Torah Study Blog

We are living in a time of general anxiety, and one of the concerns potentially increasing our anxiety is news reports about disruptions to our food supply. Rabbi Roberts noted that many religious traditions include stories about food, two of which we looked at last month when Rabbi Roberts led our group. In 1 Kings 17 we are told that during one famine in Samaria, God arranged for ravens to bring bread and meat to the prophet Elijah daily so that he would not starve. And, during another famine, a widow used the last of her flour to bake a cake for Elijah, and then found that her flour supply did not diminish; enabling her to feed herself and her child for the duration of the drought.

Both of these stories focus on bread for sustenance. Scholars believe that at least 50% of the diet of ancient Israelites was made up of bread. As Jews, when we say the motzi we are saying the blessing over the bread, and that covers our thanks for every other food item on the table, but bread is the food item specifically mentioned. Breaking bread with someone is a way to share yourself and to express welcome. In fact, the word “companion” comes from the latin words “com” meaning together with, and “panis” meaning bread.

Although it is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible, rabbinic tradition tells us that Elijah will return as a forerunner to the Messiah. That is why, at Passover, we open the door for Elijah in an effort to encourage the Messianic time, when peace and freedom will reign – and bread will be available for all.

We have learned that, through God, Elijah was able to provide an endless supply of flour to the widow. Jews typically do not spend much time studying Christian scripture, but Christian scripture can actually give us a window into what was going on in the Jewish world at the time it was written. In the Gospel according to Mark, we learn that Jesus was able to use five loaves of bread and two fish, and then he, “looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves” and was able to feed 5000 men.

The story of Jesus feeding the multitudes is the only miracle story of Christianity that is found in each of the four Gospels, and, in fact, it is found in the Gospel of Mark twice.

Because the story says that Jesus “looked up to heaven, and blessed,” we can discern that the practice of saying a blessing over a meal had come into vogue. We can also see that the miracles became bigger and better! The interaction with Elijah allowed a widow and her son to eat. The interaction with Jesus allowed 5000 men to eat.

Rabbi Roberts shared with us a theory about the development of theology: In the Hebrew Bible, we started out with the notion that our God actually lived in our holy temple. But then we moved on to the concept that the holy temple is where the “presence” of God can be found. The traditions about Elijah describe him as being in the city of Samaria. Samaria was the second largest city in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. When the Northern Kingdom was destroyed in 720 BCE there was no longer any access to the Temple. So, where was God? The Elijah traditions tells us that the presence of God could now be found in the prophets.

Miracle stories about rabbis can be found in the Talmud. And references to a messiah can be found in the Talmud. And the presence of God in a prophet is acceptable. But, unlike Christianity which claims that Jesus is the actual embodiment of God, Judaism never makes the leap to say that God can be physically embodied.

Rabbi Roberts acknowledged that we are in a time when we want answers, or we may be reaching for some sort of comforter. In the Jewish traditions, God provides the ingredients, but creating the actual bread, or solution, rests in the hands of the people. Maybe this can inform us that God has provided us with the ingredients we need to face this pandemic, but the solution needs to be reached by our own hands. Maybe God is within each of us. We all have a role to play and, maybe, we can all be the messiah.

You can find our podcast on iTunes under “TINW Torah Study” or “Jennifer Jaech.” Subscribe and rate us!

misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Roberts taught us are the responsibility of Tara Keiter