This past Erev Shabbat the Torah community I attend was pleasantly surprised to have an unexpected visitor. A lady who recently moved to our area from North Carolina joined us for Ma’ariv prayer, Oneg and Torah study. Having a general interest to learn Hebrew and understand the Scriptures from “a Hebraic perspective” she found our website and decided to worship with us on Friday evening. She explained that this was the first “Messianic” (synagogue style) service she had ever attended. As prayer ended and we gathered in an adjacent room for Oneg the covered loaves of Challah sat in the middle of the table. After the HaMotzi was said and as the bread was being passed around to be partaken of, another lady eagerly introduced our new visitor to “Paula’s Challah”.
One of the things I delight in doing for Oneg with my community is baking the Challah bread. I was raised in a family in which my maternal grandmother was a baker and homemaker par excellence. From her I took an interest in many domestic things and learned both the art and love of baking for others.
Therefore when I first began to keep Shabbat and read about the special evening meal involved with it, I was very interested to find out that one of the centerpiece foods involved two loaves of specially baked bread. Finding a basic recipe on-line I have adapted it over the years to produce a deliciously moist semi-sweet egg bread with golden raisins. I have also mastered the six-strand braiding technique, and have entered this most appealing bread into competitions at my county fair, winning ribbons each year I have entered.
Everyone who tastes my Challah comments on how good it is. For this reason it is admittedly a “pride and joy” to me. I make it with the finest organically certified and kosher ingredients and bake it early Friday afternoons so it is the freshest possible for Oneg on Erev Shabbat. The people of my community have lovingly dubbed it “Paula’s Challah”, “Award Winning Challah” and refer to me at times as “Our Challah Queen”.
Another woman in my community provides me with the organic ingredients for my Challah as she and her husband run a local organic foods co-op. A couple of weeks ago I ordered some organic white flour from her, a 25 lb. bag as usual. The following week the lady stopped at my home to deliver the flour and realized that she had ordered wheat flour instead of white. She asked if I might purchase the wheat flour anyway and use it to make the erev Shabbat Challah. In my mind I immediately disagreed. I explained I though it best to continue to make the bread from white flour as everyone enjoys it so much that way. Having no other use for a 25 lb. bag of wheat flour I declined to purchase it from her. She seemed somewhat disheartened by my refusal but apologized for the mistake and promised to order white flour for me instead.
A few hours later I though about what I had done. The 25 lb bag of flour, although purchased in bulk, still involved a bit of an expense being “certified organic” and “kosher”. The food co-op that the lady and her husband run is a way of making extra money in a financially challenged household. No wonder she tried to talk me into buying the wheat flour, for more than likely she will now have to absorb the cost for her inadvertent mistake.
I grew annoyed with myself for not realizing this right away; for allowing my perfectionist tendencies to overshadow the reality of the situation. My preoccupation with making Challah a “delicious delight” had led to disregarding the affliction and burden it might cause a well-meaning lady from my community.
With this faux pas fresh on my mind I found myself considering the topic of bread in Deuteronomy chapter 8, the bread of affliction to be exact. But to my surprise and curiosity the bread described in this way was not the unleavened bread eaten on the night of the Exodus from Egypt, traditionally referred to as the bread of affliction in the Haggadah for Pesach. Instead, in very pointed and clear words Moses relates that the miraculous manna, the “bread from heaven” was bread provided by HaShem as a means to cause affliction upon the Children of Israel in order to test them and teach them in the setting of the Wilderness.
He afflicted you and let you hunger then He fed you manna that you did not know, nor did your forefathers know, in order to make you know that not by bread alone does man live, rather by everything that emanates from the mouth of G-d does man live. (Deuteronomy 8:3 Stone Chumash)
From the plain reading of this verse it would seem that G-d allowed Israel to hunger and want before providing them with the manna. In this way they would appreciate the miracle of G-d’s provision of this heavenly food (this is the common explanation regarding this verse, as given by Ibn Ezra, Ramban and others). The affliction was the hunger that G-d assuaged in the giving of the manna.
