R. Tzadok 2000 Souls in Your Food

Lesson for
Torah Portion Ekev

There are Souls in Your Food

by R. Ariel B. Tzadok

Copyright © 2000 by Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.


“So that you may know that not on bread alone does a man live, but on all that comes forth from the Mouth of God does a man live.” (Dev. 8:3)

In His universe, God created an infinite numbers of souls. These souls are referred to, prior to their original descent into this world, as “nitzotzei kedusha” (sparks of holiness).

As explained in the Ari’zal’s Kabbalistic lectures on the “Shattering of the Vessels,” and “The Fall of the Primordial Kings,” many of these sparks of holiness fell from their lofty heights in holiness and descended into the lower worlds.

All fallen souls are given the opportunity rise again to their original heights of holiness, and to again stand before their Creator. Yet, this time, they will have earned their place and can, therefore, never fall again. Yet, to achieve this lofty status, souls have to work hard in order to earn it.

God created the universe to operate under the forces of good and evil, reward and punishment, blessing and curse. When one obeys God’s Will one contributes to the evolution of the universe. When one obeys God’s commandments, one is rewarded with good and blessings. This is how one ascends the ladder of holiness.

Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. When a soul violates God’s commandments, instead of reward there is punishment, instead of good, there is evil. That soul descends further into the lower realms.

Alas, in our many sins, just as souls can evolve upward in Kedusha (holiness) so can they descend into tumah (uncleanness). When this occurs, God can punish a human soul by incarnating it into a non-human form.

Indeed, a human soul can incarnate into anything that God has created. God has placed fallen human souls into animals of all kinds, into plants, and even into rocks, water, sand, and dirt. Each of these places acts as a prison for the soul, each in accordance to the sins it performed.

The fallen soul is destined by Divine edict to stay trapped in its non-human form with all its memories of being human for a specified amount of time. It is said that this form of punishment is most hard to bear and the most painful punishment of all.

Yet, although God is Just, He is also a merciful and compassionate God. He has given into the hands of the righteous souls the opportunity to redeem the souls of the fallen sinners. The righteous do this by performing a basic down-to-earth mitzvah (righteous duty) of daily eating and saying a Berakha (blessing) over one’s food.

Indeed, the reason why Berakhot (blessings) were ordained to be said in precise ritual fashion (Barukh Atah Adonai Eloheynu Melekh HaOlam, etc.) is because the words contain a secret code that is used to help elevate fallen souls that are entrapped in the foods that we eat.

Human souls are often reincarnated into animals. Of these, kosher animals are slaughtered according to Torah Law, and eaten as part of a Seudat Mitzvah (festive meal). We have stories told about many Sages who recognized within an animal a fallen soul, who would then purchase the animal for kosher slaughter.

The Sages saw with Divine inspiration that such a fate was the destined rectification for the fallen soul. Indeed, once the animal is kosher slaughtered, and is eaten with appropriate blessings before and after, the soul therein finds rest in the Heavenly spheres. However, this only occurs when the officiating Sage knows the proper meditations to elevate the soul along its journey.

So important is the eating of meat as a spiritual ritual of soul rectification that the Talmud (Pesahim 49b) has taught that an Am HaAretz (an unenlightened individual) is forbidden to eat meat.

The underlying secret message in the Talmud is that the mere eating of meat for the sake of physical pleasure does not release the souls incarnated within. Indeed, one who eats for mere physical pleasure, instead of for spiritual reasons, can end up harming souls, not helping them. The penalty for such a spiritual blemish is Midah K’neged Midah (measure for measure). Guess who gets reincarnated as a cow next time?

All human souls can reincarnate in any other form of matter. A soul can return in a piece of fruit, or in a potato, in a glass of water, or in a piece of pizza. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us that when we eat, we perform the mitzvah (righteous duty) of Pidyon Shibuyim (redemption of captives).

We must recite our blessings with full intention and keep in mind, if not verbally state the following small prayer:

“God, may it be Your Will that any souls incarnated in the food that I am about to eat be rectified, and elevated to their holy source above.”

In this way we assist in redeeming fallen souls and keep ourselves away from being blemished.

The fallen soul becomes absorbed into the one eating. When that one performs a mitzvah (righteous duty) using the strength gaining from the food eaten, the fallen soul is transformed into the mitzvah, and thus ascends above along with it.

The soul has now been elevated. Nonetheless, while it has been cleansed of specific previous sins, it still has no merits to speak of. Thus, God allows the soul to return to Earth to acquire for itself merit by the performance of mitzvot.

However, if the soul has any left-over judgement still hanging over it from other previous lives, then God will send to the soul trials, and travails in its lifetime until the Heavenly slate has been cleared.

Thus, even if a soul is perfectly righteous in this lifetime, such as Job, bad things can still happen to it, to purify it of previous sins. This is the secret of why the righteous suffer.

For example, the Kabbalists relate that Job was the reincarnation of the Terah, the father of Avraham Avinu. Terah served idols. Job was punished for what he did as Terah, although as Job he was guiltless. Nonetheless, once his spiritual account was settled, God again blessed him in full.

Thus, our Parasha (Ekev) teaches us, “man does not live by bread alone, but on all that comes forth from the Mouth of God.” What comes forth from the “Mouth of God” is the rectification of souls. These accompany our physical food. Thus, we must elevate our physical eating to being a spiritual act.

We must always remember that our dinner tables are altars to God, and our meals are like sacrifices to Heaven. If we keep this in mind as we eat, we elevate fallen souls incarnate in our food, and we elevate our own souls as well.