Why a pig as ‘the’ overwhelming symbol of that which is not Kosher — who’s the pig today?
Who’s the real ‘pig of empire’ and/or the real thug/pig who drives it? Who really needs to be de-Nazified and who is ‘the real Nazi pig’ in our own time?
The pig was chosen as ‘the’ overwhelming symbol of that which is Treif, — so, who’s the pig today . . . here’s a seal of a real pig . . . oh, and there’s more.
Here’s a hint, it is not the accused ‘Neighborhood Bully’ — here is Bob Dylan’s ode to those accused of being the bully, and yet they fight on in the face of adversity for their very survival. He doesn’t need a ride, he needs ammunition.
Well, he got no allies to really speak of
What he gets he must pay for, he don’t get it out of love
He buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease
Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon
He’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand
In bed with nobody, under no one’s command
He’s the neighborhood bully.
____
Rabbi Seth Frisch / מהרש״ף
Director, Lerhaus Bet Midrash: A Newshul of Jewish Thought and Learning
www.newshulofamerica.org
(215) 385-0778
Why a pig as ‘the’ overwhelming symbol of that which is Treif (or not Kosher)? and who might be these same pigs and boars of today . . . ‘pigs do get slaughtered,’ but not before the devastation they bring with them . . .
——
Notes: The Sages, primarily of the Land of Israel, especially those noted among the last of the remaining leadership of the Jewish community (as coded and as noted in the Passover Haggadah) suffering under Roman rule, resisted the Roman Empire with all they had at their disposal. After the devastating revolts of 66–73 C.E. (the ‘Great Revolt’) and the 132–135 C.E. (or the ‘Bar Kochba Rebellion’) — the Jewish community found itself repeatedly subject to devastating massacres and humiliations — including charges that they were the barbarians and needed to be brought under Pax Romana, or more to the pint, the yoke of Roman despotic and tyrannical rule. And yet they persevered, as shown by their continued defiance in the face of repeated Roman inflicted mass destruction, massacres and the “rule of Rome imposed tyranny.”
While Romans thought that Jews were odd because they would not eat pork, the rabbis responded by saying that Romans are themselves pigs. By referring to Romans as rapacious boars and hypocritical pigs, rabbinic writers implied that Rome, rather than being an enlightened society that transcended Jewish superstition, grotesquely embodied the very object of its people’s (or Romanb) indulgence. Their so called mercenary army of thugs emblazoned their crest and standards with the Boar.
First Samuel 25:25
Pig and Boar: “K’shmo Kein Hu”– “for as his name is, so is he: “Putrid” (“Naval”) is his name, and “naval/putrid” is he” — כִּי כִשְׁמוֹ כֶּן-הוּא–נָבָל שְׁמוֹ, וּנְבָלָה עִמּוֹ
Warm regards,
Seth
