Opinion & Comment
Brochos for Apples or Apples for Brochos

Part 3

A well-known gemora in Talmud Yerushalmi states that after the end of a person's life, he will have to defend himself for any pleasure he could have experienced in this world but did not. The Midrash Rabba on Koheles says that Hashem created everything for our sake and that we must be careful not to destroy His world.

How does this correspond with our previous articles which explained that Hashem created worldly pleasures in order to entice us and test us? Here we see that pleasure is not solely for enticement but has a function in itself. What is that function?

Achiloh Lesheim Brochoh

When we say a brochoh over food, we are involving ourselves in a very physical experience. In fact, a brochoh does not simply express appreciation for the sustenance that the food provides, but it is directly connected to our physical enjoyment of the food. If I must drink water and have no need to quench my thirst, I do not say a brochoh. When I take a medicine that I do not enjoy, no brochoh. A person on intravenous, even when it is his sole nourishment, recites no brochoh. Brochos over food are called birchos hanehenin, blessings over enjoyment, and that is exactly what they are for. We only say a brochoh if we enjoy our food or drink.

So we see that Hashem created a system of partaking in this world for what seems to be the pleasure of it. Well, that is not exactly accurate.

Once, a maidservant asked a great rebbe, "We are both Jewish, and we both say brochos. So why are you so close to Hashem and I am not?"

The rebbe replied, "You wake up in the morning and crave an apple. I also crave an apple. You say a brochoh over the apple and eat it, and so do I. But you desire an apple and therefore say the brochoh. I desire a brochoh and therefore eat an apple." The rebbe explained to her that he also craves to enjoy the apple, because without that enjoyment, his brochoh would not be complete.

The posuk says, "Moh Hashem Elockecho sho'eil mei'imcho?" What does Hashem ask of you? Chazal comment that "moh" in the posuk can be read as "mei'ah," one hundred. This alludes to the 100 brochos Jewish men must say every day. This simple but encompassing experience provides opportunity for us to associate with Hashem all day long.

There are two pesukim which seem to contradict one another. One says, "The earth and its contents belong to Hashem." The other says, "The Heavens are for Hashem, and He gave the earth to people." Whose is the land: Hashem's or the people's?

The gemora in Brochos settles this paradox by explaining that the first verse refers to the status of the land before a person says a brochoh, and the second one refers to its status after the brochoh.

The first understanding of this gemora is that Hashem created the world to reveal His kovod. If we partake in this world without acknowledging Hashem as its Source, then we are stealing from Him, because we have failed to recognize Hashem's Sovereigaty and to bring Him His truly deserved honor.

However, a careful examination of this gemora reveals a deeper meaning. In reality, doesn't this world always belong to Hashem? Don't we say in the Shemoneh Esrei, "Vekonei hakol, and He owns all"? In addition, the posuk itself does not limit itself to before a brochoh but says flatly that the world belongs to Hashem.

The answer to this lies in our understanding of a brochoh. Indeed, Hashem created this entire world for His glory, but He left the job to us. He intentionally concealed His identity as Master of the universe for us to reveal it.

In essence, when we say a brochoh over our enjoyment, we unite Hashem with His world, identifying Him with it. In this way, our enjoyment becomes an agent to identify with Hashem. He gave us the land to enjoy -- ho'oretz nossan livnei odom -- so that in turn we will return it to Him and declare it as His-- laShem ho'oretz umelo'oh.

When I recognize that my enjoyment comes from Hashem-- through the appropriate brochoh -- then the food is still His and I am not stealing it. Hashem has given us the land, but with our brochoh, we are, in essence giving it back to Him, so that "laShem ho'oretz umelo'oh" is satisfied. The brochoh that we recite before eating is a recognition that our pleasure comes from Hashem. Our recognition of Hashem transforms our physical act of pleasure into the fulfillment of the purpose of the world.

All day long, we have opportunities to acknowledge Hashem as the Source of our pleasure. In fact, we dedicate a brochoh for this message itself. Understanding the brochoh Borei Nefoshos reveals this in full.

"Borei nefoshos rabbos vechesronon," He creates many souls and makes them lacking. Why do we thank Hashem for making us lacking? The answer is so that we can recognize Him as the "Borei nefoshos," Creator of our soul and its needs.

