I arrived in St. Louis and started my relationship with B’nai Amoona a little over a year ago. This morning, in addition to all the other Simchas that we are celebrating, it is a lifecycle moment for me in my rabbinate. It’s my one year anniversary here at B’nai Amoona. As of this moment, I declare that I am no longer to be called the “new assistant Rabbi”—just call me, the plain old Assistant Rabbi. After the year I’ve had, it certainly doesn’t feel like I’m so new any more.

Over the past year, I have been, for the most part, pleased with my sermons. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of researching the rabbinic material, compiling interpretations and comments, and refining the presentation. I have compiled each and every sermon from scratch as I sifted through the vast writings of rabbinic. I stood on the shoulders of giants. This past week, I had a breakthrough. As I was studying and researching a theme in our Parsha, Parashat Ekev, I came up with my first chidush since I’ve been here. What’s a chidush? Up until now, I have relied on the Rabbis of old to provide the rabbinic content of my sermons. But this week, I came up with what I think is a completely original rabbinic interpretation of a Torah verse. Rabbi Lipnik, our Rabbi Emeritus is present in our congregation here today. So, he will serve as the judge to determine if it is, indeed, an original rabbinic teaching. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has beaten me to it. But we’ll see.

Please open up your chumashim to page 1041. Deuteronomy Chapter 8 verse 10 up at the top of the page. V’achalta, V’savata, U’veirachta et Adonai Elohecha al Ha’aretz HaTova asher natan lach. We recognize this verse from the Birkat Hamazon, the Grace after Meals. The traditional reading of this verse is: this is where we are charged to bless God after we eat bread. Please look down to bottom of the page to the shaded rectangular box. You’ll find the section of the Eitz Chayim, called Halacha L’ma’aseh or practical hallacha. And it comments of the word “Thanks” or U’veirachta. This verse is the basis for the commandment to recite Birkat Hamazon. The rabbinic focus, clearly is on the word, U’veorachta and you shall bless. The other words, “V’achalta and V’savata” are subordinate and merely functions of the single commandment to bless.

Here’s my chidush. I believe that there are three words here, each with its own positive commandment. After all, there is no difference in their tone, their tense, nor their emphasis. Certainly grammatically speaking, they are equivalent. I believe that they are equivalent in other ways. Each word represents a distinct positive commandment. Our rabbis teach that there is only one commandment here; however, I believe there are three.

The first commandment is V’achalta, and you shall eat. The commandment is to partake of worldly pleasures. Judaism demands us to be fully engaged in this world. One might think that a religious text like the Torah might warn against worldly pleasures. Other religions certainly do. Monks eat meager rations and withdraw into their monasteries. Priests take a vow of celibacy. Not so, in our Jewish religion. Rabbis marry, barukh hashem, Rabbis enjoy big kiddushes, and Rabbis are even known to make a L’chaim every now and again. Judaism recognizes and appreciates appetite. Our religion calls upon us to sanctify our God-given appetites. We sanctify the Shabbat with our silver goblets of wine. We sanctify our marriages and relationships with love and respect. In Bereshit Rabah it is written, “If it weren’t for the evil impulse, a person would never build a house and he would never marry.” We are commanded to embrace and direct our impulses for good. Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezrich writes, “A person is slave to two rulers: one’s deity and one’s desires.” We acknowledge our humanity, we appreciate our appetites, and we direct those appetites, always using our energy to create holiness and help repair our broken world. And you shall eat, V’achalta—this is the first of the three commandments. The Torah commands us to partake of the pleasures of God’s world.

The second commandment is to be satiated. V’savata. And you shall be satiated. Once you have satisfied your appetite, appreciate the moment. Once you accomplish your task, stop—reflect—and enjoy the feeling. After an accomplishment, after eating a good meal, after satisfying a healthy appetite—enjoy the moment. Being satiated is a spiritual challenge. It is said that, “people would enjoy life more if once they got what they wanted, they could remember how much they wanted it.” Religious experience is born out this appreciation and gratitude. The Torah commands us to be satiated when we satisfy our appetites.

The third commandment is to bless God. U’veirachta. The commandment is to bless God, the source of All, for the bounty that God has provided for us. We can only bless God for real if we have fulfilled the first two commandments: to partake of the pleasures of this world and to allow ourselves to be sated by them. These are the Torah’s prerequisite commandments for the authentic religious experience of reciting the Birkat HaMazon—Grace after Meals.

I’ll end with a teaching from Reb Yehuda Leiv. Way back in Genesis, God cursed the snake for his deceitful sinning and said, “You shall crawl on your belly, and you shall eat the dust of the earth.” If you think about it, says Reb Yehuda, that’s not really such a terrible curse. After all, the snake will be slithering on the ground, and will be perfectly content feeding on its dust. The snake is pretty much guaranteed to have a good meal right in front of his face—all the time! Ahh, says Reb Yehuda, this is exactly the curse. The snake will never be in need. It won’t take any effort to satisfy its appetite. The snake will never want or desire and so the snake will never experience the joy feeling sated. The snake never feels the need to reach out to God in prayer or in gratitude and so the snake will never feel God’s presence. This, says Reb Yehuda Leib is the greatest curse of them all.

A prayer: It says in our Torah “And you shall eat, and you shall be sated, and you shall bless.” These three words represent three distinct commandments. Ribono Shel Olam, Master of the Universe, open up our eyes so that we may appreciate the human cycle of longing, satisfaction and gratitude. May we imbue our primal needs with dignity as we honor the humanity, which you have created within us. May we all merit satisfying those needs with respect for God and respect for each other. Sated and fulfilled, may we turn to you in gratitude and appreciation. And let us say: Amen.

© Ranon Teller 2003

Sermon Classification: 37

Key Words: Partaking in pleasures, desires