Now You Know

The Torah says, “You shall be holy people to Me, and flesh torn from an animal in the field you shall throw to the dogs.” (Shmos 22:30) Rashi explains: “If you separate yourself from disgusting things like nevaila and treifa, you are Mine. If not, you are not.”

Then, Rashi extrapolates on the command to throw a treifa (lit. ‘torn,’ referring to flesh torn from a live animal) to the dogs.

He says, “You could also give or sell it to a non-Jew. However, a dog takes precedence, for Hashem doesn’t withhold reward, and the dogs didn’t bark when the Jews left Egypt.”

Why does the Torah equate not eating this meat with being holy? Surely, there are most repulsive things we could be avoiding, like insects or blood. Once in a pot, this meat looks like any other. Why is it so disgusting?

Perhaps therein lies the concept behind the holiness of the Jew. While others would look at this animal and consider it not so bad, it was merely torn by a wolf, but the meat is still good, this is not how a Jew looks at it.

Meat that wasn’t slaughtered according to halacha is disgusting to us. Other people might not see that, but that’s because we are different. We are urged to live on a more refined plane, and such food is repulsive to us.

When that is the case, that what the nations of the world see as fine and acceptable, is revolting to us, then we know we are G-d’s holy people.