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Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the great eighteenth century Hasidic rebbe, once saw a man running around in a great hurry. He asked the man, “Why are you running?” The man answered, “I am running because I have to earn a living.” Rabbi Levi Yitzhak asked him, “How do you know that this ‘earning a living’ is running away from you so that you have to race after it to catch it? Maybe it is instead behind you, in which case you are fleeing from it.”

We KNOW that we chase after many things. We pursue career advancement. We run after bonuses and raises. But perhaps what we should be doing is taking stock of what is already present, for in doing so, we may realize that we may have already gained that which animates our souls.

All we need to do is slow down and look at what is right before our eyes.

The Torah concurs. In a verse that I came across last week from Deuteronomy 8, we read that, “A person does not live on bread alone.” This frequently quoted verse suggests that we are sustained by more than just food. And yet this is not what the Torah states. The verse reads in its entirety: “God subjected you to the hardship of hunger and then gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had ever known, in order to teach you that a person does not live on bread alone, but that human beings may live on anything that God decrees.”

The Torah’s intention is clear: we are sustained by whatever God gives us. Manna might not be served at any five-star restaurant, but we can live on it for the simple reason that it is a gift from God. And it is enough to sustain us.

Still…we require more than bread to live. We are sustained by so much more than the food we eat. As these dreary days of pandemic have demonstrated: we require purpose. We need friends and family to surround us. And yes, we even need hobbies.

This is why the rabbis of old counseled that we should never say the blessing for food while standing. Never say a blessing when rushing. Never eat, for example, while driving to a meeting. Instead we are instructed to sit. Why? Because when we sit down we transform the food our bodies require into a meal. It is the company of family and friends that changes the act of eating into a meal. The necessity of food is transformed into a sacred occasion by blessings and others.

It is the people who surround us that nourishes us. Which is why I would like to levy a challenge this week: Zoom a meal with a friend. Don’t just use Zoom to attend a class, or a service, and don’t just connect with friends over the phone. Instead, cook, or order in, and set up your computer…and eat together.

When you sit, it is impossible to rush. And then it is much easier to look behind you. Or at least at the person, or screen, in front of you. It is much easier to give thanks.

Back to Rabbi Levi. Stop chasing after things. Look in the rearview mirror. All the sustenance you require is sitting there before you.