Parashat Ha’azinu

Chapter 32;v.15

 וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט שָׁמַנְתָּ עָבִיתָ כָּשִׂיתָ וַיִּטּשׁ אֱלוֹהַּ עָשָׂהוּ וַיְנַבֵּל צוּר יְשֻֽׁעָתֽוֹ

But Jeshurun became fat, and kicked; you have become fat, you have become thick, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

It is in this context that we can understand the saying of the sages: “Before one has eaten and drunk, he has two hearts. After he has eaten and drunk, he has but one.” (Rabbi Mordechai Benet).

While he himself is hungry, he feels not only the pain of his own heart but also that of the hungry poor man – he has “two hearts”. But after he is sated, he has only one heart, since he no longer feels the pain of the less fortunate.

אמרו חז”ל: קודם שלא אכל אדם ושתה, יש לו שני לבבות; לאחר שאוכל ושותה, אין לו אלא לב אחד (ב”ב יב). בשעה שאדם בעצמו הוא רעב הוא מכיר לא רק כאב של לבבו אלא גם כן מרת הלב של הזולת, העני, שאין לו מה לאכל. לאחר שאכל ושתה והוא שובע, “אין לו אלא לב אחד” – אינו מכיר במרת הלב של האחר.