Eikev 5773

“…man does not live by bread alone, but rather by whatever comes forth from the mouth of the L-rd…” (Devarim/Deuteronomy 8:3)

This week’s Torah portion gives us food for thought. The first part of this verse is well known, but it is the second part that provides its meaning. Technically, people can survive on bread and water, just as certain animals survive solely on grass. However, human bodies demand variety in the diet. The world accommodates us with gourmet meals, sweet treats and convenience food. But why is man unable to live by bread alone? And why do so many people eat more “bread” than their bodies need?

Writes Rabbi Stephen Baars on aish.com: “Human beings, unlike animals, need ‘meaning’ in life…This drives us to want more than just bread. Even though it is a poor substitute for real fulfillment and meaning, food is often the focus of our quest for meaning…Unfortunately, we are sometimes so badly focused that we will look to fulfill it [our quest for meaning] in the most unlikely and sometimes counter-productive places.”

Rabbi Baars explains that since people cannot live on bread alone, we will either fill ourselves with substantial and real meaning – a relationship with G-d – or we will seek unsatisfying substitutes for meaning, such as food.

Rambam includes a section on proper diet in his Yad Chazaka. He advises not to eat solely to satisfy the palate, but in order to keep the body healthy so it is able to serve G-d. Further, he counsels to eat only when hungry, and to stop eating before becoming completely full or overfilled.

As parents, we must teach our children mindful eating. They must learn to ask themselves if they are truly hungry and in need of refueling their bodies, or just bored and in a down mood, looking for stimulation in the wrong place.

http://www.aish.com/tp/b/bwb/48955786.html

Eikev 5772

In this week’s parsha, Moshe (Moses) continues his final address to the Children of Israel. “And you shall remember the entire way on which the L-rd your G-d led you these forty years in the desert, in order to afflict you, to test you, to know what is in your heart…You shall know in your heart that just as a man chastises his son, so does the L-rd your G-d chastise you.”

When he references a man’s chastisement of his son, what does Moshe convey about our relationship with G-d during difficult times?

This parsha always is read during the sheva d’nechmosa, the seven weeks of consolation between Tisha B’Av (the fast day commemorating the destruction of both Holy Temples and our exile from Jerusalem) and Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year). Each week, we read a Haftorah from the prophet Isaiah, whose stirring vision of future redemption and return provides hope and consolation.

Writes Rabbi Naftali Reich on torah.org: “The message of Isaiah is an enduring one, for each of us experiences moments of challenge and exile, grief and suffering, where we feel estranged from and rejected by our Creator...Isaiah’s message that suffering always has a meaningful end result is important to internalize as we grapple with life’s setbacks and disappointments.”

Rabbis Yisroel and Osher Anshul Jungreis explain: “Our parsha teaches that G-d never punishes, in the sense of meaning to inflict pain without a constructive purpose…So even in the midst of our pain, we have to know that G-d, our Father, is with us and has not abandoned us. And this knowledge cannot merely be cerebral, but must be ‘felt in our hearts,’ for only thus will we be able to stay the course.”

“A father only has love for his children and his intention is never to punish, but to correct. King David reinforces this teaching in Psalm 23, ‘Your rod and Your staff shall comfort me’, meaning that even when G-d’s rod causes me pain, it comforts me, because I know His purpose is to help me improve me.”

Rabbi Reich continues: “Throughout the sheva d’nechmosa, we seek to internalize the message that only when the process of exile is complete and the redemption a reality, will we fully understand that even its most destructive phases were integral to the ‘harvesting’ of our nation’s ultimate goodness and beauty.”

“By extension, we must try to survey the landscape of our personal lives with a similar perspective. Simply assuring ourselves that all will work out well does not always suffice. If we absorb Isaiah’s message, however, that we are Hashem’s [G-d’s] children at all times, and even in the grip of pain and suffering, Hashem’s love is pulsating beneath the surface, we can then rest assured that all will truly end well.”

As parents, we must teach our children to accept and even to embrace life’s challenges and difficulties. Just as G-d loves and supports us in difficult times, we must provide our children with the love and support they need to discover new strength and to deepen their relationship with G-d.

Read Rabbi Reich’s commentary at torah.org/learning/legacy/5772/eikev.html