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Hilchos Birchas HaPairos — Halachah 3 Part 1 (Introduction + §§ 1–6) COMPLETE · Based on LM I:37

Va-yeetain lu-hem artzoas goy-eem vaamal li-oomeem yeerushoo. Topic of Birchas HaPairos . Based on the Torah "Dirshu Hashem V'Uzo" ( Siman 37 ) — see the entire Torah there.

Summary of the Torah : Body and soul are the aspects of adam and behaima , light and darkness, wisdom and folly, zikaron [memory] and shich'chah [forgetfulness] — the wisdom of Torah versus external wisdoms which are folly compared to Torah wisdom. One must subdue the material — the aspect of death, the folly of the body of the four elements, as stated in the Zohar — through fasting, etc. The reward of fasting is tzedakah . There are two levels of tzedakah : tzedakah in chutz la'Aretz and tzedakah in Eretz Yisrael , which is greater. Similarly two levels of Torah — Torah from breath that has sin versus Torah from breath without sin: "the world endures only through the breath of schoolchildren," etc. Through avira d'Eretz Yisrael [the air of Eretz Yisrael ] and breath without sin, the Avos are revealed in the world to protect, din and darkness are pushed away, the material and folly are subdued, and the intellect — the nefesh , Torah, light, life, and chesed — are elevated. "One who fasts is called a chasid" — "one who benefits his soul is a man of chesed" — for he nullifies din and darkness and draws chasadim , which is gemilas chesed to his nefesh , i.e. to Torah.

The root of Torah is the kavod [honor] of Hashem: "for My honor I created it." Therefore through the honor given to the elder who forgot his learning, the nefesh and zikaron are elevated. "Be careful with the jugular veins" — the blood is the nefesh reincarnated for rectification; the shochait must intend to elevate the nefesh in the blood. The essential lack of parnassah comes only through unfit shochtim ; the fit shochait feeds Israel by elevating the souls to the Shechinah . "Be careful with the children of the amai ha'aretz , for from them Torah will go forth" — they are precious souls caught like birds in a snare; through honoring them, Torah is revealed from concealment — for the root of Torah is kavod .

§ 1 — Birchos HaNehenin Elevate the Nefesh Through Avira d'Eretz Yisrael This is the aspect of birchos hanehenin — it is forbidden to enjoy this world without a berachah . For it is known: through the berachah one recites on a fruit or the like, one elevates the reincarnated nefesh there. For in everything in the world there are reincarnated souls. Therefore the essential berachah is in the aspect of avira d'Eretz Yisrael — so that the food is included in avira d'Eretz Yisrael through the berachah . For "there Hashem commanded the blessing — life" — Eretz Yisrael is the source of all berachos . There all prayers, berachos , and thanks ascend. All birchos hanehenin are derived from Birchas HaMazon : "if he blesses afterward, certainly beforehand." The essence of Birchas HaMazon is in the aspect of Eretz Yisrael : "and you shall eat and be satisfied and bless Hashem your G-d for the good land." All birchos hanehenin are to elevate the nefesh in what one eats. Therefore all birchos hanehenin must be in the aspect of avira d'Eretz Yisrael — "and you shall eat and be satisfied and bless... for the good land" — from which we derive all berachos . To elevate the nefesh through avira d'Eretz Yisrael , which is the breath of schoolchildren without sin. When one blesses on something, "the power of His works" is revealed — one reveals through the berachah that Hashem created the entire world. The essential holiness of Eretz Yisrael is through "the power of His works" — through revealing that Hashem created everything, as Rashi explains on "Beraishis," as Rabbainu writes in many places. It emerges: through the berachah — revealing that Hashem created this thing — that thing is included in the holy air, avira d'Eretz Yisrael , whose essential holiness comes only through "the power of His works." Wherever Israel are, revealing and publicizing holiness — revealing that Hashem created everything — Eretz Yisrael holiness is drawn there, the aspect of mikdash me'at . Through the berachah , the thing is included in avira d'Eretz Yisrael , and through this the nefesh reincarnated there is elevated. For the essential elevation of the nefesh is through avira d'Eretz Yisrael . This is why our Sages cautioned to treat foods with honor — not to disgrace them, as stated in Shulchan Aruch . One must treat foods with honor so the nefesh there is elevated through kavod , which is the root of everything, as explained in the aforementioned ma'amar . It emerges: the essential berachah on everything is in the aspect of avira d'Eretz Yisrael — the breath of schoolchildren. This is why the order of berachos is taught to children at the beginning of their studies — the essential berachah is through the breath of schoolchildren without sin, the aspect of avira d'Eretz Yisrael . There is the source of blessing: "He will bless the youths." Through this the Avos are revealed to protect, din and darkness are pushed away, the material and forgetfulness are subdued, and chesed , wisdom, life, and zikaron are drawn. § 2 — Keeping Berachos Makes One a Chasid ; Nezikin and the Nefesh This is: "whoever wants to be a chasid should fulfill the