181. HE ASKS, What is the meaning of: "And they shall put my name" (Bemidbar 6:27)? Rabbi Yehuda said THAT THE EXPLANATION IS to establish it, as it is written: "And appoint them every one to his service and to his burden" (Bemidbar 4:19), MEANING THAT THE PRIESTS should appoint with their benediction the Sfirot of the right to the right and the Sfirot of the left to the left, as is proper. They must make no mistakes in them and appoint everything so the upper and lower beings will be blessed.
182. If they do it that way, it is written: "And I will bless them." Whom? MEANING those priests, as it is written: "And blessed be those that bless you" (Beresheet 27:29). It is written: "And I will bless them that bless you" (Beresheet 12:3). They bless the people and I will bless them, WHO BLESS. Therefore, it is written: "And they shall put" instead of: 'They shall say' or 'they shall remember.'
183. We have learned that any priest the people do not love should not raise his palms. There was a story about a priest who did stand up and raise his palms. Before he could finish this, he was turned into a pile of bones. What is the reason? That he did not bless lovingly. Another PRIEST stood up and raised his hands and blessed and fixed that day. Any priest that does not love the people, or whom the people do not love, should not raise his hands to bless the people, since it is written: "He that has a generous eye shall be blessed" (Mishlei 22:9). Do not say it "blessed," but rather 'will bless.'
184. We have learned that Rabbi Yitzchak said: Come and see what is written about that wicked Bilaam. When he gave himself to bless the children of Yisrael, he looked with the evil eye so that the blessing would not endure. And he was imbuing his sayings with that evil eye, as it is written: "The speech of Bilaam the son of Beor" (Bemidbar 24:3). What is the meaning of "the son of Beor?" It means the one that hated them more than anyone else in the world, SINCE BEOR IS DERIVED FROM HATRED. "And the speech of the man whose eye is open (Heb. stum)" (Ibid.), MEANING that he closed (Heb. satam) his good eye from them, in order that they would not be blessed and the blessing would not endure.
185. Rabbi Yehuda said: It is certainly so that we find the opening of the eye as a prerequisite for giving blessings, as it is written: "Open your eyes" (Daniel 9:18), in order to bless. In the blessings of Rav Hamnuna Saba, that is how he used to say: The Holy One, blessed be He, shall open his eyes upon you. About that wicked one, it is written: "Whose eye is open (also: 'closed')." That was in order that they should not be blessed through him. Rabbi Yitzchak said: Therefore, the priest that blesses with a good eye, his blessing endures. Of the one that does not bless with a good eye, it is written: "Do not eat the bread of him who has an evil eye, nor desire his dainties" (Mishlei 23:6), meaning to say, do not wish to have any blessing from him at all.
186. Rabbi Yosi said, Come and see that it is written: "But Hashem your Elohim would not hearken to Bilaam..." (Devarim 23:6). HE ASKS: "Hearken to Bilaam?" It should have said, 'to Balak,' since Balak did everything. What then is the meaning of: "to Bilaam?" HE REPLIES: It is only because he was closing his eyes in order that Yisrael should not get the blessings. We learned that Rabbi Yosi said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Bilaam, 'Wicked one, you closed your eyes in order that my children should not be blessed. I'll open my eyes and all the things you say, I'll convert to blessings.' This is what is meant by: "But Hashem your Elohim turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Hashem your Elohim loved you..." (Ibid.).
187. About this, it is written: "He that has a generous eye shall be blessed; for he gives of his bread to the poor" (Mishlei 22:9). What is the meaning of: "of his bread?" It is as we explained that is written: "The bread of his Elohim...of the most holy..." (Vayikra 21:22). It is that the bread of his Elohim emanates from the Holy of Holies "for he gives of his bread to the poor." We learned how beloved Yisrael are before the Holy One, blessed be He, that the higher beings only are blessed for the sake of Yisrael.
188. We learned that, in the name of Rabbi Chiya in the name of Rabbi Yosi, Rabbi Yehuda said: The Holy One, blessed be He, swore that He would not enter into celestial Jerusalem, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE COMPLETE UNION OF YUD-HEI, until Yisrael entered terrestrial Jerusalem, MEANING UNTIL THE COMPLETE REDEMPTION, as it says: "The Holy One in the midst of you: and I will not come as an enemy (also: 'enter the city')" (Hoshea 11:9). As long as the Shechinah was in exile, the name above was not perfected, and it is as though the Holy Name remains wanting for the entire duration that all the Corrections (formations) have not been carried out, MEANING, PRIOR TO THE END OF CORRECTION (FORMATION).
189. Rabbi Aba was going to Lod. Rabbi Zira bar Rav met him. He said to him, Here I saw the presence of the Shechinah, and whoever sees the presence of the Shechinah needs to follow and run after Her. That is what is meant by: "Let us therefore know, let us follow on to know Hashem" (Hoshea 6:3), and: "And many people shall go and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Hashem...for out of Zion shall go forth Torah...'" (Yeshayah 2:3). I wish to follow you and learn from the good things that you taste daily from the holy chamber OF RABBI SHIMON BAR YOCHAI.