The things one should observe at the Shabbat table

620. The breads of thanksgiving are forty Challot, ten wafers, ten mixed with hot water and oil, ten of leavened bread, ten of unleavened bread, making a total of forty, PARALLELING THE FOUR YUD'S THAT ARE IN THE FOUR YUD HEI VAV HEI'S THAT ARE IN THE FOUR FACES, NAMELY paralleling the Yud of Yud Hei Vav Hei of the four faces of a man, AND PARALLELING the Yud of the Yud Hei Vav Hei of the four faces of a lion, AND PARALLELING the Yud of Yud Hei Vav Hei of the four faces of an ox, AND PARALLELING the Yud of the Yud Hei Vav Hei of the four faces of an eagle. And this is the first preparation for the King's table, for there are ten things that a person must observe at the Shabbat table.

621. The first THING TO OBSERVE FOR THE SHABBAT TABLE IS to prepare the table, as for one who eats in the presence of a King, as it is written: "This is the table that is before Hashem" (Yechezkel 41:22). The second PREPARATION is to wash the hands to the extent that the sages decreed, namely five knots, THAT IS THE FIVE FINGERS OF THE RIGHT HAND, which contain fourteen joints, FOR EACH FINGER HAS THREE JOINTS, AND THE THUMB ONLY TWO, TOTALING FOURTEEN JOINTS. Similarly there are fourteen joints in the left, making A TOTAL OF 28 joints. And corresponding to these 28 JOINTS IS THE SECRET OF "the power of Hashem" (where the word for 'power' is koach = 28), and these are the 28 letters of the first VERSE in the Works of Creation: "IN THE BEGINNING ELOHIM CREATED THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH" (BERESHEET 1:1). THERE ARE 28 LETTERS IN THE verse, and about them it is written: "And now, I pray you, let the power (Heb. koach) of Hashem be great" (Bemidbar 14:17).

622. The ten fingers correspond to the ten sayings at the creation of the world. For this reason, the sages of the Mishnah taught: Whoever is careless over the washing of the hands is uprooted from the world. Why is this? It is because the ten fingers of the hands and the 28 joints of the fingers contain the secret of the ten sayings and the 28 letters with which the world was created.

623. The third thing to observe is the cup of benediction, for which ten things were ordained: It requires washing, rinsing, adorning, wrapping, and must be undiluted, full, taken up with both hands, and placed in the right hand; he who says the blessing must look at it, it must be raised a handbreadth from the surface, and he must send it around to those members of his household as a present.

624. And according to the esoteric meaning, IT IS THE SECRET OF the cup "full with the blessing of Hashem" (Devarim 33:23), for the numerical value of the word cup (Heb. kos) is the same as Elohim, WHICH IS BINAH, NAMELY MALCHUT ENCLOTHING IN BINAH. And from there comes the Neshamah that is named after it, cup, as it is written: "I will raise the cup of salvation" (Tehilim 116:13). What is the meaning of "salvation"? It is the five fingers THAT HOLD THE CUP, which correspond to the five Sfirot: CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD, that are in the cup, which is the living Elohim which is Binah, that spreads THROUGH THE FIVE SFIROT to fifty gates, which are five times ten. That is, the letter Yud stands for the ten things that the sages ordained for the cup, which is the living Elohim, and the five (Hei) letters OF THE WORD ELOHIM, which are five in number, AND TEN TIMES FIVE COMES TO FIFTY GATES.

625. And they taught about the cup that it needs washing and rinsing, where washing refers to the outside, rinsing to the inside. And the secret of the matter is that the inside and the outside OF THE CUP should be the same, for whoever has been privileged to receive a Soul from this cup, WHICH IS BINAH, SUCH A SOUL MUST be pure both within and without. And the secret of the matter is: "and cleanse it, and hallow it" (Vayikra 16:19) with purification on the inside and sanctification on the outside. And just as the cup, whose purification and sanctification both inside and outside is only with water, so the purification and sanctification of the soul, both inside and outside, is only with the Torah. And this is why Rabban Gamliel said: No one whose inside does not correspond to his exterior may enter the academy house. This is because such a person is not from the Tree of Life, but from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, FOR WHOEVER IS LACKING HOLINESS ON THE OUTSIDE OR PURITY ON THE INSIDE IS A MIXTURE OF GOOD AND EVIL.

