נותן טעם לפגם א

According to what our master, teacher, and Rebbe (may his light shine) said in the discourse "B'Ha'aloscha": "shetihe shalheves olah mei'eleha" ("that the flame rises of itself") (Siman 21) — that through comprehension comes warmth of heart, in the aspect of the flame that rises of itself, see there what he explains on the saying of the Sages: "L'asid kol tzaddik nichveh mei'chupaso" ("In the future every tzaddik will be burned by his fellow's canopy") etc. The general rule is: whoever merits to attain a comprehension according to his level, then he warms himself through that comprehension — for the comprehension is in the aspect of garments that clothe, cover, and warm him. But if he attains an intellect that is below his level, even if it is a very great comprehension, even so it does not warm him at all — for at his level it is not considered garments at all.

Know that all the prohibitions regarding the foods of non-Jews — bishulei akum, pas akum, gevinas akum and the rest — all these are one dimension, they all have one root, and that is: to guard the foods of Israel from the Seventy Nations, which are the aspect of comprehensive evil. For the nations of the world are called «the bad fig», «the thorn-bush», and they are the aspect of comprehensive evil which clings to all things, as has been explained many times. And all the food eaten by Israel must be guarded and protected from this evil, so that the food should be entirely from the dimension of holiness — the dimension of manna — which is Israel's food, the food of the Shechina.

And therefore in all things concerning the preparation of food — in the laws of shechitah (ritual slaughter), in the laws of melichah (salting), and in all the laws involving the removal and purification of the food from all admixture with the nations — the essential matter is to guard the food from the evil of the Seventy Nations, so that only Israel, who are entirely holy, should handle the food and bring it from the domain of impurity to the domain of holiness.

And this is the essence of the prohibition of bishulei akum — that even kosher food, if it was cooked by a non-Jew on their fire, is forbidden to a Jew. For even though the food itself is kosher and the ingredients are permitted, nevertheless the cooking by a non-Jew adds to the food the bad smell of the Sitra Achra, which is the fire of Gehinom, as will be explained below. For the fire of the non-Jew is the fire of the Sitra Achra, in contrast to the holy fire of Israel which draws from the sanctity of Shabbas, as will be explained. And therefore it is as if the non-Jew — through cooking — infuses the food with an additional dimension of impurity and bad smell from their fire. And this is what the Sages alluded to in saying [TB Avodah Zarah 35b]: «they decreed on their bread because of their oil; on their oil because of their wine; on their wine because of their daughters; on their daughters because of davar acher» — for everything interconnects: the prohibition of pas akum connects to the prohibition of their wine, which connects to the prohibition of avodah zarah — for they are all one root, one dimension of separating oneself from the comprehensive evil of the Seventy Nations. And this is the dimension of the blessing «Borei me'orei ha-aish» (who creates the lights of fire) which we recite at the Havdalah ceremony at the close of Shabbas. For the fire of Israel is drawn from the sanctity of Shabbas — for Shabbas is the dimension of the holy soul, the radiance of the Shechina, and from there the fire of Israel is kindled and sanctified. And when we recite the blessing over the fire at the close of Shabbas, we draw from the sanctity of Shabbas onto the fire of the weekday, elevating it and purifying it. And therefore the fire on which Israel cooks their food is sanctified fire — the dimension of the Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash, the dimension of the fire on the altar. And through this holy fire, the food is elevated and refined and becomes the dimension of mezona d'nishmasa (spiritual nourishment) — for the holy sparks within the food are liberated and revealed through the holy fire of Israel. But the fire of the non-Jew is the opposite — it is drawn from the aspect of the fire of Gehinom, of the Sitra Achra, and it adds to the food the dimension of the bad smell — reiach ra — rather than the good smell that issues from the sanctity of Shabbas. And this is connected to the verse: «The voice is the voice of Yaakov but the hands are the hands of Eisav» [Bereishis 27:22], and the verse: «See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field» [Bereishis 27:27] — when Yaakov brought the prepared food to his father. For the dimension of kol Yaakov (the voice of Yaakov) is Torah and prayer, and the dimension of the good smell that accompanied Yaakov and his food is the smell of Gan Eden, the dimension of mezona d'nishmasa, the holy spiritual nourishment that came into the food through Israel's cooking it. And in contrast, Eisav is the dimension of yedei Eisav (the hands of Eisav) — brute force, physicality, the Sitra Achra. His food carries the smell of impurity rather than the fragrance of Gan Eden. And therefore only Yaakov, the children of Israel — who possess the dimension of kol Yaakov, the Voice of Torah — can properly prepare and cook food with holiness, so that it carries the good smell and becomes the dimension of mezona d'nishmasa. And therefore the Sages taught that the prohibition of bishulei akum applies only to foods that are fit to be served at a king's table — shulchan melachim. For the essential dimension of mezona d'nishmasa pertains to food of importance and significance — food that is considered a delicacy and worthy of being brought before a great person. For the holy sparks contained in important foods are greater and more elevated, and therefore their purification and elevation through Israel's cooking them is of greater significance. But simple and undistinguished food — which no one would bring before a king — does not have the same degree of holy sparks requiring the act of holy cooking to release them. And this is the dimension of pas akum — bread baked by a non-Jew — which some authorities permit in places where it is a great need [sha'as ha-dechak] in the case of pas palter (commercial bakery bread). But in the Ten Days of Teshuvah many are stringent even regarding pas palter. For bread is the essential sustenance — the staff of life — and therefore the dimension of guarding the food from the evil of the Seventy Nations is especially strong in bread. For bread is the dimension of «You shall eat bread by the sweat of your brow» [Bereishis 3:19], the dimension of the toil of beiyn, the weekday world — and therefore it most needs the holiness of Israel's baking to elevate it from this toil and transform it into the dimension of mezona d'nishmasa. And in the Ten Days of Teshuvah, when all of Israel stand in judgment and seek the highest rectification, even the leniency that applies the rest of the year is set aside, for the holiness of the days demands a greater level of guarding. And this is the dimension of the distinction between gevinas akum (cheese made by a non-Jew), which is forbidden, and chemah (butter), which is not forbidden. For cheese — gevinah — requires significant preparation and processing, and therefore passes through the domain of the non-Jew in a more profound sense. The making of cheese involves a transformation of the milk — a creative act — and therefore when a non-Jew performs it, the product is considered as if it has absorbed the impurity of the Sitra Achra through this process of transformation. But butter — chemah — is a simpler extraction that does not involve the same degree of creative transformation, and therefore it does not acquire the same dimension of impurity through being made by a non-Jew. And all this is connected to the general principle of separating oneself entirely from the domain of the Seventy Nations — not only in what one eats, but also in commerce: one should not engage in buying and selling forbidden items, for this too draws one into the domain of the Sitra Achra. And the Sages spoke of the concept of chotam betoch chotam — a seal within a seal — regarding the foods forbidden by the Torah itself, which have the dimension of a double seal, a double protection. While rabbinic prohibitions have a single seal. And all of this has one root — the dimension of completely separating the domain of Israel from the domain of the Seventy Nations, so that Israel's eating and nourishment should be entirely in the dimension of holiness, mezona d'nishmasa, the food of the Shechina and the souls of Israel.