When it is time to eat, sit at the table with dignity, for you are eating at the King’s table. Be careful to eat in a refined manner, not like those voracious and gluttonous people. Also, make sure to eat only what you need to sustain yourself, and do not over-fill your stomach, for doing so causes numerous negative repercussions: it wastes the food, it wastes your time, and, if you actually become ill because of it, you will also lose the time of the illness. Only eat when you feel hungry and do not eat any more once you are satiated; eat a little less than that. The Ra’avad writes that one who refrains from eating a type of food that he particularly enjoys as an atonement for his sins — it is considered as though he actually fasted and has placed an offering on the Altar. Such a person acts wisely, for by doing so he can eat and not feel hungry, and yet it is considered as though he fasted, simply by leaving aside just a small amount of what he enjoys. A person who eats for the sake of Heaven, therefore,] does not pursue what tastes good but is bad for the body; rather, he will go after what is good for the body, even though he does not enjoy its flavor that much.
