Priorities in Life

(ל) וְנָתַתָּ֧ עַֽל־הַשֻּׁלְחָ֛ן לֶ֥חֶם פָּנִ֖ים לְפָנַ֥י תָּמִֽיד׃ (פ)

(30) And on the table you shall set the bread of display, to be before Me always.

What is the definition of a table? A table is a piece of furniture having a smooth flat top that is usually supported by one or more vertical legs. Similarly, our world stands on three things: Torah study, on the service [of G-d] and on kind deeds (i.e. bestowing kindness).

שבת פ״ח א:ה׳

ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר אמר רב אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה הקדוש ברוך הוא עליהם את ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם אמר רב אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא אמר רבא אף על פי כן הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב קימו וקבלו היהודים קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר

Shabbat 88a:5

The Gemara cites additional homiletic interpretations on the topic of the revelation at Sinai. The Torah says, “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lowermost part of the mount” (Exodus 19:17). Rabbi Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Ḥasa said: the Jewish people actually stood beneath the mountain, and the verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, overturned the mountain above the Jews like a tub, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, there will be your burial. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: From here there is a substantial caveat to the obligation to fulfill the Torah. The Jewish people can claim that they were coerced into accepting the Torah, and it is therefore not binding. Rava said: Even so, they again accepted it willingly in the time of Ahasuerus, as it is written: “The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them” (Esther 9:27), and he taught: The Jews ordained what they had already taken upon themselves through coercion at Sinai.

משנה אבות א׳:ב׳

(ב) שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים:

Pirkei Avot 1:2

(2) Shimon the Righteous was from the remnants of the Great Assembly. He would say, "On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the service and on acts of lovingkindness."

שבת ק״ד א:ד׳

אמרי ליה רבנן לרבי יהושע בן לוי אתו דרדקי האידנא לבי מדרשא ואמרו מילי דאפילו בימי יהושע בן נון לא איתמר כוותייהו אלף בית אלף בינה גימל דלת גמול דלים מאי טעמא פשוטה כרעיה דגימל לגבי דלת שכן דרכו של גומל חסדים לרוץ אחר דלים ומאי טעמא פשוטה כרעיה דדלת לגבי גימל דלימציה ליה נפשיה ומאי טעמא מהדר אפיה דדלת מגימל דליתן ליה בצינעה כי היכי דלא ליכסיף מיניה

Shabbat 104a:4

The Sages said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Young students came today to the study hall and said things the likes of which were not said even in the days of Joshua bin Nun. These children who only knew the Hebrew alphabet interpreted the letters homiletically.

Alef beit means learn [elaf] the wisdom [bina] of the Torah.

Gimmel dalet means give to the poor [gemol dalim]. Why is the leg of the gimmel extended toward the dalet? Because it is the manner of one who bestows loving-kindness to pursue the poor. And why is the leg of the dalet extended toward the gimmel? It is so that a poor person will make himself available to him who wants to give him charity. And why does the dalet face away from the gimmel? It is to teach that one should give charity discreetly so that the poor person will not be embarrassed by him.

Lechem HaPanim is translated as show-bread. Bread is made of flour.

משנה אבות ג׳:י״ז

(יז) רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה אוֹמֵר... אִם אֵין קֶמַח, אֵין תּוֹרָה. אִם אֵין תּוֹרָה, אֵין קֶמַח.

Pirkei Avot 3:17

(17) Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says: If there is no flour, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour.

The Tikkunei Zohar^[1] makes the following analogy: “Torah is nourishment for the soul as bread^[2]is food for the body.”

[1] 102b “וּמְזוֹנָא דְנִשְׁמָתָא אוֹרַיְיתָא, מְזוֹנָא דְגוּפָא נַהֲמָא”.

[2] As Dovid HaMelech says, “Bread… sustains the heart of man” [(Tehillim 104:15). See also Yuma 39a and Artscroll Bava Metzia 59a, note 32.

Panim literally means face. As Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l says, “One’s face is like a screen and his soul like a projector which projects on his face the glory of the human soul, which has in it the greatness of Hashem.”^[1] In addition, the Gemara^[2] states, “Each person’s face is different because a person’s mind^[3] is reflected in his face.”

[1] 10 steps to Greatness by Rav Avigdor Miller z''l, #7. See also Sefer Pischei Sha’arim by Yitzchak Isaac, #16.

[2] see Artscroll Berachos 58a, note 9 and 33. See also Sanhedrin 38a.

[3] see Nefesh Hachaim by Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Finkel, pages 55-56.

Tamid means always or constantly. What is the definition of always? 1) At all times; all the time and on every occasion. 2) Seemingly without interruption; often and repeatedly. Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried^[1] says, “I put Hashem before me always” (i.e. He always is involved in my daily life in whatever I do).

[1] Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 1:1.

What do these words come to teach us? A table is like bread. What do I mean? In order for a table to remain sturdy it needs to have all its legs, otherwise, it will topple over. Similarly, the body of a person needs sustenance in order to function effectively (sturdy).
With Hashem’s help, we should incorporate all these concepts into our lives!

This article is dedicated:

In memory of Eliyahu ben Mordechai, Mashah Tzivyah bas R’ Shlomo Zalman, Altah Soshah Devorah bas Aryeh Leibush, Chaim ben Shmuel Efraim Zalman, Tuvyah Shlomo ben Naftali Tzvi HaKohein, Esther Perel bas R’ Shlomo, Miriam bas Zelig Shaul, Menachem ben Shimon, Menachem ben Zev, Sarah bas HaRav Yisroel, Yosef ben Moshe HaLevi, Yisroel ben Yeshayah, Elisheva Basyah bas Yechiel Ephraim and all the other departed souls of our nation.

For the complete recovery of Chayah Malka bas Bas-Sheva, among the other sick ones of our nation.