What Does Your Soul Eat?

We all take for granted that food nourishes the body and keeps us alive. But let me ask a simpleton’s question: why does physical food keeps the spiritual soul, our spark of life, in the body?

The soul is spiritual. Food is physical. How can something material affect something spiritual? Yet when the body can no longer digest food, the soul departs. What possible connection is there between a loaf of bread and a spiritual soul?

You might argue that food doesn’t sustain the soul at all. It merely nourishes the body, and when the body can no longer function, the soul has no place to remain.

But that only pushes the question back another step. If life ultimately comes from the soul, why should the soul’s connection to the body depend on physical food?

Not on Bread Alone

This week we read in the Torah that G-d fed us the Manna “so that we would know that not on bread alone does the man live on bread, but by whatever issues from G-d’s mouth does the man live” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

The Torah does not simply say “man.” It says “the man”—ha’adam. The Baal Shem Tov explainsedthat “the man” refers to the essential person, the person inside the body: the soul. The body thrives on bread alone. The soul does not live on bread alone, but on that which issues from G-d’s mouth. We think we eat to keep the body alive. In truth, we also eat for the soul; the body eats bread, and the soul eats G-dliness.

When G-d created the world, He scattered fragments of Himself, also known as Divine sparks, throughout the world. When we grab a bite to eat, we notice the aroma, the flavor, and the texture. Our soul notices something else entirely. Hidden within the food is a fragment of the Divine. That is what nourishes the soul. The body is drawn to the “bread alone.” The soul is drawn to the spark of G-d embedded in it.

The spark, however, is dormant. The only way a fragment of G-d can remain hidden in a bag of chips or a sizzling steak is by lying dormant, hidden beneath layers of concealment, waiting to be awakened. For the soul to access the Divine spark, the spark must first be revealed from its latent state.

We accomplish this by reciting a blessing over the food before eating. A blessing reveals the Divine energy hidden within the food. We say, “Blessed are You, G-d, King of the universe Who extracts bread from the ground” or “Who creates the fruit of the tree,” etc. By acknowledging G-d as its Creator and Owner, and asking permission to partake of His food, we are granted access to the Divine spark concealed within it.

Once the spark is made accessible to us, we can eat the food. The “bread alone” will nourish the flesh of “the man.” The spark will nourish “the man,” our soul.

Only Kosher Food

However, this only works when the food is Kosher. You see, Kosher food is protected by a lock that a blessing and a holy purpose can open. Non-kosher food is protected by a lock that we cannot open. Its Divine spark is so deeply concealed that it cannot be awakened or released through consumption. The only way we can release the Divine spark from non-kosher food is by not eating it.

Not only does a blessing fail to release a spark from non-Kosher food, but it also makes a mockery of G-d and is forbidden. The blessing seeks G-d’s permission and thanks Him for the food. When the food is not Kosher, G-d explicitly withholds His permission. You are eating it against His will and thanking Him for it, too? This is not submission; it is defiance. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 196:1.)

For our Sake

At this point, we need to clear up a misconception. The way we explained this sounds like G-d embedded sparks in the food to keep us alive. The truth is that G-d brought us to life so that we could extract the sparks from the food. Not just the food, but every physical object that we acquire in a permissible manner. There are Divine sparks in walls, roofs, furniture, cars, bricks, rocks, mountains, diamonds, etc.

G-d scattered them throughout the world and knows precisely where each one is. He doesn’t send us off on a wild goose chase without knowing precisely where each spark lies hidden. It is like a scavenger hunt in which the contestants must find the clues, but the director knows precisely where each clue is. So why does the director put the contestants through the effort of finding it? For the players’ sake.

G-d could extract every spark Himself or dispatch angels to do it. He certainly doesn’t need our help. Yet He wants us to find them so that we would return them to Him and find our way back to Him. By concealing these sparks in things we need, He ensures that we are always in contact with Him.

Two Clues

To make it easy for us to identify the location of the sparks, G-d left us two clues. First, He implanted within us a natural attraction toward the objects entrusted to us. Second, He gave us the Torah, a lamp to illuminate our path.

When we salivate over a kosher ice cream or when a dress catches our eye, know that our body is drawn to the object itself, while our soul is drawn to its spark.

Now that you know that, consult your light. The Torah lights our path (Proverbs 6:23), showing us which foods are kosher and permissible to eat, and which foods are not kosher and a mitzvah to avoid.

How do I release this spark, through eating it and wearing it, or by not indulging in it? In other words, is the food kosher or not? Is this dress available for sale or does it belong to someone? Is this garment kosher or is it a blend of wool and linen? The Torah will light your path and tell you just how to find your way to that spark and just how to release it. If it’s kosher, you will release it by using it. If it is not Kosher, you will release it by avoiding it.

The Sparkling Coins

As an indignity to Jews, the Western Wall became a garbage dump several times over the years. There is a legend about a wealthy person who discovered the site, sprinkled gold coins over the dung heap, and announced a gold discovery. Gold diggers thronged to the area, and before long, the wall was exposed.

G-d did something similar. Left to ourselves, we would never search for sparks hidden inside ordinary food. So, He made the food attractive to our bodies. We chase the flavor, but our souls recover the treasure.

May we always nourish both our bodies and our souls.[1]

[1] This essay is based on Sefer Baal Shem Tov, Parshat Ekev.