רבית א

The matter of noasain ta'am lifgam — that which imparts a spoiled taste — which the Torah permitted For it is stated in the words of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, in Likutay Moharan Part II [Tinyana], §68: that there is no despair [yay'ush] whatsoever in the world. And even in the deepest pit of the netherworld [sh'ol tachtiyos] one can revive oneself and draw close to Hashem, may He be blessed. And in this very thing it is fitting for a person to revive himself through what he sees within himself — that in any case he is far from Hashem, may He be blessed. For it could have been, G-d forbid, that he would be very far from Hashem, may He be blessed, and not know at all that he had become distant. But since in any case he knows the truth — that he is very, very far away — even though in truth it is so, nonetheless, since he knows the truth in any case, it is fitting for him to revive himself through this very thing, and he can return to Hashem, may He be blessed, etc. And all this is connected to the discourse "Vayehi Miketz — ki m'rachamam yenahalem" [Likutay Moharan II:17, etc.] — see there what is explained: that the tzadik gives life to the heavenly dwellers, etc. and the earthly dwellers — for there are earthly dwellers, etc., and the tzadik gives them life through the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory" — the aspect of "Awaken and sing, O dwellers of the dust [shochney afar], etc." [Isaiah 26:19] — see there. And this is the aspect of noasain ta'am lifgam which the Torah permitted. For even a complete issur [forbidden substance], when it has become so spoiled that it has no taste whatsoever — and is entirely blemished — it cannot render [anything] forbidden. For it is considered as mere dust [afra b'alma]. For in truth, in the issur — which is the klipah [husk/shell] — there is no taste at all, in the aspect of: "Is there any taste in the white of an egg?" [Job 6:6]. For the essential ta'am is drawn from the aspect of good — in the aspect of: "taste and see that Hashem is good [tov]" [Psalms 34:9] — and therefore the closer a thing is to holiness, the better its taste. And therefore the Manna changed into many tastes — for the Manna was in the aspect of very lofty holiness, for the Manna is in the aspect of da'as elyon [supernal knowledge], the aspect of Moshe, as is brought [in the literature]. And because of its very holiness, its taste was exceedingly good and it encompassed all the tastes of the world. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said: the cooking of Shabbos — its aroma wafts forth; and the taste of Shabbos food is much better than the food of weekdays — because of the great holiness of Shabbos, for then the foods are drawn from very lofty holiness. For the food of Shabbos is in the aspect of the Manna, as is known. And therefore the cooking of Shabbos — its aroma wafts forth and its taste is exceedingly good — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "We have one spice and Shabbos is its name, etc." [Shabbos 119a] — for the essential good taste in the food of Shabbos is from the holiness of the holy Shabbos, as stated above. But in forbidden foods [ma'achalay issur], there is in them, from their own side, no taste at all — since there is no good in them, as stated above. And even the taste that is in them is only from the aspect of the little good that fell there — for even in forbidden foods there is the aspect of holy sparks [nitzotzos hakedoshim] — only they are there in very great and bitter exile, like birds caught in a trap. For they are imprisoned there in great exile, and it is impossible for them to depart from there until the future [time of redemption] when it will be fulfilled: "He will swallow up death forever, etc." [Isaiah 25:8] and "the spirit of impurity I will remove from the earth" [Zechariah 13:2] — but now they are imprisoned there in great exile, and we have no power to extract them now. And therefore they are forbidden to us. And for this very name it is called issur [literally: imprisonment/bond] — because the holy sparks are imprisoned there in great captivity, as prisoners of poverty and iron [assiray ani u'varzel] [Psalms 107:10]. And the essential grip of the klipas [husks] upon forbidden things is only because there are holy sparks there — for they [the husks] always take hold in a place where there is some holiness. (As all this is explained in the [Lurianic] writings in many places.) And therefore when the issur becomes spoiled and the ta'am goes out of it and it becomes mere dust, it then reverts to being permitted [chozayr l'hetter]. For since there is no taste in it, and the good that was within it in exile — through which the evil had gripped it — has departed from it and it has become mere dust, it