The Pleasure Principle

In an article on parshas Pinchas that I read, an explanation was given about the Baal Peor idol and how it was worshipped.  It said that every constructive physical act is pleasurable.  Physical acts have a purpose, such as eating to sustain life.  In order to ensure that man does these important things, they come along with pleasure.

Pleasure just for its own sake is a corruption.  If we do something just for pleasure alone, it is devoid of anything good or holy.

In reading this, I was reminded of the frum world's obsession with food as seen in kosher food magazines, numerous cookbooks, articles about surgery for obesity, etc. It is claimed that the preoccupation with food is a good thing: here but I'm not convinced.  The shockingly crass ads I've posted about have not convinced me that the eating is l'sheim shomayim or just plain neutral.

I'm not claiming to eat every mouthful for the sake of heaven, and yet, pride in being a foodie, the eagerness to have yet another culinary experience, the weird combinations of ingredients for the sake of something new, is just too much.

Brownie Bar Ad

"Take one for the road! Wherever the craving hits, treat yourself to our delicious snacks and taste the quality in every bite."

Whenever the craving hits? Vos far a lashon iz dos?! (What kind of language is that?)

And people have been noticing and commenting about the grubbe, full page, steak ads with close-ups of slabs of raw meat.  And the close-ups of scoops of ice cream, cones and bars.

For that matter, I have been noticing my adverse reaction to many close-ups of food, whether it's an article about an event or simcha online or a recipe.  There is something about these photos that I find unappealing, maybe not even for religious reasons.  After all, in real life we do not look at food in that magnified way.  Maybe more distance between us and the food is necessary in more ways than one.

"Food Glorious Food"

It's just what we need (sarcasm), another upscale store which will work hard to entice frum people to upgrade their gashmius.

Some quotes from their promotion:

"The sandwich bar itself is a new concept; high-end sandwiches have thus far been available exclusively at upscale restaurants." (High-end sandwiches - live and learn)

"Artisanal bread was something we took very seriously; it's something really lacking for the kosher consumer.  We want to be able to provide that experience." (G-d bless him, we were so lacking without it)

"Made to order specialty Italian coffees, too, had yet to be available in the kosher market." (How did we manage?)

"New offerings in general are a big concept." (because yesterday's offerings are boring)

"A big element [at this store] is education.  There's so much depth to food - different cuisines, different techniques - there's always more to learn and we're excited to offer those flavors, those tastes, those lessons." (Would that be before or after I learn the daf/the parsha ...?)

Bon Appetit

 
A quote from a food editor in a frum magazine:

"These days, whether we're reading about it in a magazine, or watching it live on stage at a fundraiser, cooking has become great entertainment.  It's a positive thing.  In every Jewish community, our interest in cooking is being leveraged to plan events and raise tzedaka for both chesed and Torah institutions."

I'm thinking there just might be a bias there, considering who said that ...  Are there any Torah sources that say that immersion in the world of food is a positive thing? The sources I've come across have a different perspective:

* The Gemara interprets "kedoshim tihiyu" (Vayikra19:2), "Be holy" as a mitzva to "abstain also from that which is permissible to you" and a warning against being  a naval b'reshus ha'Torah (a hedonist with the Torah's permission) who indulges in every permissible pleasure.

* A quote from Chovos Ha'Levavos (Duties of the Heart) in the introduction to Shaar Avodas Hashem says: "Desires for worldly pleasures are unable to dwell in the heart together with a love of G-d."

* Tosfos in Kesubos (104a) quotes the Medrash. It says before a person prays that Torah goes into his system, he should pray that delicacies don't go into his system. Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi had the finest foods in the winter and in the summer. The Gemara says that when Rav Yehuda HaNassi died, he lifted up his ten fingers and said Ribono Shel Olam, it is known and revealed to you, that I toiled with my ten fingers and I didn't even have the pleasure of my smallest finger. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was at such a high spiritual level that despite his extravagant lifestyle he could testify that during his entire lifetime nothing was consumed for his own enjoyment.

We may not have to eschew trying a new recipe, but to glorify gastronomic delights and to say that immersing oneself in the culinary world is a good thing is something else entirely.

Not Quite Kosher Indulgence

An ad in a frum magazine:

GOT CRAVINGS?
chocolate + caramel

and it showed a bag of chocolates.

I translate this ad into:

GOT TAAVOS? Indulge in chocolate

***

In the same magazine an ad for a liquor store says:

Expanding your palate with select international wines

I translate this ad into:

Don't have enough taavos? Let us help you expand your repertoire.

***
I suspect that one of the reasons we say on Yom Kippur:

al cheit she'chatanu lifanecha b'maachal u'v'mishteh - for the sin that we sinned before You with eating and drinking, is because we indulged our cravings and expanded our palates and G-d wasn't in the picture.

Raw Materials

As I observed long ago, those who count their pennies and seek to live materially simple lives may be just as immersed in gashmius as those who are well off financially.  Why? Because it takes a lot of attention to gashmius to seek bargains and to see where one can cut expenses.

I was reminded of this when I read a letter to a magazine in which the writer extolled an article which was an interview with a woman who makes everything herself for Pesach and is severely limited in what items she will use (no oil, for example).  The letter-writer said she found it refreshing and meaningful - "It was a glimpse into what Pesach is genuinely supposed to be: a time to free ourselves from the shackles of materialism."

Is she for real?! How long does it take to buy bottles of oil versus how long does it take to make schmaltz? How long does it take to buy containers of juice versus how long does it take to squeeze your own juice?

Those who make everything themselves are just as much or more involved in materialism than those who use purchased products! I agree with the letter-writer that we need not be slaves to gourmet cuisine but she is mistakenly associating simple foods with freedom from materialism.