What it is
about Jews and food? We've been called a gastronomic people. So many
of our rituals revolve around eating, traditional foods on Shabbat and
holidays, kosher food, and saying blessings on food.
Every ritual and mitzvah contains tools for personal growth. So what are some of the spiritual benefits of keeping kosher? Self-control, discipline, submission to a Higher Power, perhaps? How about the mitzvah to refrain from mixing meat and milk? Boundaries, to respect the source of our nourishment. You see, milk comes from a live animal, while meat comes from an animal that has lost its life. That distinction must be respected. So, while the Torah grants us dominion over the animal kingdom, and we're allowed to enjoy the benefits of meat, milk and leather, respect that source and learn to be sensitive to the things, animals and people, that allow us to enjoy our lives. Therefore, do not eat meat and milk together.
Recently, this mitzvah taught me another lesson as well: a true manifestation of "HP power" ("Hashgachah Pratis," or Divine providence). One of our dessert staples at each JFX shabbaton is a sorbet cup with a wafer roll sticking out looking like a straw in a refreshing dessert cup. At our shabbaton last month we brought several packages of the wafer rolls, taking extra care to get only the creamy but pareve ones, as we serve them after a meat meal. Somehow the sorbet was served, but sans wafers. I assumed that in the unloading into the hotel kitchen, they went MIA, and I made a mental note to ask the wonderful couple on kitchen duty about it. A little later I noticed the wafers in the kitchen, sitting in full view on the counter, right next to our food. Our servers explained that somehow they just overlooked them, a total oversight. No big deal, I said. I took the wafers home, and blow me down, guess what I noticed on their packaging? The wafers are dairy and not pareve!
What inspired me to tell this story now? I don't know. Perhaps it's because of a cryptic verse in this week's Torah portion: (Deuteronomy 8:3): "...He fed you the manna, in order for you to realize that man does live by bread alone, but rather, that man lives from all that emanates from G-d..." (which is contained in the food!): to recognize that G-d's hand is involved in our lives, even in the food that we eat. He sure was looking out for us at the shabbaton!
One thing is clear: Food, like everything else "neutral" in our lives, is a tool. It can be used strictly for self-indulgence. Or, it can help bring out the latent G-dliness within us and within our world!
