In Parshat Shemini we read about the inauguration of the Mishkan and the first offerings brought and sacrificed on the altar. Though a day of much anticipated celebration and national accomplishment, we learn that the day was tainted with the tragic death of Nadav and Avihu after bringing the foreign incense offering onto the mizbeach. Suddenly the tone of the parsha shifts as it concludes with the overview of various laws of kashrut. While at first glance the final portion of this parsha may seem out of place, as always, a greater understanding of the juxtaposition of these topics will reveal deeper layers of meaning to the parsha.
Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, the Chief Rabbi of Ramat Gan, suggests that there is a direct connection between the opening of the parsha that deals with the Mishkan and the conclusion that deals with the laws of our dietary restrictions. He suggests that just as there are many rules and regulations regarding what is allowed to enter the holiest site of the Mishkan, so too, there are laws that regulate what is permitted to enter our bodies.
This profound insight reminds us that just as the Mishkan served as a physical structure built primarily for spiritual purposes, our physical bodies are, in essence, our personal vessels that enable us to serve a greater spiritual purpose. With this esteemed perspective of the human body, we can better appreciate the many seemingly arbitrary and perhaps onerous laws dictating what we can and cannot eat.
The importance and implications of guarding what enters the Mishkan is demonstrated in the dramatic account of Nadav and Avihu. While Chazal debate the exact nature of their sin, the basic understanding of the story tells us that their tragic mistake was bringing a foreign sacrifice onto the mizbeach at a time that they were not commanded to do so. In contrast to the countless other offerings brought according to the Divine command, the fact that the sacrifice they brought was against the will of Hashem prevented the offering from being elevated and Divinely accepted. In essence, the fact that the sacrifice was not aligned with Torah law rendering it impure and unfit for the mizbeach, which prevented the altar from fulfilling its elevating, spiritual function.
And so it is with our own bodies, our personal vessels – when we permit a forbidden, “non-kosher” substance into our system the impurity permeates our being and our ability to serve a higher, spiritual function is diminished. This concept is reflected in the words of the Torah:
do not contaminate yourselves through them lest you become contaminated (v'nitmasim) through them (Vaikra 11:43)
As Rabbi Yosef Kalatsky notes, Chazal suggest that the word v'nitmasim can be read (without vowels) as v'nitamtem – meaning closed or concealed. In other words, when we intake food that is deemed unfit by Torah law, we become “spiritually desensitized” – our entire being is contaminated, our vessel in a diminished state of impurity, making it more difficult for us to be open to and successful in our spiritual pursuits.
Indeed this is highlighted even more in the final verses of the parsha that deal with the laws of vessels that may be contaminated by the presence of impure foods:
But any earthenware vessel, into whose interior any of them falls, whatever is inside it shall become unclean (Vayikra 11:33)
In line with the metaphor of the Mishkan to a human body, the Kotzker Rebbe notes on this verse that man himself is an earthen vessel – as the Torah tells us in the creation story: And G-d formed man out of the dust of the earth, and He blew into his nostril a living soul (Breishit 2:7). Like the vessel that is deemed impure because of that which is inside of it, our entire being is greatly affected by that which we feed it.
In the non-Mikdash era, our mouths perhaps more any other part of the body, function more than even as our mode for communication and connection with Hashem. Indeed the Chafetz Chaim writes: Whoever guards his mouth, his mouth becomes like a vessel of the Holy Temple. Our ability to pray, to reach into our spiritual depths and call out from the depths of our souls is only possible when our bodies are untainted from the impurities of foreign, or unfit foods.
In most recent weeks we have much to daven for with the recent events. Often times the pain of feeling that there is so little we can control in the events that are so relevant and impacting for us is overwhelming - but it is at these times that we can turn to prayer as our way to affect a difference in our surrounding world. When we feel injustices, inconsistencies, and impurities in the world abound, sometimes the most we can do is look internally to ensure that we are living and sustaining the most pure life we can.
We must realize also that it is in our power to ensure that our mouths, our vessels for both our personal and national prayers, remain pure - so that our words can be elevated and Divinely accepted. May our tefilot be purified through our own efforts to purify our personal vessels, and may Hashem continue to hear our most pure and sincere prayers.
SHABBAT SHALOM, Taly
