הלכות יין נסך א

And this is the dimension of the prohibition of bishulei akum — that even kosher food that was cooked or baked by a non-Jew is forbidden to Israel. For all food requires rectification — that is, baking and cooking and the like. And all the preparations that every food requires — all the labor one must invest in them until they are fit for eating — all this comes from the sin of the First Man [Adam], as is known. For through that sin, good and evil became mixed into all things, and they require refinement — to separate the good from the bad. And therefore one must labor greatly with all foods in order to rectify them and refine them from chaff and straw and the like. And so too one must labor in baking and cooking — for before the food is rectified, before the baking and cooking, the food has no taste at all. And the taste that is in the food before baking and cooking is there in potential but not in actuality. One does not experience the taste of the food except through the rectification of baking and cooking.

For in truth the essential taste of food is drawn from the good that is in the food — for within every thing, the goodness of God is clothed — that is, the holy sparks. And from there the good taste in the food is drawn, in the dimension of «taste and see that God is good». But because of the sin of the First Man — through which good and evil became mixed — it is impossible to refine and reveal the good that is in the food except through many preparations. And the final essential rectification is through baking and cooking — for that is the completion of the food's rectification. And then specifically the good taste within the food is felt. For all the preparations of the food — all the labor one must invest in refining it from the waste, from chaff and straw, and preparing it — all this is in order to subdue and break the husk that precedes the fruit, in order to merit the fruit — that is, the inward goodness clothed within that food. And the husk preceding the fruit is the dimension of the koach hameyadmeh (imaginative faculty) mentioned in that maamar — for the imaginative faculty clings to every single thing, as is explained above: that in every world and every level there are illusions and so forth.

