Two Minute Torah Podcast

Re'eh 5772 by Richard S. Moline

Welcome to KOACH's Two Minute Torah, this is Rich Moline Chief Outreach Officer for the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

So aside from their youth, what do a baby goat, a baby bird and a baby boy have in common?

Re'eh, thins weeks parashah, tells us lo t'vashel gedi bhalev imo - do not boil a baby goat, in its mother's milk.  It's one of three times these words are repeated in the Torah, and we know that this is one main reason that kashrut does not permit us to eat milk and meat together.  Some have suggested that it was a pagan fertility rite to do just that - take a baby goat and boil it in its mother's milk.  Others have suggested that there is a Mediterranean delicacy which involves cooking a kid in its mother's milk.   Whatever the motivation, the message is clear.  To kill something in the very thing that gave it life is abhorrent.  By not mixing milk and meat, we make a statement that we believe in the sanctity of all life, and even though we may choose to eat meat, how we get to that point really does matter.

And the baby bird?

In a couple of weeks, we'll read Parashat Ki Tetze, where we are told to send a mother bird away when coming to a nest to collect eggs or offspring.  Shlah t'shalah et ha'em - Let the mother go, we are instructed.  Why?  This certainly won't ease the mother's pain, but it does suggest that even while having to do troublesome things, we still need to understand the implications of our acts and be sensitive to our surroundings.

As for the baby boy, no, we are not talking about taking his life and we're not talking about his mother.  But we are still talking about the same principle of sensitivity to life and our surroundings.

You certainly know about the ten plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians prior to the exodus.    You may also recall that Moses was a key figure in this narrative.  What you may not remember is that it was Aaron, not Moses, who God commanded to bring about the first three plagues.

Let's concentrate on the first one - dam - blood.  In the first chapter of the Book of Exodus, the king of Egypt orders the Hebrew midwives, Shifrah and Puah, to kill any newborn Israelite male, and commands the Egyptian people to throw every Israelite boy that is born into the Nile.

When Moses was born, his mother wanted to spare his life, so she hid him for three months and then placed him among the reeds of the Nile in a wicker basket.  Having been discovered alive, Moses' life was spared and the rest, as we say, is history.

So what does this have to do with Aaron's  involvement?  Simple.  Moses was saved by that river.  He couldn't harm the thing that saved him, so Aaron acted in his stead. 

And the connection to the baby goat and the baby bird?

There are times in our lives when we have to do things that are unpleasant.  Parents need to say “no” to their children.  You may need to let someone know they are not being hired for a job, or that they are being laid off.  You may have to tell a friend that something they did upset you.

Whatever the situation, we need to have compassion.  One lesson of the baby goat is to avoid abhorrent behavior.  A lesson of the baby bird makes us understand how actions don't simply affect one life, but many.  A lesson of the baby boy is that being loyal - remembering what has been done for you in the past - is also a mark of compassion.

Sometimes we have to do hard things.  But the stories of these babies send us a strong message.  Sensitivity, compassion and loyalty must all be part of the picture.

Shabbat Shalom.