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Food
Shvat/5781
Just a Little Background
Uplift Our Food
We will uplift the way we eat, we all eat every day, but the question is; how are we going about this very physical experience? Are we living to eat, or eating to live? And that life that we live, we should live for Hashem!
So how can we uplift this? HOW CAN WE EAT FOR HASHEM?
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Raise Your Bar
PRACTICAL TIPS: we will break it down into the when, what, how, why, and where of how we eat:
· WHEN are we eating?
o Only eat after davening shacharis. This shows Hashem where are priorities lie; with Him! We want to spend time with Him before spending time with our physical needs.
o Along the same lines: try to daven mincha before eating a snack. Meaning, if it is in the afternoon and you are taking a snack to eat, that means you have time. See if you can go the extra mile for Hashem and daven mincha first. HASHEM FIRST! According to some, about mincha it is said that of all the tefilos, a person gets the most schar for davening mincha because it is smack in the middle of the day when we are so busy. When we put everything on hold for Hashem, it is a great statement to make!!
o When eating with a parent or by a meal, serve your parents first! When you serve your parents first, it is a sign of kavod, and you are in essence putting Hashem first! You are making a statement here; I am hungry, but you are more important.
o This is a tough one: see if you can set aside a certain food or a certain food group for Shabbos. It makes it so special for you on Shabbos if you refrained from it during the week.
· WHAT are we eating?
o Think about kashrus. This might be hard but Try to refrain from a lesser hechsher for just a week. Or a day. Or once a day. You know the expression, “you are what you eat”? So you don’t beCOME what you eat. But what you eat becomes a part of you! It is in you! Think about it!! Refraining from some of the physical pleasures of this world is called prishus; it is a very high level.
· HOW are we eating?
o This sounds funny, but Take small bites. It is a matter of manners, tzniyus.
o When making food for Shabbos, have kavanos. You can say likavod Shabbos Kodesh, or another pasuk. It is an actual thing that the kavanos you have when making a food become part of the food; it is one of the ingredients! I have mentioned this before, but I had a teacher (Mrs. R. K) who would whisper “Lev tahor brah li Elokim” when making her children food.
o Before bentching, take a moment to thank Hashem for the yummy, delicious food. It makes it more real for you.
o Another similar thing; before taking a bite of food, do bechina on the food; contemplate it. What does this mean? Think about what went into making the food in order for it to wind up on your plate. Realize that Hashem did all this, JUST SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE THAT PIECE OF FOOD! SPECIAL FOR YOU! You will then appreciate Hashem and everything He does for you!
Quoted from the book, Lights from Jerusalem by Sara Yoheved Rigler.
“Rav Shlomo Wolbe, z”l, recommended the following exercise: several times a day, before you eat a fruit, hold the fruit in your hand and contemplate the process Hashem initiated in order for you to have that particular fruit. For example, hold a tangerine in your hand and reflect on how from a tiny tangerine seed, a sapling grew. Over the span of a few years, Hashem provided lots of sunshine and water so that the sapling would grow into a tree. Then, last spring, hundreds of flowers — with an intoxicating fragrance – bloomed on the tree. Gradually the flowers fell away and a tiny, green fruit emerged. Over the period of eight months, the fruit grew larger and larger. Then it turned a bright orange color. Then someone picked it, and packed it, and shipped it to the store where you bought it. And Hashem was behind this whole process, just to present you with this tangerine, Then say the blessing, “Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the tree.” Then, with your eyes closed, bite into a section of tangerine. Relish its sweetness, its texture, its juiciness, its vitamin C, coming just when you need it in winter, and the way each tiny packet of juice is individually packaged. Then relish Hashem’s love for you that is expressed in this gift.”
Hashem did this all for you!! For _____, Hashem did all this!!! Now appreciate the food you are about to eat!
o Refrain from baal tashchis. I know, I know, we all heard this too many times; “someone on the other side of the world wishes they can eat what’s on your plate!” But honestly, in the Torah it says that we shouldn’t do baal tashchis; Yaakov and the pachim ketanim! Each and every thing in the world has a tachlis; and we are just going to throw it out? Stick it in the fridge, eat it tomorrow! Finish it now!
o Invite guests! Chances are, everyone will have a great time anyways! Hachnosas Orchim is a big thing. I once saw an ad in the lshem mitzvah section; a person was looking for a place to have the seder, he was looking for somewhere to eat! There are plenty of people like this!
o Help your mother! (this applies to those who are not the mother of the household).
