Parshat Re'eh
Rabbi Jablinowitz
BS"D
Parshat Re'eh
We read in this week's parsha (Chapter 12, Pasuk 20), Ki Yarchiv Hashem Elokecha es Gevulcha Ka'asher Diber Lach V'Amarta Ochla Basar, Ki Te'aveh Nafshacha Le'echol Basar, B'Chol Avas Nafshecha Tochal Basar. When Hashem shall expand your boundaries and you shall have a desire to eat meat, you shall eat meat with all your desire. Rashi comments that the pasuk is teaching us that though in the desert they were only allowed to eat meat as a Karban, when they were to enter Eretz Yisrael they could eat meat even though it was not brought as a Karban. As Rashi explains on the next pasuk, in the desert the Mishkan travelled with them and it was quite simple to bring a Karban every time they wanted meat. But in Eretz Yisrael they might find themselves far from the Beis Hamikdash, therefore the Torah is coming now and permitting meat outside the context of a sacrifice.
Rashi makes an additional comment on this pasuk saying that the Torah is teaching us a lesson of Derech Eretz. One should not desire to eat meat unless his boundaries have been expanded. On a basic level this seems to mean that one who can afford the luxury of meat should desire to eat meat. But one who doesn't have the means should not have such desires. The Torah seems to be teaching us an important lesson; one should live within his means and his desires should be realistic and based on his financial ability.
The Sfas Emes learns this teaching on a much deeper level. Physical desire and temptation can be very dangerous for a person and cause him much pain and destruction. However, the higher the level a person is on, the more he is capable of dealing with the physical world. The more one is enslaved to his desires, the more he is culpable to the negative effects. The greater one's spiritual freedom, the more physical pleasures are permitted to him.
The Torah is teaching us Ki Yarchiv Hashem Elokecha es Gevulcha, when Hashem expands your boundaries and you enter Eretz Yisrael you're allowed to eat Basar Ta'avah, meat you desire even if it's not brought as a Karban. This is because entering Eretz Yisrael will bring Bnei Yisrael to a higher level and consequently they will not be negatively affected by desiring meat and satisfying that desire. Rashi's teaching is not merely to only desire meat if you can afford it; rather Rashi is teaching one should only desire meat if he is on a spiritual level which will allow him to eat and maintain his level of holiness.
The best illustration of this is Shabbos. Shabbos is a day of rest and freedom from the physical world. The Gemara in Shabbos 118A teaches Kol Ha'Me'aneg es Ha'Shabbos Nosnim Lo Nachalah Bli Metzarim. The one who eats delicacies on Shabbos receives a portion without limits. Since Shabbos is a day of rest and spiritual freedom, the eating on Shabbos is a mitzvah and creates the ultimate Harchavas Gevulos, the expansion of one's boundaries. The higher the level, the less one is closed in by the physical world.
Rav Tzadok adds that the pasukim refer not only to desire, but to desire of the soul. The pasuk says Ki Te'aveh Nafshacha, when your soul desires. The desire for the meat becomes a spiritual one. Just as eating on Shabbos is an act of holiness, so too the higher the level of the individual the more his eating is an act of holiness, desire of the soul. The Gemara in Baba Kama 72A (recently learned in Daf Hayomi) teaches that Rav Nachman didn't say the correct p'shat originally because he hadn't eaten meat yet. And Rashi explains that he wasn't able to understand properly without the meat.
The Zohar Hakadosh teaches Talmidei Chachamim D'Mishtadlei B'Oraysa Inun Shabbasos. Talmidei Chachamim working hard in learning are compared to Shabbos. Rav Tzadok explains that there are times and places of expansion of borders. On Shabbos our borders are extended and in Eretz Yisrael our borders are expanded. And when one learns seriously in Torah, he also expands his borders; he becomes Shabbos and Eretz Yisrael. Physical pleasures are encouraged and even become a mitzvah. Just as it is a mitzvah to eat on Shabbos, the great scholars need their meat in order to learn properly. The wealth which Rashi required for meat also includes spiritual wealth of learning Torah; the more one learns the more he is able to recreate the spiritual heights of Shabbos and Eretz Yisrael and incorporate the physical world as part of our spiritual world.
Good Shabbos
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