2021-01-19 – LH2 – OC2 – Birkhas HaMazon 5 – Para. 2 – Four Negative Kinds of Torah Study are Counteracted by the Four Blessings After a Bread Meal; Malach Mem Tess; Mistake of the People of Beitar

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Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon. Four negative kinds of Torah study are counteracted by Birkhas HaMazon (four blessings after a bread meal). מטטרון – “Malach Mem Tess”; Mistake of the People of Beitar. This halakha is based on Likutey Moharan 28.
00:00 REVIEW of yesterday’s shiur: the four negative kinds of Torah study, the four aspects of Alef; Adam, Chava (Eve), and the snake.
02:00 – PARAGRAPH 2. Four negative incidents that began with the word “af” – anger. 1) The words of Adam in his defense of his sin; 2) The words of the baker when Yosef HaTzaddik when he was in prison; 3) The complaint of Korach’s followers against Moshe Rabbeinu; 4) The words of Haman when he reports his invitation to Esther’s banquet. All draw their strength from the “fallen alefs“. These allude to the four negative kinds of Torah study, the four aspects of alef; Adam, Chava, and the snake.
14:50 – QUESTION: What happened to the Lamed of the word Alef?
16:50 – QUESTION: Where was Adam when the snake tempted Chava?
17:35 – PARAGRAPH 3. How the four blessings of Birkhas HaMazon counteract the four negative kinds of Torah study.
22:00 – Reference to the Sdeh Chemed on the principle that a Jew is not supposed to leave Eretz Yisrael. [Rabbi Chaim Hezekiah Medini (Jerusalem 1834 – Hebron, 1904), known by the title of his commentary on halacha: Sdei Chemed.]
26:30 – The Beis HaMikdash is the source of True Torah.
27:12 – The word Tziyun (gravesite) is the same gematria as Yosef. The blessing Boneh Yerusahalyim draws the holiness of Torah and Beis HaMikdash.
28:43 – The fourth blessing, HaTov veHaMeitiv, refers to the power of the tzaddikim to extract the good from Torah learning that has fallen. The process of extracting the good from something that seems negative is alluded to in the structure of the letter “Tess”. Story of Rabbi Meir and the pomegranate.
32:10 – NOTE: There are different yeshivas in shemayaim (heaven), the highest is Mesivta Ilai (“Upper Yeshiva”), which corresponds to Shabbos. Hashem Himself presides in this mesifta. Here there is no debate; all revelations are clear facts. Below that is the Mesivta HaRakeah (“Yeshiva of the Firmament/Heavens”), which corresponds to the back and forth dialogue of the six weekdays. Here מטטרון presides. The inner letters of his name (Tess – Tess) equal 18 – chai alluding to the Aitz HaChaim, as opposed to the Aitz HaDaas. Aitz HaChaim is where good and evil are mixed together. The outer letters spell “rimon” (pomegranate). This is what is hinted in the story of Rabbi Meir.
36:12 – NOTE about LaG B’Omer: Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai z”l was niftar on the 18th of Iyar and his gravesite is in Meron. The inner letters of Malach Mem Tess hint to the 18th of Iyar, the outer letters hint at Meron.
37:23 – Return to Birkhas HaTov veHaMeitiv.
44:00 – Why is the burial of Beitar’s dead commemorated in the Birkhas HaMazon?
46:28 – QUESTION about the connection between tikkun habris (repair of physical purity) and tikkun achila (repair of eating). RESPONSE references the sin of Adam and Chava.
50:25 – QUESTION about the mistake of the people of Beitar. RESPONSE references the Kohen Gadol being asked “Which is better food, lamb or goat?” A person has to search for the true talmidei chochomim.
58:28 – QUESTION about desire for food leading to other sins. RESPONSE includes a reference to Likutey Moharan 60, Paragraph 6.