Foodies & idolatry – Ask the Rabbi
Q. Is it ethically right for people to be foodies and say they can’t manage without their designer meals and culture coffee?
A. It’s a sign of an empty life if all you can think about is decadent dining and fine wines.
I remember a kosher butcher who was consulted by a congregant who had decided to go kosher and wanted elaborate meat cuts.
“Whatever for?” asked the butcher, “You’re only going to eat it!”
What you eat and drink certainly matters in life. You need food and drink in order to stay alive, and it’s good to eat well and nicely… but you don’t have to make a fetish of it and turn it into a new form of idolatry.
If you have money to spare, why not give more charity, endow more scholarships, buy more books, give more hospitality?
And whatever you eat, make sure it is kosher. Why do the food mavens seem to think they’ve got to eat treif?
