A thought on Parshas משפטים
"...va'yechezu es HaElokim va'yochlu va'yishtu...""...and they looked toward the Lord, then ate and drank..." (24:11)
There is a midrash which cites two opinions on this verse in interpreting the meaning of looking, eating, and drinking: one view is that the noble people awaiting the Presence of HaShem looked and feasted their eyes on the awesome sight. The second view is that the verse definitely means eating (achila vada'is.)
You may recall my parsha email two weeks ago (Parshas BeShalach) when the Recanati enlightened us about the spiritual quality of eating Heavenly bread (the manna.) It was known as Angel's Bread because it was experienced with a rush of higher senses, empowering those highest human faculties which, like the angels, are "plugged in" to a sense of the Sacred.
This week, the Recanati takes a similar position, even deepening the idea, in a manner which actually reconciles both of the midrashic opinions into one profound meaning.
The people feasted their eyes in that sense of vision of the Divine Presence. That is what the verse refers to when it speaks metaphorically of seeing, eating, drinking. The second view is explaining things for us. "Eating" is not done merely as a means of getting rid of food. Rather, we eat in order to vitalize our bodies and invigorate our functional faculties.
The soul longs to "eat" too. It feasts on stimulation of the highest human faculties, our morality and integrity, our awe and joy, our compassion and generosity, our sense of justice and purposefulness. When the soul is fed in that manner, it connects with the Higher realm. This is the real oneg which our prophets and our tradition talk about and plead with us to aim for in our serving HaShem.
So when the verse tells us that there were those who looked and ate, the first midrashic view explains that they were looking towards the sense of the Presence, which is a form of "eating." They feasted their eyes. The second view adds that this is in fact what eating is all about. It was more than a feast for the eyes: it was a feeding of the soul, a nourishment of what really matters in the realm where matters are real.
As we may have done with our Shabbos challa after learning the Recanati on Parshas BeShalach, let us now extend this to all of our oneg Shabbos this week. We can eat to make the food disappear, or we can eat with the realization that while we feed our mortal senses, our higher recognition of what matters and why we are supposed to enjoy the Shabbos meals can be the catalyst for the invigoration of the holiness within.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
There is a midrash which cites two opinions on this verse in interpreting the meaning of looking, eating, and drinking: one view is that the noble people awaiting the Presence of HaShem looked and feasted their eyes on the awesome sight. The second view is that the verse definitely means eating (achila vada'is.)
You may recall my parsha email two weeks ago (Parshas BeShalach) when the Recanati enlightened us about the spiritual quality of eating Heavenly bread (the manna.) It was known as Angel's Bread because it was experienced with a rush of higher senses, empowering those highest human faculties which, like the angels, are "plugged in" to a sense of the Sacred.
This week, the Recanati takes a similar position, even deepening the idea, in a manner which actually reconciles both of the midrashic opinions into one profound meaning.
The people feasted their eyes in that sense of vision of the Divine Presence. That is what the verse refers to when it speaks metaphorically of seeing, eating, drinking. The second view is explaining things for us. "Eating" is not done merely as a means of getting rid of food. Rather, we eat in order to vitalize our bodies and invigorate our functional faculties.
The soul longs to "eat" too. It feasts on stimulation of the highest human faculties, our morality and integrity, our awe and joy, our compassion and generosity, our sense of justice and purposefulness. When the soul is fed in that manner, it connects with the Higher realm. This is the real oneg which our prophets and our tradition talk about and plead with us to aim for in our serving HaShem.
So when the verse tells us that there were those who looked and ate, the first midrashic view explains that they were looking towards the sense of the Presence, which is a form of "eating." They feasted their eyes. The second view adds that this is in fact what eating is all about. It was more than a feast for the eyes: it was a feeding of the soul, a nourishment of what really matters in the realm where matters are real.
As we may have done with our Shabbos challa after learning the Recanati on Parshas BeShalach, let us now extend this to all of our oneg Shabbos this week. We can eat to make the food disappear, or we can eat with the realization that while we feed our mortal senses, our higher recognition of what matters and why we are supposed to enjoy the Shabbos meals can be the catalyst for the invigoration of the holiness within.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 8:15 PM
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