Parashat Acharei Mot
"And
if any Israelite or any stranger who resides among them hunts down an animal or
a bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with
earth" (Leviticus 17:13).
Our
portion begins with the work ritual of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement,
and is a direct continuation of the portion of Shemini (Leviticus 10). The
Scripture there stops in the middle of the topic, goes on to the portions of
Tazria and Metzora, and only later returns to the matter at hand. But we
already know, and we have said and written in many places that there is no
chronological order in the Torah. (According to Rashi this is because he who
bound the scrolls sewed them out of order; on this matter see what we have
written on the portions of Pekudei, Vayikra, and Tzav.) But here, too, the work ritual
for the Day of Atonement is not finished. Where did Moses finish it? In the
book of Numbers, 29:7-12, "On the tenth day of the seventh month…you shall
present to the Lord a burnt offering of pleasing odor, one bull of the herd,
one ram…" Splitting the matter up creates difficulties, and our rabbis
were divided on the matter of the ram for the Day of Atonement. In Yoma 70b,
"Rabbi says it was one ram, as the one mentioned here (Leviticus 16:5) is
the one mentioned in the section of orders (Numbers 29:8). Rabbi Eleazar the
son of Simeon says there are two rams, one mentioned here and the other
mentioned in the section of orders." And were G-d scrupulous about the
matter of writing, the work ritual would have been in one place and we would
have been saved the sages' disagreement.
But
even so, from the Scriptures you learn that the main part of the work on the
Day of Atonement was the work of the High Priest in the Holy of Holies. In our
day, when there are no priests at their work, how do we atone for our sins?
This is why Chazal set up the prayers and supplications, prayers for
forgiveness and atonement. All this comes to demonstrate that it is not from
the Scriptures that we live, but from the prescriptions of sages in every
generation. And there is a hint to our words in Tractate Yoma, whose first
seven chapters deal with the work of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement,
and only the eighth and last chapter deals with the issues of the fast and
forgiveness, to show you that each generation has its own forgiveness and each
generation has its own atonement. In ancient days it was, perhaps, as described
in the Torah, but in our days it is almost exclusively as determined by the
sages. Understand this matter well, for it is one of the foundations of religion.
We
have already written, on the portion of Metzora,
that the Torah did not have pity on the scribes' ink; it went on at length on
matters which never happened and was brief about the main body of the
instruction, such as the matters of family purity. Here, too, we see this sort
of a strange phenomenon, that the Torah is brief about the issues of a kosher
home. Where was it brief? Specifically on the laws of ritual slaughter.
Where
do we learn that one is obligated to slaughter ritually? In Sefer HaChinuch,
commandment 451: "'Then you shall slay of your herd and of your flock…as I
have commanded you'…In the language of the Midrash Sifre: Just as consecrated
animals require ritual slaying, so do non-holy animals; 'as I have commanded
you'--this teaches that Moses our master was commanded about the gullet and the
trachea (windpipe)." (This is also so in Hulin 28a.)
Not
only does the verse "Then you shall slay of your heard and of your
flock" not tell any reasonable reader anything about the obligation of
ritual slaughter, the Scripture taught us the exact opposite (that there is no
obligation of ritual slaughter) in Leviticus 17:13, "…hunts down an animal
or a bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with
earth." From the plain meaning of the Scripture it is permissible to hunt
an animal or bird and kill them without ritual slaughter, and this is the
opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, quoting Rabbi Isaac the son of Pinchas in Hulin 27b,
"Slaughter of birds is not from the Torah, as is said, 'and pour' --
pouring is enough." We find that the whole commandment of ritual
slaughter, which is faithfully observed in every house and at all times, has no
base in the Scripture, but is one of those mountains which hang by a hair!
