The Baal Shem Tov would travel around
motivating people and inspiring them to improve their relationship with
Heaven. Whenever he would pass through Minsk,
he would stay at the house of a hospitable young couple who always made him
feel incredibly comfortable and at home.
He became such a regular at their place that they built him his own room
in the loft.
The Minsker lady was a real
balabusta (Jewish mother) and would cook up a storm for the holy man. The Baal Shem Tov always thanked her
graciously for the delicious meal. It
appeared, however, that she was giving him too large a portion, as he always
seemed to leave some food over on his plate.
After a while, she decided that it would be prudent to make his portion
a little smaller, which she did.
Strangely, however, this new
portion was also too much for the holy man, and there were still leftovers on
the side of his plate. Figuring she was
still overdoing it and not wishing to make him feel uncomfortable, she reduced
the size of the portion once more. And
yet, there were still leftovers. Each meal,
she continued dropping the portion size until all she was serving him was a
small morsel of bread and a parsley twig.
And yet, he still had leftovers!
At her wit’s end as to how much
smaller she could go, she turned to the Baal Shem Tov’s shammes (right-hand
man), Itzik, for guidance. “Oy vey!” he
exclaimed, upon hearing what had happened.
“My master never finishes his plate.
He considers it gluttonous to eat everything he has been served!”
אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא
וּבְשַׁבָּת חַיָּיב אָדָם לִבְצוֹעַ עַל שְׁתֵּי כִכָּרוֹת. מַאי טַעְמָא? —
״לֶחֶם מִשְׁנֶה״ כְּתִיב. אָמַר רַב אָשֵׁי: חֲזֵינָא לֵיהּ לְרַב כָּהֲנָא
דְּנָקֵיט תַּרְתֵּי וּבָצַע חֲדָא. רַבִּי זֵירָא הֲוָה בָּצַע אַכּוֹלָּא
שֵׁירוּתָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ רָבִינָא לְרַב אָשֵׁי: וְהָא קָא מִתְחֲזֵי
כְּרַעַבְתָנוּתָא. אֲמַר [לֵיהּ]: כֵּיוָן דְּכָל יוֹמָא לָא קָעָבֵיד הָכִי,
וְהָאִידָּנָא קָא עָבֵיד לָא מִתְחֲזֵי כְּרַעַבְתָנוּתָא.
Rabbi Abba said: And on Shabbat one is obligated to break bread over two
loaves. What is the reason? Concerning
the manna portion the Israelites would receive on Friday, the Torah states, “A
double portion of bread.” Rav Ashi said:
I saw Rav Kahana who would take two loaves and break one. Rabbi Zeira would
break off one huge piece for the entire meal. Ravina said to Rav Ashi: Doesn’t
that appear gluttonous? Rav Ashi
said to him: Since every other day (of the week) he does not do so, and today (Shabbat)
he does, it does not appear gluttonous.
Thank G-d, today we live in an
unprecedented time of material prosperity when most of us are not sending our children
to bed hungry. We are able to eat to our
heart’s content. And then a little more.
Unfortunately, a downside of having an
abundance of food is that we stop appreciating the amazing gift we’ve received from
Above.
While we might not be on the level
of the holy Baal Shem Tov, his pious behaviour is a powerful reminder that
there’s no mitzvah to eat everything that our eyes behold. Food should serve one of two purposes. Either we consume in order to have the energy
to live our lives to the fullest and be able to fulfil our mission on Earth
with sufficient energy. The other
purpose of food is to enjoy and savour the delights of the Creator. All
too often today, we lust after food and end up eating way too much. When
that happens, neither purpose is achieved. Not only does overeating
decrease our energy levels, it also decreases our sensory appreciation.
I once quizzed some young people
about the highlight of their mission to Israel.
The first responded about the life-changing experience she felt at the
Western Wall. The second was inspired by
their sunrise climb up Masada. And then a
third fellow chimed in that his highlight was the Israeli breakfast they
feasted on daily at the hotel. “I’ve
never seen so much food in my life,” he admitted, “I was exhausted from all
that eating even before the day had begun!”
And anyone who has had an Israeli hotel breakfast can relate to his
experience. The quantity and variety of
food just makes you want to go back for seconds, thirds, and fourths!
The Israeli breakfast is not unique
in our gustatory lives. Many of us
aren’t prepared to walk away from the dinner table until we’ve eaten more than our
fill. And the second we start feeling a
little peckish, it’s off to the fridge again.
Because G-d forbid, we might feel hungry for even a moment!
And let’s not get started on the
way many Kiddush attendees give the impression that they’ve never seen food
before. It would seem that a ‘balanced’ diet
is the term given to the challenge of placing so much on your plate that it’s a
‘balancing’ act just to successfully carry your food from the buffet to the table!
Do we really need to eat that
much? Not only is it not particularly
healthy, it is also gluttonous. The
Gemara here cautions us not only against being gluttonous, but even appearing
to be gluttonous. One must limit one’s
portion, Ravina teaches, in order to avoid any hint of gluttony. Shabbos is the exception, but even then, the mitzvah
is to derive additional pleasure from our food, not to stuff ourselves silly.
While there is no explicit law in
the Torah forbidding gluttony, we are commanded, “You shall be holy.” Nahmanides explains that this mitzvah
instructs a person to “sanctify yourself with that which is permitted to
you.” Just because something is allowed
doesn’t mean that we need to indulge.
Our Sages warn that many people find ways to be “detestable with the
permission of the Torah.” There’s no prohibition
against overindulgence, but there’s no mitzvah either.
We are called a holy nation. And we are called a nation of princes. These two go hand in hand. Being a holy nation means maintaining the
etiquette and behaviour of royalty. May
you always think twice before throwing another layer on your plate at the
Kiddush buffet!
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