Selected Passages from the Writings of the Kabbalists on the Topic: Kabbalistic Meal

Selected Passages from the Writings of the Kabbalists on the Topic: Kabbalistic Meal

6/01/2017

Selected Passages from the Writings of the Kabbalists on the Topic: “Kabbalistic Meal”

1) ShulchanAruch (Condensed Version), Item 31, That All Man’s Intentions Should Be for the Sake of Heaven
Our sages said: What is that small portion that all the bodies of Torah depend on? “In all your ways acknowledge Him”, meaning that even in the things you do to satisfy your body, such as eating and drinking, walking and sitting, rising up and laying down, touching and speaking, you should acknowledge the Creator and do these things for His sake. All your physical needs should be for the work of your Creator or for the cause of His work.
Eating and drinking, how? We do not only say that one should not eat and drink forbidden things, God forbid, but also in the permitted things, if one is hungry and thirsty and he eats and drinks for his own pleasure and does not bless, one should not aim his eating and drinking to receive force for the work of the Creator. Therefore one should not eat everything that tastes good to his palate, like a dog and a donkey, but rather eat things that are good, beneficial and healthy for his body. And some people of action say before eating, ‘I want to eat and drink in order to be healthy and strong for the work of the Creator’.

2) MaorVashemesh, ParashatMiketz
The most important aspect of the eating is to raise the spirituality of the food to the place of its root, the upper place. And the spirituality in everything is holy and it is its livelihood, and without it the thing would have no existence… and it is drawn from the upper place, namely from Chochma and Bina, and this is the nourishment in the food. Afterward, when one eats of this food, he raises all the holy livelihood from the food to the place of its root, and by this he brings contentment to the Creator… Hence the main satisfaction comes from the holiness and the spirituality in each food, and this is “the righteous eats and is satisfied” because he eats only to satisfy the upper soul, meaning that his desire is to only eat the spiritual livelihood of the food which is in the place of its root, hence “the meek shall eat and be satisfied”... since their main intention is spiritual and not the physical part of the food. However, those people who have the mind of an animal, whose intention is not spiritual and their food is only for the physical , their eating is rough and does not satisfy them, and this is the hunger of their soul, because the soul has no livelihood except when one draws from spirituality, and this is the meaning of “the belly of the wicked shall not be satisfied”.

3) Noam Elimelech
The righteous, during his prayer, is certainly in adhesion and sanctity, and in pure, clear and righteous thoughts. And when he eats, since it is in corporeality, he is very careful with his thoughts, lest he fail and be disconnected from kedusha through the eating, God forbid. Therefore he strengthens himself and exerts to sanctify himself more and more when he eats, to adhere himself with a great tie of adhesion. It follows that when the righteous eats he sanctifies himself more than when he prays. It is not so with the rest of the people, who are able to sanctify themselves more when they pray than when they eat. And this is the meaning of “those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” because by the sanctity that one purifies oneself during his prayer and eating one is able to strengthen the Higher Household. “Those who wait upon the Lord” are the complete righteous who hope and wait for the salvation of the Creator, that it will be fulfilled quickly and that the Name will be made whole speedily. They renew their strength meaning that they are not like the rest of the people, since the rest of the people are more in kedusha when they pray but they (the righteous) sanctify and purify themselves more and more when they eat.

4) MaorVaShemesh, Toldot
The path of the righteous, who walk by the Law of the Creator, and do not chase after lusts, who only eat what their body needs to preserve their body for the work of the Creator, naturally when they eat at their table they draw back their hand even in the middle of their eating. And though their inclination burns within them to receive some pleasure from their more delicious eating or drinking, they cool down their inclination not to eat and drink more, on the contrary they repent for which they have already eaten, lest they ate and drank more than what their body requires. This is what cools their nature and they repent for what they have done. Not so are the wicked, who even when they happened to perform a mitzva with enthusiasm and strong desire, because of their lust for eating and drinking they cooled themselves and turned back from their enthusiasm, because of their lust for nonsense.

5) MaorVaShemesh
These are the wise scholars by whom the whole world is nourish with righteousness, and they are nourished by an arm. (Brachot 17) And one should explain that the Creator gives bread (food) to all flesh, namely that the whole world and even Israel, do not eat except for their cravings, to feed their hungry appetites and nourish their bodies. However the righteous eat in order to strengthen their mind for the work of the Creator, and they eat in holiness (kedusha) and through their eating and intention in Torah they draw good and benevolent bestowals to Israel and for the renewing of their mind with greater additional wisdom.

6) Rabash, Vol 1, What Are the Merits and Transgressions of the Righteous in the Work
In the blessing over the food we say “May the merciful one send us multiple blessing to this house and to the table upon which we eat”. And we should understand what is this house and what is this table? “Table” is called the place where a person receives his nourishment, hence we say “the merciful one, he will send us multiple blessings, namely that the earnings that we receive from the Creator will not be grudging, which is behinatself reception. Meaning that the person asks the Creator that his livelihood that he uses to nourish his body will not enter the vessels of reception of his body, called “grudging”, as the sages said “grudging with others”.
Rather that it may be in behinat “multiple blessings” which are vessels of bestowal and is called “generous”, namely behinatHasadim, wanting to do only mercy, and this will be his nourishment, and that his livelihood will not be in behinat “begrudging”, called “receiving and not bestowing” and those who receive for themselves have no existence in the world. This means that if all the world worked in behinat bestowal then the world would exist even materially, as it is written in the book “Matan Torah”.

