וידום אהרן . Aaron was rewarded for his silence in 10,3 when G–d spoke to him exclusively in 10,9. We are to learn from this that we must accept with good grace what appear to be G–d's strictures and afflictions.

ובגדיכם לא תפרומו . The reason that the priests must not rend their garments (10,6) is connected with their function as a sign of honor and dignity. We can apply the treatment to be accorded to these garments to the treatment we must accord to our bodies. The body is the garment of the soul. How much more insulting would it be to the soul if our body, its showpiece, would be torn, i.e. would bear signs of the sins we have committed!

הייטב בעיני ה' . The difficulty with this verse (10,19) is that Aaron does not explain to Moses that the general rules -pertaining to who eats these parts of the sacrifices as well as when and where- do not apply in this case. Must we assume that Moses was unaware of when exceptions to the general rules apply? The answer is that Moses was certainly well aware of the validity of Aaron's argument. In this case it was the fact that he was angry which caused him to err in his interpretation of the law. In verse 16 Moses was reported as angry. When Aaron spoke to him soothingly in verse 19, Moses responded in verse 20 by acknowledging his error. The Torah is anxious to demonstrate that Moses did not need Aaron to remind him of the law. The knowledge came back to him a soon as his anger subsided. Rabbi Menachem Habavli uses this episode to point out how important it is to "keep one's cool."

Concerning the physical peculiarities which determine which living creatures we may eat: Rabbi Menachem HaBavli writes about the reasons for these various identifying marks of mammals, fish and fowl. It all has to do with the fact that, figuratively speaking, the souls are hewn from beneath the throne of G–d [the "throne" being perceived as sort of a Celestial quarry. Ed.]. Scales and fins on fish are perceived as a protective cover, shield. In a gloss the author makes the point that fish with scales and fins occupy the upper clear parts of the waters, whereas those which do not have fins and scales usually are found in lower, more murky parts of the water.

Any creature whose habitat is water is not only considered unfit to eat unless it possesses both fins and scales (11,9), but it is also described as שקץ, an abomination. Were we to consume them as food, the impure nature of such creatures would cause spiritual damage to the holy nation of Israel. Such damage would become recognizable, something which is not the case when the Gentiles consume such fish or crustacea, because the latter are so used to impurity that they have developed a tolerance for it. We know from many experiments that if someone ingests toxic agents on a regular basis he can develop his tolerance for such substances. The same is true with the tolerance the Gentiles have developed for foodstuffs outlawed for us by the Torah as "impure." Total health of the soul, נפש, depends among other factors also on a totally healthy body. Since everything that is impure similarly has its root in an emanation which is the root of all impurity, anyone who derives gratification from such impure things automatically imbibes something of the spiritual domain where such impurity originates. Impurity has a habit of rising towards its origin, i.e. its spiritual domain and as such it exercises a potentially lethal influence on the נשמה, the higher soul.

את אלה תשקצו מן העוף . This is the prohibition not to eat an עוף טמא, "impure" category of bird (11,13).

There follows the prohibition not to eat certain kinds of grasshoppers, as well as all categories of insects. ...

The reason for all this may be that we could have thought that any of these creatures which are so mobile that they can fly anywhere would be immune to impurity attaching itself to them. The Torah is more concerned with the source of food of these creatures. Anyone consuming them also absorbs some of the impurity absorbed by these creatures on a regular basis. The fact that even insects which do not develop through the standard process of the male fertilizing the female are also prohibited, teaches that size has nothing to do with the negative effect which creatures described by the Torah as impure exert on those who consume them.