04 Aug THE FINER THINGS IN LIFE

Is it proper to enjoy
good food or should
we avoid worldly
pleasures and
focus on spiritual
success? The
Talmud contains
a plethora of seemingly contradictory
indications on whether it is morally proper
for a Torah scholar, someone striving for
spiritual achievement, to eat good food.
Rav Ya’akov Emden (Lechem Shamayim,
Avos 6:4) attempts to resolve the different
texts into a single, unified approach.
I. A Life of Pleasure or a Life of
Abstention?
Reish Lakish (Berachos 63b) says that
Torah is only sustained by those who
“kill” themselves over it, who deny
themselves pleasure and toil in Torah. Rav
Huna (Eruvin 54a) says that your Torah is
sustained if you eat like an animal, which
Rashi explains means you eat it plain
without concern for seasoning or taste in
general. There are many similar passages
that imply that in order to succeed as a
Torah scholar, you must pay no attention
to the pleasures of eating. Rather, you

should eat “bread with salt” (Avos 6:4),
plain food.
On the other hand, Rava once asked Rav
Nachman a complicated question (Bava
Kamma 72a). Rav Nachman answered
him but the next morning retracted. He
said apologetically that he had not eaten ox
meat the previous day and therefore could
not concentrate and gave a wrong answer.
Similarly, Rav Nachman said (Eruvin 64a)
that until he drinks a quarter-log of wine,
his mind isn’t clear. If the proper path to
Torah is eating bread with salt and drinking
water, how could Rav Nachman say that he
needed meat and wine to learn properly?
When specific Torah scholars were
exposed to the fruits of Ginosar (Berachos
44a), they could not stop eating. For
example, Rav Ami and Rav Asi ate until
their hair fell out. Reish Lakish are until he
became confused. R. Yochanan had to ask
for someone to call the authorities to take
him away because he could not stop eating
the delicious fruits.
Torah scholars are supposed to live a life
of discomfort (“chayei tza’ar”; Avos 6:4).
Yet Rava (Eruvin 65a) says that he is so

sensitive to discomfort that if he is bitten
by a louse, he cannot learn the rest of that
day. Mar, the son of Ravina, was similarly
sensitive and therefore his mother
prepared him seven garments for each
week so he would avoid lice. This does
not sound like a life of minimal comforts
and pleasures.
II. A Life of Focus
Rav Emden points out that if you grow up
eating fancy food, then that is what you
are used to. If you stop eating your regular
foods, you will become dissatisfied and
unable to learn Torah to your maximum
ability. Rav said to Rav Hamnuna (Eruvin
54a), “If you have money, treat yourself
well because there is no pleasure in the
afterlife and death comes quickly.” In
other words, you are not expected to live
below your means. You should live a life
of focus on Torah. In order to do so, you
should eat as well as you can so you have
strength to learn Torah. Those who can
afford better foods, should eat better foods.
Those who cannot afford as much, should
eat according to their means.
The Gemara (Ta’anis 11a-b) asks whether,
according to R. Elazar, someone who
refrains from enjoying pleasure is
considered holy or sinful. The Gemara
answers that someone who is able to
refrain and does so is considered holy,
i.e. if he is not used to pleasures and
refraining from them does not distract
him from what is important, then he
should do so. But someone who is not
able to refrain and nevertheless does
so is considered a sinner. Rav Emden
says that the only time you are allowed
to engage in ascetic practices is out of
repentance for misdeeds.
This comes with an important caveat.
There are spiritual dangers associated
with enjoying this-worldly pleasures.
The race for fine foods takes away our
precious time. The enjoyment of food
and drink sparks certain temptations.
If you stop chasing your desires, you
acquire true freedom and wealth — of a
spiritual nature. R. Elazar Ben Charsum
(Yoma 35b) inherited a thousand
villages and a thousand boats yet he
would carry a sack of flour from city to
city in order to study Torah. He wanted
to be free of his desires in order to pursue
spiritual goals. Additionally, if you are
accustomed to fine foods, you have to
support that habit. This means you have
to spend time earning enough money
and, if you lose your fortune, you cease
being able to learn Torah. There is value
in needing little because then you can

easily continue your life without worrying
about money.
III. Pleasure With Limits
Because of these concerns, Rav Emden
encourages you not to become too
accustomed to the finer things in life. It
is appropriate to indulge on occasion but
if you become habituated to that lifestyle,
you will spend too much time on it and will
suffer if you have to reduce it. But it is not
forbidden and therefore if you need to eat
fine foods for health purposes or in order to
remain strong so you can learn Torah, then
it is proper to do so.
That was the proper attitude in Talmudic
times. However, we live in spiritually
impoverished times. We are weaker than
earlier generations, says Rav Emden in
eighteenth century Germany. We need
to eat meat and other fine foods in order
to feel healthy and function properly. R.
Elazar Ben Azaria (Chullin 84a) advised
everyone to buy food according to what
they can afford, and if they cannot afford
much to delay their main meals until
Shabbos. Rav Nachman said that this was
proper in earlier generations but in his
weaker generation, people need to borrow
in order to eat immediately. In our times,
we are weaker than earlier generations and

need to eat fine foods and enjoy basic this-
worldly pleasures.

And yet, Rav Emden cautions, we still
need to be careful of the dangers of
consumption. Each individual must take
care that this not become part of his
nature, something that he cannot give
up if the need arises. If you have money,
treat yourself well — on occasion but not
constantly, so it is an unusual pleasure and
not a recurring need. We can occasionally
indulge our desires in permitted pleasures
but we have to take care not to become
slaves to our desires.