נדרים הלכה א

3 הִתְהַלְלוּ בְּשֵׁם קָדְשׁוֹ יִשְׂמַח לֵב מְבַקְשֵׁי יי The concept of nedarim [vows] — that a Jewish man has the power to forbid upon himself any thing he wishes, and to render what is permitted into something forbidden. For all things in the world originate from the sheviras hakailim [shattering of the vessels], and all the desires and pleasures of the world are an aspect of ahavas hanefulos [fallen loves] that come from the shattering of the vessels of Chesed [Kindness]. Therefore, all things in the world require tikun [rectification] — even things that are permitted — for there is nothing in the world that does not require numerous rectifications. And therefore it is forbidden to derive benefit from this world without a berachah [blessing].

Heeshaliloo bishaim kudshoa yeesmach laiv mivakshay Adoanuy. The explanation is based on what is written in the discourse "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6) [in Torah 34 of Likutay Moharan], see there. The general principle is that when one connects to the nekudah [holy point] — namely, through the speech of the mouth, where the aspect of the holy nekudah resides, the aspect of "My mouth shall speak wisdoms" (Psalms 49:4) — and there, near the holy nekudah, the holy love dwells — through this, the disgrace and heartbreak that come through the fallen loves are annulled, for there, near the nekudah, the light of the holy love dwells; see there.

Exult in His holy name; let all who seek the LORD rejoice.

Therefore it is forbidden to derive benefit from this world without a blessing, for all pleasures are fallen loves from the shattering of the vessels, as mentioned above — which are fallen letters. And it is impossible to rectify anything until one brings that thing back into the mouth, in order to rectify it there from its shattering.

That is, before one derives benefit from anything, he must recite a blessing over it and specify that item in his blessing — for example, over fruit of the tree, [one says] "Boray peri ha'aytz" [Who creates fruit of the tree], and over produce of the earth, "Boray peri ha'adamah" [Who creates fruit of the ground], and so on. Through this, the disgrace resting upon that thing is annulled — namely the aforementioned shattering — namely, the aforementioned fallen love is annulled. For there, near the nekudah that is in the mouth, which is the aspect of "My mouth shall speak wisdoms" — which is now revealed through the speech of the blessing — through this, all the disgraces, which are the fallen loves, are annulled, because the light of the holy love that dwells near the nekudah of the mouth is revealed, as mentioned above.

