Eat to Live, Don't Live to Eat - A Torah Philosophy of Food

good evening and thank you for joining us for part two of our four-part series at brs on how to break bad habits and forge good habits this series all delivered by rabbis of brs is all about recognizing that if we want to grow spiritually if we want to be the best version of ourselves in terms of our neshama of our soul then we need to be disciplined we need to be in control we need to be healthy when it comes to our body we need to be able to breathe right breathing nisham and ashima are the same word last speaker by moscow spoke about the importance of the breath of life of breathing not in a shallow way not in a rushed way but to be conscious of our breathing and to breathe deeply and breathe meaningfully tonight we'll speak about eating the jewish philosophy of eating what is our attitude what is our approach what is the role of food in our religion how can we be more mindful in what we eat and how we eat and how much we eat and when we eat how can food become the fuel that elevates us and enriches us that drives us to a better version of ourselves instead of food becoming a phobia instead of food becoming the kryptonite instead of food becoming that which sabotages our own happiness and success third session will be about sleep how do we get enough sleep are we resting are we rejuvenating are we allowing ourselves to sleep and lastly movement are we exercising are we sedentary and still one of the greatest causes of death in america or we are moving are we on the move are we people who are hole or homemade are we moving or are we standing still so tonight's topic our topic is that of eating an attitude a philosophy an approach to the notion of eating now on the one hand we know that eating we know that eating can be a source of a source of struggle a source of conflict eating can be a source of illness a source of unhealthiness people who eat the wrong amounts the wrong time the wrong things it can undermine so it'd be very easy to simply dismiss and say that the jewish approach to eating is that if we want to if we aspire for holiness if we aspire for kedusha and tahara we want a live a life of purity then we should take vows of of fasting that a person should abstain from eating that the way we become holy is by removing ourselves from food but we know that that can't be because food the act of eating has a myla there is a virtue and how do we know that there's a virtue and a value to the act of eating because with every indian hashem with every significant life cycle event with every significant date on our jewish calendar with every significant ritual there is a mitzvah there is a commandment to eat shabbos we have shabbos food the shabbos we eat we have a mitzvah to eat we have a mitzvah to indulge to a certain extent when it comes to yantif sudas mitzvah we celebrate the seem a completion a significant amount of total learning we celebrate a bris a pajama ben a bar mitzvah bass mitzvah there is a notion of eating to celebrate that sudas mitzvah a wedding a shava brachas the carbonus and the basala maktash they were eaten some were offered entirely to the almighty to hashem eaten so to say meshulchem gavoa on his table but others the khan and the priests themselves partook the owners of certain carbonus partook in the food the carbon the sacrifice that was offered so on the one hand food can bring us down food can compromise food is to indulge the animal side to eat like a pig and to indulge the animal instinct inside us food is the capacity to be tempting we know certainly the ramban brings when it comes to non-kosher food it contaminates the heart it contaminates the soul we believe to a certain extent you are what you eat if we eat animals of prey animals of cruelty we absorb those qualities we absorb those character traits into ourselves so food can give us a urethra over indulging in food being undisciplined in our eating food can make us unhealthy eating the wrong foods non-kosher foods can contaminate our soul and yet on the other hand food elevates and food has a role food has a presence in all of these other heightened so this mitzvah shabbas yantif and the examples go on and on so which is it is food bad is food good does food lowers down or does food raise us up is food the platform of the source of a mitzvah or vanavera and of course the answer is all the above the answer is both it has to do with our attitude it has to do with our philosophy it has to do with an approach now i don't even need to give this disclaimer i'm not a nutritionist i'm not even an example of good eating i've been involved and engaged in a lifelong battle and struggle i'm not one of those people who has no interest in food no need for food i have to struggle to remember to eat that's not me how have i in some ways it were i love food i love the taste i love the texture i love the aroma i love the mix of flavors i'm a foodie i love food and it's easy to lose ourselves in the urge the instinct of the stomach that our eyes are wide and our mouth is open and that we desire and we want to eat and we want to indulge and we want to enjoy late at night and early in the morning in enormous quantities even when we're full so i'm speaking to you as a member of the club not a person on the outside who's mastered this not a nutritionist who's coming to give you menus and recipes i'm coming as a rav i'm coming as a rabbi i want to share with you some torah sources share with us myself to remember how we could be mindful how we can be conscientious how we can be present and intentional in choosing what we when we eat how much we eat and doing so is not just about the physical world in which we live doing so is an avodah doing so is part of what it means to aspire to be a holy jew and to live a holy life parshas kiseitse we just read torah tells us the story of the bensora rumor the rebellious child the rebellious son who acts inconsistent with the philosophy the values that his parents have imparted in him that his teachers have tried to communicate to