Nourish Your Biblical Roots

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Schalem from here in the Holy Land. Welcome to the
Nourish Your Biblical Roots podcast. I'm your host, ya el Estein,
President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Each week, we'll explore the Jewish roots of your Christian
faith and nourish those roots with inspirational insights and ancient

(00:29):
teachings that are so relevant to our lives. Today, let's
get started. On today's podcast, We're going to explore the
topic of kindness, of virtue that both Jews and Christians
hold as a supreme value. I'm going to share some

(00:52):
Jewish teachings on the Bible versus that we will study
today that will shed some light on what is considered
true kindness and what isn't. You may be surprised to
find out that the definition of true kindness is not
as simple as you might think. We will also talk
about the reward of performing true acts of kindness and
how these acts can impact our lives in ways we

(01:14):
could never imagine. The verses that we'll study today are
from Leviticus eleven thirteen to nineteen. I'll read them to you.
These are the birds you are to regard as unclean
and not to eat because they are unclean. The eagle,
the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind

(01:35):
of black kite, and any kind of raven, the horned owl,
the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the
little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl,
the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, and any kind
of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. Those you shall

(01:57):
not eat. As you might have picked up, these verses
discuss the kind of birds that are forbidden for consumption,
or as we would say, un kosher. In general, this
section of the Bible deals with the laws regarding all
permissible and forbidden foods, what we call kosher and un
kosher food. Now, before we go on, I want to

(02:19):
clarify what kosher is, and also to clarify a few
things about kosher food. A lot of people think that
it has to do with the food that is considered
clean and not clean, or blessed and unblessed. But really
what kosher means is that the food fits in with
the guidelines set out by God in the Bible. And

(02:42):
while Orthodox Jews like me believe in keeping these ancient
laws and I've kept kosher for my entire life. We
do not believe or put on anyone else who's not
Jewish that they need to keep these laws. Eating only
kosher was not always easy for Jews. You didn't know
what was in the recipe, you didn't know what was
in the food that you were eating. There was no

(03:04):
regulating body. But these days, the truth is it's not
hard to keep kosher in modern countries like America where
I grew up. I remember going into any supermarket and
always looking for the oh you on the package. You'll
see this on a lot of American food products. It's
a OH with a U inside of it, and it

(03:25):
stands for Orthodox Union. And as soon as I saw
the symbol on the food, I would know that it
was certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, and therefore it
means that it's kosher and I could eat it. It
was so much fun going through the supermarket and looking
for that little sign on the food that I wanted
to eat. I remember the disappointment when a food that

(03:46):
I wanted to eat didn't have it, but I would
move on and find something else that had it. And
today so much food in American supermarkets are kosher, And
so if you've ever wondered what that symbol means, now
you know it is where I'm blessed to live. Now
I don't even really need a look for that, oh
you on the supermarket shelves, because most supermarkets in Israel

(04:09):
only carry kosher food. You will never find un kosher
products like pig or shellfish, or milk mixed with meat
in most Israeli supermarkets. If you want to find those things,
you have to look really hard and actually go to
a specialty store for food that's not kosher. It's hard
to find. But even within the kosher restrictions, you'll find

(04:31):
a whole lot of delicious food that's made in the
Holy Land. And I really hope that you'll be able
to come to Israel and try it for yourself one day.
I know a lot of people have come to Israel
say that the fruits and vegetables, which are all grown
here locally, are the most delicious they've ever tasted. And
I guess that makes sense, as they're part of prophecy
the Bible coming to bloom. But back to our verses.

(04:54):
You may think that the verses that we're looking at
today are only relevant to those who only eat kosher
foods because talking about all the different birds that you're
allowed to eat according to the Bible or not. However,
the truth is that these verses contain guidance and messages
that apply to us all. We know that when we
read a Biblical verse, there's so much just below the

(05:17):
surface that it's trying to tell us. You have to
read the words, but you also have to listen to
the heart. We're trying to figure out what's the underlying
message here. What is God trying to tell all of us,
those who keep kosher and those who don't by this verse?
And so we have an amazing teaching where the Jewish
age is taught on this specific verse. That most of

(05:39):
the birds mentioned have obvious negative traits. Most of them
are cruel birds of prey. The fact that the Bible
forbids them indicates that we should learn not to be
like them. We should be kind, not cruel, We should
help others, not prey upon the innocent. All of these

(06:01):
make sense for all of the birds mentioned in the list. However,
there's one bird on the list of forbidden birds that
seems out of place in Hebrew. The verse refers to
a bird called the hassi da. The name Rasida stems
from the Hebrew word ksid, which means kindness, and so
why can't we eat it? According to Jewish tradition, when

(06:22):
God created the world, he brought every creature to Adam,
and Adam could see the essence of each creature, and
he gave it a fitting name in Hebrew. Those are
the names that we call them in the Bible. So,
for example, a donkey, which symbolizes physical labor, is called
ahamur in Hebrew, which stems from the word homer, which

(06:44):
means physical matter, and so the name for donkey and
Hebrew literally translates as physical matter for this animal that
symbolizes physical labor. How fitting. I also heard a beautiful
interpretation of the Hebrew word for dog, which I'm not
sure Adam had in mind, but as a dog owner
and dog lover myself, this teaching completely resonates with me.

