출애굽기 24:11의 Musar

הלעיטני נא מן האדום. There is a great moral lesson here. It teaches that man's food intake should be based on considerations of sanctity and modesty. When he eats, he should behave as if in the presence of his king. This is best illustrated in Exodus 23,11 where the אצילי בני ישראל, the elite of the Children of Israel, are portrayed as ויחזו את האלוקים, ויאכלו וישתו, "They had a vision of G–d and they ate and drank." Surely this means that they consecrated their eating and drinking to be such a sacred activity that they were fit to have visions of the Divine even then.

Although our sages say in Chulin 115 that the repetition of this prohibition in the Torah on three separate occasions teaches that the mixture is forbidden to be eaten, to be boiled, and to be otherwise enjoyed, we count this prohibition in the list of prohibitions only as two (not three). The reason for this is that the prohibition to eat the mixture includes the prohibition to enjoy it in some other way. Our sages have stated in Pesachim 21 that wherever we find the wording לא תאכל, do not eat, this includes the prohibition of eating and enjoying it in another way. This is why the prohibition to benefit from something forbidden in any form is always couched in the expression "do not eat!" Eating is the most common form of enjoying or benefiting from forbidden food. It is also a necessary form of enjoying something. When the Torah speaks of the nobles of the Children of Israel "seeing a vision of G–d, and eating and drinking" (Exodus 24,11), the Torah compares their pleasurable experience of having such a vision to eating and drinking.

This is alluded to in 11,2: זאת החיה אשר תאכלו … אך זה לא תאכלו. Our sages say that Moses had difficulty understanding this paragraph and that G–d showed him what the various categories of animals looked like (Chulin 42). In Vayikra Rabbah 13,4 we are told that G–d showed Moses a head of fire, explaining that if the protective skin around the brain was pierced such an animal was unfit to eat regardless of the size of the hole. It is difficult to understand what Moses' problem was. We could have understood his problem if the chapter would have listed free-roaming animals which Moses had never seen. After all, Moses was not a hunter. However, the Talmud meant that Moses had difficulty understanding the reason for this legislation. He wanted to know why certain categories of animals were permitted, whereas others were prohibited. G–d showed Moses the positive spiritual impact which consuming certain animals would have on the people eating them, and the negative spiritual impact of certain other animals. He showed Moses the respective influence of those animals in the higher regions. Thereupon Moses understood why some categories of animals are termed "pure," whereas others are termed "impure." This is the mystical dimension of Deut. 14,23: ואכלת לפני ה' אלוקיך, "You shall eat in front of the Lord your G–d;" this is a reference to the "Table", i.e. a reference to the sacred element of the act of eating. Psalms 104,1: "Bless the Lord, O my soul," as well as Exodus 24,11: "They ate and drank and had a vision of G–d," are reminders of the impact consumption of food has on our spiritual faculties. This means that even when the Israelites consume food which has not first been specifically sanctified as a sacrifice, such meals are considered as if an act of spiritual significance had been performed. When Gentiles eat, on the other hand, this is a totally profane activity.