{"id":54155,"date":"2016-08-29T03:04:21","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T08:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=54155"},"modified":"2017-04-27T09:24:04","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T14:24:04","slug":"the-trouble-with-kiddush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/the-trouble-with-kiddush\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trouble with Kiddush"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you been to a Kiddush lately on Shabbos?\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Food as a celebration is nothing new to the Jewish People. After all, it is a Mitzvah to eat three meals on Shabbos<\/i>, to include meat on Yom Tov<\/i>, to make Kiddush<\/i> on wine and to wash and eat Challah at <\/i>a Seudas Mitzvah<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>There is no Simcha<\/i> without meat and wine say Chazal<\/i> and there are special foods for every Chag<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>But we have lost our way.\u00a0 <\/span>Eating food as part of any celebration is just fine, but once again today, I sat at a Kiddush where the menu consisted of cakes, cookies, Yerushlmi<\/i> kugel, Potato kugel (extra oil, no extra charge), Cholent<\/i> (even more extra oil) and sugary drinks (not a bottle of water to be found).\u00a0 <\/span>And then you know what?\u00a0 <\/span>After we hear the Divrei Torah<\/i>, we go home and eat a whole meal.\u00a0 <\/span>Something has gone wrong because as wonderful as any celebratory Kiddush<\/i> or Seuda<\/i> is, these foods, especially when consumed in mass quantities will make us sick over the long term.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This over-consumption of food is no small problem in a society such as ours.\u00a0 <\/span>In any particular week we will attend multiple simchas<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>We may attend a few weddings, bar mitzvahs<\/i>, brises<\/i>, engagements, pidyon habens<\/i> and siyums<\/i> and as there is seasonality to this, many times of the year we may be occupied with these events all week long. We can conveniently use these occasions as excuses, but as they occur so often, it pays to find ways to deal with them so they don\u2019t affect our health negatively. We often fool ourselves into thinking that\u00a0 <\/span>because there is a Mitzvah involved, we can eat anything and everything in any amount.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is that you are in charge of your health and you are in control of making healthful choices in any situation.\u00a0 <\/span>Go to your friends Kiddush,<\/i> 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<\/i>, try avoid the kugels or cholent<\/i> (you have that waiting for you at home you know) and hopefully there will be vegetables or fruits available.\u00a0 <\/span>Another suggestion, I personally bring my own whole wheat crackers to the Shule Kiddush<\/i> on Simchas Torah<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>You can do that too.\u00a0 <\/span>Put an apple in your pocket to take with you.\u00a0 <\/span>But 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.\u00a0 <\/span>Another suggestion: if you know you are going to a lavish Kiddush<\/i> on Shabbos<\/i>, take two whole-grain Challah<\/i> Rolls with you, and after you hear Kiddush<\/i>, wash and make it into your Seuda<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>This way, you don\u2019t end up eating twice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All or nothing thinking is one of the \u201cdistorted thoughts\u201d sited by behavioral psychologists Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis.\u00a0 <\/span>Does going to a Simcha and enjoying ourselves have to fall into the \u201call or nothing\u201d category?\u00a0 <\/span>Is it possible to partake in a kiddush<\/i> or wedding or other Simcha<\/i> and enjoy the occasion without causing harm to ourselves?\u00a0 <\/span>Most definitely! Here are a few suggestions for your weekday simchas<\/i>:<\/span><\/p>\n

The day of the Simcha:<\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n