In this week's Torah portion we read about the two distinguishing signs of a Kosher animal: It chews its cud and has split hooves.
What lesson can we, as humans, learn from these two signs?
An animal uses its feet to move around and interact with the world around it. For a person, split hooves represents possessing an external refinement in the way we go about our lives and interact with the world around us. That in our actions we are able to employ nuance, balanced judgement and sensitivity.
An animal chews its cud to further breakdown and refine its food before completely swallowing it. For a person this represents an internal refinement and carefulness in what we "digest" -- that is, what we allow ourselves to absorb to become part and parcel of our inner self, our mind and heart.
So as we read this Torah portion, let us endeavor to not only see how we can better employ kosher standards to what we eat, but also to take the lessons learnt from the Torah's signs for a kosher animal and apply it to our lives.