7) LikuteiMoharan, Batra Edition, #7
The sages said (Talmud Bavli, MasechetTaanit): “There is no talking in the meal” since at the time of the meal the light of the desire illuminates, which is in behinat surrounding light, which is behinat “silence” - behinat “be silent and this way ascend in thought”.

8) Masechet Sanhedrin, 23:71
Thus the clean minded of Jerusalem did, they did not enter the meal unless they knew who would sit at the meal with them.

9) The Customs of the Tzadikim (Righteous)
The custom of the righteous and men of action was to assemble and sit together, brothers seated together in unity, with love and friendship, at the holy Sabbath meal and particularly the third meal, to take upon themselves the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven with chanting, songs and praises. And one must not take it lightly.

10) ShomerEmunim, Article “TzahaliVaRoni, Rejoice and be Glad”, Chapter 9

When assembling together at the festive meal, each one should assist his friend that there will not be an uneducated in this pleasantness, because in these songs such as in the third meal and other Sabbath meals and other feast days and MelaveMalkah (welcoming the Bride) etc, that are sung together in one voice and with one heart, the great name of the Creator is magnified and sanctified in all the worlds.

11) Rabash, Vol 1, What is Preparation on the Eve of the Sabbath in the Work
The meal is called a “reward”, therefore we say “one who did not work on the eve of the Sabbath” which is the time to prepare the necessities for the meal, but one who did not prepare for the meal, “what will he eat”, and certainly the necessities for the meal is the work and exertion.

It follows that since the Sabbath is a gift called Seudah (meal), and it is a custom for the one preparing the meal to invite only those he loves, it follows that the “necessities for the meal”, the preparation, is the invitation to the meal, since from the side of the Creator the person does not give any the Creator any help with the meal, and the only thing that a person can do to prepare for the meal is to be invited. For this one can do only one thing, meaning to do good deeds, to find favor with the Creator and that the Creator will love him. As we say “He had chosen his people Israel with love”, which means that the Creator chooses his people Israel. And the question is who is “Israel”? This is the one who accepted upon himself “faith” and this is called “Israel”. Hence the entire preparation is the work to be Israel.

12) Baal Hasulam, Shamati 190, Every Act Leaves anImprint
...And on a good day, after the Havdala (end of holiday blessing). It is like a meal of Shabbat or a good day, where the corporeal pleasures awaken spiritual pleasures by way of root and branch. It is a kind of “next world.” And certainly, tasting from the next world requires great preparations during the six days of action. To the extent that one has prepared, so is one’s sensation.

But without any proper preparation to extend the spiritual taste of Shabbat, it is to the contrary: he grows worse due to the corporeal pleasures. This is so because after corporeal meals one is only drawn to sleep, and nothing more, since after eating comes sleep. Thus, his eating brought him lower.

But it requires great exertions to come to spirituality through corporeal pleasures, since this was the King’s will. Although they are in contrast, as spirituality is positioned under the line of bestowal, and corporeality under reception, and since this was the King’s will, hence spirituality is attracted to corporeal pleasures, placed under His Mitzvot, which are the pleasures of Shabbat and a good day.

13) Rabash, What is “One Who does not work on the Eve of the Sabbath, What will He Eat on the Sabbath”, in the Work
In the work one should interpret “Sabbath keeper” meaning “keeps” from the words “and his father kept the thing”, meaning that he sits and waits saying, when will I be able to attain the vessels fit for the Sabbath meal, that his aroma will spread, because the Sabbath meal is called “Good and pleasant, clothed in 613 mitzvot in the aspect of 613 advises.”
And as it is written in the Sulam, (Part 1, Item 1) that in each and every mitzva there is stored a special light, and this is already called the aspect of the Sabbath Meal. And one can attain it precisely after work and exertion, because it comes by keeping the 613 mitzvot in the aspect of advices, how to reach the discernment of “the light within her returns one to good.”
Hence the meaning of “one who keeps” namely who keeps the 613 mitzvot in the aspect of advices, how to reach the state of bestowal. And precisely in the vessels of bestowal one can enjoy the “Sabbath meal”, when the restriction and concealment are removed by the good and the pleasure. This is like the allegory of the drug store (Baal Hasulam, Letter 26) namely the remedy that is found in the 613 mitzvot in the aspect of advices, which heals the bitter potion that is spread over the good and pleasant. Hence if one does not attain the vessels of bestowal that are found in the Torah and mitzvot by exertion, the good and pleasure remains in concealment.

14) Rabash, Vol 2, What is “One who Partakes (enjoys) in the Groom’s Meal” in the Work
When the Light illuminates in the vessels, the vessel has nothing to do except to enjoy the light, which is the purpose of creation - “to do good to his creatures”, and this is the meaning of what the sages said “the Sabbath has come, rest has come”. Because when the light illuminates in the vessels there is no place for work and this is called “enjoying the Sabbath meal”. Hence the sages said “one who did not work on the eve of the Sabbath (to make vessels), what will he eat on the Sabbath?

Hence the Sabbath is called “a meal”, namely that it is the time to receive the good and pleasure, but if he has not prepared vessels on the eve of the Sabbath, when the light comes he has no vessels to receive the meal. For this reason the Sabbath is called “bride”, from the word to finish, end, completion, as it is written “on the seventh day the Creator finished all that he had made” meaning that the meal was prepared since the vessels for the meal were completed. As we know, we cannot say that the light is deficient, as it is written “the whole earth is filled with his glory”, but when the vessels are ready we can see the light meaning that the light is revealed in the vessels.