This week’s Torah portion is Shemini, which discusses the animals that are kosher and chew their cud and have split hooves, and the animals that have one sign or the other and are not kosher. The Lubavitcher Rebbe says this portion is a proof to those who doubt that the Torah is given by the Almighty. Up until this day, there have never been any other animals found to contain these signs exept those enumerated in the Torah. Everything is exactly as the Torah writes and nothing has changed throughout thousands of years. This obviously shows that the Almighty created the world and dictated which animals would be kosher and which would not.
This is also a good time to think about the importance for a Jew of eating kosher. Kosher food affects our minds and hearts. It affects the way we see things and the way we feel. It affects our character traits. that is why we are forbidden from eating animals that are carnivores or are cruel.
What is the idea of animal chewing its cud? A cow will chew it’s food over and over again. This is the idea of thinking over and over before making a decision on something.
Split hooves is the idea of not being totally connected to the earth, to the material level of existence. It is the idea of rising about the world and living a more spiritual life.
As we can see, everything has a spiritual source and benefit. It behooves us to learn more Torah and come to understand more and more so we can worship the Almighty with joy and with self nullification.