him and that context from the torah is describing to us this wayward son um they the parents come to the elders of the town and where they are presenting and when they are describing their son who is a benson they say this son of ours he's so rare uma ray he's disloyal he's defiant he suffers from defiance he counter everything that we say he doesn't listen to us and then his shama because he's not listening to our voice he's not heeding our message he's not walking in our path and then the parents conclude their presentation their indictment so to say of their own son and they describe their son as being zollel the sovereign what do those words mean zolel means a glutton so they means a drunkard he is zolailde sovay what does that mean what makes this behavior so unforgivable what makes this behavior so predictable meaning that the benzodiazepine crime and yet the minnesota or mora this theoretical individual this hypothetical character has to be eliminated from the community i'll shame sofo because we know what they're destined to do even though they haven't done it yet what gives us that confidence to predict how their story will end so much so that we take their destiny into our own hands so the ebenezer translates the word zolel as gluttonous somebody who permits himself or herself whatever he or she desires and in fact the gemaran sanhedrin tells us that in this context when the parents come and say our son he's incorrigible he's rebellious he won't listen there's nothing we can do what is his egregious crime what are the boundaries that he crosses and will not remain within says the gemara food solel zolail is his gluttonous he eats an entire bag of potato chips he makes his way through the entire kitchen the entire refrigerator the entire pantry the entire schmorg the entire the entire buffet zolell is gluttonous he grabs and he stuffs down his down his uh down his throat what is so what's the other crime so listen to the ibanez is someone who drinks excessively to the extent they get drunk and such a person right there on the ibenezera resembles a follower of epicurus an epicurean because he seeks from life in this world only pleasure zolel the sovereign just indulging just trying to satisfy the urge for that moment no discipline no self-control no capacity to be rosa nolad if i eat that if i eat it now if i eat that amount what will impact will it have how will i feel what will it do to my health we cannot allow this ben sora or moda we don't allow this wayward sun to just carry on but since one is having this voracious undisciplined appetite a capital crime zolva why does that give us the confidence to predict hashem sofa what's going to happen there are many many worse violations why zolilva sovay gluttonous overindulgent stuffing his face with food getting drunk with alcohol why is this chosen to highlight what's irredeemable about this young person rohersh is bothered by this question he offers a critically important answer and insight we know that the gemara tells us there never was there never will be this whole individual this whole description of the bansora umura is in theory not in practice so why does the torah take up special precious real estate telling us about him if he was never destined to exist so that same gemara sanatorium tells us we've been given these lessons to study and receive reward i know this is last week's pasha but listen to this insight and listen to its message for us and our attitude towards eating it says refersh though legally we've never formally established an actual case of events um but the lessons the insights they remain and we can glean from them we can extract we can extrapolate from them and we can learn from them says reverse the central to the downfall of the benzod is growing up in a home that plays disproportionate emphasis and focus on food and drink on the pursuit of pleasure and on the goal of satisfying appetites and cravings have to have have to have these delicacies have to have this diversity this menu have to have this expensive alcohol collection wine scotch rye bourbon vodka tequila the latest thing have to have sushi station charcuterie boards endless endless buffets and barbecues there's nothing wrong with wonderful delicious delicacies i told you i love food i enjoy it as much as the next person and to a certain degree the more we have the more we share the more it glorifies the more it elevates our shabbos or yantif table a menu with a variety of courses and mains insides and desserts it can of course add the cover chapters to cover yanta it can add to the honor it can add to the glory one can even within moderation enjoy a glass of wine make a lechayan in moderation and responsibly the question is fundamentally what defines us are we disciplined are we in control do we choose do we own it or does it own us what defines the look of that shabbos table of that yanta table where do we place our emphasis what are we most proud of the atmosphere the love the warmth the conversation the generosity the hospitality the diverter the mirrors or the expense and the menu and the decor and so on and so forth so zolel the survey this individual who grows up in such a home this individual who exhibits this insatiable appetite for more this lack of discipline or boundaries this lack of capacity this individual when you're zollel this over you're striving for happiness but judaism wants us to strive instead for holiness not just for pleasure not just to satisfy the appetite of this of the body but to nourish the appetite of the soul this is what it means zolil the sovereign person is a slave a slave to their to their stomach to their appetite seldom worships god so we have to work on this arena arguably as much or more than any other the zara kadosh the great mystical work of judaism the zoar tells us that at every table and every encounter with food at every urge of the appetite there's a muhammad there's a war there's a battle that rages the animal instinct inside us says you're hungry eat you're full who cares it still tastes good your