your spirit to become angry." And take great heed that you do nothing destructive in the midst of your anger, for our Rabbis have said (Shabbos 105b): "If one tears his garments, or scatters his money, or breaks his vessels in his anger, he should be in your eyes as one who serves idols. For such is the craft of the evil inclination. Today he tells a man, 'Do this,' and tomorrow he tells him, 'Go and serve idols,' and he goes! In this connection it is written (Tehillim 81:10): 'Let there not be in you a strange god.' Which is the 'strange god' in a man's body? The evil inclination." Observe how one's evil inclination intensifies in the time of his anger.

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LEV96 See [[LEV95]] Leviticus 10:16 angry TZADIK 241-3

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LEV97 Seven things are [typical] in a clod, and seven in a wise man: … [2] he does not break into the speech of his fellow man; Pirkei Avot, Perek V, mishnah 9. … it is only common courtesy to let someone complete his thought before we respond. And eagerness to interrupt, straining at the leash, usually comes from an overpowering conviction that we know exactly what the other intends to say before he has said it, and already we perceive his fallacy. Such a conviction often turns out wrong. But right or wrong, anyone speaking should be given the right to express himself freely as he sees fit, without interruption, until he is done. Avoth d'R. Nathan (37) gives two illustrative examples from Scripture. When the mishcan was dedicated, and Aaron served his first day in it, we read of Moses: "he was angry with El'azar and Ithamar, the remaining sons of Aaron, saying…" The reason for his anger, in his words, fills the next two verses; only when he has done speaking does Aaron reply that their action, which has so displeased Moses, was taken because of the tragedy which befell them that very day. [Leviticus 10:16-20] Aaron did not interrupt at once. The other example concerns Abraham the Patriarch. When the Almighty was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He told Abraham, and this man of piety and loving-kindness began to plead. First he asked that the cities be spared if fifty righteous man could be found there; when that prayer was granted, he asked the same grace should only forty-five tzaddikim be found. That granted, he lowered the number to forty, then thirty, then twenty, and finally ten. Each plea was accepted favorably in turn [Genesis 18:17-33] The Lord knew that were there even four or five virtuous people in Sodom, it would be saved from destruction. Seek them there, however, and you could not find them. Nevertheless, the Holy, Blessed One waited for Abraham to finish, and only then did He send him off, as it is stated [at the end]: "the Lord went His way when He had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place." As it were, He as much as told him, "Now I am free [to act]." The lesson, continues Avoth d'R. Nathan (B40), is clear: The world and all that fills it is the Holy, Blessed One's; yet He did not wish to break into our father Abraham's words. How much more certainly should a man--dust, [food for] warm and maggot – – not break into the words of his fellow-man. It would be well to remember, though, that the courtesy should not be entirely one-sided. If a person speaking is to be permitted to conclude, let him forbear to abuse his privilege. He should not ramble but learn to express himself succinctly and concisely. The story is told of an "august personage" who rose to address a rabbinic meeting. After an hour and a half he was still talking, refusing to relinquish his precious opportunity. Then he remarked, "I once heard a great scholars say …" Suddenly a listener called out, "That cannot be!" There was a stunned silence. Sputtering with rage, the speaker shouted to his heckler, "How do you challenge me when I did not even tell what this great man said?" Replied the other, "You could never have heard any scholar say anything. You never give anyone else a chance to speak at all!"

