Hudson Valley Weddings – Rabbi Douglas Kohn

Dear Friends,

Most of us know the text, “Man (or woman) does not live by bread alone…” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

The rest of the Torah verse teaches that we live by all that God gives us, though God did give us the manna in the wilderness for forty years.

However, the common application of this verse is that we need far more than mere bread in order to live and to thrive.  Maslow’s hierarchy of needs includes safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem and self- actualization well above physiological needs – food, clothing and shelter. 

There is far more than bread alone.

Except when the e isn’t.

In 1979, Holocaust survivor Mel Mermelstein published his autobiography, entitled, By Bread Alone.  During his time at Auschwitz, Mermelstein saw that two items were thoroughly essential to survival: bread and shoes.  Without either, one readily perished.  Bread was not only an existential nourishment, but for Mermelstein, it offered a spiritual link to his Tradition.  Eating bread when he did, fulfilled the teaching of this week’s Torah portion. 

It was too easy in the Camps to devolve to simply seeking and consuming food, and losing one’s deeper sense of self – the self-actualization atop Maslow’s pyramid.  To stay alive was one thing; to stay purposeful and a human being – that was another.  Bread alone kept merely a part of one alive.  More than bread alone was necessary for the fullness of a person to live. 

And, yes, we are all too aware of places in the world today where want for bead persists – in Sudan, Gaza, and other areas of war, famine or environmental deprivation.

However, today when most of us who may read this D’var Torah do not want for bread, we still have the task of recognizing how we fulfill the rest of our needs – not by bread alone.  Where are our minds and spirits nourished?  Where are security and self sustained?  And, when do we fall into traps of seeking fulfillment at the basic levels, forgoing the more profound, soul-sufficing needs of life?

One does not live on bread alone. 

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Douglas Kohn