taste buds are still being satisfied keep eating keep shoveling keep putting it in have no pain no attention to how full you feel pay no attention to the ingredients of the manufacturing process pay no attention to its impact on your cholesterol and your sugar level on your blood pressure and the like it tastes good it feels good at that moment there's an appetite there's a desire there's a drive shovel it in indulge and so we fight a battle we fight a war and that's why the tsar says the hebrew word for bread is shares the same root as a fighter is a warrior the verb is to fight is to battle his bread muhammad is war what are they all in common why does the zoa reference references says refers here too that la mercha the root the shores means to struggle there's a struggle in war in battle there's a struggle between two contradictory two conflicting forces and when we sit in front of food when we look at a menu when we have an appetite and a desire there's also a battle there's a struggle there's a muhammad it says refresh most fundamentally when it comes to food the battle that rude la mercha that battle is to earn parnassa a person has to toil a person has to work a person has to sacrifice a person has to put in hours person in antiquity had to put in back breaking labor a person had to battle and struggle just to earn the food they ate but it also has the additional meaning not only not only the battle to earn the food we eat but the battle to eat the right food in the right time at the right place the right amounts and the right food with food there is a struggle there is a battle there is a conflict which takes place and that's why i've told kakoen of leblin the great reptile the compassion tells us hashem you are my shepherd i'm not lacking when i see your role in my life i'm not missing anything everything i have is by design is what's meant for me and i'm therefore satisfied and we turn to hashem we say tarot negan make for me set for me arrange for me a table opposite my adversaries and says the helicopter coin of lublin who are the negates or i who is this enemy that i'm facing when i sit at that table i see the appetizer second appetizer the three mains the fourteen side dishes the seven desserts i am neged so it's apt it's it's when i'm shulhan tarakh when i'm at that when i'm at that table when i see that food i'm negative put us in the world and that's what i want to spend our time talking about tonight why why did he put us in a world in this way why couldn't he programmer design us to only crave and desire what's healthy for us why would he not shut down our appetite why would he not shut down our ability to eat once we were full why not when our stomach has what it needs our mouth be closed why did he put us in such a world that has this melhama lechem that when it comes to food we have to fight we have to fight to do what's right to eat what's right to stay healthy and to be able to live for holiness not happiness why is it why is it that when we sit at our table we see those options when those when the the food is still sitting there you know in boca raton it's very popular in chavez and yante to serve buffet put all the food out on a buffet and people go and they help themselves and it's a much higher healthier when the food sits there and you have the endless shabbos meals and you're talking even though you're not hungry you put a little bit more on your plate you nibble you eat you finish you clean up you do the host to host us a favor then why should you have to put away the last two pieces of meat why should you have to put away the last three pieces of google let me finish them let me help you out when you put it on a buffet you're healthier so tarok when it's on when i sit down and i see that food and i see the serving sizes and i see the serving dishes and i see the selection and i see the diversity of the menu i'm negative right i'm opposite why why did he create a world like this why did he create a world like this so the gemara tells us that in kiddish that principle the 10th paragraph gemara tells us tells us when we recite kiddish and shambas and yantif you can't just make kiddish in order for the kiddush rashbom and toast tonight is not the time for the lumdas for the deeper analysis but it's perhaps the kiddush you say is not a real kiddush if it doesn't introduce and proceed a meal or maybe the meal is not a real meal if it's not introduced first by saying kiddish different ways you can understand it but either way the kiddush that you recite has to be accompanied by it has to proceed that's the followed by a meal becomes but many suggest that we read these words not only as giving us a halachic statement it's not only telling us something in practice we need to do but it's telling us a philosophy in kiddush ain't kedusa ella bimakum the self-restraint the capacity to be disciplined the ability to control ourselves to be god-like is we have to protect our eyes we're not a lot of gays we're not allowed to look at the things we're not supposed to look at we have to protect our mouth we're not supposed to speak or share or gossip or slander things we're not supposed to share we have to protect our hands and our feet we're not supposed to go i'm not supposed to engage in actions and acting out in ways we're not supposed to but you know where the greatest battle is for many it's in food it's in food and all you have to do is look around this country and look around the world today the rising levels of obesity the amount of people who are taking medicines that if we controlled our diet and we lived healthy lives we wouldn't need and again i'm a member of the club i've been struggling my entire life and i struggle each and every day don't eat late at night don't finish the entire bag of potato chips stop eating when you're full and this hashem the almighty created us with this appetite and put us in a world that functions in this way because he wants us to have a platform for making choices when we are pre-programmed if everything was fatalistic if we were designed