From the Rabbi…
One of the most popular television shows on today is, “The Biggest Loser.” It shows people fighting obesity by having to exercise and control their diet, competing against each other as to who can lose the greatest percentage of body weight each week. I admit to succumbing – on occasion – to the strange fascination of watching other people exercise with dramatic results. And yet, I have mixed feelings in that one of the main features of the show is that one person, each week, is voted off – at least in part – for their failure to lose as much weight as everyone else.
The show brings up an important question for our time: what is it that gives us sustenance? For the contestants on the show, many of their emotional problems have been “solved” by overeating. They have filled themselves up with food – often complicated by a genetic disposition to be overweight – but they have come to realize that sustenance is more than calories. They search for the inner-strength to discover self-love and self-care.
And yet, I think the show misses a major point that Judaism tries to teach. Often, what we need for sustenance are the healthy relationships that come with a caring community. By having a community that upholds each other (instead of voting each other off the stage), we help fill each other up.
In these times, many worry -- quite literally -- about their sustenance. We need to help provide for each other and take care of one another. But more than that, we need to uphold each other emotionally, to be a temple that cares for and supports its members.
Perhaps then we will fulfill the verse from the Torah that is part of Birkat Hamazon, our prayer for having finished a meal, “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Eternal your God for the good land which has been given you.” (Deuteronomy 8:10)
May we always sustain and support each other, and by them, may we each be sustained.
Faithfully,
Rabbi Jeffrey R. Astrachan
