Daily Chizuk #1367

The mishna in Pirkeh Avot says, in the name of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, that if three people sit down and eat at a table and nobody says a word of Torah, it's considered as if they ate from food that was used in the service of an idol. This is an astonishing statement. This means even if the people ate without speaking one word of lashon hara and no other forbidden speech, even if they just sat there quietly the entire meal, it's considered as if they ate the worst kind of tumah, impurity. What could be worse than idol worship? But the mishna continues, If they do speak words of Torah, then it's considered as if they ate at the table of Hashem Himself, the holiest form of eating possible. This means that to transform a meal from avoda zara to sitting with Hashem, what does it take? Someone to say one word of Torah.
The mishnah says, every mitzvah we do creates a heavenly advocate for ourselves. If a person says a beracha properly on his food, he creates an angel. If he had spiritual eyes, he would see the angel appear right in front of him and then fly up to shamayim to be an advocate for him now and after 120.