In the previous section we learned the Alter Rebbe's foundational principle: something that comes from kelipas nogah (the intermediate "shell" that is neither holy nor outright impure) can be elevated into holiness, and everything depends on a person's intention and purpose. It is worth emphasizing that one basic condition comes before all of this: the thing must be kosher. This rule is not limited to matters of food; it applies to absolutely everything. If a thing is forbidden, it belongs to the three impure kelipos, and there is simply no discussion of elevating it. Only something permitted stands in the realm of kelipas nogah, and there everything hinges on the purpose for which it is done.
The first example: eating the fatty meat of an ox
In the passage we studied in the previous lesson, the Alter Rebbe brought a real-life example of a person who eats fatty meat for the sake of serving Hashem. The source of this example is a Gemara in Maseches Bava Kama.
There we find a lengthy halachic discussion in which Rava asked Rav Nachman a series of questions concerning an ox and a sheep and the payments of four and five times the value. Some of the questions Rav Nachman answered on the spot, but one of them he did not answer at the time. Says the Gemara: "לצפרא אמר ליה" - the next morning Rav Nachman came to Rava and told him that he now had an answer to the question. After giving the answer, he explained why he had not answered the night before: "דלא אכלי בישרא דתורא" - at the moment he was asked, he had not yet eaten of the meat of the ox. Afterwards he went home, dined and ate ox meat, and through that he merited clarity of mind, so that by morning the answer was already in his hands.
Two approaches are offered in explaining this story:
The approach of Tosafos: the words are to be taken literally. Tosafos address the obvious question of why Rav Nachman had not eaten meat during the course of the day, since he could have dined at midday and answered immediately. They explain that on that particular day Rav Nachman was fasting. He sat, learned and analyzed the halachah, but since he had not eaten all that day, the answer did not come to him.
The approach of Rashi: the intent is not literal, that Rav Nachman actually needed fatty meat; rather he was speaking in a figure of speech. In Maseches Bava Basra we are told of Rava's students who said to Abaye's students: "Instead of gnawing on dry bones by Abaye, come and eat fatty meat by Rava." That is, Abaye's style of learning was dry and terse, while Rava's learning was rich in reasoning, in taste and in pleasure. Accordingly, Rashi explains that when Rav Nachman said he had not eaten fatty meat, he meant that he had not yet gotten to the bottom of the matter's flavor, whereas by the next day he had penetrated to the depth of the reasoning, and therefore the answer was in his hands.
Here the Alter Rebbe deliberately follows the approach of Tosafos, because that is the one relevant to our subject: from it we have a proof that even eating fatty meat can produce clarity of mind in the study of Torah. And when that is the purpose of the eating, "להרחיב דעתו לה' ולתורתו" ("to broaden his mind for Hashem and His Torah"), then the eating itself literally becomes holiness.
The second example: drinking spiced wine
For the sake of completeness it is worth noting that this same Rav Nachman also made use of wine in order to achieve clarity of mind. In Maseches Eiruvin it is brought in his name: "כל כמה דלא שתינא רביעתא דחמרא - לא צילא דעתאי" - as long as he has not drunk a revi'is of wine, his mind is not clear. Rav Nachman, then, knew how to use meat and wine to bring himself to clarity of mind.
The quotation the Alter Rebbe brings, "כדאמר רבא: חמרא וריחני פקחין" ("as Rava said: wine and fragrances make one sharp"), has its source in Maseches Yoma. Rava there reads closely into the verse "ויין ישמח לבב אנוש" ("and wine gladdens the heart of man"): in the written form and the read form of the word "ישמח" two opposite states are hinted at - if one is worthy, it gladdens him; if he is not worthy, it desolates him (from the word שממה, desolation, a term for a fallen state). From here Rava concludes that spiced wine and fragrances sharpen the mind.
Here we have a striking illustration of our theme: wine is in the category of kelipas nogah. It can descend and drag a person down with it, and it can rise and lift a person up with it. Everything depends on the purpose of the drinking and the eating: if the purpose is for the sake of Heaven and for the service of Hashem, then the thing literally becomes holiness.
