Rav Simcha
Bunim zt”l of Peshischa on Parshat Bereishit
(from
Kol Simcha
Parshat Bereishit #10)
Adam's
Vegetarianism
Print Version
Two verses following man's creation (Bereishit 1:29-30)
outline man's and animal's vegetarian diets.
29: "Said G-d, 'Behold I have given you all the
seed-bearing vegetation on the face of the earth,
along with every tree that has seed bearing fruit.
They will be for you for food. 30: "'And to all
the animals of the earth and to all the birds of
the heavens and to all those that crawl on the ground
that have a living soul, [I have given] all green
vegetation for food.' And it was so."
These verses, notes Rav Simcha Bunim, present a
number of difficulties:
- Instead of, "Behold
I have given you . . . They will be for you
to eat," it should have said, "Behold I have
given you . . . to eat." "They will be for you,"
seems superfluous.
- "And it was so,"
in the second verse also seems superfluous.
- Even without the
expression "I have given you," the verse would
still have read smoothly. Why is it there?
- One can infer
from this verse a prohibition against eating
meat; if so, why is it not mentioned along with
the prohibition to eat of the Tree of Knowledge?
- It is curious
that along with the sins of the generation of
the Flood, who seemed to break every other rule
in the book, eating meat is not mentioned.
- According to the
Ramban, the fruit of trees was restricted to
man. Animals could only eat other vegetation.
If so, there seems to also be a prohibition
against animals eating fruit. How is it possible
to speak of a command to the animals?
Making one basic
assumption, says Rav Simcha Bunim, we can answer
all of the above questions. Before G-d made this
declaration nothing, even fruit or vegetables,
was edible. It was only through this declaration
that fruits and vegetables became edible to man
and vegetation to animals.
Meat was never prohibited to man and the fruit
of trees were not prohibited to animals; they
were simply not edible. Man's only prohibition
was not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge and no
command of any kind was ever given to the animals.
The generation of the Flood, even had they wanted
to, could not have eaten meat!
The seemingly superfluous expressions (questions
1-3) now take on significance and both verses
read clearly. G-d is now giving man and
animals food through His declaration. From the
declaration on, they will be food; hence, the
expression, "They will be for you to eat."
And when the declaration was finished it was now
appropriate for the Torah's narration to say,
at the end of verse 30, "And it was so."
And it was that the fruits, vegetables and grasses
now became transformed into food for man and animals.
[prepared
by Eliezer Kwass]
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