to do what's right and we made no choices life would not have meaning what gives life its very meaning are the choices that we make and choices only have meaning and they're only in fact real choices when we confront the choice to do the opposite of what's right when we have a distraction a desire a temptation when we confront inertia that's when making the right choice in fact elevates us and enriches us and kiddus you want kadushi you want holiness it's kedusha and kedusha alabama we really attain holiness where comes in the place that we eat that's when we attain holiness that's when we attain the highest 388 388 is the same gematria same numerical value as you want redemption redemption comes from living a disciplined godly life god is the ultimate in discipline god doesn't have desires god doesn't give in to impulse god doesn't indulge in instinct god is not animal like in any which way god is the very definition of discipline and for us that tell him eloquem the godliness in us the more disciplined we are the more godly we are the more punctual we are with time the more disciplined we are with what we look at the more disciplined we are with what we speak and what we say what we do where we go and the more disciplined we are in our eating it is the very way we express our very godliness an animal we are all made up of animals rabbis tell us we have several things in common with animals we eat we eliminate we reproduce just like animals do we have an animal instinct an animal desire an animal drive and that entered our vernacular person eats like an animal they live in a pigsty we are animals but we also have a godly soul and that's this battle that fight that muhammad the legend that we confront our entire lives that battle is the battle what will triumph and what will win what will persevere will it be the instinct the impulse the desire the drive to look at the thing that we feel guilty afterwards let's say the thing we feel terrible that we said to go to the place that we regret going to and to eat that which is harmful and sabotages our own health are we going to give in to the animal in us or will we live that discipline will we be that godly soul that battle that fight is a lifelong battle in fact back in parshas matas when the jewish people the jewish people wage war with midian and apostle tells us addresses the members of the army who come back from war and the torah says their ba'im they are returning they are coming back from la milham what should it say it's a bizarre formulation what do you mean they're coming back what should it say not they're coming back they're coming back from war so let's say from mayana shoto that beautiful white set many people get for their bar mitzvah sits in the bookcase it gathers dust alexander zuch friedman was murdered by the nazis and he has this beautiful save from torah so he asks why does the pastor say the people of the world who are coming back to war it should say they're coming back from war so he answers something very powerful and he says that fight that battle with midyan it wasn't easy they had to gird themselves they had to prepare themselves they had to focus themselves and they had to have the courage to confront midjan and to defeat them it wasn't easy at all but you know those soldiers they're done with war they come home and they think i'm finished i'm complete that was the battleground that was the battlefront that was the front line and now we're done we triumph we persevered we're coming home says the torah thereby you finished one battle but the war is not over you came home from fighting external enemy namely midyan but life life is a lifelong battle we confront a lifelong enemy that's not external but it's internal and that's why they are but they're not coming from war they're going to war from the war with midyan from the battlefield with mid yen to the battlefield of our kitchen and the supermarkets and the restaurants to the battlefield of the snacks and the appetite and the eating to the battle of not only when it comes to the act of eating but all of our instinct and all of our senses and all of our impulses to do the right thing to remain mindful and present to express our godliness and to be able to realize a better or best version of ourselves rabbini yonah the great rishi rabbenu yonah and his yes he quotes the raved the raven was a the the contemporary of the rambam and the rivet had a personal practice that he used in order to quiet his appetite he had a person practice he used in order to grow his discipline the rival would leave over the last few bites of everything he ate this is known as tinus haravid the fast of the rye that he didn't fast we don't believe in fasting hashem put us in the world and he gave us taste buds and he gave us delicious food god forbid those who suffered from corona many lost their sense of taste and now they can appreciate all their lives the gift of having it that when you put food on your tongue you can taste it sweet savory the whole palate of our tastes what a gift what a burraca never take it for granted every time we taste we should be appreciative to the bonus show to the almighty for that for that gift so the raven he didn't fast altogether he didn't go on prolonged fasts but rather he underwent he engaged tennis arrived what was the titus arriving he would not eat everything on his plate he would leave over a little extra the whole sandwich he wouldn't take the last bite the whole cocoa the whole piece of chicken whatever was on his plate he did not finish till the very end he didn't lick his plate he didn't go back for more he left over a little later why tainas arrived the rabbini quotes us because the raven wanted to show that he was expressing his godliness his godly soul is godly spirit he wanted to express to hashem and to himself and to anyone who might notice that he might have an appetite like every other human being who has an animal instinct but he wasn't going to give in he was not going to succumb surrender to that animal impulse he was going to express