Recently we spent a delightful afternoon with good friends at the Jelly Belly Center, here. On our tour of their facility, I hear the following statement:
It takes between seven to ten days for our factories to make a Jelly Belly bean. It takes just one second to eat one.
While I was wowed by all the cool flavors to eat, I kept thinking about that statement. It hit a cord with me. Not a big, Earth shattering cord, but a more simple and grounded cord. I say the appropriate brachos before and after I eat and drink, but I really should give some thought as to all the effort that goes into the items I’m making my bracha over. From a simple Jelly Bean to a Shabbos meal, there’s a vast amount of effort that takes place. It takes just one second to eat one. I’m sure that working on my Hakoras HaTov is worth more one second of enjoyment.
interesting… I sometimes wonder if it is worth all the effort to do somethign that gets eaten/messed up/whatever, so quickly…
With baking/cooking there is that feeling of accomplishment and then the enjoyment of eating (a goose for example).
goose- good example. we raised our goose for 3+ years, feeding it, taking care of it, etc. in one dinner all that was gone. Not saying it was not worth it – we enjoyed it while we were raising it, but 3 years of effort was over in one dinner…
In general, most things (non-Torah/Ruchnius)that we put effort in are fairly temporary. Even our paychecks end up going to bills, tuition, food, or if you can put anything into savings it’s will eventually be spent.
I guess, making a bracha over food, or example, in addition to raising the level of the food also ties it to a more eternal source (my thinking would be z’char-reward).
very true
Neil–Good post! I make most of the meals eaten in my home, so you’d think that when I eat in someone else’s home I would spend more time appreciating the hard work that goes into preparing even a simple meal, but I’m embarassed to admit I rarely give such things more than a cursory thought. Even after the meal, I usual thank the cook for a delicious meal but I should also thank him/her for the hard work they put into it as well.
interesting… I sometimes wonder if it is worth all the effort to do somethign that gets eaten/messed up/whatever, so quickly…
This jelly belly lover thinks it is well worth their effort. đ