GOOD MORNING! Just last week, on the holiday of Purim, a guest of mine told me the following story about one of his children. Let me preface this exchange by giving you some perspective on his family. Even though they live in the very urban city of Miami Beach, for many years they raised chickens and other fowl in their back yard and kept bees for honey. As one might imagine, neither endeavor was particularly appreciated by their neighbors, and they eventually transitioned to more traditional house pets.

You will probably not be surprised to learn that this family also chooses to homeschool their children. These children happen to be particularly bright and are remarkably well-behaved and respectful. Whether it’s a cause or effect of the parents’ choice to homeschool is unclear – at least to me.

Anyway, in the state of Florida one of the options for homeschooling is FLVS (Florida Virtual School). It is an accredited K-12 program that is educating almost a quarter of a million children (aside from homeschooling, many schools offer it as a way to supplement coursework)..

Florida being Florida, one of the concerns of living here is “hurricane readiness,” and many schools have an introduction to emergency preparedness. This includes plans for obtaining and storing proper supplies, creating evacuation plans, learning the dangers of downed power lines, etc.

As part of the curriculum on FLVS each child has to answer a series of questions and prepare a personal emergency plan. One of the questions is, “Do you have an emergency plan for your pets? Please describe.” Well, this man’s eight-year-old son answered that his emergency plan for his pets was to shoot them and eat them. His older sister was aghast, “Are you serious? That’s your plan?” He responded, “Well, they said it was an emergency!”

As odd as it sounds, I was particularly impressed with this young man. As we discussed last week, many people have a very skewed view of what is right or wrong and they are particularly driven by how they feel. They aren’t likely to view their pets as consumable until desperation gives them a different perspective. To know from the outset that such an eventuality is possible and incorporate it into one’s preparedness mindset is a clarity that I found to be rather remarkable.

Speaking of consumable, this week’s Torah portion contains the laws of kashrut – what is permissible or impermissible to eat according to the Torah. I have previously written two columns related to “keeping kosher”; one discusses in some depth the laws and “whys” of kosher (that column can be found here) and one discusses a fascinating philosophical dilemma about how one is to view these dietary restrictions (that column can be found here).

In the discussion of the laws of kosher, the Torah tells us that a kosher animal must chew its cud and have split hooves, and that fish must have fins and scales. But the Torah doesn’t give any signs for what constitutes kosher fowl. Instead, the Torah takes the extraordinary step of providing a long list of birds that the Jewish people are prohibited from eating. In fact, the Torah lists twenty-four classes of non-kosher birds.

Why does the Torah prohibit eating certain birds? The great medieval Spanish scholar known as Nachmanides (in his comments on Leviticus 11:13) explains that these birds are birds of prey and suggests that if one eats predatory birds, one will become predisposed towards cruelty. Nachmanides observes that the act of consuming them could lead to an integration of some of their characteristic cruelty – sort of a medieval version of “you are what you eat.”

One of these birds is called “racham.” The Talmud (Chullin 63b) explains why it was given that name: “Once the racham descends it brings compassion (‘rachamim’) to the world.” However, this would seem like a positive attribute. How does this conform to Nachmanides’ assertion that these birds exhibit cruelty and that is the reason their consumption is prohibited?

We find in the midrash (Koheles Rabbah 7:16) a fascinating aphorism: R’ Simon ben Lakhish says, “One who becomes merciful instead of cruel will ultimately become cruel instead of merciful, as it is written, ‘And Nob, the city of priests, he smote with the edge of a sword’” (I Samuel 22:19).

As with much of rabbinic literature, a complete understanding of the background information is necessary to fully comprehend what our sages are trying to impart and teach us.

This midrash is referring to two particular stories in the life of the first king of the Jewish people – King Saul. The prophet Samuel conveyed to Saul that God had decided that the time had come to eliminate the archenemy of the Jewish people – the nation of Amalek (see I Samuel Chapter 15). He was commanded to utterly obliterate them; including all men, women, and children – even their cattle and all their belongings. Saul and his army went to war with the Amalekites and decimated them and almost completely obliterated them. Out of compassion, King Saul spared the animals and the Amalekite king – Agag.

The Almighty was very displeased with Saul’s failure to follow His command, and informed Samuel that for this reason Saul (and his sons) will eventually lose the right to reign. The next day, the prophet Samuel informed the king of God’s displeasure, and he himself slayed the Amalekite king saying; “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.”

The second story that the midrash refers to is when King Saul wrongfully and mercilessly wiped out the population of the city of Nob. This city was located near Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin and many of the cohanim (“priests”) who ministered in the Temple lived there. Nob was home to so many cohanim that it became known as “the city of cohanim” (1 Samuel 22:19).

At one point, King Saul decided that David (who eventually succeeded him to become king) deserved to die. David fled to the city of Nob – but didn’t tell them that he was on the run, rather, he told them that he was on a secret mission for the king. The priest Achimelech provided him with food, supplies, and some weapons.

But David had been spotted by Doeg the Edomite who promptly informed King Saul. King Saul summoned all the priests of Nob and accused them of conspiring against the throne. Achimelech, who had acted innocently in providing David with supplies, knew nothing of the king’s displeasure and proclaimed the truth: “Your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair!”

However, King Saul would not listen to reason, and he ordered all the priests of Nob to be killed: “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me” (I Samuel 22:17). Fearing God more than the king, none of Saul’s guards would raise their swords against a priest, so Doeg the Edomite massacred all the priests. However, he didn’t stop there; included in the massacre were all the priests’ families and all the people in the city of Nob, including men, women, children, and livestock.

On this, the midrash proclaims that King Saul, who was compassionate on Agag, the cruel king of Amalek, and spared his life, became cruel by blithely ordering the massacre of all the cohanim of Nob – a compassionate and peace loving people.

What is the meaning of this midrash? Why does being compassionate to a cruel person lead one to being cruel to someone who deserves compassion?

The answer lies in understanding the negative trait of the bird known as “racham.” In Aramaic the word racham means to love. Love is a recognition of a commonality and this creates a desire to be connected to the object of our love. The racham descends into the world with blanket compassion, bestowing compassion even on an object that is not deserving of compassion. The racham is therefore compassionate even on cruel beings, even though it recognizes the cruelty.

In other words, it contains within it a desire to be connected to cruelty and that is why it is compassionate even on the cruel. This means it has within it a characteristic of cruelty and that is why it is forbidden to eat.

This is what the midrash is referring to; King Saul also contained an element of cruelty within him. That is why he was able to be compassionate to the cruel king of Amalek. This cruelty was later revealed in his terrible actions towards the cohanim of Nob and illustrated why King Saul was undeserving of the role of king.

Shemini, Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47

Concluding the seven days of inauguration for the Mishkan (Portable Sanctuary), Aaron, the High Priest, brings sacrifices for himself and the entire nation. Nadav and Avihu, sons of Aaron, bring an incense offering of their own initiative, and are consumed by a heavenly fire (perhaps the only time when someone did something wrong and was immediately struck by “lightning”).