Cohn, Jacob. The Royal Table - VWC: Faculty/Staff Web

30 THE ROYAL TABLE
whose prototype is the patriarch Jacob, must ever strive
for this state of perfection, and this striving is the very
destiny of Israel, and only because of it is Israel able to
overcome all its adversaries.
Scripture states distinctly that there are national reasons
for the prohibition of the unclean animals, birds, and fish.
"For you are a holy people unto the Lord your God, and
the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured people from
among all the peoples
on the face of the earth. Ye shall
eat nothing abominable. These are the animals which you
may eat, the ox, the sheep, the goat . . ." (Deut. XIV,
2-4 ff.). Israel regards itself as a people chosen by God
for a high purpose, to establish the kingdom of godly men
on earth, and it is not to eat all the abominations which
the other nations consume. Aside from its intrinsic hal-
lowing effect on the soul association with things loathsome
degrades one's character there is a special point
to this
-abstinence: to impress upon the Israelite that he is differ-