What does “No flour, no Torah; no Torah, no flour” mean?
This ancient rabbinic teaching can be interpreted in multiple ways. The pshat, or plain meaning, is that by keeping our bodies nourished, flour makes it possible for us to learn Torah. Torah, in turn, guides not just how we obtain and treat this sustaining substance and the foods created from it, but how we understand and live in the world with others. We may also understand “No flour, no Torah; no Torah, no flour” as defining and even representing the relationship between God and Israel. The importance of flour in the lives of our ancestors is evidenced by the number and range of commandments related to the cultivation, harvesting, and use of domesticated grains. Indeed, the ability to sustain themselves by producing grain for their own use differentiates the Israelites’ status as slaves in Egypt – where their lives were embittered with all sorts of tasks in the field (Ex. 1:14) – and as wanderers in the wilderness – where God would rain down bread…from the sky (Ex. 16:4) – from their
