Berakhot 35
Today’ theme is about food and blessings. Seven food “species” are mentioned: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive oil, and date honey. And through the discussion of food types and blessings is a discourse on reasoning and the place for work in one’s life.
I am not religious but this passage reminded me that I should be more mindful before meals and consider where they come from and how fortunate I am to have so much in my life: “A person is forbidden to taste anything before he recites a blessing, as without reciting praise over food, it has the status of a consecrated item, from which one is forbidden to derive pleasure.”
Can I interpret the text more broadly to suggest I need to be mindful of the gifts I have in my life knowing that the Rabbis in the Talmud meant their words more literally 2,000 years ago. Can I make things more relevant for me today? Is it appropriate to do that when who I am today would not even be considered worthy of consideration 2,000 years ago?
There are two opinions stated in today’s text on the place for work in one’s life, but there is definitely a thread running through the text that suggests a man needs to be engaged in productive employment – if only to be able to pray and bring certain vintages of grapes to Jerusalem: And you shall gather your grain, your wine and your oil,” assume in their regard, the way of the world; set aside time not only for Torah, but also for work.” This is contrary to what I thought I would find in the Talmud before I started this journey which was a directive to devote one’s life to prayer and let the Lord take care of the rest.
We also receive a lesson in inductive thinking in today’s text: “The aspect of this is not like the aspect of that.”
Through the discussion of grapes and grains we are reminded to think clearly when coming to conclusions based on evidence from two examples. There may be a third example that disproves the argument, or maybe not. This sums up my feeling of where I have come to through reading the Talmud for a month: I gained insight through comparing examples in the Talmud to my own life. But then, maybe not. And maybe it’s foolish to even try. On the other hand (and there is always an other hand) if I don’t try to make those connections, the text will just wash over me each day.