It turns out that through the blessing, one creates the thing he eats anew. And without this, it is forbidden for him to derive benefit, for it was in an aspect of shattering and disgrace, and one must renew the thing and rectify it anew through the nekudah of the mouth that is revealed through the blessing, as mentioned above. Therefore, all blessings are recited in the present tense — that is, "Boray" [Who creates] and not "shebara" [Who created] — and likewise all birchos hanehenin [blessings over enjoyment] — because now the thing is created anew through the blessing, as mentioned above. For it was with this intention that Hashem created the world — that it be given over to Israel to do with as they wish. Therefore He created all things lacking rectification, as it is brought in the Midrash (Beraishis Rabbah 11): "Wheat needs to be ground," etc. — see there — so that man should rectify all things by himself. For in every thing there are numerous rectifications and numerous mitzvos [commandments] that depend upon it before one may benefit from it, so that through this, the thing becomes rectified and renewed as a new creation. And the completion of all the rectifications, and their totality, is through the blessing of the mouth. For even those things upon which no mitzvos are contingent — nevertheless, it is forbidden to derive benefit from them without a blessing, for the primary rectification is through the blessing, as mentioned above. And through this, the thing is created anew, for all of creation is through speech, as it is written: "By the word of Hashem the heavens were made" (Psalms 33:6) etc. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said (Berachos 35a): It is written, "The earth is Hashem's and its fullness" (Psalms 24:1), and it is written, "And the earth He gave to the children of man" (Psalms 115:16) — here [it refers to] before the blessing, and here [to] after the blessing. For through the blessing, it is considered as his own — because through the blessing he creates the thing anew, as mentioned above. And as is explained well in the aforementioned discourse, that Israel rules over the world through the mitzvos of the Torah, and primarily through the speech of the mouth, where the light of the nekudah dwells, which is the aspect of "a tzadik rules" (II Samuel 23:3) — see there. As he brought there from the saying of our Sages of blessed memory: "Many things You have done, You, Hashem my G-d" (Psalms 40:6) — before the giving of the Torah. But afterwards — "Your wonders and Your thoughts," etc. — for everything is in the hand of Israel; see there. Therefore, Israel has the power to forbid upon himself something that is permitted. For in truth, even a permitted thing contains an aspect of prohibition, for the Sitra Achara [the Other Side] has a hold on it — which is the aspect of the shattering of the vessels, as mentioned above — only that it becomes rectified through the mouth, namely, through the blessing, as mentioned above. But before the blessing, even what is permitted is in an aspect of prohibition, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "It is forbidden to derive benefit," etc. Therefore, when one accepts upon himself that this thing shall be forbidden, and he utters the vow with his mouth, then it becomes an absolute prohibition. For a permitted thing is in a state of suspension until it comes into the mouth of the Jewish man, in whose hand lies the dominion to do with it as he wishes. For what is permitted is an aspect of an intermediary between holiness and prohibition, as brought above in Hilchos Ta'aruvos (Halachah 1) and elsewhere. And he has the power to turn it toward holiness through the blessing, as mentioned above, or to forbid it upon himself, as mentioned above. And everything depends on his mouth, where the nekudah resides — which is the aspect of "a tzadik rules", as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of the annulment of vows through three laymen. For since he has already forbidden the thing upon himself, it is impossible for it to return and be rectified through himself. For this is a general principle: all things that require rectification cannot be rectified through the very same light that was shattered, but only when an aspect of new light comes, and through it the thing is rectified. Therefore, when one wishes to annul his vow and return the thing from prohibition to a state of being permitted, he is compelled to receive a new light from the aspect of the nekudah klalis [all-encompassing point], which is a very great light that possesses dominion — the aspect of "a tzadik rules" — and through this it returns to being permitted. Therefore, one must come before three Jewish men. And wherever three [Jews] are found, the Shechinah [Divine Presence] dwells among them, and they have power and dominion, as we find that three [people] are called a bais din [court of law], and they have the power to adjudicate by force whoever they wish. For three Jews are an aspect of the totality of Israel, which consists of Kohanim [priests], Levi'im [Levites], and Yisra'ailim [Israelites]. And since they are in the aspect of the totality of Israel, there is revealed among them the aspect of the nekudah of the totality of Israel, which is the aspect of "And Your people are all tzadikim" (Isaiah 60:21), the aspect of "Israel — His dominions" (Psalms 114:2), the aspect of "a tzadik rules." And through the light of the all-encompassing nekudah, the prohibition of the vow is rectified, and it returns to being permitted, as mentioned above — for through the light of the nekudah of the mouth, all things are rectified from their shattering and corruption. For three men who are the aspect of