Rabbi Shimon would say... Three who eat at one table
and speak words of Torah, it is as if they had eaten at
G-d's table.
Ethics of the Fathers, 3:3
On the surface, Rabbi Shimon's message is simple and straightforward:
utilize your mealtimes to share the wisdom of Torah. This way, the mundane
activity of eating becomes a lofty and G-dly endeavor.
But surely the same applies to a single diner or to many who eat scattered
about the room. Why "three who eat"? And why specifically
when they eat at "one table"? On a deeper level, Rabbi Shimon
is conveying the true significance of our need for food.
Hunger In Two Dimensions
The human being consists of two primary components: the physical body
and the soul that gives it life and direction. The same is true of every
created thing: its physicality and substance is but its outer husk.
Within is a "soul," an inner, spiritual essence and significance.
Ultimately, the soul of the entire universe is one: the
drive to fulfill its Creator's will. At creation, this unified "soul"
splintered into a myriad of individual "sparks" that now form
the core of every created thing.
But unlike the human soul, which exercises will and choice,
all other creatures are passive containers of their purpose and utility.
They depend upon man, the crown and apex of G-d's creation, to develop
and utilize them in accordance with the Creator's design. It is man
to whom the Torah, which outlines this design, has been given, and it
is man who has been granted the franchise and the tools to implement
it.
So the soul of man descends into the trials and trappings
of physical life in order to gain access to these "sparks of holiness."
By investing itself within a physical body that will eat, clothe itself,
and otherwise make use of the objects and forces of the physical universe,
the soul redeems the "sparks" that they incorporate. For when
man utilizes something, directly or indirectly, to serve G-d's will,
he penetrates its shell of mundanity, revealing and realizing its function
within the overall purpose of existence.
This explains a most puzzling fact of life: Why is it
that man derives life and sustenance from the animal, vegetable, and
mineral worlds? How is it that the highest form of life is dependent
upon these lower tiers of creation?
But in truth, man's need for the nutrients that his environment provides
him (and the many other material resources that sustain and enhance
his life) is the manner in which these elements reach fulfillment. When
man makes positive use of the energy he derives from them, they become
elevated to a station they could never attain on their own. They become
an integral part of a conscious, willful being who elects to serve the
Almighty. The meat of the beast, the grain in the bread, the water that
quenches our thirst-these become the essence of an act of charity, an
hour expended in the study of G-d's wisdom, a feeling of love for G-d
in prayer.
In this way, Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch explained the
verse: "The hungry and thirsty, in them does their soul wrap itself."(Psalms
106:5) A person desiring food may sense only his body's hunger; but,
in truth, his physical craving is the external expression of a deeper
yen. "Wrapped within" is his soul's hunger for the sparks
of holiness that are the object of his mission in life.
Three At One
When a person sits to eat there are three partners to the endeavor:
his body, his soul, and the food-the vital glue that keeps body and
soul together as a living organism.
But if his eating is dominated by the perspective of Torah, these
"three who eat" do so at a single table. Their eating is an
act of unification, a revelation of the underlying oneness of creation
and its connection to the One Creator.
From an address by the Rebbe, Sivan 23, 5742 (June 19, 1982).
This is an excerpt from "Beyond the Letter of the Law"
by Yanki Tauber, published by The Meaningful Life Center.
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