In my estimations, there are three priorities of the Torah: the priestly, the military, and the agricultural. The role of the priestly instruction (Torah literally means instruction) is to ritualize our relationship with God through worship, appointed times, and study. The role of the military instruction is to create a cohesive nation with consistent priorities, behaviors, and readiness to defend Israel. The role of the agricultural instruction, however, is different. Although it is about agriculture and food, it is also about making babies — lots of babies.
Throughout the Torah, food is connected with promulgation in a myriad of ways. For example, stories that begin with a “famine in the land” always end with the birth of a new generation, which makes sense biologically speaking! More calories means a greater ability to create a new generation.
This week’s Torah portion, Va-et’chanan, really puts a fine point on this idea:
“And this is the instruction—the laws and the rules—that your God יהוה has commanded [me] to impart to you, to be observed in the land…Obey, O Israel, willingly and faithfully, that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly [in] a land flowing with milk and honey, as יהוה, the God of your ancestors, spoke to you.”
By connecting Torah, progeny, and a land of abundant, calorie-rich food, the Torah confirms what we knew all along: That without Torah there is no food, without food there is no future of Judaism, and without a future for Judaism, there is no Torah.
It is my hope that we continually realize the connections between our engagement and study of Torah, the importance of raising a new generation with a love of Torah and Judaism, and good food to bring us together from generation to generation.