You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your cattle gender with a diverse kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; neither shall you wear a garment [of shatnez; i.e., wool and linen]
So I asked around at the time for some Rabinnical interpretation of this passage. Here's what my orthodox friend Eric had to say:
To use an analogy that Rabbi Teitelbaum once used: it's like walking into the cockpit of an airplane, pointing at one specific switch, and asking: "what's that for?" In other words, you need a big picture view of what's going on in Leviticus as a context.
[A bit of background that will be used later. "Mishpatim", which is commonly translated as laws, are considered to be the kinds of laws that have a rational basis for them, and that any civilized society ought to be able to come up with: do not murder, do not steal, etc., are the most obvious examples. "Chukim", commonly translated as "statutes", are those that do not have a rational basis, those that we do because Torah/G-d says so. Kosher is, for the most part a 'chok', for example]
A _slightly_ bigger picture view is the name of the parsha itself (that is, the name of the parsha that has chapter 19 in it). It's called "Kedoshim", and it's named after the first sentence in the parsha: "You shall be holy".
A key point is to understand that the word for holy, kiddush also means separate, or distinct. In order to make 'sacred the mundane', there must be some separation between the sacred and the mundane, else it's all the same. When we elevate the mundane, we are making it distinct. (Thus, for example, we mark the end of Shabbat with "Havdallah," which also means separation. We are noting the "separation" of Shabbat and the other six days."
I'd like to go back to chapter 18 to help set up this context. In chapter 18 we read a whole long list of prohibited sexual relationships. Interestingly, they are more or less listed in the order of descreasing levels of "closeness" of the relationship (listed first, e.g., is relations with one's parent, then siblings, then aunts and uncles, and the list ends with a prohibition of relations between humans and animals). In a sense, we are proscribing separateness among those ordinarily close (well, except towards the end of the list, when it's mandating separation among things that are naturally separate to begin with).
In other words, in order to be "holy", in part, we need to keep a degree of "separation."
So, we have this notion of separateness -- and then (in chpt 19) we read about separating species from each other and mixing the sewing of seed and keeping separate wool and linen (shatnez).
An obvious connection.
Let's explore deeper.
We have: (19:1) you shall be holy. Then we have moral/ethical rules between people (love your neighbor, etc.) Then we have:
19:19 You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your cattle gender with a diverse kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; neither shall you wear a garment [of shatnez; i.e., wool and linen]
(Note "statutes" here is "chukim" -- precisely those rules that have no apparent purpose).
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch notes the progression: (as described by R. Elie Munk) "with the command to love other humans, the Torah reaches the high point of the ethics that guide the relationships between one person and another -- but starting with v.19, we are now directed downward to the immense world or animal and vegetable life which opens at our feet, in order to show us that this world also abides by Divine law."
"To R. Avraham Saba, author of Sefer Tzror HaMor, the thread linking the various laws of this chapter is the duty to maintain the harmonious order of nature as G-d created it. Having proclaimed this principle in sexual and social relations, the Torah turn to the prohibitions against crossbreeding in the plant and animal worlds." Munk points out that "Chok" is the root, also, of "egraving", as in: these rules and/or the separation of the species was a rule engraved into the Universe at the start of Creation.
More specifically with these rules: the Rambam further points out that ordinarily, animals of different species will not breed together unless forced - which is cruel and indecent. Little wonder, many point out, that the "natural" result of such crossbreeding yields an animal, such as a mule, which is sterile. (A kind of statement by "Nature" or "G-d" that such crossbreeding is not-natural, and can not persist on it's own -- "engraved" into nature).
As far as linen and wool: many have grappled with this. Rambam calls is a true "chok" -- non-rational. R' Hoffman suggests that the Torah has prohibited the mixture of the two materials most often used in making garments in order to have the idea of separation of the species recognized in the domain of clothing.
Similarly, the sewing of seeds of different species is the idea of separation extended to the agricultural realm.
The Leviticus 19 commandment not to mix seeds is normally interpreted to mean using two different kinds of seed on the same field at the same time. Literally, mixing seeds. It has never been interpreted to have any bearing on either cross-breeding or genetic modification. If it had been, observant Jews would not be allowed to consume most crops in the past, nor in the present, because they would not be kosher.
Why do I bring this up now? First, because the National Academy of Sciences has yet another report out today on GM foods. Second, because I just stumbled upon another look at the halachic approach to GM foods from Askmoses.com:
Although there are instances of genetic material of non-kosher animals being used in kosher foods, to date, no one has succeeded in demonstrating that this renders the food non-kosher. The issues are complex, and require a thorough knowledge of halachic precedent to date.
On the other hand, are we allowed to mess around with species in this manner? This is a whole other issue. The debate centers around the words of the outstanding medieval Jewish scholar, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (known as "the Ramban" or Nachmanides—not to be confused with his predecessor, the Rambam). Concerning the Biblical prohibition of grafting trees or cross-breeding animals, he writes that this is forbidden for a reason of cosmic import: It disturbs the fundamental path of nature. He calls this act, "obnoxious and vain." Humankind, he says, is given the right to make use of the Creation and to dominate it, but not to disturb its fundamental nature. Speciation is G-d’s business, and off limits to human beings.
The Ramban has a significant retractor on this point: Rabbi Yehuda Lowe (aka "the Maharal of Prague), who lived a few hundred years later. The Maharal, with support from the Talmud, asserts that any change that human beings introduce into the world already existed in potential when the world was created. All that humans do is bring that potential into actuality. The Torah prohibition against cross-breeding is specific to Jewish people and only under the conditions specified by the Torah. Once performed, a Jew is permitted to benefit from the results. I have not come across a significant argument that the current procedures of genetic engineering constitute cross-breeding as prohibited by the Torah.
The AskMoses commentary continues with some speculations about the environmental and health impacts of genetic modification -- speculations which have no scientific foundation, of course, just anti-GM activist PR. Such is life in the food wars.
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