[Avodah] D'rabanan vs. D'oraita

[Marty Bluke]

R' Michael Makovi wrote:
<I don't really like the model of mitzvot having intrinsic effects on
the universe. For example, when I eat treif, or when I put on
tefillin, I don't really <think anything spiritual is happening in the
universe.

Eating non-kosher it would seem is intrinsically harmful for a
person's soul even if they eat it b'heter.

The Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh Deah Siman 81 paskens that a Jewish baby
is allowed to have a non-Jewish wet nurse, however the Shulchan Aruch
says that you shouldn't do it because the non-kosher food will harm
the baby spiritually. Likewise the Rama there states that a Jewish
woman who needs to eat non-kosher food for health reasons should not
nurse her baby because the non-kosher food will harm him. The Gra
comments that 1 of the sources of this din is the Medrash in Parshas
Shemos. The pasuk says they brought a nursing woman from the Jews, the
Medrash brought down by Rashi comments that Moshe refused to nurse
from an Egyptian woman because he was going to grow up and be a Navi
so how could he eat non-kosher food. In other words, the non-kosher
food would have affected his soul and made it impossible for him to be
the Navi that he became.

The Ran in his Drashos says this explicitly. In the 11th drasha he
discusses why Halacha is decided by Chachamim and not Neviim. He asks
the following question. He says that if a Chacham makes a mistake and
permits a forbidden food it is like a doctor who makes a mistake and
gives a patient poison instead of medicine. In both cases the person
is harmed. If so, why don't we have Neviim decide halacha with nevua
and there would be no mistakes? He answers that nevua is not always
available (see the drasha for more details). He then explains that
even though eating non-kosher food is harmful the mitzva of listening
to Chachamim may counterbalance the harmful effects. In any case, we
see clearly from the Ran that non-kosher is objectively poison and
harmful even if you eat it b'heter.

R' Moshe (Orach Chaim 2:88) quotes a teshuva of the Chasam Sofer where
he discusses a handicapped girl in the following situation. If she
stayed at home she would never develop and remain an ayno bar daas.
However, if the parents sent her to a special school they claimed that
she would reach the potential of a 13-14 year old. However, the school
was in a non-Jewish area and there was no possibility of providing
kosher food. The Chassam Sofer said that al pi din it is muttar,
however he recommends against sending her for the following reason. If
they send her she will become a bar daas and be chayav in mitzvos.
However, the non-kosher food will affect her lev and she will probably
violate torah and mitzvos and therefore it is better for her to remain
an ayno bar daas.

We see clearly that this idea that any non-kosher food is metamtem
halev, meaning it has intrinsic effects, even if eaten b'heter (the
girl was a ketana and an ayno bar daas so there was no issur).