"Why Don't We Eat So Many Things?"

"Explain to me, please, Rabbi, why does a quarter of the Torah deal with animals?".

"How did you arrive at a quarter of the Torah?".

"Isn't it true that in the Shulchan Aruch there are four parts? Orach Chaim concerns prayers, Shabbat, holidays, which is wonderful. Choshen Mishpat involves monetary laws, which are also important. Even HaEzer covers divorce and marriage; these are necessary. But Yoreh De'ah? From beginning to end it deals with what is permissible to eat and what is forbidden, animals, wild beasts, birds, fish, worms, creepy-crawlies, mixed seeds, orlah, etc. A quarter of the Torah deals with menus, why?!".

The truth? A quarter of our lives we spend dealing with food... and the Torah is the Torah of life.

The dream of every lawyer is to create a reality where the ethical code is irrelevant, a "clean" reality, without any legal or ethical complications. Just like a successful tax consultant creates a reality where tax evasion isn't needed, because tax liabilities are simply irrelevant. If they do it well, they create a sterile environment, without restrictions.

But the goal of the Torah is the opposite, to guide life. Therefore, there is and will never be a reality in which part of life is devoid of Torah. Do you think that for a quarter of the day we deal with food - and we do it like animals, without any guidance or spirituality? This is to lose a quarter of life for nothing.

In this week's parsha, Parshat Shemini, the word "to distinguish" appears: to distinguish between the impure and the pure, between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten. And this is a very significant point. Animals cannot "distinguish," which requires knowledge. They eat "everything that moves." They can distinguish between food that harms them and food that is good for them - that's the biological instinct instilled in them by the Creator. But they don't do this out of understanding; they are born with it. Human distinction, which comes from wisdom, is something only humans can comprehend, with the wisdom instilled in them by the Creator.

This ability to distinguish is an attribute of Hashem, who throughout the creation of the world distinguishes: distinguishes between light and darkness, between waters and waters, between dry land and sea, and distinguishes between the six days of work and the seventh day, for which we make the blessing at the end of Shabbat and a holiday "who distinguishes between holy and profane".

Humans were created in the image of Hashem, and therefore they can distinguish between things. The main mistake of the questioner is that halacha does not deal with "what is forbidden to eat" (many things). On the contrary, it deals with "what is permitted to eat" (selected things). We are not animals that eat everything that moves unless there is an instinct that "forbids us". We are human beings. If we choose to eat another living creature or eat in general, we need to distinguish and know what is indeed good and appropriate to eat.

The Torah laws determining what is permitted to eat have, of course, many reasons and explanations, ranging from simple and logical, medical/scientific explanations to hidden and mysterious secrets. In this context, we cannot elaborate too much, but the basic principle is not to "add prohibitions," but rather to teach us to distinguish. Our right to eat animals is not like our right to breathe air. Animals were created by the Creator, and their purpose is not just to be consumed by us. Eating animals involves many conditions and preparations, which is what distinguishes humans from animals.