01 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.