In this week’s Parsha, Yaakov Bentches his children prior to his death. In the Brachos to Yehuda, we find an illusion to the abundance of wine in his portion of the land:
אסרי לגפן עירה ולשורקה בני אתונו
The abundance will be such that they can launder their clothing with wine. Similarly by Asher, the Torah says,
מאשר שמינה לחמו והוא יתן מעדני מלך
The Torah attaches significance to abundance of food. We find in the Shabbos Zmiros:
להתענג בתענוגים ברבורים ושליו ודגים
Literally translated as ” To endulge in delights, fowl, quail, and fish.” In fact the ירושלמי writes:
עתיד אדם ליתן את הדין על מה שראו עיניו ולא נהנה מהם
The Torah seems to encourage indulgence in food and the pleasures of the world. How then is this understood with another חז”ל that says
” עד שיתפלל אדם שייכנסו דברי תורה לתוך לבו יתפלל שלא יכנסו מעדנים לתוך פיו”
Clearly from here and other sources, we see that the Torah discourages indulgence?
We can answer the seeming contradiction based on a well-known story with Rav Yisrael Salanter. He once ordered a coffee in an upscale Paris coffee shop. To his surprise, he was charged an exorbitant 5 Francs. Reb Yisrael realized that the pay was not just for the drink itself but also for the ambiance and service as well. Still, while this was the price for the diners, the waiter could enjoy as much coffee as he wanted on the house since he worked for the boss.
Reb Yisrael drew a powerful lesson from this observation. This world, too, is an expensive restaurant, where we enjoy all the wonderful things Hashem has created. And just like a cup of coffee in a fancy restaurant can be very expensive, so too, when enjoying this world, one can be charged the expensive price of enjoying it in reward for all his Mitzvos. Thus said Reb Yisrael, by enjoying a plate of Tzimmes, a person can eat up his entire Olam Haba! But, just like the waiter who enjoys everything in the restaurant for free, a person can enjoy this world if he too works for The Boss, Hashem.
If we approach this world with the attitude that it’s His world and we acknowledge and appreciate that everything is from Him, then we’re working for Him and can enjoy this world without worrying about losing anything in the world to come. This is why chazal instituted brachos, so that we can remind ourselves that we’re enjoying Hashem’s world and thank Hom for everything that we have.
We can now understand the seeming contradiction. There are times when we praise food, and there are times we look at it askance. It all depends on how we approach our eating. When we eat without the proper approach of acknowledging Hashem’s kindness, then it’s certainly negative behavior. But we can have our cake and eat it too, when done in the proper way. By paying attention to what we’re asking, we become Hashem’s waiters by acknowledging that it’s His world. And then, we can certainly enjoy all the pleasure of the world as it’s all on His tab without having to worry that we might be losing out on our future reward.
We’ll conclude with a story that highlights this point. Harav Yaakov Bender was at Los Angelos’ LAX airport, awaiting a flight when he noticed a commotion. He proceeded to take a closer look and noticed that a famous movie actor had arrived, and people were surrounding him, clamoring for a selfie or an autograph. Rabbi Bender then watched as the man approached the counter at one of the airports diner and ordered a foot-long hotdog. He then asked for relish to be placed on it and repeated “more, more.” Finally, he took the massive hotdog and stuffed it into his mouth , swallowing it in just a few gulps. Concludes Harav Bender: ” This is how the hero of the nations of the world eats his food. But by us, Klal Yisrael, even a young child, wouldn’t eat like that. He would wash, make Brachos, and finally Bentch.”
May we merit to use this world in its proper form, and enjoy both this world and next!
Weekly Parsha Shiur 