blogs/rabbi-huberman

As a child growing up in Montreal, once a year, I would visit one of the most incredible and mysterious stores with my mother — Dionne’s Supermarket.

It was located at the west end of St. Catherine Street about two blocks from the famed Montreal Forum.

One day, in December 1961, my mother and left home at 9 am, took three city buses downtown, and then walked two blocks through the winter slush to Dionne’s front door.

I recall my heart beginning to pound and my eyes stretching wide as we walked through that door. It felt like I was entering heaven.

In front of us lay mountains of brightly colored fruit. There were imported fresh plums, peaches and apricots. There were also cherries, strawberries and green grapes — all this during December in Montreal.

It was an amazing experience — as if we were cheating nature by shopping at Dionne’s in December to buy strawberries for my father’s upcoming birthday. It was a taste of the world to come.

Because in those days, you ate plums, peaches, apricots and grapes in their appointed time, and that usually was summer.

But at Dionne’s, beyond the black and gold street sign, there were no seasonal borders.

I’ve been recalling those times during the past few months while visiting the supermarket — aware of less or more expensive fruit, as well as fewer cans choices on the shelves.

As our economy continues to recover, and farmers move their summer crops to our supermarket shelves, I’ve become more appreciative of the blessings God provides from the earth.

For the most part, in recent years, we’ve lost our divine link with food.

What is fascinating during this time of year when our stores and fruit stands are brimming with fresh local produce, is that this week’s Torah portion, Eikev, beckons us to appreciate the miracle of food. It instructs to us to slow down and savor the taste of life. 

This was particularly true in Biblical times.

If it didn’t rain, or the dew was inadequate, crops failed. And as we are currently witnessing in countries like Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, people would starve or be forced to walk hundreds of miles under the intense sun to find food.

The Torah reminds us this week how fortunate we are. In 2020, we have the ability to access any type of food 365 days a year. Fruits or vegetables out of season in New York, can easily be flown in from California, Florida, Chile or South Africa.

This week, the Torah outlines a two-part program to help us pay attention to what we often take for granted. It highlights three words, which to this day, we recite during our “Grace after Meals.” (Birkat Ha’Mazon).

The Torah guides us with the words V’Achalta, V’Savata U’Ve’rachta. “And you shall eat, be satisfied and bless.” (Deuteronomy 8:10). 

It reminds us to be mindful of this miracle.

During our regular CTI trips to Israel, as our group picks tomatoes in a farmer’s field to distribute to the poor, we are reminded by representatives of Lecket — Israel’s National Food Bank — that up to 20 percent of food brought to banquet halls for weddings or bar/bat mitzvahs or to cafeterias never makes it out of the package. 

Often, it is tossed. In Israel, efforts are underway to capture this excess and redistribute it to soup kitchens and food banks.

Similar initiatives exist in our area, such as our local food pantry or Island Harvest, as more citizens each week are reaching out, impacted by the pandemic.    

Still, we have a long way to go before we stop wasting billions of dollars of food each year. Indeed, there is enough food on this planet to feed everyone.

That is why the connection between food and blessings is so important. For when we recite the Motzei at our table, we are not just thanking God for the bread, but also the for the amazing journey that brought it to us.

We thank God for the earth, for seeds, for rain, for the farmer, the trucker — for those who place food on our shelves, those who serve it to us, and for the many people in between. 

And, we do the same once we complete the meal. We thank God for what we’ve enjoyed. Is this too Jewishy or boring? Perhaps it feels that way.

But these prayers teach us that we are not at center of the universe. We are all interconnected as part of a precious cycle of life under God’s sacred rainbow.

Thank you, God, for shelter. And thank you, God, for the miracle of food. Thank you for grapes, grapefruits, watermelons, and yes, strawberries in December.

And though many of the seasonal borders, which once governed what we eat, have faded, there are new reasons to bless. We have access to a cornucopia of tastes that are seamlessly brought to us from every corner of the world.

It’s an important message as we begin slowly to exit this critical period of isolation. We have all become more appreciative of the usual abundance of fruit, vegetables, and yes, even toilet paper — for each emanates from God’s sacred garden.

Indeed, it is never wrong to utter a few words of thanks as we survey the food on our table — either through Hebrew, the biblical language of prayer, or through words that come from the heart.

“Thank you, God, for enabling us to bring forth bread from the earth.”

“We have eaten. We have enjoyed. Thank you, God, for making all of this possible.”

Ah, life. Thank you, God. How fortunate we are. 

Shabbat Shalom, v’kol tuv.

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

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