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Meaning in Mitzvot -
Lesson 31

Wine from Gentiles and Blessings on Baked Goods

21.09.2014
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In this chapter, Rav Ganzfried discusses the different prohibitions relating to non-Jewish wine.  The rules are based on two distinct yet related foundations.

PAGAN LIBATIONS

Wine which was actually used as a libation to a pagan deity is considered an object of pagan worship, and any benefit from it is strictly forbidden by Torah law.  The same prohibition applies to any object of pagan worship, as discussed in chapter 167.

The severity of this prohibition is easily understood.  From the introduction of this book through to the very end, we have explained the Torah and its mitzvot as a means for us to recognize and even perceive the presence of the One God in all aspects of our seemingly profane earthly experience.  Attributing power and influence to other forces - whether we call these gods or essences or anything else - has the exact opposite effect. 

The Torah teaches us to take natural phenomena which superficially seem to be spiritually neutral and to extract their hidden sanctity.  Suddenly we are able to connect perfectly mundane experiences to the ultimate Source of Unity, and these experiences become invested with immense holiness.

Pagan worship goes in the opposite direction.  Pagan rituals are generally based on experiences which are genuinely spiritual and uplifting.  We clearly and correctly perceive the spiritual dimension in speaking in tongues, in mystical meditations, in communicating with the dead, and so on.  Pagan religions take these genuinely spiritual experiences and DETACH them from their source in the One God, instead attributing them to various forces connected to the world of detachment and alienation.

CONCERN FOR INTERMARRIAGE

At the other extreme, even ordinary kosher wine which was merely handled by a non-Jew is forbidden to drink.  This is a Rabbinical decree parallel to that forbidding food cooked by non-Jews and with the same result: to prevent excessive familiarity and intermarriage.  This aspect is parallel to our discussion of non-Jewish cooking in chapter 38.

There, we related to the problem of intermarriage on three levels: PERSONAL - differing spiritual ideals creates alienation between husband and wife.  COMMUNAL - having a non-committed spouse limits the Jew's integration into the encompassing faith community.  spiritual - the religion of the non-Jewish spouse is certain to contain elements which contradict Jewish tradition and which will erode the Jewish partner's connection to that heritage.

THE CONNECTION

These two distinct concerns were synthesized by our Sages.  The SOCIAL concern for intermarriage is viewed as an aspect of the SPIRITUAL concern for purity of faith.  Therefore, even kosher wine which was definitely NOT made into a libation is forbidden to benefit from, as long as it is suitable for such a libation.  On the other hand, wine which is NOT suitable for a libation is not forbidden even as a barrier to excessive socialization.

For this reason, the limitations of this chapter don't apply to boiled wine, which is considered unfit for libations, as explained in seif 3.  And some authorities extend this idea to permit benefit from unboiled wine in countries where local non-Jewish religions do not perform any libations - like boiled wine, we are confident that such wine is not a potential pagan offering.  This summarizes the ruling in seif 1.

In chapter 45 we explained the unique symbolism of wine.  Wine exposes the inner self - "in wine is truth." Making wine part of our holiest occasions testifies that we view ourselves as being holy to the core; by the same token, making wine part of a pagan ritual shows that the worshipper is not merely going through the ritual but rather has a genuine inner attachment to idolatry. 

Wine, therefore, completes the connection between a person's external facade and his inner self.  This explains the connection our sages drew.  EATING with a non-Jew creates a superficial, social connection.  This is not negative in and of itself, but it is subject to certain limitations so that it should not lead to intermarriage.  But DRINKING with a non-Jew creates an inner, spiritual connection.  If the gentile's religion involves pagan libations, then this inner self is intimately attached to idolatry.  The SOCIAL contact itself involves a deep SPIRITUAL hazard.

SIMAN 48 - BLESSING ON BAKED GOODS

 

This chapter opens the section which is listed in the table of contents as the "laws of benedictions." Actually, we have encountered benedictions in many places.  The very beginning of the Kitzur Shulchan Arukh deals with the morning benedictions; the rules of prayer relate in detail to the many blessings which constitute the prayer service, and especially the nineteen blessings which comprise the Amida prayer, the heart of the Jewish liturgy; a few chapters ago we discussed the blessings of the Grace after Meals.

 

We have divided the GENERAL discussion of what blessings are into two main sections.  Chapter 44 discusses the grace after meals, the only blessing explicitly mandated by the Torah.  The Torah commands us, "Bless Hashem your God," and at the end of chapter 44 we explain what it means to "bless" God.  God is perfect and infinite, but His presence is largely hidden from us.  We can't "augment" or bless God Himself, but we CAN strengthen His presence and glory.  One way of doing this is through benedictions, which explicitly relate all kinds of earthly pleasures and phenomena to their source in God.