Yet, in Deuteronomy 8:16 manna is mentioned again and it is here that Moses specifically says that HaShem fed the people manna in the Wilderness; “in order to afflict you”. In this way the manna is seen as a cause of affliction upon the Children of Israel. Yet how is it that this heavenly bread caused affliction? The manna was provided directly from heaven every day. According to Talmud (Yoma 74b) and Midrash it not only sustained the people physically but also strengthened them spiritually. Although the taste is described in Scripture as something like “wafers of honey” or “dough with oil”, Exodus Rabbah 23:3 explains that the manna contained many flavors and could take on the taste of any type of food the person eating it might desire or imagine. Because it was perfect food it involved no bodily waste and in the understanding of some of the Chazal; amidst the daily manna was also found precious gems and pearls.
With these miraculous qualities in mind the Sages ponder what the “affliction” of the manna could possibly be. A common conjecture is that the affliction involved the fact that manna could only be collected on a daily basis. The manna could not be hoarded or saved, for any leftovers became rancid and putrefied the following day. Because of this it was impossible for manna to become a possession; it was something that Israel had to rely upon G-d to provide for them every day. This lack of security and inability to have a reserve provision of food and the psychological uncertainties this would involve, is the popular and often read conjecture regarding the affliction of the manna.
Yet, in Proverbs 30:8-9 the wise person prays for neither poverty nor wealth but only his “daily bread”. Yeshua as well, drawing from this proverb, taught his disciples to pray “give us this day our daily bread” confirming the fact that this is a worthy petition of G-d. In Matthew 6:25-34 Yeshua also teaches that one must not be anxious about tomorrow or about food and clothing etc. Therefore, the Scriptures seems to indicate that looking to HaShem and relying upon Him for daily provision is to be considered a blessing not an affliction, something we are to be praying and striving for, and not something we should try to avoid or fret about as Children of G-d.
It is also difficult to imagine that the generation of the Wilderness, a people understood by the Rabbi’s to have been on a very high spiritual plane and great tzaddik’s in their own right, would have fretted and been under tension every day for 40 years regarding G-d’s provision of daily manna. Perhaps during the first couple of weeks or even months some tension and anxiety regarding the consistency of the manna would have been felt, but after this the manna would have become a natural and expected part of everyday life.
The Hebrew word translated “affliction” in both Deuteronomy 8:3 and 16 is the word ‘anotekha which is first used in Genesis 15:13 to describe the oppression of slavery the descendents of Abraham would experience in Egypt. Affliction in this sense involves being “looked down upon” or oppressed through circumstances that make it impossible for G-d’s people to fulfill their potential (due to slavery). In verse 3 of Deuteronomy 8 we see that the affliction of the manna was given for the expressed purpose of understanding that the greatest fulfillment of life is not found in “bread” but in every “emanation” or “utterance” that comes from the mouth of G-d.
Typically this well-known verse (also used by Yeshua in the Matthew and Luke accounts of his temptation in the Wilderness) is understood to be speaking about the priority of Scripture. That the “Word” which emanates from G-d’s mouth is supreme and that one should live by every “Word” of the Bible. However, the Hebrew word translated “emanates” or “utterance” is motza which in the most basic sense means “that which is brought forth”. The same root (mem/tzade/aleph) is used in the word motzi incorporated into the familiar prayer in which we bless HaShem for “bringing forth” (HaMotzi) bread from the earth. Therefore, in a more literal, basic and deeper sense Moses is not speaking about G-d’s Word as encompassed in the written words of Torah alone, but rather he is speaking about everything which is brought forth from G-d’s mouth in general.
