סימני עוף טהור א'

And this is the aspect of the signs of purity [simanei taharah] — which are: chewing the cud [ma'aleh geirah] and having split hooves [mafris parsah]. For as is known: the species of kosher animals and wild beasts [beheimos v'chayyos tehorim] are from the aspect of Nogah [the luminous shell]. And the impure species are from the aspect of cloud and storm [anan, se'arah] and so on — from the entirely impure klipos [husks]. This is the aspect of the language of translation [leshon targum], which is the aspect of Nogah — the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil [Etz ha-Da'as Tov v'Ra] — from which the pure species come. And the impure species are from the aspect of the languages of the nations [leshonos ha-amim], which are the all-encompassing evil [ra ha-kolel] — which are the aspect of the klipos cited above, in which there is no good whatsoever. And therefore the signs of purity are: chewing the cud and having split hooves. For it has already been explained that the souls and vitality within the animals and other living species are souls that fell from the level of speech [medaber] to the level of the living creature [chai] — and they are there of the aspect of oppressed souls [nefashos ha-ashukos]. For they are oppressed and robbed there — for speech was taken from them in their falling to that place. And the way of the holy soul is always to rise upward — for it desires and draws itself always toward its root. And this is the aspect of chewing the cud in the kosher animal — that the souls of the thing that is eaten, which have now come and fallen into the aspect of the living creature, cannot bear to remain there. And they raise and lift themselves upward to the mouth and throat — for there is the place of speech, which is the place of the soul. Of the aspect of: "My soul went out at his speaking" [Song of Songs 5:6]. For the souls in all living and speaking species come from the things that are eaten. For eating is the essential vitality and sustaining of the body — from which the body receives its vitality — the aspect of the soul [nefesh]. And from this very eating, speech is made. For speech is the aspect of the soul, which is the blood. For speech is made from the bloods, which are souls — as Rabbainu, may his light shine, explained. And when one eats something, the souls within the thing eaten go forth and are transformed into the substance of the soul of the one who eats. For from the foods, bloods are made — which are the soul of the one who eats. And those souls rise up and from them speech is made, as above. And this is the aspect of: "And you shall eat, eat and be satisfied, and praise [Hashem]…" [Joel 2:26] — for speech is made from eating. And therefore when the soul within the food comes into the living creature, it cannot rest and be still there — for its way is always to rise upward, so that speech should be made from it. And this is the aspect of chewing the cud, as above — that the food cannot be digested there at once, for it raises itself upward to the place of speech, as above. And all of this is in the pure species — which are the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, as above. For the souls are not immediately caught and trapped there — and they have the strength to lift themselves upward as is their nature, as above. For because there is good there, they are therefore not so fully trapped there — and therefore they have the strength to lift themselves upward to the place of speech, as is their nature, as above. And therefore they have the permission [hetter] of shechitah [ritual slaughter] — which is the aspect of the perfection of the Holy Tongue [leshon ha-kodesh], as above — through which one subdues the evil within the Tree of Knowledge — in the aspect of targum — that is, through which the evil within the kosher animals is subdued, as above. And then all the souls within the living creature are rectified and elevated through the shechitah at the throat — for there is the place of the ascent of souls and of speech, as above. But the impure species — whose sustenance is from the languages of the nations [leshonos ha-akum], which are the very opposite of holy speech entirely and in which there is no good whatsoever — therefore the souls that come there are immediately and instantly caught and trapped there and they are unable to rise and lift themselves and ascend. Of the aspect of: "Hashem has delivered me into the hands of those from whom I am unable to rise" [Lamentations 1:14]. And therefore they do not chew the cud, as above. And therefore this is a sign of impurity in an animal or wild beast. But the human being is the reverse [l'heifech]. For the human being also does not chew the cud. For the human being is of the aspect of the perfection of the Holy Tongue — which is the aspect of the level of the human being [geder adam], as above — and he has a holy soul. And therefore, on the contrary: when the souls within the thing eaten come into his body, they rest and are still there. And then the food is properly divided and each and every part goes to its proper place. But in animals — which are of the aspect of the mixture of knowledge [eiruv ha-da'as] — the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge, as