the godliness that we don't have to finish every last morsel that the restaurant hasn't doesn't determine for us the portion that we need when we're full stop eating just because the restaurant decided that that's the portion doesn't mean it is the actual healthiest portion for ourselves eight hundred years after the arrived ravana cutters his students noticed he also left over a portion of whatever he ate or drank and when asked it became clear that he was observing this practice of the rivet the tightness arrived living disciplined lives being godly not acting like animals ah the rivet left over on his plate they threw away the scraps he didn't finish eating everything that was there what do you mean isn't that batashless isn't that waste we have a total prohibition you're not allowed to throw away food you're not allowed to waste it so listen to this amazing comment of nachman of breslov he writes the following he writes the following listen to his words when you eat more than you need when you're already full but you keep on eating anyway that food is damaging you that food is dangerous for you it's unhealthy for you that food is an enemy that's sabotaging you because everything has we're going to get to this in a moment but everything has a root as a source which is our life source when it comes to medicine when it comes to chemicals when they are mixed in a way that can preserve and protect our health in the form of a of the vaccine the medicines we take antibiotics and others in order to heal illness food is like a medicine the food gives us the nourishment the food is our life source it has a goodness in it however however kesha yosemits but if you're eating more than you need aimless so now this food has no place to nourish you are already full you've maxed out your capacity to be nourished from food now when you're indulging when you're overeating when you're eating when you're not hungry now not only is it not extending your life nourishing your life is not a source of life now it is exactly the opposite and listen to the words of nakhona breslav he says if you took a little bit more food so you ate half the food and it's what you needed it had nutrients and vitamins it sustained you it nourished you it gave you life it brought you back to life it gives you vitality but what if you took the rest of the food and you put it in a bowl you put it in the tupperware you put it in a ziplock bag you put in an aluminum foil would that do anything for you at that point would it still be nourishing you were helping you absolutely not it would be doing nothing it would be worse than putting it in aluminum foil ziploc bag or a piece of tupperware it would actually be damaging and harming you but it says when you put food in your system when you're already full when you put the wrong food in your system that will harm you and not help you then it's like putting it into a garbage pail it's like putting it into the garbage pail system when you're already full you might as well put it in tupperware you might as well put in a loom for you might as well put in the garbage is it batasha's tennis arriving around cuddler to leave over a little bit to be disciplined to show i don't have to lick my plate i don't have to finish the whole portion that was predetermined by the restaurant even though it's twice what i need to do so it's not potassius you're not wasting you know it's not only about tashas when you put food in the garbage it's batashkas when you put food in your mouth and you don't need it your mouth can be a garbage disposal if you're already full and you're eating food you don't need or it's harmful to you then your mouth is functioning as a garbage disposal so what we need is mindful eating the torah philosophy the torah attitude the torah approach to food is mindful eating is eating food in a way which expresses and reinforces our godly soul who put us in this world and he said enjoy my kinder enjoy my children i gave delicious food as long as you're eating kosher food and you're reading it on the right time in the right way as long as you acknowledge me in that role of food enjoy but when you have left the boundary when you've crossed that border when you're eating quantities and you're eating pipes and you're eating food that's unhealthy then food is an animal so we are engaged in this battle every single day from when we wake up till we fall asleep from when we're hungry first thing in the morning to we're still tempted to snack late at night it is a battle and my friends it's very clear if you look around you'll see we're losing this battle so many people are eating and acting like animals and we're shortening our life and we are harming ourselves we're helping the drug industry but we're hurting ourselves the obesity crisis the childhood obesity crisis in this country because we're so undisciplined in our eating because we're giving in i know there are people that say metabolism and there are people genetically predisposed and we're not judging anyone who struggles in this area god forbid it's not a comment or statement of judgment there are people who it is beyond their bahira it's beyond their choice but healthy eating begins by remembering that we have we have free will and with free will comes the capacity for will power why because we have a telemallow kin we are and we have a godly soul inside us don't submit don't surrender don't forfeit don't concede don't lose in this battle and this lifelong war and therefore shorten you know sometimes when i look at that food that's tempting me or i'm looking to eat a time of the day that i know will be bad for me i don't think about that moment i try to transcend that particular moment that particular appetite that particular urge and to think harowa essanola to say i want to be able to get on the floor and play with my grandchildren and great grandchildren for many many years i want to be healthy for myself and i want to be healthy for what i think is my mission in this world and if i put that poison in my system then my system cannot operate