According to Tosafos' opinion, we extend this brochoh beyond our needs and say, " . . . al kol ma sheboroso, lehachayos bohem, . . . for everything else that You created to energize them." We proclaim that in addition to providing our basic needs, You have created so much more for us to enjoy.

This beautiful brochoh declares our specific appreciation for all our enjoyment above and beyond the necessities of life. When we recognize our enjoyment as coming from Hashem, it becomes a commendable experience, over which it is fittingt to express a brochoh.

Achiloh Lesheim Shomayim

We can actually see that Hashem created the concept of pleasure with another purpose in mind. Before his great plunge, Odom Horishon was perfect. Ta'avoh did not exist for him, enabling him to choose right because it is beneficial and veer away from wrong because it is detrimental. His eating food was like the way we breathe air. Yet, in Bereishis the verse says, "kol eitz nechmad lemar'eh." Every tree had a pleasant appearance. Sight had a dimension of pleasure.

Seforno explains, "To gladden and broaden the heart to prepare it for receiving intellectual bounty." In other words, a feeling of contentment opens up the mind.

An example of this is Yitzchok Ovinu. When he wanted to give a brochoh to Eisov, he requested delicacies. Rivka intervened and told Yaakov that she knew how to prepare them as Yitzchok likes. Rabbeinu Bechaye comments that Yitzchok was not requesting mere bodily satisfaction. He wanted his body to enjoy, because "when we strengthen the body's powers, we awaken the soul's power." Even Yitzchok Ovinu called upon his sense of taste to energize his body and to awaken his soul. Rabbeinu Bechaye continues, "Mitoch simchas hanefesh tochul olov ruach hakodesh." And when the soul reaches happiness, ruach hakodesh will rest on him.

So we have a reason to engage in physical pleasures: to spiritually energize ourselves. We may have a glass of tea so that we can daven with a clear mind, or eat a piece of cake to invigorate us to meet a difficult challenge in life. These are valid ways of partaking of the physical. However, one must exercise caution, because this license opens up dangerous areas of allurement.

The Torah tells us of the well-known delicacy of the Jewish people in the desert, the mon. Who is not familiar with Chazal's description of the mon's wonderful taste? While its basic taste was that of a delicious honey cake, the mon could also take on any taste that a person desired. Why was the wonder- food so delicious? Wasn't it enough that the food came down from Shomayim and fulfilled all their basic needs?

Here again we see that spiritual strength is intrinsically tied to physical strength and enjoyment. When the body is physically satisfied, the soul is spiritually charged. Nowadays, we are not worthy of such high levels of pleasure, because we do not have the necessary parallel spiritual drives.

But on our own level, we can eat and nourish our body and thereby nourish our soul. And when we direct our physical pleasure in eating towards a spiritual purpose, then that pleasure becomes something spiritual. The rebbe who activated his craving for an apple so that he could say a brochoh with full appreciation was doing just that.

Our purpose in living in this world is to fulfill the Will of Hashem and to establish a relationship with Him. If we are partaking in worldly pleasures to gain peace of mind or strength in order to improve our avodas Hashem, then -- similar to eating food after reciting a brochoh -- these physical activities become spiritual. This is called achiloh lesheim Shomayim, eating for Hashem's sake.

Elevating the Physical

Chazal tell us: "Shulchono shel odom domeh lemizbei'ach, a person's table is compared to the Altar." This comparison brings with it actual regulations for our conduct at the table. We do not sit on a table. We pour salt on it and we dip our bread into the salt, as we did for korbonos. We do not have a knife on the table when we bentch, because a table is likened to a mizbei'ach. How do we understand this comparison?

The holy mizbei'ach was dedicated to the service of Hashem. What is it about the mizbei'ach that drew us close to Hashem? We can explain this by taking a look at the four levels of existence in this world.

A domeim, the lowest level of existence, is an object that does not move. It also has no growth or development. Although it cannot grow, upon it grows the next level, the tzomei'ach.

The tzomei'ach has growth but no life. It is eaten by animals and thereby becomes a part of the third level of existence, live beings.

Animals do grow, but they have no communication.

The fourth level of life, the human being, consumes the third level, elevating it to the level of medaber.

On an even higher level, the animal is consumed and transformed into a Jew.