626. The adornment THAT IS STATED IN RESPECT OF THE CUP, has been explained thus: He crowns it with pupils. And the secret is that Hei is the cup, NAMELY BINAH, and it is crowned with pupils, with the letter Yud, which is a diadem on the Hei, FOR THE PUPILS MULTIPLY AND DRAW DOWN CHOCHMAH. The wrapping THAT IS MENTIONED IN RESPECT TO THE CUP refers to the need to wrap the head, NAMELY TO COVER IT, because the Shechinah is over his head. For this is what the sages of the Mishnah taught: A scholar of the Law is forbidden to walk four cubits with his head uncovered because, "the whole earth is full of His glory" (Yeshayah 6:3). And even more so IS IT FORBIDDEN to go with uncovered head during a blessing or the mention of the Holy Name!

627. AND THE REASON FOR THE PROHIBITION OF GOING WITH UNCOVERED HEAD IS that the letter Yud of Yud Hei Vav Hei, WHICH IS CHOCHMAH, is enveloped in light (Heb. or - Aleph Vav Resh) and becomes air (Heb. avir - Aleph Vav Yud Resh), since the letter Yud, which is Chochmah, is in the air. And this is the light with which He enveloped Himself when He created the world, as it is written: "Who covers Himself with light as with a garment" (Tehilim 104:2). Thus "Let there be light" (Beresheet 1:3) is 'Let there be air'. And the sages of Sitrei Torah taught: Before anything else was formed, the existences were formed. Thus: "Let there be light, and there was light" REFERS TO LIGHT that had existed previously.

628. AND REGARDING the 'undiluted' IN RESPECT TO THE CUP OF BLESSING, they taught: Undiluted from the barrel, WHICH MEANS THAT IT SHOULD NOT BE MIXED WITH ANY WATER THERE. And the secret is: The upper Shechinah, WHICH IS BINAH, is the eighth Sfirah OF THE TEN SFIROT, WHEN ONE STARTS TO COUNT from the below upwards, and is for that reason called 'Chet' (whose numerical value is eight). And this is alluded to in the verse: "Through wisdom a house (Heb. bayit) is built" (Mishlei 24:3). Hence a barrel (Heb. chavit - Chet Bet Yud Tav) IS THE LETTERS CHET AND BAYIT (Bet Yud Tav). FOR THIS SHOWS THAT THE WINE, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF GVURAH OF ZEIR ANPIN, IS TO BE DRAWN DOWN FROM BINAH, THAT IS CALLED 'BARREL', NAMELY CHET BAYIT. And because BINAH is life, as it is written, "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold on her" (Mishlei 3:18) therefore, the wine that is DRAWN DOWN from there, FROM BINAH, is undiluted (lit. 'live'). And this is the wine of the Torah, for whoever engages in it is called 'live'. And furthermore, the Righteous, WHICH IS YESOD, is CALLED 'live' and is undiluted from the barrel, BECAUSE ITS LIGHTS ARE DRAWN FROM BINAH, THAT IS CALLED 'BARREL', AS ABOVE.

629. Wine comes in two colors, white and red. THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF WINE IS seventy facets, this makes 72, AND THIS ALLUDES TO THE FACT THAT THE LIGHTS OF THE 72 LETTER NAME ILLUMINATE IN WINE. And corresponding to the two colors of the wine are 'Remember' and 'Keep', referring to the Shabbat, AND THESE, TOGETHER WITH the seventy words of the SHABBAT EVE Kiddush, make 72.

630. AND THE CUP OF BENEDICTION MUST BE full, as it is written: A cup "full with the blessing of Hashem" (Devarim 33:23); and also he HAS TO BE full of the wine of the Torah, and so must a person be perfect, as it is written: "a plain man" (Beresheet 25:27). THE MEANING OF THIS IS a perfect (Heb. shalem) man, as in the verse: "And Jacob came to Shalem" (Beresheet 33:18), NAMELY JACOB IS HERE CALLED 'PERFECT'. So also must the Soul be perfect, without any fault being in it, because "For whatever man he be that has a blemish, he shall not approach" (Vayikra 21:18). So also here, THE LETTERS OF Elohim: (Aleph-Lamed-Hei-Yud -Mem) can be re written as Aleph-Lamed-Mem with Yah (Yud-Hei). And IT HAS the numerical value of cup (Heb. kos), WHICH IS 86. THUS THE CUP HAS to be full (Heb. male), for Aleph- Lamed-Mem in reverse order is male: (Mem Lamed Aleph). FOR THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF THE LETTERS OF THE WORD CUP IS THE SAME AS 'FULL OF YAH' (MALE YAH). For when is it full? When there is Yah there. And that is: "Because Yah has sworn by His throne" (Shemot 17:16), WHERE THE NAME IS NOT COMPLETE, BUT LACKS VAV HEI. The numerical value of Adonai, TREATING ALL TENS AS UNITS, Vav-Hei. The Central Column is full from both of them, OF YUD- HEI AND THE VAV-HEI. And therefore THE NAME OF Adam (Eng. 'man') dwells upon it, which is the explicit Name, YUD-VAV-DALET, HEI, HEI- ALEPH, VAV-ALEPH-VAV, HEI-ALEPH; WHICH HAS THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF 'ADAM'.