§ Do the dishes
§ Give your mother a day off from making supper. Imagine how hard it is, day after day, making supper. Every. Single. Day. Surprise her!!
§ Help set up the table.
o When a parent comes home, (or anyone), offer them a cup of water. Imagine how it feels after a long day, when you come in and there your daughter is, waiting with a cup of water!
o Before bentching, simply say, “thank You, Hashem for the yummy food and drink!” It reframes your mind when you thank Hashem in your own words before you bentch.
o Surprise your friend who has corona and get her a pastry or a treat. I am telling you, it will MAKE. HER. DAY. Her week, even!! I am telling you from experience!! It is such a chesed! (You can do it even for someone who doesn’t have corona! WHOA, REALLY?? Yes, really!!)
WHERE am I eating?
o SIT! When you eat. It’s Halacha; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 42:2
o Eat inside. I was once babysitting a little neighbor of mine, he is only 6 or 7. I was walking with him and he got a treat; a bag of oodles. I told him, “You want me to open it? You can eat it!” He said “No, I don’t eat in the street.” I was blown away, he is only 6 or 7! I asked him, “who taught you that you shouldn’t eat in the street, your mother?” He’s like, “no one told me not to eat the street. I once was going somewhere and I saw a man walking while eating a whole sandwich, it looked so not nice, and I decided that from then on I am not eating in the street.” I was blown off my feet! But if a 6 or 7 year old is perceptive enough to realize how not nice it is to eat in the street….
WHY am I eating?
o Am I eating to live, or living to eat? Am I eating because I am bored? Maybe I can eat Shalosh Seudos even if I am so not hungry, we literally JUST finished our meal! Maybe I will wash for melave malka, because you know what? If I am doing it even if I am not in the mood, then I GET MORE SCHAR BECAUSE IT IS COMPLETELY LSHEM SHAMAYIM!! Remember the Modeh Ani song, in the chorus was the line, “Lshem ma, I’ll fight, keep my goal in sight.” So, Lshem ma? For what? Why am I doing what I am doing? Am I doing it for myself or for Hashem? What is my goal? To fill myself up with food, or to fill myself up with avodas Hashem, mitzvos, and love for the Eibishter? LSHEM MA??? I will FIGHT my yetzer hara to do it for YOU, Hashem. Because I love You! Because I want to do Your ratzon!! (Thank you Mrs. R. K. for teaching this Lshem ma concept!)
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Let's Explore
Food
The Talmud (Yoma 74b) teaches, “The blind eat but are not satisfied.” The commentators explain that a blind person cannot be truly satisfied by his food because he cannot see his food. What does it mean to be “blind” when it comes to eating? What does it mean to be unable to “see” one’s food?
Aside from its literal meaning, perhaps this statement has a spiritual meaning as well. For our purposes, we might suggest that this has a deeper philosophical message for us. If we remain “blind” to the supraphysical dimension of eating, we cannot derive satisfaction from our food. Consider Elizabeth Bowen’s wise adage, “We can live in the shadow of an idea without grasping it.” Too many Torah-observant Jews live out our lives without ever really grasping the idea of eating; we live in its shadow. And we miss the most important lessons, lessons that have significance for all of the rest of our lives. We miss out on an important relationship with G-d. We cannot afford to remain “blind” to the full dimension of the eating experience.
To be successful at eating, to be able to derive the full-spectrum nourishment that food has to offer our bodies and our souls, and to be able to stop eating after we have become satiated – for all of that, we dare not remain “blind.” Indeed, the Talmud is telling us something profound. If we remain “blind” to or oblivious of the true significance of eating, we will not – indeed, cannot – attain true s’viah (complete satisfaction). If we cannot see the food for what it is – i.e., a gift from G-d and an expression of His love for us – then our eating and our relationship with food will be a never-ending source of frustration for us. If we remain “blind” to the true significance of our eating, we will be incapable of extracting the nutrients and deriving the satisfaction we need from our food, the satisfaction that will allow us to eat properly and moderately.