We
have already found explained in Hulin 27a, "Rabbi Kahana said, 'How do we
know that ritual slaughter must be at the neck? It is said, "'And he
should slaughter [veshachat] the calf' -- at the place it bends the neck
[sach], purify him [chatehu]…No, but slaughtering at the neck is
also tradition." (Rashi explains that this is tradition given to Moses at
Sinai.) We see that Rav Kahana wanted to learn the law of ritual slaughter at
the neck from word play (and we have already written quite a bit about Chazal's
habit of determining halacha based on word play) until the Gemara pushed that
aside and said that all the laws of ritual slaughter are tradition given to
Moses at Sinai. This is the place to point out the words of the Gemara and the
Sifrei which we mentioned above: "…this teaches that Moses our master was
commanded about the gullet and the trachea (windpipe)…" Why did Chazal
wish to learn that there was a tradition given to Moses at Sinai specifically
from the Scripture? Hadn't Rashi already taught us, on Leviticus 25:1,
"Why is shmita mentioned at Mount Sinai? Weren't all the commandments
given at Sinai? But just as all the general and specific laws of shmita were
given at Sinai, so too were all the
general and specific laws given at Sinai." If so, the laws of
ritual slaughter were also included in this rule--go and learn.
Since
we are dealing with ritual slaughter, we see fit to mention the view of some
religious people who in their innocence think that the slaughter which Chazal
mandated for us is a less painful death (even than an electric shock, which
kills instantly), and thereby they fulfill the commandment not to give pain to
animals. For those it is enough that we recall the gemara in Hulin 121b, "One
who wants to eat before the animal is dead (but after the slaughter) should cut
a portion, the size of an olive, from the area of the slaughter and salt it
well, wash it well, and wait until the animal is dead." We find that the
explicit halacha allows hacking the living flesh of an animal in its death
throes and cutting off chunks for eating! Not only that, but because of the
large amount of time which passes from slaughter until the animal dies, the
Rama wrote in Yoreh Deah, section 67:3, "There are those who say one
should be cautious and break the neck of the animal or stick a knife in its
heart to bring its death closer, so blood should not be absorbed in the
organs." That is, one who does not do this but only slaughters as we do
today forces prolonged pain upon the animal. (The Rama's reason, too, was not
because of the animal's pain but because of the kashrut, that too much blood
should not be absorbed into the organs.) Every merciful person's heart should
boil at the great pain caused to animals here.
We
will add another proof to our words. The main issue in the slaughter of animals
is cutting both the gullet and trachea, but one is enough by a bird, either the
gullet or the trachea, and there is no obligation to cut the veins. Come see
the cruelty to animals which the Shulcan Aruch rules in Yoreh Deah 21:5,
"If half the trachea is cut [and the bird still lives and is not treifa]
if he slaughters it and divides the most of the trachea, it is kosher."
According to halacha it is enough to cut a bit more, to detach the most of the
trachea, and leave the bird that way until it dies. Imagine how much pain this
bird must suffer, for the additional cut to its trachea will not kill it
immediately and will not release it from pain; it suffers a long time until it
dies.
Another
complaint on this issue: If we were commanded about ritual slaughter because
the holy one, blessed be He, pitied animals and wished them to be killed in a
less painful manner, then certainly this would have to be the method in G-d's
own house, the Holy Temple. So why did the Torah exempt the bird given as a
wholly-burnt offering from ritual slaughter and determine its head must be
pinched, as written in Leviticus 1:14, "If his offering...is of the
birds…the priest shall bring it to the altar, pinch off its head…" Rashi
explains, "He cuts with his nail against the nape of the neck and cuts its
neck until he reaches the organs (the windpipe and gullet), and he cuts
them"?
From
all of these things you cannot help but conclude what we have already written
in the portion of Tazria, that the commandments were not
given out of mercy or lovingkindness, but to make Israel perform the will of
His decrees, be they difficult or merely cruel, to show that they are His
servants and those who keep His commandments. Servants should not examine the
ways of their Master but be enslaved to him body and soul, and fulfill with
resignation and zeal His decrees. And truly, anyone who negates his own self in
favor of another and abandons his will and reason and selfhood is a slave; his
soul is like dust and he has no individuality. For free people there is nothing
more contemptible and despised than a slave who is diligent in his everlasting
servitude.
Words
of True Knowledge.
