Chocolate, A D’var Torah

And God made Chocolate, two kinds did God make.  And God tasted them, and they were good.

Havdil... the Hebrew word for separation.  Just as God separated heaven from earth and sacred from profane... He made two kinds of chocolate... milk chocolate and dark chocolate.

Biblical scholars believe that chocolate was created shortly after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden.  Just as the rainbow was created after the Flood to give hope, so did God give chocolate to Adam and Eve as solace after their exit from Gan Eden: Dark chocolate to remind them of the paradise they had lost and milk chocolate to give them hope for the Olam Habah....the World to Come.

This side of hope, the gift of chocolate is a symbol of Hope for all people.  It is the hope of lovers who bring it as an offering.  It is the hope of peace for the soldier who finds the lone bar in his rations.  It is a glimpse of childhood and hope for the future when tossed to a child trapped in the misery of war or revolution.

In every yeshiva, yeshiva bochers have contemplated what chocolate means to the Jewish People, and kol ha-goyim, all the other nations... for even at the Tower of Babel, the one word they all shared and could understand was Chocolate.

Religious scholars have reached several conclusions.  First, Chocolate is a metaphor for the Jewish People.  Whether it comes wrapped in gold, like Godiva chocolates at a glitzy Bar Mitzvah or as a component of the simplest shiva basket at the poorest home... once the piece of chocolate is unwrapped and on the tongue, the “tam” (the taste) is still the same...just as the essence of Judaism never changes.

Second, as the scholars point out, the chocolate can be melted and formed into any shape...Chanukah gelt, hearts, kisses...just as Jews, throughout their Diaspora experiences have melted into many different shapes... Ethiopian, Russian, Israeli, American, and they have formed themselves into Orthodox, Ultra-Orthodox, Conservative, Secular, Reform, Reconstructionist... the shape doesn’t matter... for the essence never changes

So please, enjoy this Heaven sent gift without guilt, remembering the divine source of chocolate every day.  Keep a little in your desk at work to remind you of Shabbat, the Day of Rest that gives us a glimmer of the Olam Habah, the World to Come.  Give your children a piece now and then...watch their faces, but at the same time, remember those children for whom a square of chocolate may be the only happiness they know.  In times of sorrow, bring chocolate brownies to console the mourner.  In times of joy, invite the bride and groom and serve chocolate for dessert.  For as it is written, “God tasted the chocolate, and it was good.”