These illusions are the husks that precede the fruit. Therefore it is impossible to eat of the fruit — to merit tasting the good taste in the food — except through many preparations to break the husk preceding the fruit, which are those illusions. And then one merits the fruit. And to break those illusions is only through the revelation of the greatness of the Creator — and the greatness of the Creator is only revealed through Israel, in the dimension of «Israel, through you I will be glorified». And therefore it is impossible to rectify food in holiness except through Israel specifically — for they are the essential revelation of the Creator's greatness, and they alone can subdue and shatter those illusions that are the husk preceding the fruit. For the essential rectification of the food is through the baking and cooking — when that is the completion of the food's rectification — and then specifically the taste of the food is revealed. For the essential rectification to shatter those illusions is through fire, since from fire they emerged and fire will consume them. And the derivation of fire is drawn from the greatness of the Creator — for this is the essential dimension of His greatness, as it were: that He is the great and awesome God, a consuming fire, as it is said: «for God your God is a consuming fire, a great and awesome God» [Devarim 4:24]. And from the intensity of His greatness, blessed be He, all the angels and seraphim and ofanim and holy chayos tremble and burn — they all burn like coals of fire from the intensity of the fear of His greatness and exaltedness, as it is said regarding the chayos: «their appearance is like coals of fire» [Yechezkel 1:13]. And as it is said [Tehillim 104]: «His servants are a flaming fire». And as our Rabbis of blessed memory said: the River of Fire — Nehar Dinur — is drawn from the perspiration of the chayos, who perspire from the awe of His greatness — and from there flows the river of fire. And from the fire above is drawn and derived the fire below. It follows that the essential dimension of fire is drawn from the revelation of the Creator's greatness, blessed be He — as it were — for through this, rivers of fire flow from the awe of His greatness and so forth. And therefore fire is the totality of the colors — as it says in the Holy Zohar: «there are four colors in fire» — for it is drawn from the dimension of the revelation of the Creator's greatness, which is the totality of the colors. For this is the essential dimension of greatness. And therefore it is specifically through fire that the essential rectification of food takes place — that is, the shattering of the illusions which are the husks preceding the fruit. For fire — which is the totality of colors, drawn from the revelation of the Creator's greatness — burns and subdues and shatters those illusions, for the essential subduing of them is through the revelation of the Creator's greatness as mentioned above. And therefore it is said in the Psalms of Kabbalas Shabbas [Psalm 97] — which speak of the greatness of the Creator in order to subdue the illusions that seek to overpower as one ascends from level to level — that is, from the Six Days of the Week to Shabbas, when all the worlds ascend above their normal level, as is known. And then they need to subdue the husks so they do not take hold — those illusions. And therefore one recites then the Psalms of the greatness of the Creator from Lechu Nerananah and so forth — for through the revelation of the Creator's greatness they are subdued. And therefore it mentions in those Psalms: «fire goes before Him and burns His enemies round about» [Tehillim 97:3] — for through the revelation of His greatness, fire goes out before Him and subdues and shatters and burns all those illusions which are the husks mentioned above. And therefore it is impossible to rectify food in holiness through baking and cooking at the fire except through Israel specifically — for they are the essential revelation of the Creator, blessed be He, in the dimension of «Israel, through you I will be glorified». And they can draw the power of fire from holiness — from the dimension of the revelation of His greatness — to subdue all the enemies which are the illusions and husks preceding the fruit that cling to every thing. And then specifically when they shatter those illusions through Israel's cooking, through Israel's fire, then the food is fit for the eating of Israel — for then the good taste is revealed, that is, the dimension of the holiness clothed in the food, the holy sparks clothed there. But when the non-Jew cooks the food in their fire, then even more of the illusions and husks cling to it — for they have no power to reveal the greatness of the Creator. On the contrary — they themselves are the husks and illusions mentioned above, and their fire is the fire of the Sitra Achra, from which all the desires that come from the illusions burn — the dimension of «from fire they emerged» — for all the husks and the Sitra Achra emerge from the dimension of fire. And therefore in their fire even more illusions attach to the food — and therefore it is forbidden for us to eat food cooked by a non-Jew, for it is impossible for us to eat the food except through the rectifications of Israel, who are the essential revelation of the Creator's greatness, who can through this subdue the illusions — and then the good in the food is revealed, and then specifically the food is fit for the eating of Israel. And therefore since the Temple was destroyed, the taste was taken from food — as our Rabbis of blessed memory said [TB Berachos 12b] — for the essential revelation of taste is through the good that is revealed through the shattering of the illusions as mentioned above. And the essential shattering of the illusions was in the time when the Temple stood — for through the sacrifices they broke and subdued the koach hameyadmeh (imaginative faculty) as mentioned in that maamar. And therefore since the Temple was destroyed, the taste was taken, as mentioned above. And therefore eating is in place of the sacrifice. And as our Rabbis of blessed memory said [TB Berachos 55]: «the table atones like the altar» — for the essential holy eating is the shattering of the imaginative faculty, which is the dimension of sacrifices, as mentioned above in that Torah teaching: that the essential shattering of the power of the imaginative faculty is through the sacrifices — study it there. And this connects to what was mentioned above. The colors of fire are the dimension of the Creator's greatness as mentioned above — for they are the dimension of the colors in money — for they are from one dimension, from the side of gevurah (divine severity), as is known. And therefore this is alluded to in the words of Rebbenu of blessed memory in the wondrous story of the Master of Prayer [Sippurey Maasiyos, the story of the Master of Prayer] — that through the foods that are cooked in the fire of the cookhouse and so forth, through this one emerges from the desire for money. For through this the greatness of the Creator is revealed as mentioned above, which is the dimension of the revelation of the colors. And when the colors are revealed — which are the root of money — then one discards entirely the material money, for who would be so foolish as to cast aside a spiritual pleasure and take a coarse physical pleasure instead? As is explained in the maamar «Tzivisa Tzedek» and so forth — see there, siman 23 — and understand well. And therefore, since the essential subduing of the imaginative faculty is on Shabbas — when the Sitra Achra is completely subdued, for then on the eve of Shabbas a flame of fire goes out over the head of the husks to subdue them, as is known — which is the secret of bathing in hot water on the eve of Shabbas, as is known, as brought in the words of Rebbenu of blessed memory, siman 19 — for the essential revelation of the Creator's greatness is on Shabbas, when He dons, as it were, garments of His majesty, as it is said: «God has reigned, He has donned majesty» [Tehillim 93:1] — therefore the Shabbas dish has its aroma, for on Shabbas the taste changes for the better, as then the imaginative faculty is completely subdued, through which the essential revelation of the good taste is drawn from holiness — the dimension of «taste and see that God is good».