Pirkei Avot, Chapter 5, Mishnah 1(a) relates that; “With ten divine utterances was the world created”. Genesis chapter one gives evidence to this fact as the creation of the world is described as HaShem speaking it forth into existence. In Kabbalistic thinking the divine utterance of HaShem not only encompasses G-d’s desire to create and specifically design each physical thing but also includes the essential purpose of each created thing. Although HaShem initially spoke everything into existence, the divine utterance or essential purpose remains “nestled” in each created thing, continually supplying it with being and life. Yet, this divine essence or purpose is hidden or clothed in the trappings of the outward and physical form of each thing.
Of the entire physical realm man alone has the ability to recognize the divine utterance in creation. Only humans find inspiration, awe and beauty in the grandeur of the created order and the intricate and various details found there. Why is it that people gather on a beach to watch the sunset, while the fish and birds carry on without notice? Why is it that the heart is stirred when observing the Milky Way on a clear summer’s night? It is because people alone have the ability to recognize and “sense” the creative majesty of G-d in the physical world through both the senses and the intellect (no matter their spiritual or religious orientation).
But not only do humans have the ability to recognize the divine utterance, but in a Kabbalistic sense they also have the ability to release or redeem the divine utterance or higher spiritual purpose nestled within everything in creation. For man alone can elevate what is physical by imbuing it with spiritual qualities and using it in service to HaShem. For example; a person can eat a gourmet meal of the finest foods. He can enjoy and appreciate the color, presentation, smell and taste of the meal and find in it a great satisfaction and delight as he recognizes the creative majesty of HaShem (through his senses and intellect) in the beauty of the physical food. Yet, by saying a blessing before partaking of such a meal and proclaiming that all of it comes from HaShem, the person releases the deeper spiritual essence or purpose within the food and elevates the purely physical to a spiritual level.
Although the manna was a great and compassionate miracle provided by HaShem on a daily basis, the manna itself was an affliction to Israel because it was not of the created order. Because manna was bread from heaven it was unlike the food of the physical creation. Although the Midrash says that manna could taste like any food a person desired, it yet remained the same in appearance day after day, looking something like coriander seed or hoarfrost upon the ground. Its texture and color never changed and Scripture never speaks of it as having any particular scent or aroma. The manna also limited the people of Israel to tastes that they had experienced in the past. It was impossible, during the 40 years of eating manna, to experience any new food tastes or combinations at all for the manna would only taste like foods that the person could imagine.
The Chazal of Yoma 74b compare the qualities of manna to the affliction of a blind man in eating his food, for the blind person “eats on” without being satisfied. Even when his stomach is filled the blind man is not satiated in the sense that he cannot experience the beautiful details of physical food and find inspiration and enjoyment by realizing the creative majesty found in the food itself. Because manna was not of the created order, it was impossible for Israel to recognize a creative majesty in the details of the heavenly bread, and to experience an inspirational pleasure or joy while eating such ethereal food.
Because the manna transcended this world it was not bound by the aspects of space and time like the rest of creation. In coming directly from G-d in Heaven the manna was spiritually perfect and its spiritual essence was not hidden or hindered by its physical appearance. Manna had no need to be redeemed or elevated spiritually making it impossible for Israel to use it in service to HaShem. This as well was an affliction which made it impossible for G-d’s children in the Wilderness to fulfill the unique human quality of elevating the mundane act of eating and making it sacred.
The two aspects of affliction found in the manna are well documented in Torah. In Numbers 11:6 the people complain that their souls are “dry” because “there is nothing besides this manna before our eyes”. The manna with its consistent physical appearance and lack of variety day in and day out made it impossible for Israel to enjoy eating on a sensual level. Eating, instead of being enjoyable and interesting, was routine, lacking variety, making this most basic aspect of life seem very dry indeed.
In Numbers 21:5 the Israelites complain to Moses that their souls “loathe” this “light bread” (or “worthless food”). The Hebrew word for “loathe” (qatzah) is from the root (qof, tzadde, hey) meaning “weary”. Although manna was far from worthless and indeed valuable for providing physical sustenance and spiritual sharpness for the people, (even perhaps providing material wealth in the forms of gems and pearls), yet it was wearisome to them. In other words it was boring . . .boring to do nothing more than receive from G-d day by day and never have the ability to give back or serve him through eating.
