Does G-d Need Bread for Breakfast? At this point in the story, toward the end of the fourth book of the Torah, in the portion of Pinchas, we find the Jewish people preparing for their entry into the land of Israel. We read about the lottery through which the land would be divided. We read about Moses asking G-d to choose a successor who would lead the Jewish people into the land of Israel (since it had been decreed that Moses would not enter the promised land). The conclusion of the portion, which discusses the laws of the daily offerings and the offerings of the holidays, however, seems completely out of place. Why was the commandment about these offerings given at this point in the story, and not forty years earlier, in the third book of the Torah, which discusses the laws of offerings? Rashi explains that the commandment about the offerings was in response to Moses' request for a leader to be appointed: Command the children of Israel: What is stated above? "Let the Lord…appoint {a leader}". The Holy One, blessed is He, said to him {Moses}, "Before you command me regarding My children, command My children regarding Me." Moses asked G-d to appoint a leader "so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd." G-d, in turn, responded that in order for the Jewish people to sense that they are not "like sheep without a shepherd", for them to feel the presence of G-d, their ultimate leader, they should offer the daily (and additional, holiday) offerings. This dimension of the offerings, which creates the awareness that G-d is present in our lives, is expressed in the opening phrase of the commandment: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Command the children of Israel and say to them: My offering, My food for My fire offerings, a spirit of satisfaction for Me, you shall take care to offer to Me at its appointed time. (Numbers 28:1-2) Why does G-d refer to the offerings as "my bread"? Isn't it absurd to think that G-d needs to eat twice daily, and He, therefore, asks that we give him bread? Chasidic philosophy explains the metaphor of G-d's bread as follows: the function of food is not for the soul per se. If the person doesn't eat and, G-d forbid, expires, it is the body that dies, the soul remains intact. The food is what connects the soul with the body. Similarly, the offerings are G-d's food, not because he needs food for his sustenance, which would be absurd, but because the offerings serve to connect G-d, the "soul" of the world, with the "body" of the world, the created reality. How do the offerings function as "my bread," connecting the "soul" of the universe to its "body"? The answer is found in the following word in the verse: "{my bread} my fire." The offerings placed in the fire, represent the desire of a person to break free of the earth's gravitational pull and, as a flame of fire, ascend upward. The offering represents the Jew's desire to connect to G-d, which elicits within G-d the desire to transcend the trappings of infinity and relate to the finite human being. [As alluded to in the following word of the verse, Nichochi {my pleasing aroma}, which is related to the {Aramaic} word descent]. Following the destruction of the holy temple, our sages instituted daily prayers to substitute for the two daily offerings. The morning prayer is the fire. When we dedicate time each morning and afternoon {the evening prayer was added later}, we are offering G-d his "bread". We are connecting the "soul" of the universe with its physical existence; we are allowing G-d's presence to enter every aspect of our awareness and we are infusing our physical lives with meaning and with blessing. Adapted from Lekutei Sichos vol. 12 page 18 and Lekutei Torah, Pinchas 76:1
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