Peace of the Field in a World of Hunters

The Torah doesn’t just tell you what to eat—it tells you how to live. And hidden inside kosher laws is a radical idea that could change how you work, earn, and survive.  

Kosher animals don’t hunt. 

The Gemara (Talmud Bavli, Chullin 59a) makes a striking observation: “אין לך מעלה גרה וטורף”. 

There is no animal that both chews cud and is predatory.   

The animals we are allowed to eat are, by design, non-aggressive. They live off what Hashem grows for them—grass, plants, whatever the earth gives. 

No chasing. No tearing. No stepping on others to survive. 

This begs the uncomfortable question: 

If the food that becomes our blood shapes who we are—as taught by Rambam and expanded in Sefer HaChinuch—what kind of person are we meant to become? 

First, let’s be honest. We live in a world that rewards the lion: 

🏋️The strongest win. 
🏋️The fastest close the deal. 
🏋️The sharpest outmaneuver everyone else. 

In fact, studies on workplace behavior (Harvard Business Review, 2020) show that highly competitive environments often reward aggressive tactics in the short term—even when they damage trust long term. 

Do Only the Strong Survive? 

The lion seems to win. The race might go to the swift, and the bread might go to the intelligent.  

Until it doesn’t. 

King David tells us (Psalms 34:11): “Young lions may lack and go hungry, but those who seek Hashem will not lack any good.” 

Why does the prayer we recite for eating a full meal include this? 

Because the lion relies on itself. A lion often goes days without eating because all its power, speed, and instinct are not enough to catch its prey. Most of the time, a lion’s effort to feed itself on the tearing apart of a weaker animal fails.  

The cow is different. The cow wakes up to a field already prepared. Sunlight fell. Rain came. Seeds grew. Billions of unseen microbes inside the cow’s four-chambered stomach — tiny creations of Hashem — turn simple grass into protein-rich nourishment.  

Low-value input, like grass, which has little protein, once digested through these microbes, becomes high-value muscle and flesh we consume as a big source of protein. 

Not through force. Through a system designed by God. And if you think about it, that’s your life too. 

You hustle. You plan. You push. 

But how much of your success really comes from your strength? 

👔The deal that “randomly” worked out. 
👔The connection you didn’t expect. 
👔The idea that came to you at the right moment. 

That’s not lion energy. That’s Hashem quietly feeding you in a field you didn’t plant. 

Now here comes the hard part. We are not just allowed to eat these animals—we are commanded to build ourselves from them. To internalize their nature. 

To become people who do not survive by preying on others. That doesn’t mean you don’t work. A cow still has to graze. But it doesn’t trample another animal to eat. 

There’s a difference between effort and aggression. Between initiative and exploitation. And this is where many people struggle. Because the voice in their head says: 

“If I don’t push harder than everyone else, I’ll fall behind.” 

But the Torah whispers something deeper: 

“If you rely only on yourself, you were never really ahead.” 

Kosher Emunah 

“I was young, and I have also grown old, yet I have never seen a righteous person abandoned…” — (Psalms 37:25) 

That’s not poetry. That’s a promise. 

So why does it feel like the lions are winning? Because you’re looking at the moment, not the system. The lion gets the spotlight. The cow gets consistency. The lion gets drama. The cow gets stability. The lion looks powerful. The cow is sustained. 

And deep down, every exhausted professional knows which one they actually want. Not just success. Peace. 

🌱A paycheck without panic. 
🌱A career without compromise. 
🌱A life that doesn’t feel like a constant hunt. 

Kosher isn’t just about food. It’s about identity. It’s about choosing to live in a world where Hashem provides—where your job is to show up, do your part, and trust that the field will be there. 

Not because you’re weak. 

Because you know the true meaning of strong. 

How Do I Live This?

• 🌿 Start your day with acknowledgment 
  Say: “Hashem, You are my Source—not my boss, not my client.”  

• 🐄 Do your hishtadlut (effort), not more 
  Work hard—but don’t cross into anxiety-driven overexertion.  

• 🚫 Avoid “predatory decisions” 
  If success requires hurting someone unjustly, it’s not your path.  

• 🌞 Notice the “grass moments” 
  Small, natural opportunities that come your way—these are your field.  

• 🙏 Pause before stress spirals 
  Ask: “Am I acting like a lion—or living like someone who trusts Hashem?”  

You don’t need to hunt. You were never meant to. You were meant to be sustained. And once you taste that kind of life—even a little—you realize something surprising: 

The field is calmer than the jungle. 

*** 

David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, 60,000 passionate Israelis, and Matilda, our local camel.