Kosher Wisdom

What makes an animal kosher, according to the famous talk of the Rebbe, is not whether it has a hoof, but  whether the hoof is split. 

The hoof represents being uplifted from the earth, not being totally involved in the physical experience. You would think that that is the most important component of the Kosher person. In realty, however, the defining factor is whether the hoof is split, whether the holy and spiritual elements of our life, the hoof - the part that is removed from the earth, has a split through which it can influence the earth.

Paraphrasing the words of the Ramabam (who's book we conclude today): don't look for the wise iwhem he is studying. Look for him when he is eating. Only then can you be sure that you are indeed looking at a wise man. 

(Leku"s Vol. 1, Shmini) 

Don't Touch the Spoils

You would think that it’s an integral part of the story. It’s repeated again and again. “and in the spoils they did not send forth their hands”.

I always wondered, why is it important for the book of Esther to mention angina and again that when the Jewish people battles their enemies they did not take any of the spoils?

Perhaps this is a lesson for us. 

We to are called upon to battle against the concealment this world, by revealing the light of Hashem. In the midst of the battle, however, we may come across “spoils” that we feel is rightfully ours. Perhaps we could take it back with us to our own homes.  

Says the Megilah: no. you are here to influence the world, to reshape it’d contents to serve a greater purpose, not bring home it’s spoils and defeat the very purpose of the battle.  

Respect the Fire of Love

They were wrong. 

They told us that a relationship can endure on love alone. They told us that ideally we should be in love every moment of our life. They told us to follow our hearts.

The results of their misunderstanding are enormous; a fifty percent divorce rate is proof that they missed something crucial.

They failed.

They failed to mention that Love is fire. Like fire, it keeps jumping up then down, never staying in one position.  They failed to teach us that Loves fiery passion, the force that overcomes great distance to bring people together, will run out of steam as soon as it brings two people together. Because bringing strangers together is not only it's purpose but also it's motivator.

They failed to explain that when we don't feel the fire, we must commit to our beloved, not out of Love but out of respect. we must commit to our beloved who is a distinct person, with hopes, dreams, aspirations that may be different then ours. 

And, most importantly, they failed to assure us, that only when our heart feels that we respect the boundaries of our beloved, when it senses that we are two distinct beings that respect each other despite not being in love at this moment, only then does the fire hidden in our soul surge into a flame of passion.

(Based on my interpretation of lesson 2 of JLI's TML)