Satiety and Satisfaction in Summer – Eikev 5784

My family and I spent the last week at my parents’ house in Maryland for a quick vacation. We get down there about once a year for a week or so, and it’s always a good time. My parents live on five quiet acres and have a donkey, a mule, two ponies (really!), and a pool. Needless to say, it’s a great place to unwind.

My mother goes above and beyond with food, and both she and my father love to spoil their grandchildren. My dad gives the kids pony rides, and we send my mom a shopping list of the kids’ favorite foods so that no one goes hungry. Furthermore, on this particular trip my brother and sister-in-law came to visit for two days with their three children, so all the grandchildren and cousins were in one place. In my family, that doesn’t happen every day.

As the icing on the cake, my mom invited our old family friends for dinner one night – the parents of my closest childhood friends, one of whom was in town and joined us. It was great to catch up with everyone, and it proved to be a very therapeutic week away (albeit one in which I ate and indulged more than usual).

Our parsha this week, Eikev, anticipates that the Israelites, too, will enjoy satisfaction and great sustenance after they enter the promised land. In fact, I can’t help but feel a little bit hungry as I read through it. We learn in Deuteronomy 8:3:

וַֽיְעַנְּךָ֮ וַיַּרְעִבֶ֒ךָ֒ וַיַּאֲכִֽלְךָ֤ אֶת־הַמָּן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יָדַ֔עְתָּ וְלֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן הוֹדִֽיעֲךָ֗ כִּ֠י לֹ֣א עַל־הַלֶּ֤חֶם לְבַדּוֹ֙ יִחְיֶ֣ה הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֛י עַל־כׇּל־מוֹצָ֥א פִֽי־יְהֹוָ֖ה יִחְיֶ֥ה הָאָדָֽם׃

“[God] subjected you to the hardship of hunger and then gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, in order to teach you that a human being does not live on bread alone, but that one may live on anything that יהוה decrees.”

In addition, we learn of the great agricultural products that are inherent to the land of Israel in 8:8:

אֶ֤רֶץ חִטָּה֙ וּשְׂעֹרָ֔ה וְגֶ֥פֶן וּתְאֵנָ֖ה וְרִמּ֑וֹן אֶֽרֶץ־זֵ֥ית שֶׁ֖מֶן וּדְבָֽשׁ׃

“a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey.”

And what do we do with all of this bounty after we partake of it? The Torah teaches in 8:10 the words that we recite as part of Birkat Hamazon:

וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּ וּבֵֽרַכְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ עַל־הָאָ֥רֶץ הַטֹּבָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָֽתַן־לָֽךְ׃

“When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to your God יהוה for the good land given to you.”

This particular time of the year for me, in addition to the parsha, is built around the ideas of satiety and satisfaction. As the summer ever so slightly wanes we marked Tu B’Av this past week, which in addition to being a day when marriages were made is also traditionally the start of the grape harvest. The barley harvest begins at Passover and lasts seven weeks until Shavuot, when the wheat harvest commences. While both of those crops provide bodily and economic nourishment, the grape harvest, to me, has a more pleasurable feel. Grapes are used to make wine, which is used to show our pleasure and happiness. Every Shabbat and holiday table, bris, baby naming, wedding- wine is always present, and always the first thing we bless. 

The bread and wine alluded to in our parsha reminds us of the blessings that this particular time and the land of Israel give us. We learn in Pirkei Avot: “If there is no flour, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour.” Torah is needed along with the flour used to make bread to wholly nourish us. In addition, Psalm 104 teaches: 

וְיַ֤יִן ׀ יְשַׂמַּ֬ח לְֽבַב־אֱנ֗וֹשׁ לְהַצְהִ֣יל פָּנִ֣ים מִשָּׁ֑מֶן וְ֝לֶ֗חֶם לְֽבַב־אֱנ֥וֹשׁ יִסְעָֽד׃

“wine that cheers the hearts of men, oil that makes the face shine, and bread that sustains man’s life.”

As we approach Rosh Hodesh Elul this week and begin the first phase of our high holiday season, let us take count of the blessings that we have amidst this turbulent time, and may they continue to sustain us and give us pleasure in the days ahead.