Dietary Laws Observed

The saga of Abraham and the angels teaches us something about what makes humans unique and even superior to angels. That is why we received the Torah and not them.

Angelic Lapse

This week’s parsha describes the incredible hospitality of Abraham. Abraham was recovering from his circumcision and G-d did not want him to be troubled by people knocking on his door for food and lodging in his oasis hotel. G-d, therefore, made it so uncomfortably hot that no human being would venture outside. Abraham was perturbed, He had no one to wait on and express his unbounded kindness.

Seeing how Abraham was suffering because there were no guests, G-d sent him three angels “disguised” as humans, whom he served with relish.

Included in his gourmet meal was butter and meat, seemingly ignoring the law that prohibits the mixing of meat and dairy. This apparently would not pose a problem because Abraham lived before the Torah was given at Sinai and there was no obligation to refrain from eating milk and meat. And even though our Sages tell us that Abraham had prophetically anticipated the laws of the Torah and observed them, nevertheless, he was not required to impose his extra-legal standards on his guests.

The Midrash, interestingly, uses this angelic “lapse” as ammunition against the angels. To understand this matter a few words of background are necessary.

When G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people, Moses had to climb Mount Sinai where he spent forty days and forty nights studying the Torah and was getting ready to come down with the encapsulated and engraved version of it (i.e., the Two Tablets), whereupon the angels lodged a formal protest to G-d: “Give your glory to the (residents of the) heavens (i.e. leave the Torah with angels),” imploring G-d not to give it to the lowly mortals.

The Talmud and Midrash record several of the responses Moses gave the angels. In one Midrashic account, Moses’ was made to resemble that of Abraham. He then challenged the angels, why they had violated the words of the Torah, when they were guests in Abraham’s home. Moses’ argument prevailed and the rest is history; the Torah is ours, not the angels.

The Midrash, as part of the Torah’s Oral tradition, conveys reliable historical information as well as profound messages, not cute legends, G-d forbid.

The fact that it was the violation of the laws against the eating of milk and meat that determined that the Torah would be ours and not the angels, suggests that there is a crucial message conveyed to us with respect to this prohibition and our role as humans.

Three Reasons for Not Mixing Milk and Meat

Although the prohibition of eating milk and meat is essentially a Divine command, nevertheless, several rationalizations have been offered for this commandment.

One explanation, based on Maimonides writings, is that it is our way of showing utter rejection of all forms of idolatry, including the idolatrous practices that involved cooking a kid in the milk of its mother.

A second explanation suggests that this prohibition was intended to make us sensitive to the feelings of all of G-d’s creatures, especially other humans.

A third rationale argues that this prohibition is intended to make us have respect for the integrity of each of G-d’s species. We should not try to “play G- d” by mixing and diluting the diverse forces in this world thereby eradicating the differences that exist in favor of a uniform, homogenized existence.

Angels strike out: Strike One

Angels do not have to be reminded not to create and worship other gods.

Angels do not suffer from the human condition that impels them to create their own gods. That syndrome is a direct consequence of the free choice and independence we were given. That free spirit can go to our head and make us feel that we can create our own gods.; indeed, we can even deify ourselves, as did Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and other powerful monarchs.

An angel is no more than a messenger of G-d (in fact, the simple translation of the Hebrew word for angel is malach, which means messenger). Humans are independent beings, angels are Divine instruments. They are at all times subordinated to G-d’s will.

Strike Two: No Sensitivity

Angels don’t have to be taught sensitivity, because they cannot be insensitive. Moreover, they can’t be sensitive either, even if they tried. Angels are beyond or beneath sensitivity.

An angel is a robot, a spiritual computer that cannot show feelings and be sensitive to others. While Michael is the anel of love and Gabriel of Fear, these are emotions that were programmed into them and defines their relationship with G-d. They cannot change their emotions Hence the lesson of not cooking a kid in the milk of its mother would be lost on angels. Humans are sensitive beings, angels are Divine instruments.

Strike Three: No Multi-Tasking

Strike three: Angels are incapable of multi-tasking. Angles are limited to one function at a time. Angels cannot combine different talents and faculties. Humans are multi-faceted and complex beings. They are constantly struggling with competing interests and drives. Their greatest challenge, perhaps, is to learn how to find the proper balance in their lives. In the pursuit of this balance one can try to eliminate or suppress the diverse forces in one’s life.

For example, a person who is conflicted between selfless acts of kindness and the competing need to be self-serving in order to survive, might suppress one or the other because it may be too difficult to be both selfless and selfish. In truth, the Torah tells us that we must combine both traits. We must be kind to others but not forget our own needs.

Eliminating one or the other is akin to cooking a kid in the milk where one eliminates the stark differences between these two very distinct foods. Milk symbolizes the ultimate model for nurturing. Meat, which develops with the input of a tremendous amount of nourishment, is the model for self-interests.

In Kabbalah, we’re told that milk is chesed and meat is gevura. The nature of chesed is to give, the nature of gevurah is to withhold, keep for oneself. In the interests of balancing the two we cannot afford to have one become subordinate, or worse, be absorbed by the other.

Only humans have the challenge of striking the right balance. Angels don’t have to deal with conflicting emotions and movements. It’s so much easier to be an angel.

The Unique Human Condition

In summation: Humans are free-spirited, affective and complex creatures that need the Torah in general and the prohibition against mixing milk and meat in particular to guarantee that they don’t create their own gods, are sensitive to others, and know how to balance and properly combine competing drives without destroying or compromising any of them.

Milk and Meat of the Future

There is a Midrashic reference to the opinion that the prohibition against eating milk and meat will not exist in the Messianic Age. Conceptually, this can be understood in light of the foregoing analysis of the difference between angels and humans. In the Messianic Age we will no longer have the challenge of letting our independence create our own gods. Our human sensitivity will be refined and heightened so we don’t have to worry about hurting the feelings of others. And we will be so much better equipped to maintain the proper balance in our lives in ways that do not threaten any other forces that exist and ought to be preserved.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayeira by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.