Perfuming the Pig

False is grace, and vain is beauty; a G‑d-fearing woman, she should be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and she will be praised at the gates by her very own deeds. – A Woman of Valor (Mishlei 31:10-31) 

Did you know that besides Botox, one of the anti-aging substances that people inject into their faces is pig collagen?  The unspoken message is that if someone’s face is wrinkle-free, then the interior is just as young. 

We live in an age where the rich and powerful make superficial or cosmetic changes in an effort to disguise fundamental failings. Hence the phrase “perfuming the pig”.  

Baruch Hashem, Hashem makes it clear for us to see the truth beyond the disguises.   

The Kosher Pig 

A pig parades its appearance to the world and says, “I am a kosher animal – just look at my split hooves.” 

If we focus on outer appearances only, then anyone can look as kosher as Miss Piggy. The pig looks acceptable to us if we look at only the externals. Searching for anything deeper would uncover what the pig desperately tries to hide – that it is treif, unkosher.  

The world is not about what we see with our physical eyes. The Torah tells us that we cannot rely on our own senses to make decisions and that the world around us is not only what we see.  

Hashem’s Torah guides our choices and relates to what we cannot see. We cannot see Hashem, but we trust that everything He says is true. If we look a little bit deeper into anything, He is clearly there.  

The pig is the opposite. If we don’t look past his exterior characteristics, his split hooves render him fit for our Shabbat table. When we investigate further, we find that the pig doesn’t chew his cud – rendering it absolutely treif.   

“Split Hoof” People 

Edom is represented by the pig. Why? The pig wallows in filth yet sticks out its split hoofs and says, “I am kosher”. Similarly, Edom is haughty, violent, and steals in a way that appears kosher. (Vayikra Rabbah 13:5, Section E) 

Edom’s philosophy is that everything that looks good . . . is good. For example, there are people in the entertainment industry and in social media who focus on their external appearance to convince us how pure and beautiful they are.  

But what is their underlying agenda? What are they drawing us to do?  

They are drawing us to sin, to desire and fantasize about what Hashem expressly forbids.  

The celebrities, many of whom are married, are acting to get others to sin. They use their beauty to entice us, to have thoughts of adultery. In essence, they say, if I am so beautiful, then everything I do is beautiful. Look at my split hooves – I’m kosher, so of course you can have me! 

Just like the pig – when we look a little bit below the beautiful exterior, we see the most detestable filth. For example, to “split hoof” people, it’s not “mutilation”, it’s gender reassignment. It’s not “sodomy”, it’s same sex marriage. It’s not “perversion”, it’s alternative lifestyle. It’s not “rebellion against our Creator”, it’s personal liberties.  

Kosher People – Am Yisrael 

What makes am Yisrael so special is Hashem’s gift of discrimination. We are commanded by our King to refrain from what He deems to be treif.  

For example, put a piece of kosher cheese on a piece of kosher meat. The resulting cheeseburger is treif even though the individual foods are kosher. Put a piece of treif bacon with kosher eggs. The bacon makes the kosher eggs treif; the kosher eggs do not make the bacon kosher.  

There are foods we cannot eat. There are things we cannot do. There are times when we cannot act.  

What distinguishes am Yisrael from all other nations is that we must be holy both inside and out. Our choices and decisions are not based on what the beautiful “split hoof” people say. Rather, they are based upon what Hashem commands as right and wrong, permitted and forbidden.  

If something looks beautiful, it means absolutely nothing unless Hashem says it’s beautiful. If an act looks holy, it is holy only if Hashem commands that we do it.  

We are Jews. We are Hashem’s nation. We are princes and princesses – children of the King of Kings.  

Let the “split hoof people” of this world feast on pork. Am Yisrael is far above SPAM^®.  

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, Center Stage Marketing, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.