Timeless Torah

That the Torah is not some pristine, lily-white document that shies away from the more animalistic nature of man is well documented. Beginning already in Genesis, we come across fratricide, incest, mass executions, adultery, and a host of other undesirable characters and their moral lapses. Simply put, the Holy Scriptures are not for the squeamish or the prudes among us. It deals with life with all of its glory, and at the same time, all of its gore.

A corollary of this Torah attitude is the willingness to set forth mitzvot (commandments) whose purpose is to sublimate the physical drives of man. A case in point is the laws of kosher that appear in last week’s Biblical portion. Eating, as we are all only too aware, is one of many activities that has the capacity to arouse the animal within us. Remarks such as, “You eat like a pig” and “Please, eat like a mentsch,” underscore the truism that there is a beast that lurks beneath our civilized veneer.

It is for that very reason (among others) that the Torah formulated the dietary rules. Instead of preaching abstinence and fasting as part of a master plan to uproot the desire for food, it actually mandates eating so that we may utilize the even physical in the service of the Almighty. Similarly, this week’s Scriptural reading reflects the need for holiness in the area of marital relations. Not because of hygienic considerations or social reasons, but solely due to the understanding that man is comprised of body as well as soul. Thus even biology can and must be made holy.

This idea is consistent with a Midrash on the Solomonic text from Song of Songs. In chapter seven, the verse suggestively states, “Your belly is like a heap of wheat set about with roses.” In the original Hebrew, the phrase, “set about” has the connotation of “fenced off.” This readily acceptable translation provoked the Sages to ask: “Since when does one fence off a field with roses?” Wouldn’t it make more sense to close off the property with gates? And if one were reduced to using plants, wouldn’t thorns or brambles serve as a better deterrent to unlawful entry?

The Midrash’s answer provides a singularly Jewish view of the most profound relationship in human existence, that between a man and a woman. “A man longs to see himself under the bridal canopy, because there is no day more dear to a man than the day on which he will rejoice with his wife. Thus he comes to be with her and she says to him, ‘I saw a rose’ (i.e. I saw a drop of menstrual blood). He separates himself from her and she separates herself from him.”