Just Tuck In - Brakhot 44a

With the start of the new semester and imminent high holidays, I haven't had much time to post here. But today's daf made my smile because it seemed entirely appropriate that after a chapter of discussing blessings before eating different kinds of food, we learn all about how much some rabbis loved to eat a certain kind of fruit dish.

R. Abbahu used to eat of them [so freely] that a fly slipped off his forehead. R. Ammi and R. Assi used to eat of them till their hair fell out. R. Simeon b. Lakish ate until his mind began to wander, and R. Johanan told the household of the Nasi, and R. Judah the Prince send a band of men for him and they brought him to his house.

Perhaps a warning against over indulgence, it seems a fitting tone for close to the end of such a food-focused chapter.

Shana tova!

Pecking Order - Brakhot 40a

"Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: A person is forbidden to eat before he gives food to his beast, since it says, "and I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, and then, thou shalt eat and be satisfied." (Deut 11:15)"

The rabbinic commandment to always feed one's animals before oneself strikes me as an excellent example of the high value placed on animal life as well as human life. Aside from animals' uses as livestock and work-animals, they are also God's creation and our charge, and this small suggestion by Rav Yehuda illustrates that beautifully.