short vort from the Rebbe on this week's פרשה, Parshas Shemini. One of the things we learn about in this week's parsha is the description of what makes a בהמה כשר, what makes an animal kosher. And the pasuk gives us two simanim, two signs. One is מפרסת פרסה ושוסעת שסע, which means that it has hooves, but the hooves are split. And the second thing is מעלת גרה. מעלת גרה means that it chews its cud, which means that when the food goes in and gets digested, it comes up again and gets digested again. It digests after it digests. These are the two simanim. Now, everything that we learn in the Torah has a רוחניותדיקע meaning besides the physical halacha, simple pshat of the pasuk that that's the only animals we're allowed to eat. But it also has a spiritual meaning that's in Chasidus and in drush that we can learn out from these halachot that the Torah tells us. The beheima represents the beheima of the person, the animal that's in the person. That's the animalistic soul. Every person has a נפש הבהמית, an animalistic soul, which gets involved in all the גשמיותדיקע needs of the person. All the גשמיותדיקע needs of the person are done through the נפש הבהמית, the animalistic soul, which is eating, drinking, sleeping, and etc. But we have to make sure, the Torah tells us, that the beheima that we have should be a כשר'ע בהמה, which means that when the beheima, which is the נפש הבהמית, works with the גשמיותדיקע things, gets involved in all the גשמיותדיקע needs of a person, it should be in a proper way, it should be in a kosher way, and not chas v'shalom the opposite. So the Torah tells us what a כשר נפש הבהמית means, that he's involved in גשמיות, but nevertheless it remains kosher. So the Torah says there are two simanim that have to be, which means two things have to happen.

Number one, מפרסת פרסה. מפרסת פרסה means it has a hoof, but it's a split hoof. The hoof is the bottom of the foot of the animal with which it steps on the ground. And that hoof is the separation between the foot of the animal and the floor. The floor, the physical floor represents the גשמיות, the חומריות, the materialistic things. That's what the floor represents, the earth, that's the גשמיותדיקע things. So there has to be, number one, a separation between the person, the animal, even the animal, and the floor. That means that you have to have your your limitations of how much you get involved. There has to be a separation. It's not just anything גשמיות that you want to do you should do. There has to be a separation between the person, even the legs of the בהמה, which means the legs of the נפש הבהמית, which is the lowest part of the נפש הבהמית, which gets close to the gashmiyut, also has to be separate from the gashmiyut. And has you have to do it, you have to do it, but it has to be with הגבלות, with limitations. But besides that, there has to be a split in the middle. What does a split in the middle mean? A split in the middle means that the light could come in in between. That means that you have to have the פרסה which separates between the person, the בהמה, the נפש הבהמית, and the floor, it should be in such a way that the ruchniyut, the light, should be able to shine in and elevate it. You have to get involved in gashmiyut, and you have to have הגבלות which gashmiyut you have to get involved, and how much you have to be involved, that's first of all, that's the fact that you have the hoof, and it has to have an ability of the light to shine in to guide the person, which is means to guide the נפש הבהמית of the person, that whatever it gets involved in gashmiyut should be able to bring light, which represents kedusha, into it. That you have to have involvement in gashmiyut also with the light of ruchniyut, with the light of kedusha that you should use everything l'shem shamayim and do everything in a holy way. Then there's another thing the Rebbe says: what is the idea of the split hoof? Split hoof means there are two sides to it. Two sides means the right and the left. Now, we know the right

represents kiruv, chesed, closeness, the left represents gevura, strength, which means really things which are not chesed, but gevura. What we have to do is serve Hashem when we do serve Hashem with our נפש הבהמית, when we take the gashmiyut that we're involved in and we use it for Hashem, for kedusha, we have to use it in both קווים, in both ways. Sometimes we have to use it with chesed, sometimes they have to use it with gevura, because the Torah has both. So we can't just stick to one side, and only things which seem to be chesed a person is going to bring to kedusha, but things which seems to be gevura, that a person would not get involved, or somebody the opposite, things which are in gevura he'll get involved with chesed not. You have to have both, which represents everything of the person, that you have to utilize your gashmiyut of your בהמה, and you have to let the light come in in both sides, whether it's chesed or gevura, you have to be involved in both. And then you have the second סימן, which is מעלת גרה, it chews its cud, which means that the food that goes in and ge- gets digested, comes up again and gets digested again, which means it makes it that it's definitely the digested properly 100%. Now in ruchniyut that means that when a person works with the נפש הבהמית, and he's involved in gashmiyusdike things, you can't rely on just once thinking, \"Oh, this is a fine thing, and this is worthwhile to do, this is a right thing to do with this gashmiyus.\" You have to think about it again, you have to chew it again, and chew it again and chew it again, to make sure that really this is the right thing. You can't just rely on just thinking for one moment, \"You know, it sounds like this is a good idea, this sounds right, I'll do it.\" You got to try again and again to be 100% sure that this is what you want. And

only when you have these two סימנים, the fact that it's that you have the hoof, which is the separation, not everything that in gashmiyus you get involved in, and then when you do get involved there is a split, which means the light comes in, and you use both kavim, and also you make sure you think twice, three times, a few times before you really decide to do it, then you know your nefesh habehamit is a kasher nefesh habehamit, it's a kasher animal, and you will fulfill the will of Hashem of getting involved with gashmiyus, but not for the purpose of gashmiyus, but for the purpose of making the תחתונים, the gashmiyus into a דירה לו יתברך, a dwelling place for Hashem.