above — which is actually the aspect of confused knowledge [irbub ha-da'as mamash] — for it is mixed of good and evil — therefore the souls are restless and roaming there and cannot rest in their place, and they lift themselves upward, as above. This is the aspect of chewing the cud, as above. Like a human being when he is drunk — for his mind is confused — in that case he is also of the aspect of chewing the cud. For the food returns upward in a drunk person always — until sometimes he vomits it out entirely. For because of the confused mind of the drunk person, the food cannot be properly divided and rest in its place, as above. Therefore it is as if always chewing the cud, as above. For the drunk person is of the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil — which is the aspect of confused knowledge, as above. As our Sages of blessed memory said: "She squeezed grapes and gave it to him" [explaining that the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was a grape]. And therefore speech is damaged in him — for he lacks the perfection of speech of the aspect of the human being, which is the aspect of the Holy Tongue. For the essential complete speech there is the aspect of the Holy Tongue. But the languages of the nations are not speech at all! For the speech of the languages of the nations is the aspect of "speech that is not heard" — mentioned at the beginning of the Torah-teaching "Ha'i man d'azeil l'minsar" ["One who goes to marry"] (Siman 29) — which is not called speech at all. For "speech that is not heard," mentioned there, is speech in which there is no good — which lacks the aspect of the rectification of the bris. (As is explained for the attentive reader there.) This is the aspect of the speech of the languages of the seventy nations — which is the aspect of the blemish of the bris. And therefore it is not called speech at all — of the aspect of: "They have a mouth, but they do not speak" [Psalms 115:5]. And: "Those who make them will become like them" [Psalms 115:8]. For all the nations who worship idols are like the idols themselves — for they too have a mouth but do not speak, as above. And the verse concludes the opposite with regard to Israel — whose speech is what is truly called "speech." For it is the aspect of speech that is heard — which is made through the praise of Hashem Yisborach — as is explained there in the aspect of: "Those who do His word, to hear it…Bless Hashem" — see there. And this is why the verse concludes: "House of Israel, bless Hashem" and so on. For through this, speech is truly called speech, as above. (And as is explained there — see there.) It emerges: that complete speech is the aspect of the speech of the perfection of the Holy Tongue — the aspect of the rectification of the bris, as above. And the speech of the seventy nations — which is entirely evil — is not speech at all! And therefore damaged and stammering speech is the aspect of the speech of the language of targum [Aramaic translation] — which is mixed of good and evil, as above. The aspect of: "The tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly" [Isaiah 32:4]. For this language will be clarified and purified to speak purely — to return to the aspect of the perfection of the Holy Tongue — through subduing the evil within it and elevating the good to the perfection of the Holy Tongue. (As is explained in the words of Rabbainu there.) And therefore through drunkenness from wine — which is the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, as above — speech is damaged and becomes stammering in him. Which is the aspect of targum — the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge, as above. And therefore in animals, where the animal-spirit prevails — the aspect of the blemish of the bris, as above — which is the aspect of drunkenness — which is the blemish of wine that comes through the blemish of the bris (as cited in the Torah-teaching Ha'i man, cited above) — only that there is also good within them, as above — therefore they chew the cud, as above. And this is the aspect of having split hooves [mafris parsah]. For the essential standing of a human being is upon his legs — for they support the body. And the essential standing of the legs of a human being is through knowledge [da'as]. And therefore when the human being is in his fullness — that is, in the fullness of knowledge, and in shemiras ha-bris — then there is the standing of the legs. For their very standing depends on the holiness of the human being — the aspect of shemiras ha-bris, the fullness of knowledge, as is known. And therefore when knowledge is confused [da'as me'urbav], it is impossible to stand on one's legs. And then he falls, G-d forbid — of the aspect of "epilepsy" [choli nofel], G-d have mercy — which comes through the confusion of knowledge, as cited there (Siman 29). And therefore when a person is drunk — which is the confusion of knowledge, as above — he is unable to rise to his feet, as above. For within the legs is clothed the aspect of the vitality — the aspect of the minds [mochin] — of the aspect of: "na'utz sofo b'tichilaso" [the end is embedded in the beginning], and so on. And therefore the legs are of the