by
Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
Contrary to most people's understanding of Judaism, the Torah's
philosophy includes physical pleasures: that is, any experience
that a person enjoys with one of the five senses. Either you smell
it, touch it, taste it, see it, or hear it. Judaism views physical
pleasure as central to living a good life. Hashem made a physical
world not to frustrate us, but for us to enjoy.
In fact, the tradition considers it a moral obligation to enjoy
life's physical pleasures. For instance, consider the very first
mitzvah of the Torah. What is the Torah's first mitzvah? It is
not "Be fruitful and multiply." Nor is it "Do not
eat from the tree of knowledge." Upon a close reading, the
text plainly states that the very first mitzvah is "From
every tree of the garden you must eat."
However, the foundation of pleasure and the basis of Jewish spirituality
is the discipline of mental control, of focusing the mind at will.
To develop such a discipline requires a systematic development
of mental focus, also known as meditation. It is the Art of Kavanah.
Alexander Seinfeld received
semicha from Harav Zalman Nehemia Goldberg, shlita, and two degrees
from Stanford University. He founded Jewish Spiritual Literacy,
Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the ideas
in this book. His audio recordings are available at jsli.org and
other sites.
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