27 —המשמעות הרוחנית של שחיטה בבהמות, עופות ודגים

Shalom u'Vrachah!

...And so as not to send a letter empty of words of our Sages, even though it contains matters of mitzvah, I will be brief—and elaboration for your honor is unnecessary—and present the main points.

The law of shechitah: An animal is required by all opinions from the Torah; with birds there is a dispute, but the law is that shechitah is required; fish do not require shechitah—gathering them suffices (see Chulin 27b and there). The matter is based on what is explained in many places in Chassidus and hinted at in Nigleh: The concept of shechitah—"ve-shachat" (and he shall slaughter) means "ve-mashach" (and he shall draw), Chulin 30b—which is transferred to a completely new state through taking its soul (see Shabbat 75a), and its vitality comes from where it was previously, so that it can become blood and flesh of a person and thereby add strength to his service of G‑d, rather than cause a fall, G‑d forbid.

An animal was created from earth and cannot lift itself at all from the ground unless someone else lifts it. In avodah: the body and animal soul, which "a wild ass's colt is born a man" (Iyov 11:12) and "the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth"—from when he awakens and enters the world (Yerushalmi Berachos ch.3 hal.5). Therefore, all agree that shechitah is needed—the concept as above—because this is the entire purpose of the soul's descent below. The soul itself needs no rectification except to rectify the body (Tanya ch.37).

A bird was created from mud—water and earth—and flies in the air from time to time, but must rest on land because it becomes tired from flying (see Bereishis Rabbah ch.39 cited in Tosafos d.h. "knafayim," Shabbat 49a). In avodah: this refers to the intellectual soul which mediates between the animal soul and divine soul (Likkutei Torah beginning of "Im Bechukosai," second maamar; explained at length in discourses for Shavuos 5702), which can grasp matters of G‑dliness even though its essence is human intellect because the divine soul clothes itself within it. Therefore there is a dispute if shechitah is needed but the ruling is that it is required.

Fish are always found in their place of life and die immediately upon leaving it (Berachos 61b). In avodah: this refers to the divine soul which even at the time of sin remained faithful with Him, blessed be He—the source of life—except as an analogy for a king etc. (Tanya end ch.24). Therefore no shechitah is needed since it remains in its place of vitality, but gathering is necessary because by clothing itself in a body and engaging in birurim comes dispersion of the soul and its powers into worldly matters and they must be gathered together. On a subtler level one could say: bird = nefesh-ruach-neshamah (internal levels), fish = chayah-yechidah (encompassing levels), but this requires further explanation.

A grasshopper does not require shechitah (Rashi Chulin 66a; Tosafos d.h. "d'lo," Shabbat 90b)—the reason being that both are from one element, unlike animals or wild beasts where shechitah rules; perhaps also because they have no blood (Rambam Peirush HaMishnayos Terumos ch.10 mishna 9; Eduyos ch.7 mishna 4)—desires—generally nullified—"we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes" (Bamidbar 13:33), unity—"the locust has no king yet they all go out in ranks" (Mishlei 30:27)—and these do not separate from each other according to Metzudos—but there are also those like a trampled threshold, joined together etc., which explains why there are also impure grasshoppers; but here since peace is great etc., therefore their juice at least is permitted.

May it be His will that through slaughtering the evil inclination now according to our Sages (Sanhedrin 43b) we will soon merit the promise (Sukkah 52a) that in the future Hashem will bring forth the evil inclination and slaughter it. May He give us life and sustain us and gather our exiles through Moshiach Tzidkeinu very soon.

Summary

This letter teaches that each category—animal, bird, fish—reflects a different aspect of our inner service to G‑d. By refining ourselves according to these models, we prepare for redemption when negativity will be removed entirely.