כלי יקר — ולא ידע אתו מאומה כי אם הלחם אשר הוא אוכל

Q — Why does the Torah call Potifar's wife 'הלחם אשר הוא אוכל' — the food he eats — and what does this metaphor expose about desire?

A — Kli Yakar (following Rashi) reads 'לחם' as a euphemism for the wife, but draws out the moral logic: just as bread satisfies the body more than any other food, *permitted* intimacy satisfies desire. Forbidden intimacy never does — 'אבר קטן משביעו רעב' (Sukkah 52b) — and Chazal's statement that 'כל הבא על אשה זונה לסוף מבקש ככר לחם' (Sotah 4b) is מדה כנגד מדה: a man who abandons his wife (who is *called bread*) for a stranger (who is *not* his bread) will literally lack bread. The euphemism exposes both Potifar's level of trust and the deeper economics of desire.