Why Jews love to eat

                It is getting harder and harder to find any distinction between man and animal- we are like them and they are like us.  This week we had compassionate elephants make headline news as one elephant seemed to stroke his distraught friend with its trunk. On the other side, we have the most recent TED talk tout that we are more similar to Bonobos than an African Elephant is to an Asian Elephant- not bad for working on our humility. So where does this leave us? 

                The solution lies in the time tested tradition of Jewish food. Outside of Yom Kippur, our holidays are defined as much by the food we eat than as the spiritual ideas they represent: latkes, matzah, apples and honey, cheesecake, hamentashen…the list goes on.  The reason is because it is the food we eat, or at least the way me make it, that defines us as being human.  We are the only animal that cooks its food- how about that for special! Even science is looking closely at the phenomenon.  A current theory is (see TED talk by Suzana Herculano Houzel) that what separated man from animal is cooked food. Through the invention of cooking, man could now extract much more energy out of food and use that to make a bigger and better brain which sucks up 25% of our standing energy through its thick neural cortex.  Cooking food represents the ultimate in human achievement. Through our intellect, we control fire and use it to maximize our potential- starting with food.

                People ask why we can’t drive a car or turn on lights on Shabbat.  Both of them have to do with fire.  On Shabbat, we remind our self that we are renters in this world, we don’t fully own; and therefore, our building rights are restricted.  We give the world back to G-d and put our creative energy and creative tool, fire, to rest as well.  That is why fire or lack thereof is singled out as the paradigm of keeping Shabbos.  And as soon as Shabbos ends, we light a fire again at Havdalah. Tradition has it that Adam discovered fire after Shabbos and Havdalah is its commemoration.  With that, we go on to fulfill the second aspect of our rental agreement.  For the other six days of the week we are required to fix the world with all of our creativity and strength.  And there is no better tool than fire to help us achieve it.