A Conversation About Food with a Jew

Food is unity. Food brings people around a table. Food tells people it is time to stop, commune, learn, and acknowledge one another. Food is enjoying the moment with others while taking a rest from all the hard work that we have done.

Food is multicultural. Different food from different ethnic groups can be sought out and appreciated for its variety. To taste new foods from around the world broadens our enjoyment of food and gives us a more diverse understanding by challenging our taste palates, which takes us away from the mundane by adding depth to our culinary experiences. Food is abundant and food is learning. Each culture has something to teach us about food.

In Jewish culture, certain food is considered clean and other food is considered to be unclean. It is not good to eat anything and everything, but instead, knowing what is good to eat. Judaism teaches that food has boundaries because some food just isn’t good for us. Knowing what isn’t good for us and then choosing what is good to eat effects our overall health.

Some cultures consider that all food is okay to eat, but eating anything can have unhealthy consequences. A virus such as coronavirus can be the consequence because of bad food choices.

Food is important for us to survive. Good food nourishes our physical bodies and maintains balance to our overall physical health. We can see the importance of making good food choices since we can know the healthy state of our physical bodies when we are eating well.

God is about refection and reveals himself by having a physical world that is complemented by the spiritual

As we become good at discerning what is good physical food to eat we can also learn what is good spiritual food to eat. We can understand that by allowing only good “spiritual food” to enter our bodies we can also become spiritually healthy. We can learn how to not allow negative or bad spiritual food to consume our minds and souls to achieve good mental and spiritual health.

As we sit down to eat good food with our friends and family we can identify with what is good for our mind, body, and spirit, which allows us the opportunity to live long, healthy lives.