Musar su Deuteronomio 8:3

These commandments concern themselves with the refinement of body and soul. Concerning חלה, i.e. bread, the Torah tells us in Deut. 8,3: that "man does not live by bread alone, rather on all that emanates from the mouth of G–d." I have explained at length elsewhere in the name of the Arizal, that this verse explains the efforts made by scientists to find out how it is that through the intake of certain foods the soul remains attached to the body, although the soul by definition does not need to eat. The answer to this problem is that food is both something physical as well as something spiritual. There simply is nothing on this earth that does not contain some spiritual input from the "higher" regions. Heavenly forces cause that spiritual potential to be activated down here on earth. This is why the soul can also benefit from those spiritual ingredients in food, just like the body derives strength from the nutrients in the food consumed. Because of this, the soul remains attached to the body as long as the body receives sufficient food of the right kind. This is what is meant by the above quoted statement that man does not live by bread alone. It means that the body is maintained by the physical composition of the food, i.e. bread, as one can see. Over and above that, life is maintained, i.e. the soul is kept going, by the invisible spiritual elements in food, i.e. G–d's command, מוצא פי ה', for those spiritual elements to become active within the person in question. The Torah therefore commanded us to set aside the חלה, the portion to be given to the priest; by fulfilling this commandment the spiritual element in the bread should be "awakened" and contribute its share to maintaining our souls. Since the priest represents holiness, he is given this "holy" part of the bread. Since, ideally, this חלה is set aside when the bread has not yet been baked but is merely dough, it is a method of refining our bread by adding sanctity to it before it is even baked. The bread thereby acts as a refining agent for both body and soul. The first man, Adam was considered as the חלה of the universe (Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat 2). He was perfect in mind and body until he sinned and caused the curse, and the Torah said concerning the earth קוץ ודרדר תמציח לך, ובזיעת אפך תאכל לחם "It will sprout thorns and thistles for you,…. by the sweat of your brow will you eat bread." The net effect on the bread after Challah has been set aside and has been given to the כהן, is for a person to qualify for the blessing inherent in the verse "ולחם לבב אנוש יסעד, bread will sustain man's life" (Psalms 104,15).

The expression קרבן לה' which we invariably find when the offerings to be presented on this altar are mentioned, reflect the purpose of these offerings to achieve closeness, קרבן, with G–d. The Torah constantly repeats the expression לי-ה-ו-ה in connection with these קרבנות in order to stress the profound value of this spiritual rapprochement and unification with the Celestial Regions by means of these offerings. All this is explained by the Zohar. This too is the reason that the Torah stresses in Deut. 8,3 that "Man does not live on bread alone but on everything that originates from G–d." Man lives also on the spiritual dimension of food. This is why the legislation of forbidden foods in chapter eleven follows immediately after the legislation of who and under what circumstances the priests may enter the Tabernacle. The Torah wanted to establish a conceptual linkage between food consumed by man and food consumed by the altar In chapter 15 of the above cited שער הקדושה the author – again basing himself on the Zohar – writes that the impure spirit of the חיצונים rests on the מאכלים טמאים, forbidden foods, and that anyone who eats them ingests this spirit and that his own נפש is thereby detrimentally affected. Consumption of מאכלים טהורים, pure foods, however, confers upon the person eating them some of the spirit of purity and holiness resting on those foods. This is what is meant by צדיק אוכל לשובע נפשו, "The righteous man eats to satisfy his soul" (Proverbs 13,25). The entire chapter in ראשית חכמה is relevant to our פרשה, including the prayers mentioned there.

In order to explain the significance of the seven times הבל in the first verse in Kohelet cited in our parable, I have to preface with a quotation from the Zohar. We read there that there is a kind of הבל which occurs on earth and there is a kind of הבל which has its roots in the masters of the lie. In the latter case it refers to acts of deceit. In the former case the word may refer to the verse in Deut. 8,3: כי על כל מוצא פי השם יחיה האדם, "that man lives on all that issues forth from the mouth of G–d" i.e. from the Torah. This verse uses the term מוצא פי השם to describe the הבל פיו, the instructions issuing forth from the mouth of G–d. The word הבל must be understood as follows: the letter ה stands for the Five Books of Moses, the letter ב stands for the first letter in the Torah i.e. בראשית; the letter ל stands for the last letter in the Torah, ישראל.