The Elul Acronym You Never Heard Of

We all know of an E-L-U-L acronym, a Biblical verse that has words beginning with א-ל-ו-ל that can teach lessons as we utilize Elul as a month of preparation for the High Holidays.

The most famous one is: ני לדודי ודודי ליא– I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me. (Shir Hashirim 6:3)  Elul is a time for recapturing a close, loving relationship with God.

A lesser known acronym is: יש לרעהו ומתנות לאביוניםא– One man (gives a gift) to another and charity for the poor. (Esther 9:22)   While the verse speaks about the obligations of Purim, the verse teaches us the importance of establishing and strengthening giving and generous relationships with others. Our High Holiday preparations must focus on people and not just on God.

Here’s one I bet nobody has heard of.  (I only encountered it a few years ago.) 

In connection with the cities of refuge set aside for those who kill unintentionally, the Torah teaches (Shemot 21:13):

וַאֲשֶׁר לֹא צָדָה וְהָאֱ-לֹהִים אִנָּה לְיָדוֹ וְשַׂמְתִּי לְךָ מָקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יָנוּס שָׁמָּה׃

If the person did not kill by design, but it came about by an act of God, I will assign you a place to which he can flee.

Rabbi Isaac Luria, the Arizal, notes that the words in the middle of this verse begin with the letters of Elul.  Accordingly, this verse provides guidance for how we should approach Elul.

What does fleeing to a city of refuge have to do with Elul?

The city of refuge is a place for someone who flees his victim's relatives.  The person goes to seek protection, shelter and safety because of their transgression.  Similarly, one who sins seeks refuge with God needs a place to find a way to repair the past and grow for the future.

The month of Elul is meant to serve as a reminder that we need to flee.  It is time to seek refuge from whatever mistakes we made as well as identify those areas we seek to improve.  We need a place to go to work all this out.  That place is the month of Elul.

In addition to the lofty themes of Elul that inspire us, the month is also a time to confront some of the uncomfortable realities of the past year.  Even the righteous among us can do better.  Elul is a time for creative disequilibrium, where we can use our discomfort to seek out a path towards improvement and growth.

We know all too well from disequilibrium during these past months.  Now, it’s time to get creative.  Elul is a refuge, a time to find security and stability, and a time to find new ways to reconnect with our own souls, with God, and with each other.

You Are What You Eat : On Jews & Food

 

"You are what you eat."  

It’s a very well-known saying, but where does it come from?  Let’s go to the internet.

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, in Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante (1826):

"Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es - Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”

In an 1863 essay entitled Concerning Spiritualism and Materialism, 1863, Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach wrote:

"Der Mensch ist, was er ißt - man is what he eats.”

The actual phrase didn't emerge in English until later.  In the 1920s and 30s, the nutritionist Victor Lindlahr, who was a strong believer in the idea that food controls health, developed the “Catabolic Diet.”  An advertisement for the program appearing in a 1923 edition of the Bridgeport Telegraph mentioned "Ninety per cent of the diseases known to man are caused by cheap foodstuffs.  You are what you eat."  In 1942, Lindlahr published You Are What You Eat: How to Win and Keep Health with Diet, and a new popular saying was born!

A recent study has proven “you are what you eat” to be scientifically accurate.

Researchers from the University of Utah collected discarded hair from barbers and hair salons from 65 cities across the United States.  From the chemical traces in the cuttings the scientists found that American diets are dominated by animal-derived protein like meat and dairy.  This type of hair analysis could be a useful tool to assess a community's dietary patterns and health risks, the researchers said.

Our Jewish relationship with food is a recurring theme in Parshat Re’eh.  The Torah reviews the types of animals and birds which are kosher as well as the prohibition against eating blood.  We are also introduced to the permissibility to eat meat (Devarim 12:20):

כִּי־יַרְחִיב ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ אֶת־גְּבוּלְךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר־לָךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ אֹכְלָה בָשָׂר כִּי־תְאַוֶּה נַפְשְׁךָ לֶאֱכֹל בָּשָׂר בְּכָל־אַוַּת נַפְשְׁךָ תֹּאכַל בָּשָׂר׃

When the Lord enlarges your territory, as He has promised you, and you say, “I shall eat some meat,” for you have the desire of your soul to eat meat, you may eat meat whenever you wish.

The commentators based on the Talmud note the juxtaposition of desire with the permission to eat meat.  Some note that this means eating eat (unless connected to a sacrifice or religious obligation) is less than ideal. 

Rabbi Shlomo Efraim Lunschitz, author of K’li Yakar, views the rules of slaughter as placing an impediment in the way of hassle-free meat consumption.  For the sake of self-discipline, it is far more appropriate for man not to eat meat.  Only if there is a strong desire for meat does the Torah permit it, and even this only after engaging in the necessary procedure of slaughter and then kashering.  Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook wrote that the permission to eat meat “after all the desire of your soul” was a concealed reproach and an implied reprimand, and he wrote about a vegetarian ideal that can be found in the Jewish tradition.

We all know that Judaism and food go hand in hand.  In contemporary society, there is a huge industry and growing popularity for all kinds of foods – gourmet, organic, Beyond Beef, Impossible Burger, and more - let’s not forget sourdough!  Throughout the quarantine months, people have tried and mastered all kinds of recipes.  (“People,” not me.) 

The Torah reminds us that food is great and, within the laws of Kosher, there is much that is permitted and positive.  Our souls have a desire and need for physical sustenance.  At the same time, the Torah warns us to be aware of the power of our heart’s desire and that, when it comes to food and eating, we run the risk of overindulging – not just in a quantitative sense, but also that there is a soul to our desire, a spiritual side to our physical eating.

B’tayavon!