therefore reverts to being permitted. For [the husks] have no grip [achizah] — their grip lasts only as long as there was some little good there, namely some holy spark, from which the ta'am came, as stated above. For this is the aspect of the heychalay hat'muros [the Chambers of Exchange — a Kabbalistic concept] — from which their grip derives, as is known: namely, that good is exchanged for evil — that is, the utterly evil, which is complete dross and filth, in which there is no taste at all, since it is entirely evil and bitter — draws to itself the good taste from the aspect of the blemished sparks that have fallen there in exile. Until it is exchanged and appears as if there were some taste, G-d forbid, in the forbidden thing which is the klipah — when in truth, in itself, it has no taste at all, as stated above. And therefore since the good taste has departed from the issur and it has become mere dust, it reverts to being permitted. For this is the essential humbling and downfall of the klipah that is the issur — when the good departs from it. Then it has nothing from which to suckle [yinok] — for its essential strengthening, G-d forbid, is when it has some suckling from holiness, G-d forbid, as is known. But when the holiness departs from it, then the klipah that is the issur is subdued and nullified — for that is its downfall and submission, as is known. And therefore it no longer has the power to harm us even when we eat that spoiled issur — for it has no power at all anymore, since its suckling and life-force have already departed and been taken from it, as stated above. For it has become mere dust and reverted to its true aspect — for in its true aspect the issur has no taste at all; it is merely dust. And since it has become dust and its distance from holiness is truly revealed — through this the issur can revert to being permitted. For from every place one can return to Hashem, may He be blessed, through truth — namely, when one knows the truth as it truly is, and each one recognizes his place. For the essential blemish is through falsehood — which is the aspect of the heychalay hat'muros: the aspect of "under three things the earth trembles — under a slave when he rules, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress" [Proverbs 30:21–23]. And this is the aspect of one who acts like Zimri and asks for the reward of Pinchas [oasay ma'asay Zimri u'mavakesh sachar k'Pinchas] [Sotah 22b]. But when one recognizes his place and knows the great distance of his remoteness from Hashem, may He be blessed — even though in truth it is so — through this he can return to Hashem, may He be blessed, as stated above. And therefore even the issur, when it reverts to dust — namely, noasain ta'am lifgam, which is as mere dust — it can then revert to being permitted, as stated above. And therefore, after the sin of Adam HaRishon [the first man], the serpent was cursed: "and you shall eat dust all the days of your life" [Genesis 3:14]. For the subduing of the defilement of the serpent — so that it should no longer be able to attach itself [l'his'achaid] to the world, G-d forbid — is [achieved through] this. For the serpent desired that man should eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil so that it would have suckling, G-d forbid, from the good in the Tree of Knowledge. For this is the essential lust and longing of the sitra achra — to attach itself to the good, G-d forbid. And its punishment was the reverse of the reverse — for that which it had longed for was not given to it, and that which was its own was taken from it. For it was cursed that it should have no suckling from any good at all — only "you shall eat dust, etc." And our Sages of blessed memory expounded: that all [foods] taste to it like dust — for it is impossible for it to suckle from any good taste in the world; rather, everything tastes to it like dust. And through this it cannot suckle or attach itself to any good at all. And this is the essential subduing and downfall [hachna'ah u'mfeilah] of the serpent, as stated above. And therefore when the issur spoils and is transformed into mere dust, [the husks] no longer have any grip upon it — for they only yearn in a place where there is some good, as stated above. And through this, the issur reverts to being permitted. And this is the aspect of: "Awaken and sing, O dwellers of dust [shochney afar]" [Isaiah 26:19] — shochney afar precisely — as our Sages of blessed memory expounded: one who has made himself a neighbor to the dust [mi she'na'asah shachen la'afar] [Sota 5a] — for through seeing one's own lowliness in truth and making oneself as dust, in the aspect of: "and my soul shall be as dust to all" [from the Amidah] — through this one can return to Hashem, may He be blessed, as stated above.