at maximum efficiency and i have a responsibility if i'm here for a reason and if i have a mission in this world and if i'm meant to make a difference then i need to operate at maximum efficiency the maximum efficiency can include having a cheat day happens to be fascinating there are many nutritionists there are diet experts who write about the significance of taking a day to cheat arguably we have it it's called shabbos even if you go all week long and you don't need carbs i try not to make amazonas or i'm mostly all week long i've been working hard this summer and beyond to avoid the carbs the white flour to avoid the sugar that for me is the biggest kryptonite it's the most unhealthy so i try this is a helpful way to think about it don't make amazonos don't make amazonas or hamotzi all week long but then shabbos comes it's impossible for me it would be impossible to pledge a lifestyle that i'll never enjoy amazonas i'll never enjoy a carb i'll never enjoy white flour sugar again it's impossible to concede to believe so there are experts who say you can build in a cheat day building a cheetah actually confuses your metabolism and is healthy for your metabolism in that way your metabolism adjusts too much it can actually not be working in your favor so sometimes confusing the metabolism can be healthy just like you have to be married with a sutton you have to confuse the sutton we confuse the metabolism but moreover the fact that we know that we'll be able to have what we can call a cheat day an indulgent day can give us the courage and the fortitude to behave the rest of the week as i said i'm not a nutritionist and you're not here for my dietary recommendations but the jewish philosophy the jewish attitude is that when it comes to eating i need to operate with maximum efficiency i need to be the most productive me i can be i owe it to myself and i owe it to my family and i owe it to this world that i owe to the riverslam who gifted me and granted me the blessing to be here to include me in this beautiful world that he created i have a responsibility and i have to be careful what i put in my system when you go for an oil change and you get a choice what quality oil do you want depending on your engine engine and depending how clean you want it to be and how efficient you want it to run and every time we eat we are facing a choice what do i want to put in my system how efficient do i want to run if i eat late at night and i sleep the entire night with my stomach full with garbage what will do for the way i wake up in the morning what will it do for my productivity what will it do for my capacity to make a difference but if i'm disciplined eat enjoy enjoy a good flavor profile make good choices having delicious but stop when you're full stop when you shouldn't be eating and stop and stop the quantity that is beyond what you need the me iri the gemara of zara the mirror of menachem makes an amazing comment the great rishong and he says the following we know that we have allah called filas kalim when we fought that war that battle with mid yen and we conquered them they defeated them we took as part of the spoils we took all their kitchen appliances we took their utensils who needs to register at fortune off for bed bath and beyond we simply went into mid yan and when we won we took everything in their kitchen it needed to be captured the torah tells us there and pasha's matos the process the procedure for how we kasher it needed to be captured turned from non-kosher to kosher but it also needed to fila we take new utensils utensils we acquire from the non-jew and we immerse them in the mikvah just like a convert a nanji becomes jewish going in the mikvah similarly or so too non-jewish utensils become jewish utensils by undergoing a conversion by going to the mikvah tv tv what's the reason for this why i understand the individual it's beautiful significance and symbolism going to the mikvah the mikva the water represents the embryonic fluid the mikvah is the womb the person who immerses is as naked as the day where they're born there is no barrier there's no interference they are like a newborn baby when they go inside that water and assume the fetal position and cannot breathe for a moment life is suspended when a person is born from that mikvah from that uterus and they come out of that embryonic fluid of that natural water that is a necessary part of a mikvah and they unravel from the fetal position which they were in and they have no barrier just like a newborn baby then a person is born again so someone who is impure and becomes pure somebody who had contact with death somebody who had contact with failing to um conceive or fertilize life somebody who went from being a non-jew to a jew undergoes that transformation where in the mikv i get it but why caleb why utensils what is the idea of putting our utensils so listen to what the eerie writes he says is all about elevating the food that a jew is an attitude a different attitude to food than the rest of the world the rest of the world can see food as the ends we see it as a means for us the food is simply its fuel the food is what we put into our system so our system our engine can run and we can make a difference we're talking about an altogether different idea something that's talking about the holiness of eating according to the torah the way a jew eats has to be different than a non-jew i don't mean utensils and i don't mean the rules of the courtesy i don't even mean the rules of kashus when we eat we're not indulging an impulse an instinct to drive a desire and appetite and we're not simply trying to stay alive another day stay alive a little bit longer eating for us is a religious spiritual act today of in order to have the energy to do good deeds so we immerse our utensils because in fact there is a conversion taking place the conversion is from non-kosher non-jewish utensils to jewish utensils from a non-jewish attitude towards eating towards a jewish attitude towards eating that's what's happening when we undergo the conversion