Therefore the manna was an affliction to Israel which left them “hungry” or made them “hunger”. Although it provided physical sustenance and a feeling of fullness, it did not satiate the people in the way that regular created food did. Lacking physical variety and interest in which man might realize inspiration and awe, and having no hidden spiritual essence or purpose that depended on man to release and fulfill, the manna left Israel hungry both sensually and spiritually, as eating became an occupation that was dry and loathsome, boring and lacking pleasure.
Man doesn’t live by purely physical or spiritual sustenance alone but by every utterance of HaShem. Recognizing and experiencing the evidence of G-d in the created order and redeeming the spiritual essence of creation by using it to serve HaShem, are the two things that bring fullness to life. This is the purpose or highest calling of mankind encompassed in two occupations that are unique to man himself. Because these purposes could not be fulfilled in eating manna, the heavenly bread became the bread of affliction.
Yeshua also used the lesson of the bread of affliction in Deuteronomy 8:3 to counter the temptation of Satan in the wilderness. According to the context of both Matthew 4 and Luke 4, Yeshua was led into the desert by the Spirit and fasted for 40 days. During this 40 day time of fasting he was continually tested by Satan. Yet, interestingly, the gospels do not tell us of any of the temptations during that fasting time. The first temptation that is spoken of occurred when the fasting time had ended. The 40 days were past and Yeshua was free to eat again. At this time the Devil suggested that he turn one of the stones lying upon the sand in the wilderness into a loaf of bread in order to satiate his hunger.
This seems like a very logical thing to suggest being that there was no real food to be found in the desert wilderness. The stones were plentiful and what would it matter if one of literally thousands were turned into a loaf of bread to eat? Yet, Yeshua refuses to do what Satan suggests, citing Deuteronomy 8:3.
What does this all mean? What are we to learn from this? Is this temptation given so we can recognize the Yeshua is super-human? That he was able to fast longer than anyone in Scripture, longer even than Moses or Elijah (who both fasted 40 days, the longest recorded time of fasting in the Bible)? Are Matthew and Luke trying to show us that Yeshua’s “food” was the “word and will” of G-d and therefore that physical eating was unimportant or even unnecessary for him?
Interestingly the first temptation of Yeshua related in the Apostolic Scriptures is very similar to the first temptation of Adam and Eve as related in Genesis 3. Both involve food and suggestions from Satan regarding what can and should constitute food.
According to the writings of the Midrash Tanchuma Bubar and the Zohar, G-d created Adam and Eve with the task of Tikun Olam (repairing the world) in mind. Therefore, the world was not created in its fully perfected state but was to be directed to its final stages of actualization through the first human beings. The Midrash teaches that the command to “tend and keep the garden” (Genesis 2:15) was a heavenly call for mitzvah practice which is the most powerful agent of personal and global transformation. G-d’s intent in the Garden of Eden was that the world “merit” or attain perfection through the efforts and actions of human beings. Therefore the first Adam had the potential to bring the created world to a higher level of existence (Olam Haba). [1]
During the temptation Eve recognized the evidence of G-d’s creative majesty and power in the fruit, that it was “pleasing to the eyes” and “profitable to make one wise”. But in succumbing to Satan’s temptation she assigned a purpose to the fruit which was never intended, the purpose of being “good for food”. The fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not meant to be eaten; it was not “good for food”. Although it was physical fruit as any other fruit with a beautiful appearance and delicious taste, and with the ability to be ingested and to provide physical sustenance, this was not its purpose or spiritual essence. This was not the reason G-d spoke this fruit into existence.
The purpose of the fruit was not to be eaten, and not to be enjoyed as food by man. The spiritual essence of this fruit could not be released or redeemed by man partaking of it but only in exactly the opposite manner . . .by man not partaking of it.