aspect of speech — as Rabbainu explained (in Likutay Moharan II, Siman 81). Of the aspect of: "Speak righteousness" — the aspect of: "Righteousness called him to his foot" [Isaiah 41:2] — see there. For speech depends on knowledge, as above. And in animals and wild beasts — which have no speech and no knowledge — they are of the aspect of the descent and fall of the vitality of the aspect of speech within the legs. And therefore they do not have the power to stand and support the body on their legs alone — and they must walk on all fours. For they do not have the strength of human legs. And it is specifically in the legs that the great difference and distinction between the human being and the animal is most apparent. For this one walks upright on legs alone — and the animal does not have this power to walk on legs alone, as above. And all of this is because it has no speech and no knowledge — which is the distinction between the level of the human being and the level of the animal. From this comes the great difference in the form of their shape, which is most apparent in the standing of their legs, as above. And therefore the distinction between pure and impure is also apparent in the legs — for there is clothed the aspect of the flow of vitality of the aspect of speech and knowledge. And therefore in pure animals — in which the oppressed soul that fell from the level of speech to the level of the living creature is not so fully trapped and caught there, as above — the vitality therefore bursts forth and goes out through the legs — for there is clothed the aspect of the soul, as above. And this is the sign of split hooves [mafris parsah] — that the legs are split through this bursting forth, as above. But in impure animals they are very fully trapped there, as above — to the point that they cannot burst forth and go out at all. And therefore their hooves are closed [kalutas], as above. And therefore in the korbanos [Temple offerings] — when they would bring up the limbs [eimurim] to the altar to sacrifice them — through which they rectified them and elevated them to their root, from the level of the living creature back to the level of speech — therefore they would bring up the head and the leg together. And they would cover with the leg the place of the slaughter (as is stated in the Mishnah there). For there is clothed the aspect of the soul — the aspect of speech — that descended there, as above. And now, in the korbanos, it is elevated and rectified. And therefore they were sacrificed together. And therefore one who is on an exceedingly, exceedingly high level — wine drinking does not harm him, and on the contrary he can accomplish through it great things and attain great attainments — as is explained there. For one who has already completely subdued the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and completely clarified the good from the evil without any remainder whatsoever — he is able to drink. For the evil of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil — which is the aspect of drunkenness, as above — has no hold in him at all. And then, on the contrary, he clarifies the good and accomplishes through it very great things, as above. And this is the aspect of the drunkenness that is permitted on Purim specifically — only on Purim is drunkenness permitted. For then is the essential subduing of the klipah [husk] of the Tree of Knowledge cited above. For then is the downfall of Haman, whose hold is there — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Haman from the Torah, from where? As it is said: 'Is it [ha-min] from the tree?'" And therefore then it is obligatory to get drunk — for since at that time the evil of the Tree of Knowledge cited above has no power — for at that time, on Purim, it is subdued — therefore there is a great obligation to get drunk. For through the drunkenness, the good is clarified and the evil completely sweetened. For one who is on the high level cited above — such that he can drink as above — he lifts his minds [mochin] through the wine until he thereby enters into the innermost chamber [lifnai v'lifnim], where all is entirely good, as above. And this is the aspect of: one is obligated on Purim to become drunk until he does not know the difference between "cursed is Haman" and "blessed is Mordechai." For specifically through the above-mentioned drunkenness on Purim, as above, one reaches the aspect of "does not know" — which is entirely good, as above. But not every person can bring himself into this — and not at every time is it permitted to get drunk from wine, G-d forbid. Even one who is on a high level. For many great ones who were on a very high level stumbled in this — as cited in the holy Zohar. For this requires one to be of an exceedingly outstanding level. And this is the aspect of the wine libations [niskei ha-yayin] that were poured upon the korbanos. For since the animal-spirit was then subdued through the korbanos, as above — therefore specifically intoxicating wine [shechar, yayin ha-meshakayr] was poured as a libation. For then the aspect of intoxicating wine was rectified — as mentioned above in Laws of Chailev [Forbidden Fat]. For then the aspect of drunkenness — which is the aspect of the