29. Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Yehuda were walking along the road. They reached the place of the village Sachnin, where Rav Hamnuna Saba (the elder) lived, and they were guests of his wife who had a small boy. Every day he went to school, and when he came home from school that day, he saw these sages. His mother told him to approach these lofty people and receive blessings from them. He approached them. As he was approaching, he retreated and said to his mother, I do not wish to approach them, since they did not read Kriat Sh'ma this day and they taught me that whoever does not recite the Sh'ma at its appropriate time is banned all that day.

30. They heard and marveled. They raised their hands and blessed him. They said, It is certainly true THAT WE DIDN'T READ THE KRIAT SH'MA, because today we were busy with a groom and a bride that did not have their minimum needs, and were thus being delayed in their marriage. There was no one to take up their cause and we did our best for them. THEREFORE, we could not read the Kriat Sh'ma at its appropriate time. And whoever performs a precept is exempt from a precept. They said to him, son how did you know? He said to them, By the fragrance of your garments I knew, when I approached you. They marvelled, sat down, washed their hands and ate bread.

31. Rabbi Yehuda's hands were dirty. He washed his hands but said the grace before he washed his hands. THE CHILD told them, If you are the disciples of Rav Shmaya the pious, you would not have blessed when your hands were still filthy. Whoever says the benediction with unclean hands deserves death.

32. The child opened the discussion with the verse: "When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not" (Shemot 30:20). We learn from this verse that whoever is not careful of this, and appears before the King with soiled hands, deserves to die. What is the reason? It is because a person's hands dwell at the top of the world. There is one finger on the hand of a person and that is the finger that Moses raised, MEANING THE MIDDLE FINGER THAT CORRESPONDS TO MOSES, WHO IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN, AS WILL BE EXPLAINED.

33. It is written: "And you shall make bars of acacia wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle... And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end" (Shemot 26:26-28). If you say that middle bar is another one and is not included in the five BARS, it is not so. Rather, that middle bar is one of the five BARS. Two BARS are from that side, two are from that side and one is in the middle. That was the middle bar, the pillar of Jacob, the secret of Moses, MEANING TIFERET, BECAUSE THE TWO BARS IN FRONT OF IT ARE CHESED AND GVURAH AND THE TWO BARS BEHIND IT ARE NETZACH AND HOD. Corresponding to this, there are five fingers on a person's hand and the middle bar, MEANING THE MIDDLE FINGER, is in the middle, larger and longer than the rest. All other FINGERS are supported by it, SINCE TIFERET IS INCLUSIVE OF ALL THE SIX ENDS.

34. These five bars are referred to as five hundred years - MEANING CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH AND HOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, since the Tree of Life THAT IS ZEIR ANPIN goes in them [meaning included in them]. The Holy Covenant is aroused by the five fingers of the hand, SINCE YESOD COMPRISES WITHIN IT CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH AND HOD, and that is a concealed matter about which I spoke. Therefore, all the blessings of the priest are dependent on the fingers. And the spreading of hands of Moses, MEANING WHERE IT SAYS: "AND SPREAD OUT HIS HANDS TO HASHEM..." (SHEMOT 9:33) was because of this.

35. If all this is inherent IN THE FINGERS, it is redundant to say that they must be clean when blessing the Holy One, blessed be He. Through them and their counterparts, MEANING THE UPPER CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH AND HOD, THAT ARE INDICATED THROUGH THEM, the Holy Name is blessed. Therefore, you who are so wise, why did you not pay attention to this? And you did not pay service to Rabbi Shmaya the pious, who declared any filth or stain rises to the Other Side, since the Other Side is sustained from that filth and dirt. Consequently, final water washings are obligatory and required.

36. They marveled, and could not speak. Rabbi Yehuda said, My son, what is your father's name? The boy was quiet for a moment. He rose AND WENT to his mother and kissed her. He said to her, Mother, these sages asked me about my father. Should I tell them? His mother said to him, My son, have you examined them, IF THEY ARE WORTHY? He said, Here, I checked them and did not find them to be proper. His mother whispered into his ears and he returned to them. He said to them, You have asked me about my father but he has already departed from the world. Every day that devout holy pious men walk the roads, he travels after them on a she-mule. If you are holy and elevated, why did you not notice him walking along and traveling after you on a she-mule?

37. At first, I saw THAT YOU DID NOT READ THE SH'MA and now I see THAT YOU ARE NOT HOLY AND ELEVATED; since my father did not see A HOLY MAN RIDING ON an donkey, without bringing after him an donkey, to carry the burden of Torah. Since you were not meritorious enough that my father should follow after you on an donkey, I will not tell you who my father is. Rabbi Yehuda said to Rabbi Yitzchak, It seems to us that this boy is not human. They ate. The boy was speaking words of Torah and giving new insights in the Torah. They said, Let us bless. He said to them, You spoke well, since the Holy Name is not blessed through this blessing only by summons.

38. He opened the discussion with the verse: "I will bless Hashem at all times..." (Tehilim 34:2). HE INQUIRES: Why did David see fit to say, "I will bless Hashem?" HE REPLIES: It is because David realized that a summoning is required and he therefore said, "I will bless," since when a person sits at his table, the Shechinah dwells there and the Other Side stands there. When a person summons to bless the Holy One, blessed be He, the Shechinah is restored to the supernal levels, TO ZEIR ANPIN, to receive blessings, and the Other Side is subdued. If a person does not summon others to bless the Holy One, blessed be He, the Other Side listens and is happy, because it will have a part in that blessing.