At the end of this weeks Parasha “Shelach,” G-d gives us the Mitzvah of Challah.
When performed correctly, after the destruction of the Temples the Mitzvah of Challah is carried out by separating a portion from one’s dough before it’s baked by saying a blessing and burning it. When the Temples stood, this portion was given to the Kohen.
What is superior, man or his bread?
At first glance, man-who is blessed with intelligence,speech, agility, and compassion-is vastly superior to bread.
But then why does he need to eat? H”S could of made us like our iPhones and we would only need to plug and recharge.
Chassidut explains that the bread that a person eats has sparks of immense spiritual intensity trapped within it that are more lofty and transcend the spiritual source of man himself.
So by eating the bread a person becomes uplifted by it’s sparks, receiving a spiritual boost in addition to the physical energy given by the bread.
But to be able to get this spiritual nourishment one needs to have the proper intentions while eating it. The person must eat it’s bread meditating on elevating the energy within it to a higher purpose, by using the energy received to serve G-d.
By fulfilling the Mitzvah of Challah and separating “the first of your dough for G-d,” a person is already aware of this intention.
So when we prepare the bread accordingly, separating a portion, and we eat it in the same way by saying the proper blessings before and after, we will activate the holy sparks within the bread and this in turn will elevated the person because the spiritual source of those sparks is higher than that of man.
#shabbatshalom
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