I Love Hot Dogs

Rabbi, i find this most interesting, challenged my 4 daughters on this very Idea in the 60's and 70's. They were taught to love God, parents, relatives, friends and G-d's Word & Creation, not things like Pizza, Cheeseburgers, Circus' Disneyland & etc. I was always struck by the same thoughts then and now that you expressed in this article. Thanks for telling the world! Shalom.

Webster's has many definitions for the word love, a major word in the English language. C.S. Lewis, the famous Christian author, wrote a book called The 4 Loves, which he saw as being affection, friendship, eros, and charity. We have a dear young friend from Russia who, when you give her a little gift or something nice to taste, says, "Oh, I love it!" with her darling little accent and personality--we "love" it so much when she does that, that we've "lovingly" made her way of sayng it part of our lexicon. "Love" can be used to signify enjoyment as well as the holier brand. Let's not be picayune.

I agree love is misused a lot easily by others. And even more so with less mature mouths. And, to be fair you did mention you didn't have a problem with the kids. But, in context, it might have just been ignorance of their use of the word or lack of words to express an enthusiasm and appreciation of something they enjoy.

It is something that has bothered me for years. I just wish that I, myself, could remember to not use my words that way either.

Thank you Rabbi Salomon for pointing this out. I do think that being more aware of language is a long lost art and appreciate your reminder. I believe a lot of people (adults and children) do not actually mean they LOVE their food ... the way they love their spouses, children, parents, etc. I just think it is used for "lack of a better way to express ourselves!" It is easy and we are so used to it! Improving our language skills is a worthy cause to pursue! Enhancing, uplifting our communications with each other... giving more dignity and meaning to our words and therefore our lives.. Thank you again!

Let's hope most are just using the word inappropriately and they do indeed get greater more meaningful pleasure from the people in their lives whom they love than the tasty dogs. Personally, if it's between my mother in law and a hot dog it's no contest. I'm signing this anonymous as I think wiser to be the chicken than the hot dog.

Much to do about nothing--I love grilled hot dogs!

Puleeeze!!! why so serious? Kids."love this song" "love this movie" "love this ice cream"..and yes...love their mother and father. The depth and use of the word "love" is experienced inside the soul, not just speech. C'mon don't be so serious about happy people.

Rabbi, I understand what you are saying but, my mother craved hot dogs and root beer pop when she was pregnant with me and now I can NEVER get enough of either ! I LOVE HOT DOGS !!! I blame my mother for this one.

We must teach our children the proper use of language. I remember when I was little getting into a fight with a child in my class and coming home and crying to my grandfather screaming "I hate X". My grandfather took one look at me and said "We do not hate any Jews." I know that you're discussing the opposite end of the spectrum, but it just made me think about my Grandpa Z"L May we all be blessed to learn this lesson.

I think that one who has experienced the pleasure of loving would realize that the sensory pleasure one experiences from smelling, tasting, chewing and swallowing a perfectly prepared beef product is much more limited. As a fifth class pleasure[ google aish 5 levels of pleasure] it can only satisfy the body. This tasty physical pleasure is a result of taking [most obviously from the animal]whereby the spiritual pleasure of loving is a result of giving which is probably why "loving hot dogs" was so jarring to your ears. In addition even if loving food was an appropriate place to channel love I agree with you that the person claiming to love hot dogs is demonstrating that he loves himself. If someone actually loved beef/chicken etc he'd work towards giving animals the conditions to live their natural lifespans in comfortable conditions and he'd be a vegetarian.

Many words have lost their meaning today. It is sad because it reflects the loss in the meaning of life. The word "trust" had a totally different meaning 20 years ago than it means today. Way beyond "love" is the ridiculous use of the expression, "to die for". Those pancakes were to die for". Even some of the comments to the rabbi's thoughts show that "shame" is no longer a personal motivator.

Semantics. I agree; we should probably spend more time considering what our words mean before allowing them to escape from our mouths, but a child's response to "Who wants a hotdog" is unlikely to be a well-thought-out "I would indeed enjoy the aesthetic sensations of a nitrite loaded tube of roasted carnage, Abba." Semantics and exuberance! A child's joyous, carefree, summertime "I love hotdogs" is nothing less than a blessing! Less semantics, more intact families and happy, memory-making occassions together.

I agree with you, Rabbi Salomon. This is an important issue, and the speech patterns of much of American society today make this an easy habit to get into and a hard habit to break. We need to be more aware of our words though, we need to put more thought and meaning into our words. You can just as easily and more correctly say, "I ENJOY hot dogs," and it more clearly states one's point. The word "love" should be reserved for other parts of life, as you mentioned, like for people or attributes of Hashem and His Torah. Good point Rabbi, thank you. In general, we need to be more careful with our words. It is a true gift to be able to communicate and we should not cheapen it. We need to try to be more educated in ways of speech and how to related our thoughts.

Rabbi says misapplication of the word "love" is common in today's society. Well, yes. But is this different from yesterday's society or the day before? I don't have the evidence (and I don't think the rabbi does either) but I doubt it. So what is the point? Not that society has deteriorated but that it isn't what the rabbi would like it to be. Oh, well. Life is tough all over.

