Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses what objects are permitted and which are forbidden to use as a shechitta knife:

“…one may slaughter with any item that cuts, except for the serrated side of the harvest sickle, a saw, the teeth of an animal when attached to its jawbone, and a fingernail, because they are serrated and they consequently strangle the animal and do not cut its windpipe and gullet as required.”

There is a strange and fascinating Midrash which quotes this teaching and also asserts that God will make an exception to this rule and allow shechitta through a fingernail (Vayikra Rabbah 13:3):

Rav said: The mitzvos were given to Israel only to refine mankind with them. Why to that extent? “He is a shield for all who rely on Him (Proverbs 30:5). Rabbi Yudan ben Rabbi Shimon said: The Behemoth and the Leviathan will engage in an animal fight before the righteous in the future. Anyone who was not a spectator at the animal fights of the nations of the world in this world, will merit to see it in the World to Come. How will they be slaughtered? The Behemoth will stab the Leviathan with its horns and tear it open, and the Leviathan will smash the Behemoth with its fins and stab it to death. The Sages say: Is this a valid ritual slaughter? But did we not learn: …one may slaughter with any item, except for the serrated side of the harvest sickle, a saw, the teeth of an animal, and a fingernail, because they strangle? Rabbi Avin bar Kahana said: The Holy One blessed be He said: … a novel Torah ruling will emerge from Me. Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: The Holy One blessed be He is destined to make a feast for His righteous servants in the future, and anyone who did not partake of unslaughtered carcasses in this world will be privileged to see it in the World to Come.”

Let us try to make some sense of this Midrash by noting its key elements and themes:

1. In the opening, it establishes a principle that, at least in a certain aspect, Mitzvos are not intrinsic requirements but rather given by God to shape and refine mankind. By way of metaphor, let us say that teaching a child self-control and discipline is intrinsically valuable. Parents and educators may impose various exercises and rules to cultivate discipline and self-control. The rules themselves may be more arbitrary, but the idea is intrinsic.

2. There seems to be a factor of appropriate indulgence versus inappropriate indulgence. Therefore, this feast in the future of the Leviathan and spectacle of the fight is a privilege that is only available to those who delayed gratification and did not indulge in materialism and physicality in this world.

3. Two powerful forces collide and slaughter each other, the Leviathan and the Behemoth.

4. Even though their slaughter was not ritually permitted, God makes an exception and allows the righteous to enjoy this experience.

Taken as a whole, this Midrash seems to be referring to the idea that those who did not indulge themselves in this world will ultimately, at the right time, derive that benefit and enjoyment in the future. However, this is too simple. If God is generous and wants us to enjoy, what is the point of waiting for some grand feast in the future — why not give it to us now? Why be withholding?

Mesilas Yesharim opens with this very assertion:

“Behold, what our sages, of blessed memory, have taught us is that man was created solely to delight in God and to derive pleasure in the radiance of the Shechina (divine presence). For this is the true delight and the greatest pleasure that can possibly exist. The place of this pleasure is, in truth, in Olam Haba (the World to Come). For it was created expressly for this purpose.”

So of course the deeper point is that there is a spiritual benefit that is impossible to obtain without going through the process of character and spiritual refinement by observing the Torah laws in this world. It is being compared to delaying gratification and having the feast later, but the metaphor fails because it can’t really be a physical feast. Rather it is an intense enjoyment that comes from being connected to God, which the closest metaphor is that of a great feast. (See Rambam commentary on Mishna Sanhedrin, introduction to Perek Chelek.) The idea of a feast is an apt metaphor, because food represents converting physical matter into something far more meaningful. The food we eat becomes fuel, which allows our body to perform devotional physical and spiritual actions. So too, the feast in the world to come will be a conversion of the physical efforts into something deep and spiritual. When we understand it this way, it is easier to see why slaughtering according to the ritual manner is not required at that time, because the purpose of the Mitzvos, to refine human character and elevate them, has already been accomplished and therefore those particular rules are not required.

One aspect of the metaphor that requires more explanation is what do both of these two beasts represent? Likutei Torah (Shemini 1) explains that each of these beasts represents a particular way in which the righteous engage or disengage with the forces of this world. The Leviathan is a deep sea creature. This represents a particular approach of asceticism and retreat from the world. The Leviathan is great and mighty, but hardly ever seen. Then there are righteous who engage with the world physically, enjoy appropriately and connect with people and elevate them. This is like a regular beast on land, a giant ox, if you will. Powerful and imposing, but can be domesticated. Both of these approaches are necessary to be integrated to refine the soul and achieve the ultimate purposes of the Torah. That is why this feast at the end of days culminates with the battle and slaughtering of these two great beasts and their ultimate consumption in a celebratory feast. Those who integrated all the principles of the Torah correctly, who knew when to retreat from the world and when to engage, will ultimately be able to enjoy in the purest sense the greatest pleasure of attachment to God, which is metaphorically represented by a giant feast.