MUSHANINA BWALI? YES, I AM!!…Work for nshima. Dance for nshima if you must- Saviour Chishimba(Yehudah Ben David )

MUSHANINA BWALI? YES, I AM!!❤️ One difficulty I sometimes have is understanding why people ridicule the very things that sustain human life. When you become a Jew, the way you look at life changes. Food is not something to take for granted. Clothing is not something to take for granted. Life itself is not something […]

MUSHANINA BWALI? YES, I AM!!❤️

One difficulty I sometimes have is understanding why people ridicule the very things that sustain human life. When you become a Jew, the way you look at life changes.

Food is not something to take for granted. Clothing is not something to take for granted. Life itself is not something to take for granted. Yaakov Avinu (Jacob our father) made a vow to the Almighty and said, “If G-d will be with me, and will guard me on this way that I am going, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then the L-RD shall be my G-d.” Bereshit (Genesis) 28:20 – 21. Midrash Bereishit Rabbah discusses this vow in the context of Yaakov’s distress and dependence upon the Almighty. Bread to eat. Clothes to wear. Protection on the journey. These are profound blessings.

So yes, it is Jewish to be mushanina bwali. It is Jewish to work for nshima (food). We should stop pretending that putting food on the table is somehow beneath us. If you go without food even for a day or two, you quickly understand its value.

Wherever Jewish communities have taken root, one often sees a strong emphasis on work, learning, enterprise, charity and building institutions for the next generation. That’s why prosperity takes root in whatever we touch.

Do not despise the ordinary blessings upon which life depends. Work for nshima. Dance for nshima if you must. Thank the Almighty for nshima. Bread, clothing, on shelter and life itself are not small things. They are blessings.

Yehudah Ben David
(Saviour Chishimba)
Jewish Scholar
Yeshiva (Jewish University Seminary) Graduate