 

The section of the book beginning with siman 48 is dedicated to the many benedictions instituted by the Sages, and so here we will present a detailed discussion of the special phrasing which our Sages required in all regular blessings.  Each berakha always contains the words "Barukh atta Hashem" - "Blessed are You, Hashem." Almost all blessings add the words "Elokeinu Melekh ha-Olam" - "Our God, King of the Universe." What is the importance of this combination of titles? We will present an explanation based on that of the Zohar at the beginning of parashat Eikev.

 

BARUKH: expresses the fact that Hashem is the source of all berakhot - not like any earthly source of blessing and plenty which today gives forth and tomorrow may fail, but rather the Creator and Emanator of blessing itself - "barukh" inherently and not incidentally.

 

ATTA: In this part of the berakha, we address God in the second person.  When we make a blessing on some concrete part of our reality, we demonstrate that God's blessing does not remain abstract and spiritual but makes itself apparent in a way which relates to us - which we can address.

 

"HaShem": Just as the "second person" of "atta" shows that we can relate to Hashem, so the fact that He has a name - which can be written and in the Temple enunciated - demonstrates that He makes himself manifest in this world, that His providence is the unifying element in all of our earthly circumstances.  In addition, the four letter name signifies the idea of past, present and future (as explained in the Shulchan Arukh siman 5) and this also gives expression to the idea of God as the unifying element in creation.

 

Elokeinu - relates to the fact that He is also our judge, Who judges and evaluates our moral conduct.  This name also implies distance: we would never address a judge as "you" (as we called Hashem "atta") but rather as "your honor."

 

Melekh HaOlam: Sovereignty (being king) unlike tyranny (being a tyrant) implies a measure of legitimacy.  A king is king only because the people accept and recognize him as their sovereign.  After we have acknowledged Hashem as the Source of blessing on high, as well as the Master of providence of what happens below, then He is not merely our God -but also our King.

 

In short: Hashem is the transcendent Source of blessing, but He is also manifest in this world.  This implies that His blessing of loving-kindness needs to be balanced with judgment.  Once Hashem's providence makes itself manifest in this way, we can acknowledge Him as the King of the world.

 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLESSINGS AND PRAYERS

 

This explanation needs to be modified for the blessings of the Amida prayer.  In the case of regular berakhot, the material, practical world is before us: here is the apple we want to eat, the candles we want to light, the beautiful mountain range we want to thank God for.  Our task is to take this extant PHYSICAL reality and draw into it SPIRITUAL meaning from the upper worlds and the Source of blessing.

 

Whereas in our prayers, we relate to what the world LACKS from a physical point of view.  We ask Hashem to send healing, rain, and so on.  The "barukh" of blessings relates to God as the source of SPIRITUAL blessing; the "barukh" of prayers relates to Him as the source of MATERIAL blessing.

 

BREAD VERSUS PASTRY

 

Rav Ganzfried explains that "fancy" baked goods, including those which are flavored or very sweet or made from a very thin dough, are not considered "bread" but rather pastry and the like.  Unlike bread which is the foundation of a meal, pastries and snacks are supplements or substitutes for meals.  These baked goods do not require washing the hands before eating.  They have their own prior blessing, "borei minei mezonot" - "Creator of varieties of nourishment," and their own after-blessing, "al hamichiya" - "on sustenance." This after-blessing is much longer than the one said after simpler foods, and is in fact a kind of abridged grace after meals.  This shows that baked grain products always maintain a special importance, even when they do not reach bread status.

 

In chapter 35 we discussed the special importance of bread.  Functionally, bread is the simplest food, and the classic expression of a subsistence diet is "bread and water." Yet the production of bread is amazingly complex, requiring that we know how to APPLY our special abilities (bringing all of our agricultural, technological and culinary expertise to bear in creating the dough) and also how to SUPPRESS these abilities, demonstrating our forbearance in allowing the dough to rise.

 

Pastries and snacks don't express this idea.  The complexity is certainly present, but the simplicity is lacking.  Bread is a modest food - it is not the main course, but only the foundation.  But pastries and snacks are special courses in themselves.  Bread is eaten for nourishment, pastries and snacks for delight.  Very often pastries and snacks don't need to rise, and so they don't automatically express the forbearance which is an essential part of making bread. 

 

 

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