97 Ego on the Menu: The Real Korban at Your Table

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph speaks of the spiritual power of one’s own table:

“Why does the verse begin with the word “altar” and conclude with the word “Table,” even though both terms are referring to the same item? Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Elazar both say the following interpretation: When the Temple is standing, the altar effects atonement for the transgressions of a person, but now that the Temple is not standing, a person’s table effects atonement for his transgressions, if he provides for the poor and needy from the food on his table.”

Be’er Mayim Chaim elaborates on this point (in a number of places; see Bereishis 25:23, Vayikra 6:1, and 16:7.) The link between sacrifice and one’s table is also metaphysical. The transferring of sin onto the animal is a ritual of renouncement of our animal nature. When we eat with restraint—not with gluttony, but with the humble and measured intent to be strong to serve Hashem—we are also sacrificing our animal side on the altar of service.

I will add that another kind of sacrifice one can make at his table is the sacrifice of his ego. Tensions and unhappy moments can occur at the Shabbos table when parents’ wish for compliance and so-called nachas becomes more about their own gratification than the developmental needs of the child. A child only has about 2,000 Shabbos meals until adulthood—when you think about it, that is not a long amount of time to inculcate the fundamentals of our religion and how to experience it. Do not waste these moments by trying to discipline, check up on homework, and other unpleasantness. Focus on what is good for your children—not your ego.

Shushan and Sensibility: Politics, Piety, and Perspective

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the unusual origin of the part of the Temple called “Shushan Habirah—Shushan the capital.”

There is a dispute with regard to this matter........

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