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LEV98 To Promote Human Hygiene. The suggestion that one rationale for kashrut is to promote human health and hygiene has caused much debate over the centuries. Rambam [Maimonides, Guide, 3:48. “Among all those forbidden to us, only pork and fat may be imagined not to be harmful. But this is not so, for pork is more humid than his proper and contains much superfluous matter. ... The fat of the intestines [cheilev], too, makes us full, spoils the digestion, and produces cold and thick blood.”], Rashbam [Commentary to Leviticus 11:3 “All the caddie, creatures, fowl and fish ... that the Holy One of Blessing has forbidden to Israel are vile. They damage and overheat the whole body. Therefore they are termed unclean. Even expert doctors will so attest.”] and Ramban [e.g., Commentary to Leviticus 11:9, The fish without fins and scales live in lower waters, breed in musty swamps, and can be injurious to health.] all hold it to be true, but others, like Abarbanel [Sh’mini; key word: Vay’debeir Adonai el Moshe] and the author of Akeidat Yitzchak [Isaac b. Moses Aama, Sh’mini, Shaar Shishim (chap. 60). He suggests instead that they have a deleterious effect on our intellectual powers and ethical sensibilities] vociferously reject the idea. Torah is more than a minor medical treatise. Why are there plenty of healthy pork eaters? Why doesn't Torah teach about poisonous plants? Why does it use the language of abomination and detestation instead of unhealthy or hard to digest? The profundity of its purpose, they argue, is greater than the promotion of human hygiene. Nevertheless, it remains one of the more commonly assumed bases for the dietary laws. A translation of these principles to modern times requires little imagination. New proclamations about the positive and negative effects of various foods are issued every day. And following the dictates of Torah, we are commanded to choose life. This is keeping kosher. While sorting out the surfeit of information may be challenging, we can assert as a movement [i.e., the Reform movement-AJL] that an element of kashrut is the command to eat healthfully. (By Rachel S. Mikva, “ADVENTURES IN EATING: An Emerging Model for Kashrut”)

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LEV99 Based on the Torah itself, there is only one unique aspect to the pig. The Torah's two signs for a kosher animal is that the animal must both chew its cud and have split hooves [this verse]. Most animals in the world have either both symbols and are kosher or none of the symbols and are not kosher. But the Torah says that there are only four exceptions that have one symbol, not the other [Leviticus 11:4-7] (until today, they have never found a fifth exception in the entire planet). Three of the exceptions, the camel, the rabbit, and the fox, chew their cud but have no split hooves. Only the pig (of all the animals on earth) has split hooves but does not chew its cud. Why is that so detestable to the Jew (more than other animal)? It has been suggested that this symbol of the pig is the only animal in the world that has the outward symbol of kosher and not the inward symbol. Thus, the pig symbolizes the animal (and person) that is kosher on the outside but not on the inside. Someone who appears righteous to the world but who, in reality, is not righteous is indeed detestable to the Jew. This type of hypocrisy, "saying one thing (positive) but thinking another (negative)" is one of the categories of people that God detests (Pesachim 113b). A student whose inside did not match his outside was not permitted into the beit medrash (study hall) (Berachot 28a). The Talmud (Sanhedrin 104b) analyzes why the Megillah of Eichah, which describes the Temple's destruction, is in alphabetical acrostic order except for the letter Peh and the letter Ayin, which are reversed. It says that unlike the alphabet, when the spies in the desert put their mouths (Peh) before what their eyes (Ayin) had seen, they reported that the land should not be entered. It was for that sin, saying what they did not really see, that the Jews were not allowed entry to the land until that generation was wiped out and a new generation would be able to enter the land of Israel. Therefore, the degree of reprehensible of any person who acts differently from the way he or she thinks is reflected symbolically in the pig who looks kosher on the outside but is not on the inside. It is possible that it is for this moral reason that the pig is universally viewed as reprehensible to the Jew.

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LEV100 Do not eat forbidden animals and beasts. All foods that Hashem forbids His nation are in some way harmful to their bodies. The body is the tool of the soul, because by virtue of the body that clothes it, the soul can act and be elevated by good deeds. Therefore, Hashem distances us from harmful foods. Thereby, our souls can act in the correct way, without hindrances from the body’s crass nature and a blocked up heart.

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LEV101 See [[LEV99]] Leviticus 11:3 may AMEMEI 74

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LEV102 See [[LEV98]] Leviticus 11:3 eat SACTAB 59-60, 66, ft. 15

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