of our utensils tvs caleb is all about saying in my kitchen all these appliances in my kitchen all these utensils pots and pans in my kitchen all this cutlery the way i cook the way i prepare and the way i eat i'm not doing it as an animal and i'm not doing it simply to prolong my life another day out of necessity or survival and eating as a religious act i am eating because in kedusha alabama these are jewish utensils and this is a jewish mentality and attitude towards eating and i have a jewish ambition that in kedusha alabama comes that i will attain holiness in the way i eat that i will walk away from a meal not feeling disgusting or gross or i have to loosen my belt not feeling that i became more of an animal but i walk away from every meal feeling disciplined that i became more in contact with my godly soul my godly spirit that my battle my daily grind over lucha muhammad negative opposite my enemy that i'm winning i'm winning i can enjoy food i can eat good food i can eat delicious food but in quantities and measures at times of the day in ways which will drive my engine not make it not undermine and not compromise it not sabotage it not make it get ruined now i want to share with you for the last few minutes that we have left insights from rav uh vichamir morgenstern reviews like mayor morgan stern the great of its meyer and his wonderful safer beyond we're learning to safer on wednesday mornings and living with ammuna you can catch up on the uh 203 episodes of living with emunah on a podcast player why you tolerable from government.org and we're learning now in bitter what it means to nullify ourselves submit and surrender to live with humility but he has a wonderful wonderful chapter on he's a wonderful chapter on the idea of eating the idea of eating and he says when it comes to eating eating is different than all of the taiva every other desire every other appetite that we're trying to be disciplined over you could live without you could live without if you never gossip it's a wonderful way to live if you never look at images that you're not supposed to look at it's a wonderful way to live but nobody could live without eating by definition you need to eat in order to live so eating is the taiva eating is the desire or the drive which is universal it's just unavoidable you have to engage it and that's why it's so so important to have a proper and a philosopher and a a proper and an elevated philosophy of eating not just to eat with momentum not just to eat without thinking not just to eat mindlessly not to wake up later in life and find ourselves unhealthy but to eat with intention and so what is this attitude he writes the following i'm just going to read it's a beautiful couple of chapters of problem we don't have time to read the whole thing i'm just going to take a couple of selections and communicate to you what i think are his very very deep profound ideas he says you know so we were designed we were programmed the way the almighty created the world is we need to eat in order to live and what happens when we don't eat think about a fast day you don't eat for an entire fast day and you feel weak the less you eat the less you drink the more malnourished the more dehydrated we are the more weak we feel the deeper idea he is when we see food don't see food when you see food see survival when you see food see your life source now we know that we only exist out of the graciousness of god we're only here because he wills it if a goddess of the almighty was not okay with our continuing to be here we would not be here we're only here because he wills it and the way that his will turns into reality is through food when we eat our life is extended that means to say that hashem sent food our way as a spark the small light or the spark that is contained within every morsel and every ounce of food is sustenance is life force is life source what makes that food from cardboard how is the food not just a piece of cardboard how is the food not just a rock or soil what makes the food able to sustain us and nourish us because there's a soul a spark and there's a light of god inside it the mislabs it's cloaked it's dressed in the food so if you say what's that that's food but if you think what is inside that food what is sustaining what is nourishing us what is extending our lives there is a spark of godliness a spark of holiness of the goofy so when we eat what's the intention what's the thought what's the mindful idea the meditation that we should have when we begin to eat this is a direct connection to god it is a direct connection to god if i stop eating i'll die and if i eat i can live and who gave that food the capacity for it to enable me to continue to live god so when i eat i have engaged a gift from god i've engaged the very mechanism very tool the very instrument that god has given in order for me to live you are in fact you are in fact imbibing you are in fact absorbing you are in fact taking into your system integrating into our very being this light this spark of godliness of holiness through that act of eating through that act of eating so that's this battle the animal in us says be in the here now and indulge your animal appetite and don't think about god and don't think about discipline just do what you want feel disconnected from it you don't need them it's your hard work it's your ingenuity it's your torah it's your struggle you earned the income you paid for this food enjoy it be disconnected from him and therefore there's a muhammad within there's a battle because our mission is not to be disconnected from him is not to arrogantly think we earned it without him but is exactly the opposite that through that food to realize hashem i have access to this food it's a gift from you to me and when i eat it i am absorbing into myself i'm integrating it to myself a piece of you a connection with you a gift from you our mission our work is legal is i think the food has its own taste and i think the food has its own texture and i think the food has his own life extending capability but