Home Faith Food For Thought

Food For Thought

by Yehudis Golshevsky
image_print

BRI’s NarrowBridge.Org sends out twice weekly inspiration providing a regular dose of hope, meaning and courage. These emails include small doses of Rebbe Nachman’s wisdom, enabling us to get through the week in a more spiritual way. 

If you would like to receive these emails click here.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught…

 

“Whenever possible, avoid eating in a hurry. Even at home, don’t gobble up your food. Eating is an act of holiness. It requires full presence of mind.”
(The Empty Chair p. 25*)

What does this mean to me?

 

In this cultural moment in time, we are deluged by conflicting images, data, promises and perspectives about food. Food obsession has gained widespread cultural cachet (Food Network, anyone?), as has body image, health, sustainable food production, ethics, and everything else. With all of these themes clashing together, the innermost point of the meaning of eating can be lost. Over our plates, we come face to face with our essential dependence on G-d’s generosity. Rebbe Nachman taught that this is a great moment of spiritual potential—the “illumination of the will,” when we can feel our body’s need and desire for nourishment, and how it is a living parable for our soul’s hunger for G-d. Taking a moment to just allow ourselves to feel both physical and spiritual “wanting” is a first step.

A prayer:

 

Dear G-d,
teach me to eat right,
and to eat for the right reasons.
Keep me
from eating the wrong foods,
and from eating more than I should.
Let all that I eat
nourish me,
never weaken
or harm me.
Let the food I ingest
create a perfect balance within me
in body,
mind
and soul.

(The Gentle Weapon**, p. 13)

We encourage hearing your feedback and may anonymously publish your remarks. Please send email to: [email protected]

…It is so comforting and exciting to be on a journey that not only leads to self awareness but also to change and inner joy and peace. I never dreamed that the answers were inside of me. I always looked outside to find them.
ML, Jerusalem

The ability to open your heart and be like a child in relation to the almighty in a difficult moment is precious, thank you for reminding me of that feeling.
DM

I have read Rebbi Nachmans little books over and over for several years and love them. Thank you for these tidbits of inspiration.As a non Jew but lover of Judaism and of One GD, I relish every teaching I can get my hands on.
MC

*“The Empty Chair: Finding Hope and Joy – Timeless Wisdom from a Hasidic Master, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov” by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Adapted by Moshe Mykoff and The Breslov Research Institute, 1994. Permission granted by Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, VT, www.jewishlights.com.

**“The Gentle Weapon: Prayers for Everyday and Not-So-Everyday Moments – Timeless Wisdom from the Teachings of the Hasidic Master, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov” by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Adapted by Moshe Mykoff & S.C. Mizrahi with the Breslov Research Institute, 1999.  Permission granted by Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, VT, www.jewishlights.com.

To view the past emails, click here.

These emails are sent free of charge and are part of the ongoing work of the Breslov Research Institute to make Rebbe Nachman’s Torah available to people of all languages. If you enjoy these emails and our other work and would like to contribute to our mission, we encourage you to do so by clicking here or the PayPal (P) icon below. All US donations are tax deductible.

 

מאמרים קשורים

Leave a Comment