631. REGARDING THE CUP OF BENEDICTION, THAT must be taken up with both hands, corresponding to the Torah which was written on two tablets. Five commandments on the one tablet correspond to the five fingers of the right hand, and five commandments on the second tablet correspond to the five fingers of the left hand, that were given with the right, that is, the right hand, THAT IS TO SAY THAT THE FIVE OF THE LEFT WERE INCLUDED IN THE FIVE OF THE RIGHT. And for this reason IT IS WRITTEN: "and took in his hand the two tablets of stone" (Shemot 34:4), and not 'in his hands,' NAMELY IN ONLY ONE HAND, WHICH WAS THE RIGHT, and this is as Scripture testifies: "from His right hand went a fiery law for them" (Devarim 33:2).

632. REGARDING THE INSTRUCTION THAT HE WHO SAYS THE BLESSING must look at the cup of benediction, this is because it corresponds to the Land of Yisrael, WHICH IS MALCHUT ENCLOTHING BINAH, about which it is said: "the eyes of Hashem your Elohim are always upon it" (Devarim 11:12); and the eyes of heaven are the seventy (numerical value of the letter Ayin, which, as a word, means 'eye') members of the Sanhedrin, with Moses and Aaron over them, they being the two upper eyes, NAMELY, CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, being one right eye and one left eye, amounting to 72, the same numerical value as the expression 'with wine' (Heb. beyayin). FOR THE SEVENTY MEMBERS OF THE SANHEDRIN CORRESPOND TO THE SEVEN SFIROT: CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD, YESOD AND MALCHUT, EACH ONE BEING COMPOSED OF TEN. AND OVER THEM ARE CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, WHICH ARE MOSES AND AARON, AND THIS IS THE SECRET OF HIS LOOKING AT IT, TO DRAW DOWN CHOCHMAH AND BINAH TO THE CUP, WHICH IS MALCHUT, and this is the secret of why he who says the blessing must look at the cup.

633. AND THE CUP OF BENEDICTION must be raised a handbreadth from the surface. Since the letter Hei OF YUD HEI VAV HEI is a cup, it has to be raised up to the letter Yud OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, which is CALLED 'a handbreadth', for the Hei is opened up in it with the five (Hei) fingers, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE FIFTY GATES OF BINAH. And he must send THE CUP OF BENEDICTION round to members of his household as a present, NAMELY in order that his wife should be blessed, for she is THE SECRET OF the Nefesh, about which it is said: "but now our soul (Heb. Nefesh) is dried away: there is nothing at all" (Bemidbar 11:6), and she is blessed and bears fruits, as it is written: "Let the earth bring forth grass" (Beresheet 1:11).

634. And the fourth THING TO OBSERVE AT THE TABLE is that matters of Torah should be discussed over the table so that the verse "For all tables are full of vomit and filth" (Yeshayah 28:8) should not be fulfilled in him as it is with the ignorant. But it was taught in Sitrei (lit. 'hidden') Torah: let him who wants to grow rich turn to the north; namely he should place the table northwards, for the table is left, which is Judgment. He has, THEREFORE, to connect it to the right, which is the Torah that was given out of Chesed, which is Mercy, which is the right hand of Hashem.

635. And the fifth THING TO OBSERVE AT THE TABLE was taught by the sages of the Mishnah: The meal must be lengthened for the sake of the poor, THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT. And the secret of the matter is that charity should lengthen his days, that he should not die young, just as does the Torah which is longevity for the Soul in two worlds: this world and the World to Come. Charity, likewise, is longevity for the body in two worlds, as it is written: "for He is your life, and the length of your days" (Devarim 30:20), which is interpreted to mean: 'your life' in this world, and 'the length of your days' in the World to Come. AND THE MEANING OF the World to Come for the body is at the resurrection of the dead, that after it rises at the resurrection of the dead, it will not die. And just as it will be in the World to Come so will it be in this world.

636. And the sixth THING TO OBSERVE is that he should not be a voracious glutton at the King's table, as was Esau, who said: "Give me to swallow" (Beresheet 25:30), by gulping it down, but by way of mastication, GRINDING THE FOOD WITH HIS TEETH. So, too, one who produces words of prayer or words of Torah from his mouth, should bring them out, chewed over, and complete; NAMELY, HE SHOULD CONSIDER THEM AND GO OVER THEM, AS THOUGH CHEWING THEM OVER, and not in a gulping fashion, imperfectly. And furthermore, because of the danger that the food might enter his trachea instead of his esophagus, HE MUST EAT BY WAY OF MASTICATING AND NOT GULPING.

