” target=”_blank”>Master Chef Rick Bayless is a James Beard Chef of the year, part of PBS Mexico one plate at a time and one of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters. I feel grateful that I was invited to try out this new restaurant in a gorgeous location and was able to do it with wonderful people.
I wanted to share this week's message from ” target=”_blank”>Rabbi Joshua Knobel.
You will eat and be satisfied, and bless Adonai your God for the good land that God has given to you…
This week’s Torah portion introduces the mitzvah of enjoying and giving thanks for our sustenance. Our sages took this message quite literally, using it as inspiration for the birkat hamazon, the blessing after meals. Less common in practice than the hamotzi, a blessing that precedes meals, the birkat hamazon reflects an ideology that places satisfaction and gratitude ahead of anticipation. Rather than focus upon what comes next, the blessing challenges us to consider what has already transpired and give thanks.
Such a practice seems at odds with the frenetic pace of our 21st century lives. After all, how often do we halt our hectic schedules to acknowledge our daily blessings? Rather, our invigorating experiences often seem to merely whet our appetite for the next, as we spend so much of our lives in anticipation that we have little or no time for satisfaction and the gratitude that accompanies it.
The Torah reminds us of our responsibility to pause and remember: that milk does not come from supermarkets, that phones do not come from the Apple store, that every material and spiritual morsel that nourishes our daily lives, whether large or small, is the result of a grand labor of Divine and human hands.
As such, we are not simply encouraged – but commanded – to pause… to enjoy and express gratitude for the vast multitude of wonders that sustain us.
– Rabbi Joshua Knobel
I cannot wait to go back to Red O Restaurant to enjoy the stunning views of the Pacific Ocean as well as the lovely ambiance, service and food. I am glad to have this moment to pause and appreciate all that I have been given to enjoy and share. Enjoy this video from our meal August 6, 2015 and photos from our night at Red O Restaurant.
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