Hi,

Hope you had a great Passover.

It’s great to be back!

I thought I would discuss something that may remind us of the holiday.

Food!

… Noah survives the great flood.

The work of rebuilding the world begins.

And G-d tells Noah some very fundamental moral and spiritual ideas.

But among them, we find something surprising.

A change of menu!

Unlike Adam, Noah is given permission to eat meat! (9:3)

And we wonder why now?  Why after the flood.

… Here’s some food for thought.

A sensitive person should wonder, what gives me the right to kill an animal for food?

Isn’t an animal also G-d’s creature?

Why does the Torah permit it?

One answer is that among G-d’s creatures, we’re unique.

As human beings and as Jews, we have a higher calling.

Our lives can be deeper and more meaningful.

So animals are expendable for human needs.

In fact, Jewish tradition teaches that an animal is spiritually elevated when it serves as food for a human being!

…What brought about the great flood?

The world had sunk to a very low moral level.  People lost sight of their humanity.

And they became like animals.

G-d decided to start over again.

And He says to Noah, “You can eat meat.  But think about it”.

Let it be a reminder to you that you’re not an animal.  Remember you’re higher calling.

And live up to it!

… But there’s a catch!

The Talmud says something challenging.

We forfeit our right to eat meat if our lives aren’t meaningful.

… People think twice before eating meat these days.

We’re conscious of our cholesterol levels.  Our arteries.  And our waistlines!

There’s another thing we should ask ourselves if we sit down to enjoy a meat meal.

…What would the Rabbis of the Talmud say?

Do I have the right to eat this?

Is this a step up for the animal?

All the best.