(from Kol Simcha Parshat Bereishit #10)
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]
