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Food: A Means or an End?
By Rabbi Scott Kahn

"And you shall eat and be satisfied, and [then] you must bless Hashem your G-d for the good land which He gave you." (Devarim 8:10)

Chazal utilize this pasuk to prove that just as one must bless Hashem following a meal, one must also bless Him before eating:

"What is the source for the requirement to make a beracha before eating? It can be derived from a kal vachomer (an a fortiori inference): If he must make a beracha when he is full, how much more so when he is hungry." (Berachot 35a) This statement clearly implies that there is greater reason to bless before eating than after.

Interestingly, the Gemara gives the reverse kal vachomer argument when deriving the need to make a blessing after learning Torah:

"...If Torah requires a beracha before learning [as was previously derived from Devarim 32:3], is it not logical that it requires it after learning?" (Berachot 21a) This argument states that the beracha after learning is the more logically compelling blessing.

These arguments appear to contradict. The proof that one must make a beracha before eating is based on the assumption that the blessing before partaking of food is a more obvious requirement than blessing afterwards. On the other hand, the proof that one must make a beracha after learning Torah assumes that the beracha before learning is less obvious. How can these two arguments be reconciled?

The Vilna Gaon explains that the two arguments are identical: the difference is predicated upon the nature of the pleasure derived from eating and Torah. In both cases, the more obvious beracha is that which accompanies the maximum appreciation for the particular experience. When one eats food, the moment which epitomizes his appreciation for the food is the moment before he partakes. At that time, a person is hungry, and is eagerly looking forward to the experience at hand. The greatest appreciation, therefore, occurs before he begins to eat. In contrast, Torah study is most appreciated upon its completion. Before beginning, the book in front of him looks daunting; one rarely has a "hunger" for learning before opening the sefer. After working hard to comprehend the word of G-d, however, the experience is almost otherworldly, and the pleasure and satisfaction are tangible. Since the moment of maximum pleasure occurs following his learning, the beracha following Torah learning is more obviously necessary than that which precedes it.

The explanation of the Vilna Gaon demonstrates an important truism regarding our lives as religious Jews. The desire for material satisfaction, the need to satisfy our physical cravings, is most intense before the experience takes place. Once it has been completed, the experience is less inviting; the physical world is far less desirable in the rear-view mirror. In contrast, a person seldom experiences a literal craving for limud HaTorah; without regularly scheduled times to learn, he will likely never begin. The satisfaction he gains, however, builds as the experience continues. By the time his learning is completed, he often is reluctant to leave the Beit Midrash. The difference between these two types of experiences is rooted in their very natures. Physical pleasure is not meaningful in itself, but rather exists as a means to achieve something greater. Eating for the sake of eating is a non-redemptive act; it is simply the fulfillment of an animalistic drive. Only when eating is accompanied by a spiritual goal - to honor Shabbat, to acquire strength for Torah and Tefilah, in order to provide a pretext to invite guests to one's table - does it contain redemptive qualities. Torah, on the other hand, is not a means to a goal, but a goal in and of itself. Quite apart from teaching how to act, Torah is life's supreme value independent of a person's ability to completely fulfill that which he learns. Thus, the study of laws that do not apply to our world today is just as valuable as studying those laws which are practical and applicable: "The case of a rebellious son never happened and never will happen. Why was it written? So that you can explicate it and receive reward!" (Sanhedrin 71a) Because physical pleasure is not a fundamental good, it is less inviting when it has served no purpose. Because Torah is fundamentally good, one especially appreciates it when one has imbibed the experience.

The Torah nevertheless commands us to bless Hashem after eating, too. This is because there is one way for physical pleasure to become redemptive even in the absence of a greater goal: namely, when a person recognizes G-d's will that he enjoy the physical world. Food is not just healthful, but also full of flavor; Hashem wants us to savor the physical world He created for us. When one acknowledges that the experience of food not only assists him in performing the will of G-d, but can also become a vehicle for encountering the Divine, the very act of eating becomes a religious experience. With this attitude in place, the physical world becomes not just a means, but an end. It becomes the stage on which we meet the Divine Presence. This higher degree of sensitivity allows every experience to become valuable in and of itself. In the words of a great Chassidic sage, "Some people eat so that they can learn. But those with a greater spiritual sensitivity also learn so that they can eat."

May our days be filled with the experience of the Divine in every act - physical and spiritual - so that we live lives saturated with depth and meaning.