These examples, of someone who eats fatty meat or drinks aged wine solely for this purpose, are relatively uncommon. The Alter Rebbe therefore adds a more widespread example: eating and drinking in order to fulfill the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos and Yom Tov, the pleasure of Shabbos and the festival. There is a person in whose home meat is not found all week long, and only in honor of Shabbos does he buy meat and wine, season and prepare them properly and enjoy the taste. Yet it is clear that everything he is doing is for the sake of a mitzvah, as is ruled in Shulchan Aruch, that one must give Shabbos and Yom Tov their pleasure with meat and wine.
When a person approaches the matter this way, the life-force of the meat and the wine that flowed from kelipas nogah has been refined and clarified. Beforehand, while the meat lay in the butcher shop and the wine was stored in the barrel, they were kelipas nogah; and from the moment a person used them properly, "עולה לה' כעולה וכקרבן" ("it ascends to Hashem like an olah offering and like a korban").
The Rebbe's father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, reads precisely into the two expressions "olah" and "korban," noting that they correspond to the two examples: "olah" corresponds to the meat that goes up and is burned upon the altar, and "korban" corresponds to the wine that is poured as a libation on the altar. In each of the two there exists the correct manner of use, through which they become holiness.
From eating to speech: "milsa debedichusa"
Until now we have dealt with examples involving eating and drinking. Now the Alter Rebbe brings an example from the realm of speech: "וכן האומר מילתא דבדיחותא" ("and so too one who says a word of humor"), a witticism. Obviously we are not speaking of a joke that contains something forbidden - mockery, lashon hara, gossip, or something immodest - for that belongs to the three impure kelipos and there is no discussion about it at all. We are speaking of words of humor that in themselves are in the category of kelipas nogah: those very same words can fall downward and can also rise up into holiness, and everything depends on the way they were said and on their purpose.
And for what purpose should one say a milsa debedichusa? On this the Alter Rebbe says: "לפקח דעתו ולשמח לבו לה' ולתורתו ועבודתו, שצריכים להיות בשמחה" ("to sharpen his mind and gladden his heart for Hashem and His Torah and His service, which must be with joy"). The service of Hashem must be with joy and the study of Torah must be with joy, and there are times when it is precisely the saying of a milsa debedichusa that brings a person to the alertness of mind and the gladness of heart that are needed for this.
In his sichos the Rebbe referred on several occasions to things that function as a kind of milsa debedichusa in day-to-day life:
A niggun: at a farbrengen a niggun would be sung as the Rebbe entered, and likewise after his words and as he left. A niggun brings a person to joy, and a milsa debedichusa need not specifically be a joke told in words. A niggun too can, Heaven forbid, descend to a place where it does not belong, and it can also be a niggun of holiness.
Saying "l'chaim": drinking a little mashke and saying "l'chaim" can pull a person down, yet on the other hand it can specifically open his heart and help him absorb far better the words that will be said afterwards.
One can find the same thing in the world of teaching: a teacher walks into the classroom and opens with a sharp remark, an intriguing question, or an interesting topic from world events. With that he can wake up the hearts of drowsy students and open their minds toward the learning. These things prepare the ground for the serious lesson that will follow, so that the students will be attentive and ready to receive what is being said.
To summarize: in this section we established that the condition of kashrus comes before everything else, and that in anything permitted it all depends on the purpose. We saw the source of the two examples the Alter Rebbe brings: eating the fatty meat of an ox, from the story of Rav Nachman and Rava in Bava Kama, where the Alter Rebbe follows the approach of Tosafos (literally, because of the fast) and not the approach of Rashi (a figure of speech, drawn from the words of the students of Rava and Abaye); and drinking spiced wine, from the words of Rav Nachman in Eiruvin and from Rava's words in Yoma, "חמרא וריחני פקחין," in which the two states are hinted at: if one is worthy it gladdens him, if he is not worthy it desolates him. We added the common example of oneg Shabbos and Yom Tov, in which the life-force of the meat and the wine is refined and ascends to Hashem "like an olah offering and like a korban." Finally we moved from eating to speech: the "milsa debedichusa" said in order to sharpen the mind and gladden the heart for Hashem and His Torah.
In the next section we will continue with the Alter Rebbe's words in chapter 7 and delve more deeply into understanding the refinement and elevation of kelipas nogah.