Rabbi Isaac Luria explains that the divine essence of every created thing is wrapped or “hidden” within its physical substance. In this way a material “husk” (klipah) encases and conceals the divine spark of spiritual essence in everything. The being and purpose of everything is hidden behind its physical shell. Yet the being and higher purpose of created things is not exclusively fulfilled through man’s partaking of them. This is the deeper significance of the Torah principles of assur (forbidden) and mutar (permitted). [2]
The word assur (forbidden) literally means “bound” alluding to the fact that the divine purpose or essence of certain things in creation are meant to remain bound. The divine purpose of things forbidden in Torah is redeemed or released through man not being actively involved in them. Mutar (permitted) literally means “unbound”, which alludes to the divine purpose or essence of permitted things as being released and redeemed when man does involve himself with them in the manner which Torah prescribes. [3]
When Eve ate of the fruit she involved herself in something forbidden. Instead of releasing and redeeming the essential purpose of the fruit in order to elevate it to a higher spiritual plane in service to HaShem she used it in a way it was not intended. For the fruit was meant to serve G-d and fulfill its deeper created spiritual purpose by remaining bound, not partaken of by man. At the moment Eve and Adam partook of what was forbidden and participated in what was meant to be bound they failed to realize the ultimate purpose of their own creation, to “tend and keep the Garden” in a way that would bring the whole world into a higher level of existence (Olam Haba). In this way the first Adam failed in his intended purpose and initiated the current state of the world we now know (Olam Hazeh), a world of death in which intended and spiritual purposes are ruined instead of realized, and are oppressed instead of redeemed.
In like manner, Yeshua, as the second or final Adam (cf. Romans 5:12-21, 1 Corinthians 15:22,45), would undergo a similar temptation to the first Adam. This temptation is the first given in the Gospels because it is so crucial and primary. For if Yeshua failed this test, then like Adam and Eve, he would have failed regarding his intended purpose to repair and spiritually elevate the world and bring it into a higher state of existence (Olam Haba).
In both instances Satan suggests that something not created for food be used and partaken of as food. In Eve’s case what was forbidden, yet completely edible, had to be recreated in her thinking as something “good for food”. In Yeshua’s case a totally inedible rock would have to be physically recreated and changed into something which it was not created to be (bread) in order to satisfy his physical hunger. In both cases, by following Satan’s advice the divine essence or deeper created purpose of both the fruit and/or the rock would have been ruined instead of released.
By turning a rock into a loaf of bread, Yeshua would have nullified its essence instead of redeeming or elevating it. By recreating the rock and making it into bread one of the utterances of HaShem, created by His spoken word, would have been destroyed and unable to be elevated spiritually or used to serve Him. On the surface this reasoning seems ridiculous for how does a rock serve HaShem? How can one of the lowliest and most common of inanimate objects be redeemed and elevated to a higher spiritual plane? Can it seriously be suggested that if Yeshua took one lowly rock and miraculously made it into bread to eat that in doing so he would have forfeited and ruined his role of redeemer and savior of the entire world?
The Alter Rebbe (Rav Shneur Zelman of Liadi) explains that the “lowlier” the creation, the loftier the divine energy it contains”. In his understanding our present (fallen) world is like a collapsed wall, in which the highest stones fall the farthest down. In the created order those things that are furthest from us physically and that are the most complicated and spectacular (such as sun setting into the ocean or the Milky Way in the night sky) evoke most clearly a divine energy or cause. Universally, mankind recognizes the awesomeness of such things and the inspiration and sense of beauty that they invoke. The rougher the created order, the earthier and plainer and closer to the base elements things become, the less inspired man is by them. The less likely such rough and plain items evoke awe in mankind as a whole because the divine essence and purpose is hidden behind a more ordinary “package” so to speak.
