Why do our spiritual occasions almost always include feasting? Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz explains:

We celebrate all of Judaism over eating – why? Because it’s a chibur of guf and neshamah (connection of body and soul).

While we usually think of food in terms of its physical qualities (taste, appearance, nutrition), this religious role of food implies that not only what but how and how much we eat is a spiritual matter too.

Among the holiday indulgence hurdles, the gold medal for the greatest annual test surely goes to Purim. Besides being a day of unique indulgence, Purim also includes the mitzvah of mishloach manos – to shower each other with lots of food. This sounds like a set-up for incredible food challenges.

But one can the Purim feasting by learning the parameters of the mitzvah:

One must send to a friend two portions of meat or food, as it says, “And the sending of portions (mishloach manos), each person to his friend” (Esther 9:19): two portions to one person. And anyone who sends to more friends is praiseworthy. If he has nothing to send, he can trade with his friend, this one sending his meal to that one, and this one sending his meal to that one, so that they can fulfill, “and send portions, each person to his friend.”

Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 695.4

This means food fit for immediate consumption.

Mishnah Berurah 695.20

What does it mean for mishloach manos to be fit for consumption? If you send your friend the world’s most lovely, thoughtful, beautifully-wrapped gift, but your friend wouldn’t eat it, you possibly didn’t fulfill the mitzvah, at least not in the ideal manner.

Aruch HaShulchan is of the opinion that quantity also matters:

For this mitzvah, it isn’t sufficient to gift food in the minimum amounts, for we need a “generous portion,” for this is the meaning of the term manos, such as a slice of meat fitting to honor someone; that it should be a nice thing. And those people who send small portions have not fulfilled their obligation. 695.15

So sending table-worthy but tiny food packages to dozens of friends also may not fulfill the mitzvah, certainly not in the ideal manner.

Moreover, note the subjective factor: “Fitting to honor someone; that it should be a nice thing.” Does it honor an alcoholic to send them a bottle of wine? Similarly, if your friend is diabetic, would it honor them to send them something loaded with sugar? Can any harmful food be “fit for consumption,” let alone “fit to honor”?

Therefore, someone conscious of both the mitzvah and the principles of healthy eating might possibly avoid high-sugar and high-trans-fat mishloach manos that please the palate but provide poor nutrition and probably don’t fully honor the human being one is trying to honor – especially when such food is potentially harmful. (Indeed, Rav Shlomo Kluger, Chokhmas Shlomo, wonders if sending a food item that the sender himself would not eat fulfills the mitzvah.)

Consider the Talmud’s three examples of mishloach manos:

Rabbi Yehudah Nesiah sent to Rabbi Oshaya the leg of a third-born calf and a jug of wine…. Rabbah sent to Mari bar Mar via Abaye a sack of dates and a cupful of toasted wheat….. The other sent him back a sack of ginger and a cupful of long peppers. Megilla 7ab

These are tasty and nutritious gifts, fit for consumption and fitting to honor. Perhaps the mitzvah of “portions of meat, or foodstuffs” should be something that will be good for both body and soul.

In fact, there are two opinions on the primary purpose of mishloach manos. According to the way many learn the Rema, the primary purpose of the mitzvah is to increase love and peace, which may perhaps be fulfilled with just about anything that is reasonably respectable, even if the recipient refuses the gift. According to Terumas HaDeshen, one fulfills the mitzvah only with food truly destined for the Purim table. A scrupulous person would try to accomplish both. Moreover, some hold that this Rema is only speaking bidieved (post hoc).

Fortunately, they can be both tasty and healthy. For example:

If there are young people in your life, Purim is an opportunity to discuss the ethic of health-promoting versus health-harming food. Encourage them to show their friendship by giving foods that are both tasty and healthy.

Perhaps this perspective on Purim can add a dimension to the idea that Purim’s holiness compares to that of Yom Kippur: while Yom Kippur’s holiness is achieved through total abstention from food (and other things), Purim’s is achieved through enjoyment of food and drink while avoiding achilah gasah – gluttonous eating. (This teaching is based on Vayikra/Lev 23:27; see Yalkut Shim’oni, Mishlei 944; Tikkunei Zohar 21; Rav Tzaddok HaKohen, Pri Tzaddik, Shemos and R’sisei Laila, 58; Maharal, Ohr Chadash, Hakdama; Pachad Yitzchak, Purim 21.)

Let’s recall Rabbi Tatz’s observation about the purpose of food: it connects body to soul, symbolizing – and indeed enabling – the elevation of the body to its highest potential. Thus food when used properly can enable us to achieve our Tselem Elokim (Divine Image) potential. Purim is possibly our greatest annual opportunity for such elevation.

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This article is adapted from Body & Soul: The Torah Path to Health, Fitness and a Holy Life (JSLI/Targum) by Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld and Daniel Grove MD. Enjoy the Body & Soul podcast at torahanytime.com/speakers/1397 or find free resources at TorahHealth.org.