In this week’s parsha, the Torah forbids eating a certain ligament called the gid hanasheh. This seems extraneous, since the Gemara tells us that the ligament is tasteless and inedible, and the we know that halachically, according to Jewish law, any inedible ligament is not kosher. Why then is this seemingly obvious prohibition explained in detail in our parsha? One classic answer is that Hashem wanted to give the Jews extra credit, a bonus. Not only would we not eat it for other halachic reasons, we wouldn’t even eat it for health reasons, still we get credit.
Another, deeper way, is to backtrack to Yaakov’s mysterious fight with an angel, and how he is hurt in his gid hanasheh. One can understand this to mean that he was hurt spiritually, and that the gid hanasheh is the one part of the body the yetzer hara, evil inclination, was able to get hold of. The Torah then would logically prohibit the eating of the gid hanasheh to teach a lesson about the yetzer hara. It does not benefit one in the next world, nor in this world. All it leaves behind is complete waste, as with the gid hanasheh which we know is inedible.
The above was taken from a Sicha by Rabbi Leventhal of the Old City in Jerusalem.
Gematria of the Week
The gematria of “Ahava” love, is 13. Hashem shows special love to his people through the thirteen attributes of mercy. Coincidence? You decide.