So we see that a stone becomes vegetation, which becomes animal, which becomes a person. Ultimately, the human body will become absorbed by the neshomoh after Techias Hameisim.

A totally physical rock has the opportunity to be transformed into something completely spiritual. When we consume vegetation or an animal, it becomes a part of ourselves. This transformation and elevation give spiritual value to our physical experiences.

When we had a Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash, we regularly offered korbonos to Hashem. Korbonos were a vehicle for building a relationship with Hashem. A Heavenly fire consumed the offerings. The nature of fire is to transform anything it touches into fire. This transformation elevated each animal into a fire of Hashem. Consequently, that whole species received a brochoh for the year.

When an animal was offered as a korbon and was consumed by the Rotzon Hashem, it received a tremendous elevation. When a Jew eats food in order to perform Hashem's service, i.e. lesheim Shomayim, the food also experiences elevation. The physical can become a dovor shebekedushoh.

When we eat, we can choose to satisfy ourselves or to satisfy Hashem. According to Sefer Hachinuch, one who habitually indulges in worldly pleasures is transgressing "Velo sosuru." Someone who excessively partakes in physical enjoyment will turn into countless worms, as it says, "Tikvas enosh rimoh, a person's end is worms."

A great scholar once explained that people actually produce worms in themselves. If we were to leave a table for hundreds of years, it would remain a table. But if we leave a corpse, worms would suddenly appear from inside the body. The more physical a person was in his life, the more worms he produces in his death.

Achiloh Shel Mitzvoh

Another function of worldly pleasures is as acts of mitzvah themselves. The posuk says, "Vekoroso laShabbos Oneg, And you shall call the Shabbos pleasure." The day of Shabbos is dedicated to, and even equal to, pleasure. Knowing that the only true pleasure is in coming close to Hashem in Olom Habo, how can Shabbos be pleasure?

Mei'ein Olom Habo; Shabbos is called a taste of the world to come. Shabbos can be a miniature experience of true pleasure.

The gemora in Beitza tells us that Hashem told Moshe Rabbenu to tell the Jews that He has a nice present in His storehouse, and it is called Shabbos. But the Jews already knew about Shabbos -- so what is this present?

Chazal answer that it was the neshomoh yeseiroh, the extra soul we are granted on Shabbos. This was previously unknown. Rashi comments that the neshomoh yeseiroh broadens our heart, so that we can enjoy the Shabbos meal. But how can the entirely spiritual soul enjoy food?

Throughout the week, we tend to be absorbed in ourselves and our personal activities. Just as Hashem was busy creating in the first Six Days, so are we. With Shabbos, Hashem gave -- and keeps giving us -- the opportunity to reflect and to tune into Hashem as being the Creator of the world. The seventh day allows no production, but it calls for identification with Hashem.

We identify with Hashem by providing the neshomoh with enjoyment. Normally, the neshomoh derives no pleasure from this world. But when we dedicate our physical experiences to Hashem, our neshomoh experiences pleasure. We indulge more on Shabbos, so we can connect to Hashem and thank Him for the world He gave us. And on Shabbos we have a capacity to enjoy double the amount of the rest of the week.

Chazal tell us that the second word in "Shovas vayinofash," can be divided into two words: vay nefesh, woe to the soul. Hashem created everything in the Six Days so that the neshomoh will be able to take pleasure in it, mostly on Shabbos. The neshomoh's enjoyment for the sake of Shabbos gives it an elevation. Woe to the soul when the Shabbos departs, because the neshomoh yeseiroh has exited, and the opportunity is then past.

We tend to focus on the neshomoh as belonging to Hashem, but to reach the next level and to consider the body as Hashem's is much more difficult. A complete spiritual experience in this world requires both the body and soul. Shabbos is the total expression and recognition that both body and soul belong to Hashem.

Keep in mind one catch. Our intention in indulging in the Shabbos delicacies must be for a spiritual experience and not for mere self-gratification. When we do have the correct intentions, the whole world is elevated.

In fact, the Ohr HaChaim comments that the world cannot exist without Shabbos, and that since the time of Odom Horishon, there was always at least one Shabbos observer in the world.

Seemingly malevolent ta'avas actually provide opportunity for spiritual growth. Through brochos, achiloh lesheim Shomayim, and achiloh shel mitzvah, we can reach lofty heights, even as we partake of the physical world.

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