Stumbling After Our Sweet Tooth
“כי כל שאר וכל דבש לא תקטירו – You shall not offer any kind of leavening, or any kind of honey . . .” (Vayikra 2, 11).
How can this particular prohibition concerning flour offerings on the Mizbeyach (Altar) be among the most important verses we learn in preparation for Purim? The Torah forbids using any kind of leavening agent or sweetener as an added ingredient in a Korban Mincha (flour offering) that will be placed on the Altar. The reason for the commandment, as with all mitzvos, is simple – because HaShem said so.
The lesson behind it, however, is anything but pashut.
The Sefer HaChinuch explains that this prohibition is nothing less than a principal paradigm on how a Jew should relate to food – particularly sweets. Our dining room tables serves as a remembrance for the Temple’s Altar which we no longer possess. Several customs and laws dictate how we should model our behavior at the table in order to emulate the Kohanim’s practices with sacrifices in the Beis HaMikdash.
The Chinuch writes (mitzvah 117), “The matter of avoiding honey is in order to guide and motivate our tender children that a person should minimize his running after sweet foods merely for their taste. For this conduct is the way of gluttons that are constantly drawn after sweets. A wise person focuses on food that is beneficial for the body, provides the needs for his sustenance and guards the health of his limbs (and organs).
“It is fitting for all people of common sense to not eat for the sake of the pleasure of the feeling of the throat (sense of taste), because running after the sense of taste is a shame and disgrace. Rather, it’s appropriate to focus on the pleasure of meeting the body’s physical needs (through proper eating). Furthermore, I heard another reason for this prohibition (of not having leaven and honey on the Altar) is that they represent arrogance (showing off oneself and running after one’s own desires), and this is an abomination to HaShem.
“Similarly, I saw in the commentary of the Ramban that the korbanos should be solely for the sake of HaShem, and therefore not to bring a sacrifice from things that are completely sweet like honey . . .”
We see a similar theme connecting the relationship of eating with korbanos from the Maharsha. The verse toward the end of Hallel states, “אסרו חג בעבתים עד קרנות המזבח – Bind the festival offering with cords until the corners of the Altar.” The gemara draws the following lesson from this verse, “Anyone who makes a fence around their eating and drinking on a holiday is as if they built an altar and brought upon it a sacrifice,” (Sukkah 45b).
The Maharsha, in his explanation of this gemara, translates the word “אסרו” as “prohibition” or “boundary - fence” He writes, “[A person] should make a boundary in his mitzvah of eating on a holiday; meaning, don’t overeat and don’t drink so much that it would not be for the sake of Heaven. And the leftovers that he does not eat and does not drink will be considered as if he built an Altar and brought upon it a sacrifice . . . for just as the Altar (in the Temple) atoned (for transgressions) so does the table (upon which we eat) atone (for transgressions).”
When we’re in the middle of eating a delicious meal, one of the most difficult things for us to do is to hold back when we’ve had enough. Our appetite is stimulated, our taste buds are dancing and our desire for more is raging. It’s at that exact moment the Maharsha is telling us to stop anyway. We had our fill and we enjoyed it.
The leftovers – either the second portions still on the table or the extra food being taken back into the kitchen – are an awesome opportunity to connect with G-d, to sacrifice our will - our physical desire for indulgence. We can use our table as an altar to associate with our soul and not get carried away with our already satisfied body. And that truly is the sweetest feeling. Good שבת.
Rabbi Eli Glaser, CNWC, CWMC is a Certified Nutrition, Wellness & Weight Management Consultant and Director of SOVEYA (Changing the Jewish World - One Pound at a Time). To contact Soveya: 443-501-3082, info@soveya.com or www.soveya.com
