Most of us accustomed to keeping the prohibition against mixing milk and meat find little religious meaning behind it. All the command seems to do is prevent us from enjoying a cheeseburger. For the foodies among us, these laws mean that we are prevented from using more than half of all gourmet recipes. This is not to mention the inconvenience of keeping separate dishes and waiting the requisite amount of time after eating meatballs before having the ice cream. While these nuisances will always be with us, we might find these rules less annoying once we understand their significance.

Nahmanides notices that a verse in this week’s parashah (Deuteronomy 14:21) appears to conflate two disparate ideas into the same verse. The middle of the verse states that we are holy to God. Then, it commands, “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk,” which our sages understand as prohibiting the mixture of milk and meat. While we tend not to associate separating milk and meat with holiness, Nahmanides finds a deeper connection between the two ideas. He argues that mixing milk and meat is not prohibited because it is abominable. Refraining from mixing milk and meat makes us holy by inculcating ourselves with compassion, since cooking a child in its mother’s milk is cruel. Even though our sages expand the meaning of the verse beyond its literal understanding to include all milk and meat, the concept behind the injunction remains. This is because all milk comes from mothers or animals that have the ability to nurse. Similarly, animals to be slaughtered nurse from their mother. Mixing milk and meat thus mixes death with that which gives life.

By separating milk and meat, we bring ourselves to have greater sensitivity towards others. The goal is not necessarily to have compassion on animals. Elsewhere, Nahmanides (Deuteronomy 22:6-7) argues that had God the desire to extend His full mercy on all creatures, He would have forbidden the consumption of all meat. The Torah allows us to eat meat, the permission of which appears in this week’s parashah (Deuteronomy 12:20). Nonetheless, we can still enjoy meat in a manner that develops our feelings of compassion. By acting compassionately we become holy and deserve God’s designation of us as a holy people.