There are two dimensions to a person’s eating – that is, we seek two things from the food we eat: sustenance for our body and sustenance for our soul. Our body seeks its nutrients, and our soul seeks its nutrients. Amazingly, food has the ability to provide nutrients for both components of a human being. Food offers vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and other materials essential for the human body to function, repair it, and thrive. In addition, food has the capacity to provide evidence of Divine interest, love, confidence, and protection for the human soul to function, repair itself, and thrive – IF we know how to derive these life-giving elements. Accordingly, if used properly, food plays two important roles – that is, it provides two benefits. It offers physical fuel for the body, and spiritual sustenance as well. Sadly, most people are oblivious to the spiritual dimension – and it costs us in a “big” way! To differentiate between the two dimensions, let us use the following terminology: A person eats to be “filled” and to be “fulfilled” – he seeks to “fill” his body and to “fulfill” his soul. The fallacy for most of us is that we undervalue the importance of “fulfillment,” when in reality it is the more important of the two elements.
Only a small percentage of eating takes place to nourish the body. Most eating takes place because people are trying to nourish their souls. In other words, people begin to eat to nourish their bodies; if they continue eating or, more importantly, if they can’t stop eating, it is because they haven’t been able to acquire the nourishment for their soul that they crave. A person will continue to eat until he has attained both.
What they seek, usually subconsciously, is “fulfillment.” Their souls seek G-d’s presence in the food – their souls seek their nourishment from the food.
If we don’t have the right hashkafah (spiritual outlook), if we don’t learn how to extract the real nutrients we need from the food we eat, then we, will be doomed to wail, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” And the reason is simple: Our neshamas (souls) aren’t getting their share!
In Devarim (8:10): “v’achalta v’savata uveirachta”.
The Rabbis explain:
* “You shall eat”: You shall ingest the food and derive the physical nourishment the food has to offer. [i.e., You shall be filled.]
* “You shall be satisfied”: You shall consider the spiritual implications inherent in the food and derive the non-physical nourishment the food has to offer. [i.e., You shall be fulfilled.]
* Then, and only then, when you have derived the full-spectrum nourishment that food has to offer and you are truly both filled and fulfilled – can you fully and wholeheartedly, with the totality of your being, “bless G-d.”
“All of a person’s efforts are for his mouth, but the soul is not filled.” (Koheles 6:7)
Most people believe that the first commandment that the A-mighty gave Adam and Eve was a prohibition against eating from the Tree of Knowledge. This commandment is often understood as an expression of G-d’s desire to forbid – or, at least, restrict – the physical pleasure and enjoyment of worldly delights allowed to humankind. The author of the Meshech Chochmah, R. Meir Simcha of D’vinsk (the “Ohr Somayach”), explains that the first commandment addressed to the first humans was, in fact, a positive commandment: “From every tree in the garden you shall surely eat” (Bereshis 2:16), followed only then by the qualifying restriction not to eat from the one forbidden tree. The goodness and enjoyability of the world and the creation of countless delights were not mere frivolous, unnecessary auxiliaries, unrelated to the mission of humankind. The A-mighty put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden so that they could enjoy the pleasures and delights that He had created. The prohibition of eating from the Tree of Knowledge was a minor modification of the expansive positive commandment to eat from all the trees in the Garden.
The A-mighty allowed and hallowed much more than He forbade. Note this fundamental lesson: Adam and Eve failed to observe and abide by the prohibition because they did not derive “fulfillment” from the food they had already eaten. Since they failed to appreciate the spiritual component of [i.e., G-d’s love for them and His desire that they enjoy all the delights of the Garden, delights that He had created as an expression of His love for them] the food they were allowed to eat, they were not satisfied by the food they ate. They desired more because they lacked a spiritual infusion. They had not received it from the food they had eaten. That’s why they ate from the forbidden tree – because they believed that it could offer them spiritual sustenance, sustenance that they had not derived from the food they were eating. Why didn’t they derive sustenance from the food they had eaten? Because they had failed to extract all the nutrients the food had to offer them.
MUCH OF THIS WRITEUP IS TAKEN FROM AN ARTICLE BY RABBI CARY A. FRIEDMAN CALLED “AND YOU SHALL EAT AND BE SATISFIED”. Here is the link: And-You-Shall-Eat-and-Be-Satisfied.pdf
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