animal-spirit, as above — was subdued. And this is the aspect of the signs of a kosher wild beast [simanei chayah tehorah] — whose signs are in its horns [karnos] — that is to say, the distinguishing sign between an animal [beheimah] and a wild beast [chayah] is in their horns (as stated in the Shulchan Aruch). For the fat of a wild beast is permitted and its blood requires covering [kisuy] — while an animal is the reverse. For the aspect of the wild beasts [chayos] is of the aspect of the right side [yamin] — the aspect of chesed — the aspect of Avraham. As it is written: "And the face of the lion is on the right side" [Ezekiel 1:10]. And from there is the sustenance of the wild beasts — for the king of wild beasts is the lion. And therefore their fat is permitted. For fat [cheilev] is the surplus of the minds [mosrei ha-mochin]. (As mentioned above in Laws of Chailev.) And the surplus of the minds contains the turbidity and sediment of the minds — therefore the sitra achra [Other Side] seizes hold there. For its essential hold is from the confusion and turbidity of the mind. And therefore the fat is forbidden, as above. But in the wild beast — which is of the aspect of Avraham, the aspect of the right side — through which the minds are clear. For from the side of the right: mocha chivarsa k'kaspa [the white brain like silver]. Therefore there is no turbidity of the minds there. As Rabbainu explained: that mocha chivarsa, and so on, is the aspect of the clarity and purity of the minds without turbidity. And therefore even the fat is clear and pure — and the sitra achra has no hold there, as above. And therefore the fat of a wild beast is permitted. And therefore its blood requires covering — of the aspect of: "Love covers over all transgressions" [Proverbs 10:12] — which is the aspect of the right side. (As Rabbainu said, that this is the aspect of the covering of blood, in Siman 82, Likutay Moharan II.) For there, in the aspect of Avraham — the aspect of the right side — the bloods, which are the mighty ones [gevuros], are hidden and covered and do not become revealed. For love covers over them — of the aspect of: "Love covers over all transgressions", as above. And this is the aspect of the covering of the blood of a wild beast specifically — which is of the aspect of the right side, the aspect of Avraham, as above. And therefore one covers with earth and ash [afar va'efer] — which is the aspect of Avraham, who is the aspect of love that covers over transgressions, as above. For Avraham said: "And I am but dust and ash" [Genesis 18:27]. And likewise our Sages of blessed memory said: that in the merit of this, his children merited the commandment of covering blood with earth. But animals — which are from the side of Yitzchak, the aspect of the left side [sitra d'semol], the aspect of judgments [dinim] — as it is said: "And the face of an ox is on the left" [Ezekiel 1:10] — and the king of animals is the ox. And therefore there the turbidity of the minds is greater — which is the aspect of judgments, as above. And therefore the fat — which is the surplus of the minds, as above — that is where all the turbidity of the minds descends. And therefore it is forbidden. For the hold of the sitra achra is in the turbidity of the minds, as above. And therefore there is no covering of blood — for there the judgments are revealed. For it is from the aspect of the left side, as above. And therefore the distinguishing sign between an animal and a wild beast is apparent in the horns. For the horns are the surplus of the minds that protrudes and goes out — and horns are made from them. Of the aspect of karnei hod [rays of radiance] — the kerun or ha-panim [beaming of the face] that exists in the human being — which is the protruding of the minds outward. And in animals, horns are made. For in animals there is turbidity of the minds and very many surpluses — far more than in the human being. And likewise even in wild beasts. For all the minds of animals and wild beasts are of the aspect of the turbidity of the aspect of the human being. And therefore in the human being nothing is made from the surpluses except hair alone — which is the surplus of the minds. But in animals and wild beasts the surpluses are very great and actual horns are made from them. It emerges: that the horns are the surplus of the minds. And therefore in the horns the signs and the distinction between wild beast and animal are apparent. For the essential difference and distinction between them depends on their surplus of minds — from which come the horns, as above. And this is the aspect of: "And through Your will, raise up our horn" [Psalms 89:18]. For through the will [ratzon] — which is chesed, the aspect of the right side cited above — through this the horns are elevated and exalted. For they are the surplus of the minds that protrude outward — for from the right side: mocha chivarsa k'kaspa, as above. And therefore even the surplus of the minds is clear and very pure — which is the aspect of the elevation and ascent of the horns. For they are of the aspect of surplus of minds, as above.

Likutay Halachos — Signs of a Kosher Bird, Halachos 1–4 (Complete)

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