Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Congregation, Toronto, Canada

Food for Thought

Weekly Sidra: Reeh (See) Torah Portion: Devarim / Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17 Haftorah: Yeshayahu / Isaiah 54:11-55:5 Devarim 12:21 If the Place that Hashem your G-d chooses to put Name is too far for you, you may slaughter (the animals) from you herd and from your flock that Hashem has given to you as I have commanded you, you shall eat in your gates all that your soul desires.  k'asher tzivitecha as I commanded you- Many commentaries find proof of the Torah she'ba'peh, the Oral Torah, in these words. The question that the casual reader should ask is “where did Hashem command the slaughter of animals?” One would naturally go back to the Torah to look for the answers and find very little on the process of slaughtering animals for consumption except for ritual slaughter of a sacrifice. The natural 'hint' within the text is the word ? v'zavachta (and you shall slaughter). The word zavach is used to describe a ritual slaughter or sacrifice 59 times in the Torah. This word is paid special attention in the way that Chazal interpret the method of slaughtering.1 But before we move further we must divert our attention to gain an understanding of how and why the Torah is used in a contextual and even scientific way.2 The Torah is not a mere compilation of words written down so that we can learn history, geology, genealogy,...