637. And the seventh PREPARATION is water at the end of the meal, as it has been taught: Water to wash the hands at the beginning of the meal is a precept and at the end of the meal is an obligation, while WATER in between (courses) optional. With the water at the beginning of the meal, he has to raise his fingers up so that the dirty water will not run back and defile the hands. And there are sages who held the opinion that the water at the end of the meal is because of Sdomite salt, lest it blind the eyes. They thereby removed from us the obligation, FOR TO WASH THE HANDS AT THE END OF THE MEAL IS NO MORE THAN GOOD ADVICE, IN ORDER NOT TO BLIND THE EYES, AND IS NOT OBLIGATORY. And there are secret matters with those who held that WATER TO WASH THE HANDS AT THE END OF THE MEAL is obligatory. And it is not good practice to contradict the words of the great, but to them may be applied the verse: "according to the sentence of the Torah which they shall teach you" (Devarim 17:11).

638. And furthermore, three sanctifications were stated in this connection, as it is written: "you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy" (Vayikra 11:44). "sanctify yourselves" refers to the water for washing the hands at the beginning of the meal. "and you shall be holy" refers to the water at the end of the meal. "for...holy" is pleasant oil TO REMOVE THE DIRT FROM THE FINGERS. "I am Hashem" is a blessing. And the water in the middle is between cheese and meat, and this is why it is written: "you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy." Happy is this people whose Master places them near to Him, AND WHO IMBUES THEM WITH HIS HOLINESS!

639. So, too, COULD BE SAID, "sanctify yourselves" refers to the time of sexual intercourse. The initial emission of a man's seed is a precept, NAMELY, KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENT TO BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY, while the latter is THE SEED of the female, which is obligatory, THAT IS TO SAY: THE SEED OF THE MALE OBLIGATES HER TO PRODUCE SEED. And THE WATER in between is hinted at in "and curdled me like cheese" (Iyov 10:10), NAMELY, THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, WHO GIVES SOLID FORM TO THE SEED FOR THE BUILDING UP OF THE EMBRYO, as it is written: "Have You not poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese?" And this is the allusion TO THE WATER THAT IS IN THE MIDDLE, between cheese and meat, for it is said about Him, ABOUT THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE: "You have clothed me with skin and flesh" (Ibid. 11).

640. The eighth THING TO OBSERVE is that at least three men must be present for the cup of benediction. Why? BECAUSE THE CUP ALLUDES TO BINAH, and Binah is the third of the ten Sfirot, WHEN COUNTING THEM from the top downwards, NAMELY, KETER, CHOCHMAH AND BINAH. For this reason, if less than three men are present, the cup is not required. ANOTHER EXPLANATION WHY at least three men must be present for the cup of benediction is that it refers to 'They call You thrice holy'. Furthermore, the Torah did not state less than three, NAMELY: Priests, Levites and Yisrael, WHICH ARE the Torah, Prophets and the Writings, AND IT WAS GIVEN in the third month, on the third day. And this Binah is Yud- Hei-Vav OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE THREE COLUMNS. And in its regard it was said: The night has three watches. And Malchut is the fourth Hei, WHICH RECEIVES ALL THREE COLUMNS, and about her it was said: The night has four watches, CORRESPONDING TO THE THREE COLUMNS AND MALCHUT THAT RECEIVES THEM. And the letter Shin with the three branches corresponds to the three watches, while the letter Shin with four branches, corresponds to the four watches.

641. And the ninth THING TO OBSERVE is the cup of benediction, that is one quarter of a log, the amount corresponding to the letter Hei, WHICH IS the fourth LETTER of the Name Yud Hei Vav Hei. And the tenth THING TO OBSERVE is that when there are ten men present, he WHO SAYS GRACE adds 'let us bless our Elohim'. THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT the lower Shechinah, WHICH IS MALCHUT, is both fourth and tenth - the fourth letter of the name Yud Hei Vav Hei, and the tenth in the count of the ten Sfirot - WHICH ARE THE SECRET OF THE TEN LETTERS Yud-Vav-Dalet, Hei- Aleph, Vav-Aleph-Vav, Hei-Aleph. AND THEREFORE THE PRESENCE OF TEN PERSONS IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO MENTION THE NAME 'OUR ELOHIM.' And a man must be very careful not to throw these matters in a place where he shouldn't, like one who throws away bread, and how much more so one who throws out from his table the bread of the Torah, for it is the Shechinah, about which it is said: "This is the table that is before Hashem" (Yechezkel 41:22). End of Ra'aya Meheimna (the Faithful Shepherd).