Running Commentary on Torah 32 — Adnai Sfasai Tiftach

Beginner: **"Leshon Rabbeinu z"l"** Intermediate: **Leshon Rabbeinu z"l**

Beginner: **"Adnai sfasai tiftach"** (Tehillim 51:17) — 'Hashem, open my lips' — is the **bechinah of the rikudim (dances) of a chasunah** (wedding). Rabbeinu unfolds this as follows: **(1) The kallah as 320 dinim.** As long as a woman is not given to zivug, she is called **"na'ar"** without **ה** (Zohar Bo 38b) — **gematria 320** (5 × 64), corresponding to the **320 dinim** (judgments). When she is prepared for zivug, she is called **"na'arah"** with **ה** — because the dinim are **sweetened via the ה = the 5 alafin of אהיה that are in Binah** (Pri Etz Chayim, Sha'ar Amidah). Every bride at her wedding is, spiritually, in the bechinah of **na'ar = 320 dinim**; she must be rectified to become **na'arah**, and this is accomplished **via rikudim** (dancing). **(2) Why rikudim work.** The **raglayim (legs/feet)** are the bechinah of **netzach and hod** (as stated in Pasach Eliyahu). The feet are **raised by the heart** — specifically, by **simchas ha'lev** (joy of the heart). This is empirically visible: through joy of heart, one dances. Source: regarding Ya'akov — **"va'yisa Ya'akov es raglav"** (Bereshis 29:1) — and Rashi's gloss: **"libo nasa es raglav"** ('his heart carried his feet'). And the lev is **Binah**, as it is said **"Binah liba, u'vah ha'lev meivin"** ('Binah is the heart, and with it the heart understands'). **(3) The mechanism of rikudim**: one must have the kavanah in dancing **to draw the alafin that are in the lev (=Binah) through the raglayim down to the kallah** — who is the bechinah of **5 times din** (each din = 64; 5×64 = 320 = na'ar). Through the **ohr of the lev** drawn down to her, she becomes **na'arah with ה**, i.e., **5 times Ado-nai** (= 5 × 65 — since the ה of na'arah represents the 5 alafin, and the name Ado-nai numerically and structurally matches the completed feminine form). **(4) Peirush of the pasuk**: **"Adnai sfasai tiftach"** — through the **sfasayim** (lips), which are **netzach and hod** (the raglayim's upper counterparts), the kallah is **opened and sweetened into zivug**, becoming the bechinah of **Ado-nai** (= na'arah, fit for zivug). The pasuk is simultaneously a plea for tefilah and a description of the rikudim-mechanism: open my lips = open the kallah-within (shechinah-in-exile) via netzach-hod. **(5) Midrash Bereshis Rabbah 70**: when Yaakov married Leah, while they were dancing, the dancers chanted **"hi Leah"** — a hint to Yaakov that **"ha, Leah"** (behold, it is Leah, not Rachel). Rabbeinu reads this kabbalistically: **Leah is alma d'iskasya** (the hidden world — Zohar Vayeitzei 154) — the bechinah of **lev**, as it is written **"bi'libi tzafanti imrasecha"** (Tehillim 119:11, 'I have hidden Your word in my heart'). And **from there** — from the hidden/heart realm — the **sweetening of the dinim** occurs, when one **draws the ה from the lev (Leah)**. Thus **"ha Leah"** = **draw ה from Leah** = draw the alafin from the lev-Leah in order to sweeten and rectify the kallah. **(6) Alternative midrashic thread**: some said that the kallah's actual name was Leah — i.e., that **through her own bechinah (= Leah = lev = inner)** she sweetens herself. The two readings are complementary: either draw the ה from Leah to the na'ar-kallah, or the kallah already has a Leah-inner-lev that sweetens her through herself. **Summary of the full mechanism**: na'ar (320 dinim) → rikudim → raglayim (netzach-hod) lifted by lev (Binah) → ohr of 5 alafin drawn down via sfasayim (lips) → na'arah with ה (Ado-nai) → zivug. The wedding dances are a **mechanical necessity** for the tikkun of the bride, not merely a festivity. Intermediate: **"Adnai sfasai tiftach"** (Teh 51:17) = **rikudei chasunah**. (1) **Na'ar** w/o ה=320 dinim (Zohar Bo 38b); **na'arah** w/ ה=sweetened via **5 alafin d'אהיה in Binah** (PEC Sha'ar Amidah). (2) Raglayim=netzach+hod (Pasach Eliyahu); raised by **simchas ha'lev** (Rashi Ber 29:1 "libo nasa es raglav"); lev=Binah ("binah liba"). (3) Rikudim=draw alafin from lev → raglayim → kallah (= 5×din=320=na'ar) → na'arah with ה → 5× Ado-nai. (4) **"Sfasai tiftach"**: sfasayim=netzach+hod (upper-raglayim) open/sweeten kallah into zivug. (5) **MR 70**: wedding dancers sang "hi Leah" — Leah=alma d'iskasya=lev ("bi'libi tzafanti," Teh 119:11); draw ה from Leah-lev. (6) Alt: kallah's own Leah-inner sweetens her.