matters of Berachos." Through the berachah one elevates the nefesh and chesed is drawn — "one who benefits his nefesh is a man of chesed." Through berachos , one is a chasid . "And some say: the matters of Avos" — the essential berachos are in the aspect of avira d'Eretz Yisrael , through which the Avos are revealed: "and I will remember My covenant with Yaakov... and the land I will remember." "And some say: the matters of Nezikin" — all laws of damages involve removing harm from another. Through this, din , the aspect of damage, is pushed away. For money is the root of the nefesh , as Rabbainu writes elsewhere ( Siman 59 ). The ma'amar also hints at this: through tzedakah one elevates the nefesh — for a poor man is considered as dead, lacking money to sustain his nefesh , since holy money is the root of the nefesh . When one gives tzedakah to the poor, one revives and establishes his nefesh : "whoever sustains one soul of Israel..." Through the money given to the poor, the nefesh and intellect are elevated: "fortunate is the one who is wise toward the poor" — "there is no poor but in da'as" — for it is all one. Since he lacks money, which is the nefesh and intellect, he is also poor in da'as : "the wisdom of the poor is despised." Through giving him money, the nefesh and intellect are elevated — and the giver's nefesh is elevated too: "whoever has compassion on creatures, they have compassion on him." This itself is the aspect of the laws of nezikin : the Torah warns not to rob or damage another — so as not to blemish the nefesh which is the aspect of money. If one robbed or damaged, one must return and pay — to complete the nefesh through restitution. Nezikin = elevation of the nefesh = tzedakah . Therefore through this one is called a chasid . Monetary cases require three judges — the three Avos : "there is no 'many' fewer than three, which are the Avos" (Tikkunim). Through proper monetary judgments, din is pushed away and the nefesh whose root is in money is elevated — the Avos are revealed. The judges' essential wisdom comes from avira d'Eretz Yisrael which gives wisdom: "it is forbidden to judge except by those with semichah, and semichah is only in Eretz Yisrael" — we function as emissaries of the earlier ones ( Choshen Mishpat ). When there is judgment below, there is no judgment above — din is pushed away, chesed is drawn — all through avira d'Eretz Yisrael . § 3 — Precedence in Berachos : Kavod Reveals the Nefesh This is the aspect of the laws of precedence in berachos . The essential elevation of the nefesh is through kavod , the root of everything — through which the nefesh desires to be included in its root. Therefore one must know which fruit to bless first — one must give honor to the fruit that has a greater nefesh , and therefore must be given more honor by blessing it first. Through kavod , the nefesh is revealed from concealment — "be careful with the children of amai ha'aretz, for from them Torah goes forth." Therefore one must treat foods with honor. This is the aspect of a royal table — "the King of kavod" — the essential kavod is at eating. This is why specific berachos have more importance and precedence than general ones — e.g. "borai pri ha'aitz" and "borai pri ha'adamah" precede "shehakol." At first glance this is puzzling — a general berachah should be more important since one praises Hashem for creating everything: "that everything came into being through His word." But the advantage of a specific berachah in precedence is: when one blesses a specific fruit with its own berachah , it has a greater share of kavod — one mentions Hashem's praise for this fruit alone, singling it out. This is because the souls there are more honored. Therefore one must honor them more and give them precedence — the essential elevation of the nefesh is through kavod . The essential importance for precedence is the fruits of Eretz Yisrael — whichever is earlier in the verse takes precedence, as our Sages said. For the essential berachah is in the aspect of Eretz Yisrael . Our Sages said: "the entire verse was said for measures." The greatness of the Seven Species with which Eretz Yisrael is praised is that these fruits have very lofty souls — the essential importance of fruits. The nefesh is Torah. Therefore the fruits of Eretz Yisrael — the Seven Species — are used to measure all the measures of Torah, indicating the lofty souls within them. Therefore they have precedence — one must honor them more because they contain more Torah and nefesh than other fruits. § 4 — Kazayis : Olive = Body and Soul, Forgetfulness and Memory This is why all Torah measures are in a kazayis [olive-size], and all eating measures are in a kazayis , and Birchas HaMazon and the final berachah require a kazayis . For the olive with its oil indicates the aspect of body and soul, forgetfulness and memory. Olives cause forgetfulness, but the oil that comes from olives is the opposite — oil aids memory, as is brought. So olive and oil are the aspects of forgetfulness and memory — body and soul. The nefesh , the aspect of memory, is Torah and da'as . Therefore all Torah measures are in a kazayis — Torah, the nefesh and memory, is in the aspect of the olive's oil. Just as oil cannot be revealed from the olive except through crushing — so too the Torah and nefesh and zikaron can only be revealed through crushing