Divine Fingerprints

by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine

The holiday of Pesach, which we recently celebrated, is a model for the Jewish belief system. At the Seder we transmit the story of the Exodus from one generation to another. And so it is with all of Judaism. The transmission, or Mesorah, is the foundation of our belief system of Jewish law and values.

There are, however, inspirational passages in the Torah which lead us to recognize that only G-d Himself, the Creator, could have made this law or provided that insight. For example, in this week’s Parsha, the Torah describes the signs of a Kosher animal: That it chews its cud, and has split hooves. After giving these criteria, the Torah proceeds to tell us that there is an animal which has the sign of split hooves, but does not chew its cud. That is, the pig. The Talmud observes, “Was Moshe a zoologist,” that he could say with certainty that only this animal met this description? Of course not. Yet, no animal has been found to have split hooves but not chew its cud, besides the pig. There is a treasured inspiration, not merely in the fact that Moshe was right, but that Moshe was so confident that he was right that he was willing to state it in the Torah with clarity. Such confidence could only come from the fact that he was getting his information directly from G-d Himself.

Another example in this week’s Parsha is from the kosher signs of a fish. The Torah states that to be kosher, a fish must have fins and scales. But our tradition- as recorded in the Talmud- maintains, that any fish that has scales, certainly has fins. One wonders: How could the Talmud know that information? There are tens of thousands of types of fish. And why would Jewish tradition put itself on the line with such a statement… unless the information was coming from G-d Himself, who knows what types of fish He created.

There is another example which is related to the holiday of Pesach. The Torah requires that, when the Beis Hamikdash is standing, all men go on a pilgrimage to Yerushalayim three times a year (Pesach, Shavuos, and Succos). The obvious danger this poses is that the neighboring nations would become aware of this Mitzvah and might be tempted to invade the land during the weeks when they knew that the men were away and would not defend their cities. Yet, the Mitzvah was given, and with it an assurance that no person or nation will covet the land during these weeks of vulnerability. Even more amazing than the fact that the Land was not invaded as a result of the pilgrimage, is the simple fact that such a mitzvah is included in the Torah. An intelligent person (as Moshe certainly was) would only mandate such a Mitzvah if he had the directive and the assurance from G-d Himself.

One more example, for now. In a few weeks, we will read about the Mitzvah of the sabbatical year called Shemita. The Torah requires that, every seventh year,we do not plant the fields of the land of Israel. Some people who hear about this Mitzvah say that it is very understandable. They suggest that Shemita is a way to allow the land to regain its energy by going fallow for one year. Yet, upon consideration we realize that such a Mitzvah leaves the followers of this faith at great risk of starvation. If the reason was as they suggest, it would have been far more sensible to require each field to lay fallow for one year, on some rotating basis, so that there would be some produce for the people in every year. Instead the Torah requires the entire country to lay fallow in the same year, and declares an assurance that the sixth year will produce so well that the Jewish People will not go hungry. More remarkable than the fact that the assurance worked, is the fact that Moshe was willing to make the assurance. This is a Mitzvah that an intelligent leader would never give, unless he was operating under orders of G-d Himself.

Our faith is not based on inspirational moments or insights. Our faith is based on the accurate transmission of events and values, from parent to child, since the time of the Exodus and the Revelation at Sinai. But it is meaningful to sometimes take note of the inspirational Fingerprints of the Divine that can be noticed in the Torah, in Mitzvos, and in our lives.

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