Sadly, I could NEVER tell my mom that I loved her. Why because of the same reason R.Salomon fears: People have cheapened the word to the extent that I didn't want to give my mom the same verb we use, say, on a hot dog. (same example intended) After 56 years, I finally told my mom that I loved her and I also explained to her why I couldn't say it. In doing so in a long letter, I also expressed my awareness of all the years that she sacrificed for her children, the pains that I might have cause her, the thanks for her deeds of love, and on, and on, and on, and on. Maybe I am psychotic, but I felt that I had to explain to her how I felt that people had cheapened the word and that's why I didn't want to use it.

Rabbi Salomon is right on. Our society today cheapens concepts such as the act of love. In fact there is rampant low level idolatry where millions of people put money, wealth, fame, acquisition well before true love of G-d, family, friends and others. I know it is only childhood enthusiasm and innocence which prompts them to use "love" out of it's proper context. This is not their fault and Rabbi rightly points out that it is our responsibility as parents to instill a true sense of love and devotion to that which really matters. These are the true gifts given to us by G-d, our fellow human beings, our kinsmen and our people, all creations of the Divine.

I believe there are different kinds of love, we just don't have a word for each one. If I say I love my children then it's not the same love as when I say I love Israeli yoghurt. I think there are a lot of worse things to worry about. In French the verb to love is the same as the verb to like : aimer. It's meaning changes with context, I think to love is equally depending on context.

Words have multiple meanings. Quite obviously, the emotional love of a spouse or family cannot be equated with the strong aesthetic attraction of a food, idea, or endeavor. One of the dictionary definitions of love is "a strong liking for or interest in something." The example given is a love of music. I really don't think most people are going to confuse love of a family member to the intense liking of hot dogs. The word used is the same, but the denotation and connotation are both quite different. However, if I ever met you Rabbi, I will try to remember to say that I really, really like mango tea. A whole lot!

Love is not a static word. It means many things depending on how it is used. " Oh i would love to join you for coffee" "Be a love and pick up your toys" " I Love YOu" said directly to a spouse. Even that has qualitative meanings depending on circumstances. The word love simply means I enjoy eating hotdogs in the example - not passion. I am an artist, I love art but that is quite different than the love for my wife. So NU ( an example of multiples of meaning)

I don't know about my intentions, Rabbi Salomon, but when the peach season comes to town.... I am first in line. I have been thinking about those fresh ripe peaches for several months. I think I really do love the taste of them. They give me a good feeling. ----------- Spring mix of fresh salad fixings. Complete with sweetened Italian oil and vinegar dressing. I think I really love that taste too. I could eat fresh peaches and fresh salad everyday of my life. I think about these when I am hungry, and I think VERY fondly about them mind you. I don't love pizza or roast beef, or soup or casseroles, or many other foods. I like them, and will search them out to make for dinner. But I don't think about them the way I think about peaches and spring greens. What does that say about me?

I think that u are picking on something not imp and by saying the kid loves hot dogs the kid is saying that he is thankful for food . nutriton says u should like what u eat or u eat more. if the kid is frum the kid was saying he was saying he is appreciative to g-d for giving him hot dogs. i think u can have th at type of appreciation and hot dogs i do not think that they are separate . i think if the kid had said he hated eating hot dogs he would have transgressed the mitzvah of not eating too much and rambans lessons of nutrition . also not everyone has an easy time of finding a shidduch so he should not say that about a spouse because there are many single. WHAT iS THE BIG Deal as long as the kid benches afterwards or if the kid is not religious why is that imp as long as the kid is appreciative to G_D ? STOP making a pt like that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! many people that same schmooze and i think that is overdoing it i think that statemetns like that show peoples love of food or peopel would never eat because they would not want to food has to taste good .

right on

Since I am a native Chicagoan, Romanian kosher hot dogs are quite delicious, though its been years since I have enjoyed one. I don't think that saying you love a food is all that bad, but there are other proper ways of saying how you enjoy eating a certain food which you find very delicious and even scrumptious, too.

I definitely agree with this..i recently discovered this phenomenon in the past year or two how everyone uses words so inappropriately. While "LOVING" a hot dog, or calling a swimming pool "HEAVEN", is not the right way to speak or feel it is not really the major part of the issue, it is the fact that, as the Rabbi said, when we really do feel the emotion of love etc the word is so cheapened already- the emotion in a sense is not able to be properly felt or expressed. I am a big believer in the power of speech and words...it changes the way we think and act- after practicing not saying love easily or words like this for a while now, i find myself thinking much more before i speak. This in turn alters attitude and puts things like a barb-q and other simple pleasures in perspective. The same could be said for the words hate, despise, obsessed etc.

I think there's nothing wrong with saying you love the foods you eat (it is one of G-d creations!). Maybe the Rabbi would feel differently if it were Chicago's Romanian kosher hot dogs. Definitely extraordinary and something to love!

I agree with the idea of recognizing love as something precious -- an expression between people, for example. Also, emphasizing emotions about a particular food can deter a person from giving up the food when the person finds out the food is harmful.

child the God made all these nice foods(hot dogs etc.) that you like. Thank Him with a blessing properly said clear and with apprecation and Love Him.

This video blog made me bristle. People feel good about expressing how good the food is that makes all their senses go crazy. It's not a sign of where our society is going or has gone. I will always say " I love" when referring to a fav food or meal. I don't need another reason to feel guilty about something I do or say which is quite innocuous.