วีดีโอ

You are the one person I want to remember forever. I found out about your death today by chance. My wife Kyong Mee is shocked and deeply saddened by your death. My family had received a lot of help from you during my short stay in Chicago. When I think about it now, you were a merciful person who practiced the life of the Lord. My wife and I wanted to meet you one more time, but time does not wait for us. I hope you enjoy a blessed life with the Lord in heaven. God bless Michael, Jacob and Rebecca and Hannah Lee & Kim from Seoul Korea

Harav Yitzchak Habanstreit: One should know, aside for the fact that it is inappropriate for man to eat meat with regard to tradition, ethics, religion and wisdom; it is also unnatural because man is unfit to eat meat as is proven by the analysis of a person's limbs. Man was created to live from the dews of heaven and the fat of the earth, from the grains and vegetation of the land and the fruits of the tree. All a person's limbs and bones indicate that we are not meat eaters! All living things eat either vegetation or flesh and accordingly, The Master of Nature designed them to have differing digestive systems, body structures and limbs. We can also recognize that humans were not designed to eat meat because when we see a cow, sheep, goat or chickens and the like alive, there is no inner urge or desire to eat them. Likewise, raw meat does not raise within us any desire or appetite. Quite the contrary, it is disgusting and repulsive even to look at. It is only when meat is roasted or cooked with vegetables that we can consider eating it or tolerate its smell, and it is only the aroma of the vegetables and spices overpowering the odor of the meat. Only then does one's desire for meat rise, only when it's smell, appearance and taste changes, only when it is impossible to recognize that it is a part of an animal. But this is not the case with the human desire for vegetables and fruit of the tree and the like. These produce strong natural feelings and call to us in a loving way: “Wondrous to behold and good to eat”. Can something be desirous to the eyes? (ח"כ' ישעי)”While still in his hand, it is swallowed”. See how much man desires fruits that God needed to warn him, “you should not stop learning because of this!”, for Rabbi Yaakov says, (ג"פ אבות)”If one is walking on the way and learning and interrupts their learning and says, “how beautiful is this tree or how pleasant is this ploughed field”, they bear guilt for their soul!”, A great desire awakens in their midst to taste the fruits and eat them fresh as they were created. Is this not enough proof that these are the natural foods for a person? And since eating meat is unnatural for a human, it follows that eating meat damages and shortens one's life. It is understood if one goes against nature it is impossible that nature will give them a pass and fill their days, for nature does not tolerate those who violate her; He does what he wants and she does what she wants; it is a silent but heavy war between them until the measure is filled then nature will vomit them out, as it says in the Torah, “I bring the heavens and the Earth to give witness” that Man was not created just to die and his problems only come as a result of gluttony and over indulgence. And if you find one in a thousand people who eats meat and is healthy and lives long, this is not normal and who knows if you will find someone like this, even one in a thousand! Most medical experts state in their books that all illnesses result from a meat based diet: since they have gone against nature. Likewise, all medicines are made from various plants in an attempt to align the sickened person, back to nature as the adage in the Talmud (ברכות מ) one who regularly consumes lentils prevents disease from his house and mustard prevents illness from his house.” And they say (ברכות מד”) leeks are beneficial for the intestine” and we have seen and heard; when one eats that which is intended they will feel no digestive pain. But after eating meat one experiences digestive difficulties because their system has not been built for eating meat but for vegetation. שיף. תרפ"ט הרב הבנשטרייט, יצחק. ספר קברות התאווה. רישא: הוצאת ר' ) (שלום.

And hunt game for me.” Why did Isaac request something that needed to be hunted? Didn’t he have an animal in his flock which tasted like deer? Did he need to send his son out to the forest? It seems obvious to me the Torah is teaching us the way to perceive meat- we should not see it as being easily accessible so that consuming meat does not become routine. As the verse says, ( Deuteronomy 12, 20) "according to every desire of your soul you may eat. But as the deer and the gazelle are eaten, so may you eat them;” implying that meat should be eaten at unset intervals as opposed to being consumed on a regular basis. Just as the deer and the gazelle are not found in one’s home as they are wild, undomesticated animals living in the desert and fields, they are seldom eaten due to ability to avoid traps and capture. As a consequence of being rarely caught, they are rarely eaten by people - this helps a person not become accustomed to regularly eating meat. Consuming meat gives rise to cruel and negative tendencies in an individual. All carnivorous birds eat flesh, likewise the lion thrashes its prey and eats it, and therefore it is prophesized, (Isaiah Chapter 11) “A lion like cattle, will eat straw”, for there will be peace in the world between all living things. Therefore Isaac said, “Go hunt for me” because he wanted to consume meat with the proper mindset and consideration.“ (כלי יקר, בראשית כז, ג).

Genesis- vegetation is man’s nourishment. The vision of the end of days- vegetation is man’s nourishment. One who is focused on wholesome worship of G-d will strive for high ideals. "Behold, I have given you every seed bearing herb, which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit; it will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and to all the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves upon the earth, in which there is a living spirit, every green herb to eat and it was so". (Genesis 1, 29) “And I will make a covenant for them on that day with the beasts of the field and with the fowl of the sky and the creeping things of the earth; and the bow, the sword, and war I will break off the earth, and I will let them lie down safely.” (Hosea 2, 20) “And a wolf shall live with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie with a kid; and a calf and a lion cub and a fatling [shall lie] together, and a small child shall lead them. And a cow and a bear shall graze together, their children shall lie; and a lion, like cattle, shall eat straw. And an infant shall play over the hole of an old snake and over the eyeball of an adder, a weaned child shall stretch forth his hand. They shall neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mount, for the land shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea bed". (Isaiah 11, 6-9)

Genesis- vegetation is man’s nourishment. The vision of the end of days- vegetation is man’s nourishment. One who is focused on wholesome worship of God will not allow themselves to take the easy path but will strive for high ideals. Rav Abraham Isaac Kook: ”We remember that in a wholesome state before the sin, Adam was commanded not to eat meat. Therefore we know that in the time to come, after the world is repaired, the heavens and earth will be revitalized, the nature of man and the beast will change to the majestic, then we will return to supreme moral sensitivity and accordingly it will be forbidden to kill an animal to eat their flesh.” (הרב קוק,חזון הצמחונות והשלום ב). “And I will make a covenant for them on that day with the beasts of the field and with the fowl of the sky and the creeping things of the earth; and the bow, the sword, and war I will break off the earth, and I will let them lie down safely.” (כ, ב הושע) Radak: this refers to Isaiah's prophecy:“And a wolf shall live with a lamb”, and that is discussed there.” “And a wolf shall live with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie with a kid; and a calf and a lion cub and a fatling [shall lie] together, and a small child shall lead them. And a cow and a bear shall graze together, their children shall lie; and a lion, like cattle, shall eat straw. And an infant shall play over the hole of an old snake and over the eyeball of an adder, a weaned child shall stretch forth his hand. They shall neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mount, for the land shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea bed" (ישעיהו יא, ו-ט)

שיעור מעניין מאד. תודה לרב על ההסבר לרשי המפורסם

The next Shiur will be Thursday 9/24 at 8:00 pm Chicago time.