'The following creatures of the air are to be detestable for you -- they are not to be eaten, they are a detestable thing: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, the kite, the various kinds of buzzards, the various kinds of ravens, ... the stork, ....
ואת־אלה תשׁקצו מן־העוף לא יאכלו שׁקץ הם את־הנשׁר ואת־הפרס ואת העזניה׃
ואת־הדאה ואת־האיה למינה׃ ...
... ואת החסידה
(Lev 11:13-19 CJB)
In Chulin 63a, the Talmud states that the Hebrew name for the white stork is חסידה, because it acts with kindness towards its friends.
The Rambam notes that the birds enumerated in this text as unfit for consumption are so because they are cruel scavengers, and that if so, due to its kindness, the stork should be allowed.
But the Kidushei Harim answers to this argument: The stork does favor only for those that are is friends. Since it does notdo kindness to strangers, it is considered unclean. Chesed, to be valid, must be practiced towards anyone, not just one's friends!
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:
It seems that the Master taught along the same lines.
When associating the injunction to love Hashem with all our hearts, mind, and possessions with the concept of loving our neighbor like ourselves, the Master was challenged with the question, 'Who is my neighbors? (Luke 10:30-37).
The Master addressed the challenge with a parable. In the parable, a traveler between Jerusalem and Jericho was attacked by robbers and was left for dead. A priest and a levite and left passed by him and not wanting to soil them ritual purity with blood left the man by the side of the road. Next came a Samaritan, a man who was an enemy of the Jews. This Samaritan cared for the wounded Jew at his own expense. This was a true example of kindness that is not limited to one's own friends or kin.
The Master also said,
"You have heard that our fathers were told, 'Love your neighbor -- and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Then you will become children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. What reward do you get if you love only those who love you? Why, even tax-collectors do that! And if you are friendly only to your friends, are you doing anything out of the ordinary? Even the Goyim do that! Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Mat 5:43-48 CJB)
In all the previous examples of that chapter, the master elucidates in the practical obedience of actual Commandments. But in this one He says, You have heard that our fathers were told, 'Love your neighbor -- and hate your enemy.'. To hate one's enemy is not in the Commandments. Why did He then say that? Yeshua was simply reacting to the dogmas of the society of his days. By mentioning that the fathers were told to hate their enemies, Yeshua was simply referring to one of these 'traditions of men' which negate the commandment of God. In this text, Yeshua actually equates the ability to love and pray for one's enemies with being 'perfect', just like the Father in Heaven who 'makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike' is 'perfect'.
ואת־אלה תשׁקצו מן־העוף לא יאכלו שׁקץ הם את־הנשׁר ואת־הפרס ואת העזניה׃
ואת־הדאה ואת־האיה למינה׃ ...
... ואת החסידה
(Lev 11:13-19 CJB)
In Chulin 63a, the Talmud states that the Hebrew name for the white stork is חסידה, because it acts with kindness towards its friends.
The Rambam notes that the birds enumerated in this text as unfit for consumption are so because they are cruel scavengers, and that if so, due to its kindness, the stork should be allowed.
But the Kidushei Harim answers to this argument: The stork does favor only for those that are is friends. Since it does notdo kindness to strangers, it is considered unclean. Chesed, to be valid, must be practiced towards anyone, not just one's friends!
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:
It seems that the Master taught along the same lines.
When associating the injunction to love Hashem with all our hearts, mind, and possessions with the concept of loving our neighbor like ourselves, the Master was challenged with the question, 'Who is my neighbors? (Luke 10:30-37).
The Master addressed the challenge with a parable. In the parable, a traveler between Jerusalem and Jericho was attacked by robbers and was left for dead. A priest and a levite and left passed by him and not wanting to soil them ritual purity with blood left the man by the side of the road. Next came a Samaritan, a man who was an enemy of the Jews. This Samaritan cared for the wounded Jew at his own expense. This was a true example of kindness that is not limited to one's own friends or kin.
The Master also said,
"You have heard that our fathers were told, 'Love your neighbor -- and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Then you will become children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. What reward do you get if you love only those who love you? Why, even tax-collectors do that! And if you are friendly only to your friends, are you doing anything out of the ordinary? Even the Goyim do that! Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Mat 5:43-48 CJB)
In all the previous examples of that chapter, the master elucidates in the practical obedience of actual Commandments. But in this one He says, You have heard that our fathers were told, 'Love your neighbor -- and hate your enemy.'. To hate one's enemy is not in the Commandments. Why did He then say that? Yeshua was simply reacting to the dogmas of the society of his days. By mentioning that the fathers were told to hate their enemies, Yeshua was simply referring to one of these 'traditions of men' which negate the commandment of God. In this text, Yeshua actually equates the ability to love and pray for one's enemies with being 'perfect', just like the Father in Heaven who 'makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike' is 'perfect'.
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