Shabbat Shalom -- February 11-12, 2011

Parashat Tetzaveh
Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis

The parsha of the week deals with the sacred, the Temple, and priesthood. But you can find God in a piece of bread and in a cup of wine.

At home I was taught that if a piece of bread fell from the table, it should quickly be picked up and kissed. Bread was God's gift. I heard wondrous stories about the sacredness of a shtikel broit, "a little piece of bread.”

Once, around the third meal of the Sabbath, the disciples of the Rebbe persisted in asking him to tell them where God is. He remained silent, but at last recited the Motzi and pointed to the loaf of bread on the table. God in a piece of bread? There is theology in a piece of bread. And it is important, particu­larly for children of entitlement living in the Garden of Gucci, to understand Ben-Zoma's observation: "What labors did Adam have to carry out before he obtained bread to eat? He plowed, he sowed, he reaped, he bound the sheaves, he threshed and winnowed and selected the ears, he ground, then sifted the flour, kneaded and baked, and then, finally, he ate. And I get up and find all things done for me" (Berachot 58a).

Ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz — that which brings bread out of the earth is godly. Consider the process, the givenness of earth and water and seed, as well as the human energy and ingenuity to turn sheaf into edible cake. "Which is greater, the works of man or of God?" the pagan Tinneius Rufus asked. Rabbi Akiva replied that the works of man are greater than those of God, and illustrated his contention by presenting Tinneius Rufus with sheaves of wheat and loaves of cake. The cakes are greater, not that the works of God are less worthy, but that the full measure of divinity is expressed through the interaction between God's nature and the crown of His creation.

The Motzi is not recited over sheaves of wheat and the Kiddush is not recited over clusters of grapes. The Motzi is recited over the bread, which is made through human effort and the Kiddush is recited over the fruit of the vine, which human ingenuity cultivates. Both benedictions exemplify the power and goodness of God expressed through the works of human beings.

Shabbat Shalom