Musar for Chagigah 53:2
פתח במזבח וסיים בשלחן רבי יוחנן וריש לקיש דאמרי תרוייהו בזמן שבית המקדש קיים מזבח מכפר על אדם עכשיו שלחנו של אדם מכפר עליו:
He opened with the altar and closed with the table. Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish both said: At the time that the Temple stood the altar atoned for a man, now his table atones for him.
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
The objective of those prayers is to ask G–d that one may be influenced by the "Heavenly Table." Chagigah 27a teaches us that as long as the Temple was standing the altar, i.e. the sacrifices offered on the altar, were the instruments of atonement for the Jewish people. Nowadays, when we do not have a Temple and an altar, it is our table which has to serve as the instrument for our atonement. The author of Emek Ha-Berachah also states that a heavenly sanctity rests on foods which are pure and permitted.
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