and beating the body, breaking the material's folly and subduing forgetfulness. Then the light of the nefesh , Torah, and zikaron is revealed from within the body and forgetfulness. As our Sages said: "Torah endures only in one who kills himself over it." This is "pure olive oil, crushed for illumination" — the Zohar: "wood that does not catch fire is beaten; a body in which the soul's light does not rise..." The olive with its oil = body and soul. Therefore all Torah measures are in a kazayis — all Torah mitzvos are specifically through body and soul. When the nefesh is clothed in the body, then the essential Torah fulfillment — the essential revelation of Torah and nefesh is from within the body, in the aspect of "the advantage of light from darkness." § 5 — Eating a Kazayis Requires a Final Berachah : Zikaron Therefore the measure of eating is a kazayis , and then one must recite a final berachah . The essential eating is for the nefesh — "a tzadik eats to satisfy his soul" — so the nefesh shines more through incorporating the souls within the food eaten in holiness and purity with proper berachah and kavanah . Therefore the eating measure is a kazayis — the aspect of Torah, body and soul, forgetfulness and memory — for the essential eating is to elevate and illuminate the nefesh from within the body. This is why the Torah warns especially about zikaron at the time of eating: "lest you eat and be satisfied... and your heart grow haughty and you forget... and you shall remember Hashem your G-d, for He gives you strength." At eating, one must be especially careful not to blemish the zikaron — the nefesh , Torah — not to follow the desiring body. Rather the opposite: subdue and nullify the body during eating — break the body's desires — eating in holiness in the aspect of "a tzadik eats to satisfy his soul" — so that through eating, the nefesh , zikaron , and Torah are elevated more. § 6 — First Berachah Has No Measure; Final Berachah Requires Kazayis Therefore the final berachah requires a measure — a kazayis — but the first berachah has no minimum measure. For zikaron and shich'chah only apply when one already has some da'as — then one must guard the zikaron not to forget the da'as attained. This is the essential completeness of da'as — from within the body, "the advantage of light from darkness." For da'as at its root has no measure — Torah is His unity, which is Ein Sof . But Hashem in His mercy contracted the Torah's light into letters and measures so we could receive it while clothed in the body. Through the Torah/ da'as / nefesh being clothed in the body — the aspect of measures — there comes zikaron and shich'chah . The Sitra Achra grips essentially through contraction and measure — the body. But this is the essential completeness: attaining da'as / nefesh / zikaron from within the body and forgetfulness. This is the first and final berachah . The first has no measure — before eating, the nefesh / da'as has not yet been revealed at all; one must bless to begin revealing the da'as . This has no measure — the initial revelation of da'as is beyond measure. But the final berachah is to guard the da'as and nefesh received and illuminated through eating — that one not come to shich'chah but remain in zikaron . Therefore the final berachah requires a measure — as long as there is no measure, one has not yet come to shich'chah and zikaron . Zikaron only applies when one has da'as received in measure. Then one must guard the zikaron — the essential completeness of da'as . The measure is a kazayis — memory emerging from forgetfulness. Therefore the eating measure is a kazayis . The essential eating — satisfaction — comes from the nefesh clothed within, the chiyus of the food. Before a kazayis , it is not called eating at all. The essential nefesh is only when in the aspect of olive-oil — da'as / nefesh drawn into measure, arriving at zikaron and shich'chah — the essential completeness of the nefesh and da'as . Then when eating a kazayis , the clothed nefesh has the power to satisfy the person — when one eats in holiness, elevating the nefesh and zikaron , subduing the body and shich'chah . ✦ End of Part 1 (Intro + §§ 1–6) · Continues in Part 2 (§§ 7–13) ✦ Na Nach Nachma Nachman May'Uman Core teaching (LM I:37): Body/soul = behaima/adam = forgetfulness/memory = folly/Torah. Subdue the body through fasting → chesed → nefesh elevated through avira d'Eretz Yisrael and breath of schoolchildren. §§1-2: Birchos hanehenin elevate reincarnated nefashos. Essential berachah = avira d'Eretz Yisrael. Money = root of nefesh → nezikin and tzedakah both elevate the nefesh. §§3-4: Precedence in berachos through kavod. Seven Species of Eretz Yisrael = highest souls. Kazayis (olive) = body and soul; oil = memory from within forgetfulness. §§5-6: Eating a kazayis requires final berachah to guard zikaron. First berachah has no minimum — initial revelation of da'as is beyond measure. §§7-8: Shabbos kiddush over wine = zikaron from shich'chah. Purim intoxication = subduing Amalek/shich'chah through wine in holiness. §§9-10: Three berachos of BhM = three Avos. Five remembrances = five levels of nefesh. Lashon hara blemishes zikaron (opposite of kavod). §§11-13: Four fasts = four elements/exiles. Hold fruit in right hand = chesed. Wine libations with trumpets = elevating from behaima to adam, shich'chah to zikaron.