{"id":29523,"date":"2012-10-19T00:13:25","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T00:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=29523"},"modified":"2017-04-27T08:07:20","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T13:07:20","slug":"how-survive-jewish-food-culture-alan-freishtat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/physical-health\/how-survive-jewish-food-culture-alan-freishtat\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Survive the Jewish Food Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is being written after Shabbat, Parshat Bereishit, although you may be reading this a few weeks later. Today in shuls all over the world, there were kiddush<\/em>es to celebrate the Chosson Torah<\/em> and Chosson Bereshit<\/em> after Simchat Torah.<\/p>\n

\"Deli<\/p>\n

Food as celebration is nothing new to the Jewish people. After all, it is a mitzvah\u00a0<\/em>(commandment) to eat three meals on Shabbat, to include meat on Yom Tov\u00a0<\/em>(the holidays), to make kiddush<\/em>, a blessing, on wine and to wash and eat challah\u00a0<\/em>(bread) at a seudat mitzvah\u00a0<\/em>(festive meal). There is no simcha\u00a0<\/em>(happiness) without meat and wine, say Chazal\u00a0<\/em>(our sages), and there are special foods for every holiday.<\/p>\n

But we have lost our way. Eating food as part of any celebration is just fine, but once again today, I sat at a kiddush<\/em> where the menu consisted of cakes, cookies, Yerushalmi\u00a0<\/em>kugel, potato kugel (extra oil, no charge), cholent (even more extra oil) and sugary drinks (not a bottle of water to be found). And then you know what? After we hear the divrei Torah\u00a0<\/em>(words of Torah), we go home and eat a whole meal. Another one.<\/p>\n

Something has gone wrong. As wonderful as any celebratory kiddush<\/em> or seudah<\/em>\u00a0is, these foods, especially when consumed in mass quantities, will make us sick over the long term.<\/p>\n

This overconsumption of food is no small problem in a culture such as ours. In any given week we may attend multiple simchas. We could attend a few weddings, bar mitzvah<\/em>s (religious initiation ceremony of a Jewish boy who has reached the age of 13), bris<\/em>es (ceremonies of circumcision), engagements, pidyon haben<\/em>s (redemption of the firstborn) and siyums<\/em>\u00a0(celebration of the completion of some portion of Torah). As there is seasonality to this, many times of the year we may be occupied with these events all week long.<\/p>\n

We can use these occasions as convenient excuses to eat excessively, but as they occur so often, it pays to find ways to deal with them so they don\u2019t negatively\u00a0affect our health.<\/p>\n

We often fool ourselves into thinking that because there is a mitzvah<\/em> involved, we can eat anything and everything in any amount. False. You are in charge of your health and you are in control of making healthful choices in any situation.<\/p>\n

Go to your friend’s kiddush<\/em>, survey the situation and make smart choices. Make sure to drink only water or seltzer. If you must have a small piece of cake or a couple of cookies to fulfill kiddush b\u2019makom seuda\u00a0<\/em>(in the place where you’re eating your meal), try avoid the kugels or chulent (you have that waiting for you at home, you know) and hopefully there will be vegetables or fruits available.<\/p>\n

I personally bring my own whole wheat crackers to the shul kiddush<\/em> on Simchat Torah. You can do that too. Put an apple in your pocket to take with you.<\/p>\n

Even if you are in a situation where there are no good choices, you can either choose not to eat there or take the minimum amount of food. Another suggestion: If you know you are going to a lavish kiddush<\/em> on Shabbat, take two whole-grain challah<\/em> rolls with you, and after you hear kiddush<\/em>, wash and make it into your seudah<\/em>. This way, you don\u2019t end up eating twice.<\/p>\n

All-or-nothing thinking is one of the \u201cdistorted thoughts\u201d cited by behavioral psychologists Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis. Does going to a simcha<\/em> and enjoying ourselves need to fall into the \u201call-or-nothing\u201d category? Is it possible to partake in a kiddush<\/em> or wedding or other simcha<\/em> and enjoy the occasion without causing harm to ourselves? Most definitely!<\/p>\n

Here are a few suggestions for your weekday simcha<\/em>s from Lose It!<\/em> nutritionist Elisheva Rosenberg:<\/p>\n

Before the Simcha<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n