Kohen, Levi, Yisra'ail — which is the aspect of the totality of Israel — correspond to the aspect of melafum [a vowel formed by a vav with a dot, combining the line of the vav with the point], where the light of the nekudah is revealed, as is written there. For the Kohen is the aspect of Chochmah [Wisdom], as it is written, "For he is holy to his G-d" (Leviticus 21:7), and Chochmah is called kodesh [holy], as is brought there — and this is the aspect of the light of the nekudah, the aspect of "My mouth shall speak wisdoms," as written in the aforementioned discourse. And therefore the covenant of the priesthood is called "a covenant of peace" (Numbers 25:12), for there is the light of the nekudah, where the light of the holy love dwells; see there. And this is the aspect of the Kohen who blesses, for the blessings stem from the aspect of kodesh, the aspect of Chochmah, as is brought. And this is what was stated above — that through the blessing all things are rectified. For through the blessing, which is the aspect of kodesh, the aspect of Chochmah, the aspect of the Kohen who blesses, as mentioned above — which is the aspect of the nekudah, as mentioned above — through this, the light of the holy love is revealed, as mentioned above. And the Levi is the aspect of Binah [Understanding], the aspect of "and the meditation of my heart is understanding" (Psalms 49:4). For from the side of Levi, judgments are aroused, as is brought elsewhere. And the Yisra'ail is the aspect of the third who decides — that is, he connects the nekudah with the vav, and it becomes the aspect of melafum, where the revelation of the nekudah occurs, as is written. For the primary bais din through which the vow is annulled consists of two [judges]. Therefore they do not all need to be gemiray [learned in Torah law] — only two of them, as is written in the Shulchan Aruch. Rather, the third comes to decide, so that the bais din should not be divided, as it is found in [Tractate] Sanhedrin regarding judges. For if there were only two, it is possible that they would be divided, G-d forbid, and there would be no connection of the vav to the nekudah, since they are different aspects. Therefore the third comes to decide, and through him the vav and the nekudah are bound together, becoming the aspect of melafum, the aspect of "Open your mouth wide and I will fill it" (Psalms 81:11) — through which they have dominion, as mentioned above, and as is written there in the aforementioned discourse; see there. And this is the aspect of an individual expert (yachid mumcheh) who annuls the vow by himself alone. For in the presence of the talmid chacham [Torah scholar] and expert, there is the aspect of the nekudah of the totality of Israel, as is written there. Therefore he has the dominion to annul the vow that the Jew forbade upon himself through the speech of his mouth, as mentioned above. For now a new light has been revealed, which is exceedingly great — namely, the aspect of the all-encompassing nekudah, which is found with the talmid chacham of the generation. Or [alternatively, the annulment takes place] through the all-encompassing nekudah that is revealed through three men, as mentioned above. And he must have charatah [regret], which is an aspect of sheviras halev [brokenheartedness], and he must bring the regret before those who annul [the vow] — that is, he declares before them that he regrets. And they rectify the brokenheartedness through the nekudah that is in their mouths, which is the aspect of "a tzadik rules," and they say to him, "It is permitted to you" (mutar lach). And through this, it returns to a state of being permitted, as mentioned above. This halachah explains the spiritual mechanics behind the laws of vows (nedarim) according to Likutay Moharan, Torah 34, which deals with the verse "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests." The core teaching rests on the concept that all worldly things originate from the cosmic event known as sheviras hakailim — the shattering of the vessels — and therefore everything, even that which is technically "permitted," carries within it an aspect of fallen, unrectified spiritual energy (fallen loves, from the shattered vessels of Chesed). The mouth — where the holy nekudah (point) resides, corresponding to "My mouth shall speak wisdoms" — is the instrument of rectification. When one recites a blessing before deriving benefit, the blessing activates the holy nekudah, reveals the holy love, and effectively re-creates the thing anew. This is why blessings use the present tense ("boray" — "Who creates") — because the item is being created anew at that moment. Before the blessing, even a permitted item is in a state of spiritual suspension between holiness and the Sitra Achara. Since the mouth of the Jew carries this power of dominion ("a tzadik rules"), he can also wield it in the reverse direction — forbidding upon himself something that is permitted, through the power of a vow. When one wishes to annul a vow, a new light is needed, because the same light that was "shattered" (in this case, the person's own speech that created the prohibition) cannot rectify itself. This new light comes either from three laymen (who together represent the totality of Israel — Kohen, Levi, Yisra'ail) or from a single expert Torah scholar who embodies the all-encompassing nekudah. The three correspond to the vowel melafum (a vav with a dot), symbolizing the union of the line (vav = Understanding/Judgment) with the point (nekudah = Wisdom/Holiness), with the third member being the one who unites them. The one who seeks annulment must express regret (charatah), and the annullers say "It is permitted to you," restoring the item to its rectified state.