(07:09):
In Hebrew, a dog is called a klev, and it
can be broken into two other words kulo lev and
what that means is all heart. I like to think
that Adam looked at the dogs and saw that they
are all heart, and that's why he named them kelev,

(07:30):
which literally means all heart. So if names of creatures
reflect a creature's essence, then a rassi da bird named
forresed kindness must be a very kind bird. Why would
it be on the list of non kosher birds. The
Jewish sages explained that the rassi da bird was indeed

(07:52):
a kind bird, but kind only to those who she loved.
When it came to those outsides her inner circle, she
was no longer kind. And what the Bible is telling
us is that that is not kosher. You can't only
be kind to the people close to you and mean

(08:13):
to those outside. That's not called I said, that's not
called kindness. True kindness demands that we are kind to
all kinds of people, people we like and people we
don't love, people we know, people that we've never met before.
It's easy to help out a good friend, but what

(08:35):
this verse is teaching us is can you go the
distance for a stranger in need? We have to ask
ourselves that it's wonderful to be a parent or grandparent
that gives generously to your own children or grandchildren, But
are you generous to children in need who you don't
know and you might never meet. It's natural to want

(08:55):
to help a nice, sweet, kind person who fell on
a hard time. But can you be kind to an
embittered person who's angry, who doesn't have a nice look
on their face, but who badly needs your help. If
we are only kind to those we enjoy giving too,

(09:15):
then it isn't really kindness. We're simply making ourselves feel good.
True kindness, biblical kindness, is when we help someone else
without receiving anything at all in return. I remember I
learned this lesson firsthand when we had a special Chabbat guest.

(09:36):
You see, I like to have a lot of guests
at my house every Shabbot for the lunch meal on Saturday.
We have sometimes twenty thirty forty people at our house,
and it's so nice. The kids are all playing and
the adults are talking, and we laugh and we share
Bible stories and different lessons we learned. It's just time

(09:59):
to connect. And one time my husband brought back, like often,
someone from the synagogue who needed a place to eat lunch.
This does happen all the time, but what was unique
about this time is that I didn't really like the
person he brought back. The truth is, I never met
this person before, but he just didn't come in giving

(10:20):
me a warm feeling. He felt a little bit outgoing
in an obnoxious way. He felt safe, of course, because
that would be a red line, but he just wasn't
nice to be around. And I think my husband sensed
that as soon as he came in with this man
who needed a place to eat, that my energy shifted.

(10:43):
I wasn't so nice, I wasn't so inviting, I wasn't
so outgoing. I wasn't so happy to have him there.
And you could feel it. And when we were in
the kitchen, my husband said to me, ye Elle, we
don't invite guests because of what they can do for us.
We invite them because of what we can do for them.
And suddenly everything shifted. My husband's words extend to all

(11:09):
acts of kindness. It has to be only about the recipient,
without any expectation to receive anything in return. Now, ideally
kindness is only about the recipient. But if we enjoy
helping others, that's a good thing. I enjoy having people
over for shabbatmil, but the focus has to always be

(11:29):
on the recipient that even when I don't enjoy it,
if there's someone who needs me, I will be there
for him, and I won't expect anything in return. In
the Jewish tradition, the ultimate kindness that a person can
do is called emmet. It's to take care of the
person who died, to prepare the body for burial, to

(11:52):
bury the body in a respectful way, to honor the deceased.
Why is this one of the ultimate kindnesses that a
per can do Because it's the most selfless act. It's
impossible for the recipient to repay the kindness. Sometimes we
might look like we are being kind, and we may

(12:13):
even think that we are being kind. But if the
goal of our actions is just to make ourselves feel good,
we've kind of missed the point. Real kindness takes work.
It's giving physically and emotionally. It requires us to be generous,
both with our resources and with our love. However, while
true kindness requires us to be completely selfless, it's also

(12:36):
the kind of kindness that ultimately we greatly benefit from.
In the end. There is a story told about one
of the great sages, Rabbi Akiva, who lived when the
Second Temple was destroyed. The story goes that Rabbi Akiva
was on a ship. As he caught sight of another
ship going down. He knew a great trust scholar who

