Page 4 - The Jewish Voice - March '20

Page 4, The Jewish Voice

From the Rabbis from page 3 The rabbi answered, “The Bible writes, ‘You should eat The desire for food, teaches the Baal Shem Tov, is a
the (second) tithes of your grain …. Before G-d your G-d, deep longing to connect with a world that needs fixing. This
Eating for a Greater and in (Jerusalem) … in order that you will learn to fear G-d fixing, which brings inner fulfilment and accomplishment, is
your G-d for all time.’
achieved in the case of food, when the connection is made
Holier Purpose “From here we see that when the right people are sitting with the G-dly spark inside. When we make a blessing
at a table, with the correct attitude, in a proper atmosphere, before eating kosher food and keep in mind that this act is
By Rabbi Shlomo Ezagui and they gather with the express purpose to use this for the sake of giving us energy to make this world a more
People eat for all kinds opportunity to stir the hearts of each other, by sharing stories G-dly place, we have already fixed another spark in this
of reasons. When they’re of great holy people, it is possible to reach the elevated universe in the food we just ingested.
lonely, when they’re quality and virtue, fear of G-d.” The Bible also says it is possible, “you might then eat
anxious, angry, happy, sad, Food not only serves the needs of our bodies and our and be satisfied, build good houses, and live in them……as
bored, tired — and on and intellectual and emotional needs, food and drinks can also your heart becomes arrogant you (might) forget G-d your
on it goes. help strengthen and nourish the spiritual needs and aims of G-d.” It’s a double-edged sword.
So we do agree, our the soul. We can take the food in our hands and realize how
interest in food is not limited In the book of Psalms King David says, “They wandered blessed we are to see, smell, touch, and enjoy the food
to its nutritional value but as in the wilderness in a path of desolation ….hungry also and give thanks to G-d for this, not taking for granted this
well to fulfill psychological thirsty their soul languished with them….” On this verse, incredible gift. Or, we can gluttonously grab the food to
and emotional drives and the Baal Shem Tov taught a great mystical principle. feed and strengthen the pleasure seeking, self-indulgent
needs. The hunger and thirst a person has for food and drink side within ourselves.
There is a rule in mysticism that everything we see is derives from deep down inside the soul. The G-dly soul, Every time we eat, we can either master the food by
just a symptom, an indication, an exterior expression of sent down here to this world to fulfill its mission to make deciding what, when, and how we will eat, or, the food
an underlying spiritual current and energy. The reason a G-dly abode of this physical world, seeks and craves the becomes our master. It tells us, what, when, and how to eat
something appears and is true in this physical world is G-dly sparks inside the food, to uplift and transform the it and then, we’ve become subservient to it.
because, underlying what we see, is a spiritual root and otherwise physical food to a higher purpose. Rabbi Shlomo Ezagui is spiritual leader of Chabad
basis for this physical reality. The G-dly soul within every person is like a candle, House Lubavitch of Palm Beach. Contact him at
It was once asked of Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa, always dancing and flickering upward, with a constant Rabbi@chabadpalmbeach.org, 624-7004, or www.
a great hasidic master in the early 1800s in Poland, “Why do never-ending thirst to fulfill its purpose. When the soul is chabadpalmbeach.org.
Hasidim spend time sitting, eating, and drinking with each not able to reach and satisfy its raison d’etre it languishes,
other, when that precious time can be better spent praying and as a result the person many times subconsciously feels
and studying the Bible?” emptiness within their lives.

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