Yet, in Torah the rocks certainly do have a unique and most awesome function when it comes to serving HaShem for in giving instruction regarding building the altar of sacrifice in Exodus 20:24-25 Moses says;
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. (KJV)
The one item that was most visible and practical in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the Temples of Israel –the altar of sacrifice — was to be constructed of the most earthy and lowly of materials, either of dirt or of stones which were unhewn and in their totally natural state. The altar of the portable Tabernacle in the Wilderness was made of wooden forms overlaid with bronze and filled with dirt. But the altar of both Solomon’s and Herod’s Temples in Jerusalem were constructed of unhewn stones. Amidst the grandeur and beauty of marble, silver, gold, copper, cedar from Lebanon and rich fabrics which adorned both Temples stood the place which functioned as the means for the Children of Israel to bring their Korban and draw close to G-d –rising up from the ground upon a foundation made of plain field stones.
Even the most ordinary of stones takes on a greater beauty when hewn or split. For the interior of the stone contains patterns and minerals of various sorts that are not dulled by the elements of weather and wear and that present something of a sparkling appearance or simple beauty. Yet, the rocks were to be strictly unhewn for in the opinion of Rashi; iron tools were not to be used on the rocks for constructing the altar for iron is the raw material of the sword which shortens life while the purpose of the altar is as a place for repentance, atonement and the lengthening of life. [4]
Therefore, any stone upon the ground in the wilderness of Israel had the potential to be elevated to a greater spiritual purpose as signified by the construction of the altar of sacrifice. The true Messiah and victorious second Adam, Yeshua, would not consider recreating even one of the most ordinary and plentiful rocks in the wilderness in order to satisfy his physical hunger. For through him even the seeming lowliest of all the created order will be elevated, redeemed and brought into a repaired and perfect existence in times yet future, in the Messianic age and the Olam Haba.
. . . . . . .
At the end of our Erev Shabbat meeting on Friday, I walked out of the shul with the lady who runs the food co-op. Being parked next to me in the parking lot I noticed a large bag of flour sitting in the back seat of her car. “Is that the white flour I ordered from you”? I questioned. Looking embarrassed she explained that the bag of wheat flour I didn’t order had been sitting in her back seat for “almost a week now”.
“Oh!” I said with surprise. “I’m glad you still have that flour because I’ve been thinking about your suggestion for whole wheat Challah and I think it would be a nice change for our Oneg.” Delighted, she quickly retrieved the bag from her car and handed it to me. Promising to pay her when I see her again on Tuesday (for a congregational meeting) I drove home with 25 pounds of organic/kosher wheat flour sitting in the passenger seat next to me. I thought about how I might adapt my Challah recipe to include whole wheat flour. I wondered what it might look and taste like compared to the “award winning” raisin variety. Could I possibly lose my title of “Challah Queen” by making the bread in a new and unfamiliar way? : )
Making an unexpected whole wheat Challah for next Erev Shabbat will be a new taste experience, one I’m sure will cause each of us to be attentive to the texture, color, smell and taste of a new food instead of merely “chowing down” on the Challah we are so familiar with. As we say the HaMotzi over the bread and sing the Birkat HaMazon in concluding the Oneg, a simple and initially overlooked act of kindness will be used to honor HaShem. What could have been the “bread of affliction” now turned into the bread of loving one’s neighbor. For man does not live by bread alone but by every utterance from the mouth of HaShem.
[1] Sarah Schneider, Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine, A Still Small Voice, Jerusalem, p. 151.
[2] Beit Tefillah, Shemini, available at: http://beittefillah.org/downloads/shemini.pdf
[3] Ibid.
[4] Rashi as cited in; Rabbi Nosson Scherman, The Stone Edition Chumash (Parashas Yisro) pp. 414-415.
May it be the will before You, HaShem my G-d and the G-d of my forefathers to fill the flaw of the moon, that it not be diminished in any way. And may the light of the moon be like the light of the sun and like the light of the seven days of Creation as it was before its diminishment, as it is said: The two luminaries that are great. And may there be fulfilled in us the verse that is written: They shall seek HaShem their G-d and David their king. Amen. (Schottenstein Edition Siddur for Weekdays)