(12:57):
was on that ship, and he assumed that he had.
Later on, Rabbikiva came across that scholar and was astounded
that he was alive. How did you survive, Rabbikiva asked.
The man replied, it must have been your prayers. I
was tossed from a wave to another wave until I
found myself safely on shore. Unsatisfied with answer, Rabbi Akiva

(13:22):
pressed him. Was there some great deed that you did
before you boarded the ship that you should be worthy
of being saved? The man explained there was a beggar
who approached me as I was boarding the ship, and
I gave him my one loaf of bread. He thanked
me and said, just as you have saved my life,
may God save yours. Rabbi Akiva understood the man's selfless

(13:47):
act of kindness ended up saving his own life. He
proclaimed the words from Ecclesiastes eleven to one, cast your
bread upon the waters, for after many days you will
find it again. True kindness is like a boomerang. Eventually
it returns to the person who first cast it out.

(14:07):
Into the world. I want to end with an amazing
true story that I recently heard that powerfully demonstrates this idea.
It was during the height of the First Antifada in
Israel around nineteen eighty nine, an Idea of soldier named
Godi Ramon was shot outside the Arab town of Ramala.
The Arab gunman assumed that he was dead and he

(14:29):
moved on. It was just then that a young Israeli
named Shlomo Bergmann saw Godi on the side of the road.
He picked him up, put him in his car, and
sped to the nearest emergency room. As soon as they
got to the hospital, the chief resident took over. He
called for blood and trauma staff and wheeled Godi into surgery.
Shlomo saw that there was nothing else left that he

(14:51):
could do, and so he left. Minutes after Shlomo left,
Godi's parents arrived several hours later. The doctor told Goddi's
pairs that the surgery was going well and their son
would live. It was two weeks later that Godi returned
to his home in Ushtood. His mother, Tamar Ramon, tried
desperately to find the boy that saved her son's life.

(15:13):
But she had no way to identify him. She made
phone calls and put up signs asking for any information
that could help them find the boy that saved their son, Gadi,
including at the grocery store where they owned and worked.
Almost a year later, Anna Bergmann, the mother of Shlomo Bergmann,
was visiting friends in Ushstood and she stopped in at

(15:34):
the Ramone family supermarket and she saw one of the posters.
She realized that the poster was describing her son. She
walked over to Missus Ramon, who was working at the
cash register, and asked her who put up the sign.
When Missus Ramon said that it was her, Missus Bergmann
stared at her in disbelief. She said, I can't believe

(15:57):
that you are the mother of the soldier that my
son saved. Look at me, don't you remember me? I'm
so sorry. Missus Ramond said, but I don't recognize you.
I meet a lot of people here at the grocery store.
Have we met? Missus Bergmann replied, twenty two years ago.
My husband and I lived here in us Stood with
our two children. One day I came into your supermarket

(16:20):
and I was crying. I was pregnant at the time,
and I was about to arrange with my doctor to
end the pregnancy. I was crying because I didn't really
want to end the pregnancy, but because of our financial situation,
we felt that we had no choice. You and your
husband overheard my conversation, took me aside and sat down
with me for hours. You lovingly listened to me and

(16:42):
encouraged me. You gave me advice and guidance, and helped
me figure out a financial plan that in the end,
I did not go through with the abortion because of it.
That precious child that I gave birth to was Shlomo,
the boy who saved your son's life. As tears poured

(17:03):
down both of their cheeks, Missus Bergmann hugged missus Ramon
and said, you saved my child, and in return, he
saved yours. When Missus Ramon helped Missus Bergmann, she had
nothing to gain and no selfish agenda. It was true
kindness for a person she did not even know, and

(17:24):
yet she benefited in the greatest way possible. Our job,
my friends, is to offer selfless kindness to all kinds
of people without any expectation of receiving anything in return.
And yet at the same time, we can be encouraged
knowing that God never forgets our good deeds and He

(17:44):
will repay us in exactly the right way at the
right time. This is a great time to reflect on
our acts of kindness and to practice being truly kind
to all kinds of people. Can you offer to help
a friend in need without any expectation to receive anything
in return. Can you help someone who turns to you
for help, even if you are not in the mood

(18:05):
to do so. Can you do something kind for complete
stranger this week? With every act of kindness, we create
a kinder, more godly world. God is good to all people,
and we are created in God's image, and so we
should be two chevue of my friends have a wonderful

(18:25):
week from here in the Holy Land. Thank you for
listening to the Nourish Your Biblical Roots podcast. If you
like what you have heard, visit me at my biblicalroots
dot org for more of my teachings, videos, blogs and books.
You can also follow me on Instagram at ya Elle

(18:47):
Underscore Exstein or on Facebook at Yea el Exstein. Shalom
and see you next week.