ANOTHER MITZVAH - TIME TO EAT

BS"D Now it’s time for Breakfast, but before you eat that orange juice and cereal we can do another mitzvah…V’ochalto,v’sovoto, u-vayrachto – And you shall eat and you shall be satisfied and you shall bless HaShem, your G-d (Deuteronomy/Dvarim Chapter 8: Verse 10)

This is actually one of the official commandments that HaShem gives us directly in the Torah – Dvarim is the fifth of the five books of the Chumash (Chamesh means five in Hebrew – see mitzvah number one if you have forgotten what the Torah is exactly)Okay, back to our mitzvah – Eat, Pray and be Satisfied. What is this all about?

Rabbi Jonathan Rietti suggests a parable in his wonderful tape/CD on keeping kosher in his excellent lecture series "Enhancing our Jewish Identity" Volume 2: (To hear all of Rabbi Reitti's lectures go to: http://www.simpletoremember.com/authors/a/jewish-inspiration/)

There once was a King who had a son. When the son got older, the King decided to give his son a large bag of money so that he could go out and make his way in the world. A year later, when the money had run out, the son came back to visit the King, and of course to get more money. The King was not impressed. He tells his son - I didn’t give you the large bag of money so that I wouldn’t see you on a regular basis. This time I will give you just what you will need for one day, so that tomorrow you will need to come back to see me again.

That is what HaShem also wants from us. The easiest way for us to have an ongoing relationship with Him is to teach us to say a blessing before we eat and after we eat. Try it – say a blessing out loud and slowly every time BEFORE you put something into your mouth – it will really make a difference. HaShem gives us different blessings to say on different types of food – this helps us really think about what we are about to eat.

Do we need to say the Ha-Etz blessing – for foods that grow on trees such as apples, oranges or pears? Is this food the Ha-Adoma blessing – for foods that come from the ground such as mushrooms, potatoes or corn? What about drinks (juices, milk or pop) – that’s the SheHakol blessing, foods made from flour (pasta, cakes or cookies) – that’s Mezonos, bread – HaMotzei -a class all by itself as bread is considered the main part of any meal, wine – HaGofen – another one that is in a class all by itself - the list does get complicated.

And what about after we eat? Same thing – just different blessings, depending on what we ended up eating. Borei Nefoshos – the short-after blessing for a quick bite; Al HaMechia for something with flour; the full Birkas HaMazon - Blessing After Meals or “Bentching” as it is referred to – for a full meal including bread. At least three times a day Hashem is guaranteed to have us think about Him – just because we need to eat – quite a remarkable process wouldn’t you agree?

What about Jewish Pride? A lot of Yidden (Yiddish for Jewish people) do not feel it necessary to observe specific Mitzvahs in order to feel close to HaShem. “I know I’m Jewish – and I feel as close to HaShem as you do”. Maybe it’s true – maybe you do feel even CLOSER to HaShem.

But, Jewish pride is so important. So, let’s stand up and be proud that we are Jewish. Let’s shout it from the rooftops – well maybe not from the rooftops – that might be dangerous. Try this:

Stand up in the middle of an airport and say a bracha (blessing) SLOWLY and OUT LOUD before you eat an apple! Think it’s easy? Try it – it’s not. It’s tough – but, why? We just said that saying a blessing before we eat is a great way to have a relationship with HaShem. We all agree we need to thank HaShem for that apple. So, why is it so tough to say that blessing slowly and out loud? Because…someone might hear us – they might think we are weird or something...