i'm wrong hi msc the truth is that really the capacity for food to nourish the fact that it has nutrients the fact that it stands our life is the light of hashem it's covered it's covered by its texture it's covered by its flavor profile it's covered by its ingredients and its recipe it's covered by its taste but its ability to extend my life the core value and purpose of food that is the spark that is a light of hashem and when i pause and when i think and when i'm mindful when i begin each act of eating and i remember that this is in fact contact with the divine i didn't earn on my own it's only because of him and that it doesn't give me a sense of arrogance it should give me a sense of humility should leave us feeling closer to god more connected more grateful more appreciative but if we don't use it for that reason in that way is the opposite it becomes a cause to forget god we're stuffing our face or we're on too many limbs or we're just giving it to that appetite beyond what's good for us what's harmful for us not only does it not bring us closer it drives us further away but and it makes us feel more physical more further away instead of feeling more spiritual more elevated and closer to him so how do we achieve this in our last couple of minutes how do we get there how do we get there how do we get to the place that we stop eating when we're full that we what's good for us and we don't eat what's bad that we recognize that food is the fuel for our system that we have the power we have the will and we have the free will to express our will power to be godly and not an animal so it begins says richard meyer with ichar khadusha sachin assist it begins not in our stomach and it doesn't begin on our tongue or our taste buds it begins in our brain it begins in our head it begins in our thoughts it begins with our mindfulness we have to be intentional we have to be present we have to be mindful we have to be thoughtful because if what we do is we're ravenously hungry and we say god shemag where's god who cares about god i'm hungry i want to eat that versus pausing to think am i an animal or might tell them who do i want to be and how do i want to be thought of and what is my legacy what do i leave behind him what will i be what do i take with me into the next world is it a life of being an animal of indulging every appetite or of expressing discipline of living with boundaries of having the capacity to say no of striving for happiness or am i striving for holiness it's the mindfulness it's pausing to think it's pausing to elevate it's pausing to recognize that i have free will and i have choice and that i can win this battle and i can ultimately win this war but it begins with marshava it begins with my thoughts it begins with my thoughts to recognize every time i eat yes i need to attach i need to connect this benefit this joy this pleasure with its source there's nothing wrong don't deny that it tastes good don't deny that it's delicious don't deny that you enjoy it just use all of that to connect it and to attach it and to channel back to it's source makuro namely hashem yitzya la atsumo picture shuvashum over and over again hashem is sending me a physical pleasure will miss lavishly battalion and it's covered it's cloaked in the enjoyment of the palette vanilla i feel it and i enjoy it but i'm going to use it and utilize it to connect me above to connect me to hashem that is the makshava that is the thought that is the attitude says richard myers rebecca zakos if you want to succeed davin three times a day we take those three steps forward in refining whichever broker you want to add say hashem help me with my appetite help me stop eating when i'm full help me live the tightness i arrive at leave over a little bit at the end help me not eat after a certain time of night or not eat before a certain time of the morning help me only eat that which is good for me not eat any food that is introduced with a negative with a bracha that tells me it has ingredients i shouldn't be having we cannot succeed if we don't ask hashem for help ask hashem for discipline ask hashem to assist us number one number two he says is his boneness where do we find that mindfulness the whole institution of the bracha that bracha we say before we put any food in our mouth is the opportunity to pause and be mindful not only the words the translation the comprehension of the brach itself but as we say the bracha to be mindful of our entire attitude and philosophy of eating [Music] you've set for me a table it's opposite my enemies let me defeat them let me eat only what's good for me let me elevate let me put fuel into my system so i could live my best life yet and kirisha abu mukhm sudah and kedusha abdullah msuda let me achieve holiness not just happiness where i find food in the leche when i'm eating bread and i'm fighting this muhammad this war let me win i need your help we do it with a sense of mindfulness to please god never be so little of the sovereign to never let the bensora ramora be considered somebody who indulges somebody who's gluttonous somebody who drinks too much that we enjoy the beautiful benefits of life but we use them as a platform to bring us and draw us closer to hashem not khalilah to push us further away to recognize to recognize that we have a tsalamala kim we have a godly soul and so be determined this elo be determined to take upon yourself if not the tightness arrive at even for the rest of ello if not the tightness arrive at the fast to not have to finish everything on our plate or to not eat after a certain time of night make a pledge make a promise make a resolution create accountability partners who will hold you in check but most of all it begins when we flip that switch most of all it begins when we change that attitude when we recognize i don't have to indulge the animal i have a godly soul a godly spirit i am capable of expressing free will and will power and in so doing please god we will live our best selves wishing you a wonderful evening stay happy stay healthy and stay holy