23 Dec 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 success as a Torah scholar
requires indifference 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 ate 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.
This balanced approach 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.