We begin Tractate Chulin which discusses the laws of slaughter and other aspects of kosher food. The Maaseh Rokeach often mines the legal declarations of the Mishna for hints at mystical truths. Regarding Chulin’s placement after the laws of sacrifices, he states that this follows the verses in Vayikra which first discuss the laws of sacrifices and then the laws of kosher. But what is the deeper meaning to that order? Eating itself is to be viewed as a form of sacrifice. The consumption of food to empower the body to serve God can be as powerful symbolically and intentionally as offering a sacrifice on the altar. It depends on the person’s kavvana.

This is part of the meaning that “The Table in one’s home can serve as an altar” (Menachos 97a). And interestingly, Maaseh Rokeach points out that the word Chulin and Shulchan share four identical Hebrew letters ches-vav-lamed-nun. The only difference is the yud in Chulin and the Shin in Shulchan. According to one order of At-Bash-like Hebrew letter analysis, the Shin and Yud are parallel letters. (I’ll explain this system shortly.) Therefore the message is that your Chulin food is only superficially profane, but actually hidden within it is a holy Shulchan and altar by which to live a life of devotion and Godly service.

Now to explain this particular letter system, which is called Al-Bam:If you line up the Hebrew alphabet in two rows, from aleph to kaf, and then with a line underneath, you write lamed through Tav, aleph will be parallel to lamed, Beis to mem, and so on. This makes Yud and Shin parallel. Parallelism from the mystical perspective represents the duality of the lower physical form and the higher spiritual manifestation. Parallels are equivalent, or at least comparable in some way. Just as the Yud and the Shin are parallel and thus upper and lower manifestations of the same Godly truth, so too the Chulin on the Shulchan parallel to the Temple sacrifice in a hidden inner way.

In a certain way, one can argue from the mystical standpoint, really from God’s standpoint, all is one and everything contains everything since it all comes from God. In human terms, certain places and experiences feel closer to God because they somehow allow for more perception of God. So offering a sacrifice at the Temple in a designated and holy place allows for a greater sense of the sacred (see Moreh Nevuchim III:47, beginning of chapter.) At the same time it’s a representation of an idea that could be true in a broader sense. Just as Yom Kippur is an intensely available moment for repentance, but we could repent any day. So too, the Temple service is a high representation of sacrifice to God, but simply eating and living properly to serve God can also be sacrifice and service.