“You shall be men of holiness to me. You must not eat flesh torn in the field, but you should throw it to the dog.” (Shemos 22:30)

Rashi has a problem with this verse. Non kosher meat is allowed to be sold to a non-Jew, so why does the verse specify the meat to be given to a dog? Rashi answers his question with a verse from Parshas Bo – when the Jews were leaving Egypt, the dogs did not bark. Even though non kosher meat could be sold to a non-Jew, the Torah here states the dog in our verse to reward the dog for not barking. Hashem does not withhold reward from any of his creatures.

I recently heard a very interesting question from Rav Eli Mansour regarding this verse. The dogs certainly did a Kiddish Hashem and deserved reward for not barking, but there was another animal that did a Kiddush Hashem in Egypt also: the frogs. During the second plague, the frogs jumped into ovens full of fire for the honor of G-d. Since the frogs also did a Kiddush Hashem, why doesn’t the Torah mention a reward for the frogs also? Rav Mansour gives an amazing answer: we see from here that it is a bigger Kiddush Hashem for someone who usually barks to remain quiet than to jump into a fire! It is better to break a habit than to kill oneself to praise Hashem’s Name! This shows us the amazing power of breaking a habit.

It is not easy to break a habit. Rav Yisroel Salanter stated it is easier for a person to complete every chapter of Gemara than to change one bad character trait. Think about this. There are 2711 pages of Gemara – it takes almost seven and a half years to complete every page of Gemara by learning 1 page a day (which takes about 45 minutes to an hour each day) – remember there are NO days off! It is certainly a great accomplishment to be able to complete every page of Gemara, but breaking a bad habit is even greater!

Years ago, there was a Mashgiach (spiritual advisor) at a yeshiva who was known as having an angry temper. One day, one of the students had the guts to ask him how the Mashgiach could be the spiritual advisor with such a bad temper. The Mashgiach stated he has been easily angered ever since he was a young child, and has continuously worked on himself to improve. Although he still got angry, he stated he improved greatly over the years. Although he still had a long way to go, he worked every day and was getting better every day. This is a very inspiring thought to hear! We don’t have to be perfect – but if we continuously work on ourselves, we will improve. And each improvement is worth a great reward.

As I am writing this, my neighbor’s dog is barking very loudly. Dogs still bark. But for one night, the dogs held back from barking and received a great reward. Every step we take towards improving ourselves is worth a great reward!

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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