Treasury of Awe (Oatzar HaYeerah) — Volume I

In all things of the world — through the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge — the spirit of the human being [ ruach ha-adam ], which is the aspect of holy daas , became intermixed with the spirit of the animal [ ruach ha-behemah ], which is the aspect of the koach ha-medameh [the faculty of imagination] — from which all animalistic desires flow. And this is the essential rectification of holy eating: to merit thereby to refine the spirit of the human being from the spirit of the animal — to refine the good from the evil which is the aspect of the koach ha-medameh . And the essential refinement is through joy [ simchah ] — therefore one must eat in joy, as it is written: "Go, eat your bread in joy" [Koheles 9:7]. For the essential rectification and refinement of eating is through joy — through which the medameh is refined. And this is the aspect of the elevated holiness of the Shabbos and Yom Tov meal — for those are days of joy, and through this the eating is refined from the grip of the koach ha-medameh . And through refining the medameh one merits memory [ zikaron ] — which is the essential rectification of eating: that one should not fall into forgetfulness [ shichechah ], G-d forbid, through eating — as it is written: "Lest you eat and be satiated…and your heart be lifted up and you forget…and you shall remember Hashem your G-d" [Devarim 8:12–14,18]. For through holy eating, through this the medameh is refined and one merits memory. (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Treifos, Law 2, sections 1, 2)

Through the priestly gifts [ matanos kehunah ] that one gives from every animal to the Kohen — namely: the foreleg [ zro'a ], the jaw [ lechayayim ], and the stomach [ keivah ] — through this one connects and elevates the animal [ behemah ], which is the aspect of the medameh , from which all fallen loves flow — to the aspect of holy love, which is the aspect of the Kohen . (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Treifos, Law 2, section 10)

The eating of Israel is in place of a sacrifice [ korban ] — as our Rabbis of blessed memory have stated: "the table atones like the altar" [Chagigah 27a]. And just as with a sacrifice: if they merited, a lion [ aryeh ] descends to consume the sacrifice; and if not, a dog [ kalba ] descends to consume the sacrifice — and all of this depends essentially on the guarding of the bris [covenant of purity], as explained within — so too with eating: one must guard oneself from the eighteen categories of treifos [which numerically equal the value of chai — life (18)] , which are the aspect of the blemish of the bris . [For the rectification of the bris is the aspect of the Tzadik who is Chai Olamim — the Living One of all worlds — and the number eighteen corresponds to chai .] This is so that one should not be in the aspect of "a dog descends etc." — which is the aspect of: "you shall throw it to the dog" [ la-kelev tashlichun oso ] [Shemos 22:30] — which is stated regarding treifah . And when one guards oneself from the eighteen treifos — which is the aspect of guarding the bris — then the food rises in holiness and is included in the aspect of the Tzadik who is Chai Olamim . And then a lion descends to consume the sacrifice. (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Treifos, Law 3)

Through giving the priestly gifts from every animal to the Kohen in Eretz Yisrael — through this the eating is rectified to be in the aspect of the rectification of daas and the rectification of the bris , and in the aspect of the complete rectification of the altar [ mizbeach ]. (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Priestly Gifts, Law 1)

Through giving the priestly gifts to the Kohen — who is the aspect of the generality of son and student [ klaliyus ben v'talmid ] [representing the relationship of a child to his father and a student to his teacher — the essential channels of transmission of holiness] — through this one merits to receive at the time of eating the hearas ha-ratzon [illumination of the Will] — which is the essential rectification of eating. (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Ever Min ha-Chai, Law 2, section 6)

The chelev [forbidden fats] cover the kidneys [ kelyos ] — and the kidneys are the seat of counsel [ eitzos ]. Therefore the chelev is against holy counsel — for it seals the kidneys and prevents them from producing holy counsel. And as our Rabbis of blessed memory have expounded on the verse: "this is their way — kesel [folly/fat] is theirs" [ zeh darkam kesel lamo ] [Tehillim 49:14] [the word kesel means both folly and the fatty loin — the verse thus connects fat with foolishness through a single word, which is precisely the teaching here: chelev seals the kidneys and produces kesel — dense folly] . Therefore chelev is forbidden to eat — for through it the holy counsels are confused and confounded, and one falls into foolishness and the counsel of the wicked, which is the aspect of the counsel of the serpent — the aspect of the blemish of the bris . (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Chelev, Law 1, section 2)

There are two kinds of kelipos [husks]: the aspect of the kelipah of Lavan [ kelipas Lavan ] and the aspect of the kelipah of Esav [ kelipas Esav ]. From the kelipah of Lavan flow the sins committed inadvertently [ shgagos ] — which come about through forgetfulness and confusion of daas . And from the kelipah of Esav flow the deliberate transgressions [ zdonos ]. Although certainly a willful sin [ mezid ] is more severe and causes greater damage than an inadvertent one [ shogeig ] — nevertheless, it is easier to prevail against it and to refrain from it, since one knows it is a transgression. [Note: the Hebrew source text at this point contains the letters ר-ל-א, which appear to be a printing artifact or scribal corruption with no recoverable meaning; the sense of the sentence is preserved by context — "since one knows it is a transgression."] But from the kelipah of Lavan which causes a person to stumble through inadvertent sins — from this it is very difficult to be saved, for it confuses and befuddles the daas until one stumbles of one's own accord. Therefore this requires siyua d'lei'la [assistance from Above] in order to be saved from it. And through being fully careful about the prohibition of chelev — through this one is saved from the kelipah of Lavan. And through being fully careful about the prohibition of eating blood [ dam ] — through this one is saved from the kelipah of Esav. (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Chelev, Law 1, sections 5, 6)

The chelev [forbidden fat] is the aspect of pride [ ga'avah ] — and therefore it is forbidden to eat. For pride is forbidden to us — as it is only the garment of Hashem, blessed be He, to Whom alone true greatness and glory belong, as it is written: "Hashem reigns — He has garbed Himself in pride" [ Hashem malach ge'us lavesh ] [Tehillim 93:1]. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of chelev — which is forbidden to a commoner [ hedyot ] but rises to the Most High through the sacrifices — for one must elevate all pride and greatness solely to Hashem, blessed be He. (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Chelev, Law 2)

Through eating chelev [forbidden fat] — through this the pathways of the intellect [ shvilei ha-seichel ] are sealed, until one is unable to resolve even those questions that could in fact be answered. And through eating blood [ dam ] — through this those questions are strengthened against him that are drawn from the aspect of the chalal ha-panui [the primordial void — the space of apparent divine concealment within which questions about faith arise that cannot be resolved by intellect alone, as taught in Likutay Moharan 64] — which in truth cannot be answered by any response until the time to come. And this is the aspect of the prohibitions of chelev and blood — for through being careful about eating chelev , through this daas is rectified and the pathways of the intellect are opened, to be able to resolve those questions that can be resolved. And through being careful about eating blood — through this the evil bloods [ damim ra'im ] are subdued and speech is brought out of the aspect of the exile of Egypt [the exile of constricted speech and spiritual muteness] . One merits to rectify emunah [faith] in its wholeness — until one does not look at all at those questions that cannot be resolved by any response. (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Chelev, Law 4, sections 9, 10)

Through the wholeness of emunah [faith] one merits that one's eating should be in holiness. And likewise, the more one breaks one's desire for eating through fasting and the more one sanctifies one's eating — so too does one merit more greatly to the wholeness of emunah . (Likutay Halachos, Halachos of Chelev, Law 4, section 11)