The Stork

Rabbi Melanie Aron

Saturday, April 10, 2010

When I was in 7th grade, the number of students in my Jewish day school fell below the point that they could have two classes in that grade, and so we were all put together into one class. I’ll never know if it was because we were now 20 students in a class instead of 14, or if it was just being in junior high, but all of a sudden things got very click-y. There were different groups in our class and the students were not very kind to those outside of their group. Every couple of months, two people who used to be friends would have a fight with each other, and all the groups would shift around. The bonds within each click were pretty tight, but no one would do anything for someone who was outside of their group.

In general it is good to be loyal to your own, whether that is your own family, those who live near you, or those of your own religious or ethnic community. After all it’s natural to care more about those who are closest to you and even Jewish ethics speaks of concentric circles. Our first obligation we are told is to those who are related to us by family ties, then to those who live nearby, then to our own town, and finally to the larger general community.

But that sort of parochialism if taken to an extreme can become a very negative quality. If we turn people away because they are not family members, if we don’t respond to pressing needs because they are across town, or across the globe, then we violate Jewish teachings about the sanctity of every human life.

The rabbis of the Talmud teach this lesson in their understanding of the laws of Kashrut. As Austen explained, these laws have remained somewhat mysterious through their very long history. For every theory that explains them, there is an argument proving that explanation inadequate.

Some of the laws of Kashrut seem related to health, like the prohibition of carrion, that is the meat of an animal that has died of natural causes. But in other ways, concern with health seems unrelated. In fact in the 19th century, doctors believed that shellfish was the most healthy food, and so some Jews who would never consider eating pork, ate shrimp and crabs and other traif fish.

Were the laws to separate the ancient Israelites from other peoples? But some archeologists believe that the historical evidence shows that we were not the only group in the ancient world to avoid pork.

At least the restrictions concerning mammals and fish have some general categories, chewing their cud and cloved hoofs, fins and scales. When we talk about birds there is no general category of kosher birds and we have to check the long list the Bible provides individually. Since the names of birds have changed over the centuries, that can be a challenge.

In particular the rabbis were surprised that the stork is not kosher. It is not a bird of prey. Its name Chasida, comes from the root chesed, loving kindness. Why would a bird called loving kindness not be Kosher? Rabbi Zelig Plishkin discusses this in his book Love Your Neighbor.

The Talmud tells us that the stork got the name Chasidah because it acts with kindness, chesed, towards its friends.

The Ramban, Nachmanides, noting that some of the birds that are not kosher are forbidden because of their cruelty, argues that the stork should be kosher.

Another commentary, Chidushai Ha-Rim answers his argument as follows: The stork does favors only for those that are its friends. Since it does not do chesed for others, it is considered unclean. To really be Chesed, true loving kindsness, it must be done for everyone, not only one’s friends.

Among the rabbis in Jerusalem in the last century, there was one rabbi who wanted to start a club. The people in the club would promise to help each other other out if they got into trouble. Another rabbi, Rabbi Ben Tzion Yadler was impressed by this club and thought it was a good idea. His teacher and his teacher’s teacher disagreed. Even as this club includes some people, it will leave other people out. It is not really about loving others, but about making sure you get assistance for yourself.

The Torah teaches that you have help people, even if they have been your enemy in the past. Rabbi Yehoushua Leib suggested to his student that he not join this exclusive club, but instead create an organization that helps others based on need, and not on their being in the same association.

When I finished junior high and arrived in high school, the sororities which had been very important on campus in earlier years were dying out. They were organizations a little bit like the rabbis club, where being excluded seemed more of the issue than being included. They were replaced by service clubs which were open to anyone who was interested and which did some wonderful projects. As we form organizations and associations, let’s be sensitive to who we include and who we exclude, let’s make sure that we are not like the stork, practitioners of Chesed, in name only.