Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon. This halakha is based on Likutey Moharan 60. Topics: The Two Aspects of Wine; Kiddush on Shabbos; Waking Up from Spiritual Sleep; Sipurey Masiyos.
00:00 – PARAGRAPH 1. Non-boiled wine that is touched by a non-Jew is forbidden – it causes spiritual sleep. The 70 nations are an aspect of 70 Faces of Darkness that oppose the 70 Faces of Torah/Light. Reference to Likutey Moharan 23. The term נסך relates to sleep, as in כִּֽי־נָסַ֨ךְ עֲלֵיכֶ֚ם יְהֹוָה֙ ר֣וּחַ תַּרְדֵּמָ֔ה – “Hashem has poured upon you a spirit of deep sleep” (Yeshayahu 29:10).
04:54 – B’gematria the word יין – wine – and the word סוד – secret – are both 70. (Eruvin 65).
06:23 – PARAGRAPH 2. Touching is an aspect of the lowest level of עולם העשיה- the physical world. This is why it causes sleep. “Ten measures of sleep came down to the world, nine of them were taken by servants” (Kidushin 49). Awakening the soul is accomplished through Sipurey Masiyos – stories with spiritual intention.
09:21 – Rebbe Nachman contradicts three common sayings of the non-Torah world. For example, he states that the expression “Talking will not cause a woman to conceive” is actually not true.
11:00 – Most stories that people tell put others to sleep. But tzaddikim can awaken people’s consciousness of Hashem through stories told with profound intention.
11:30 – A basic principle in Kabbalah: negative judgements or character traits can only be repaired completely at their root. Therefore, since “Stories [of the world/illusions] are the problem, stories [of Torah] are the solution.”
*12:46 – The deeper meaning of the term Sipurey Masiyos and the process of telling stories to awaken the soul. כִּֽי־יְ֖הוָה יִתֵּ֣ן חָכְמָ֑ה מִ֜פִּ֗יו דַּ֣עַת וּתְבוּנָֽה – “For Hashem gives wisdom; from His mouth [come] knowledge and discernment” (Mishlei 2:6).
14:50 – Wine has two aspects: the power to cause sleep and the power to awaken. When a person is drunk he falls away from the 70 Faces of the Torah and everything becomes permissible, as in כִּֽי־יִתֵּ֣ן בַּכֹּ֣יס בַּכּ֣וֹס עֵינ֑וֹ יִ֜תְהַלֵּ֗ךְ בְּמֵישָׁרִֽים – “…when he puts his eye on the cup, all goes smoothly” (Mishlei 23:31). This is the state of spiritual sleep.
18:30 – חמרא וריחני פקחין – “Wine and and fragrant spices open [the intellect and the ability to speak]” (Sanhedrin 70).
16:47 – Wine can bring true joy, as in וְיַ֚יִן | יְשַׂמַּ֬ח לְבַב־אֱנ֗וֹשׁ – “And wine, which cheers a man’s heart…” (Tehillim 104:15).
18:36 – Why is wine called תירוש? Because if one merits, wine brings greater power of intellect, but if one doesn’t merit, wine brings poverty/sleep. (Sanhedrin 70 and Yuma 76) ראש – head/intellect vs. רש – poverty/sleep, as in אַל־תֶּֽאֱהַ֣ב שֵׁ֖נָה פֶּן־תִּוָּרֵ֑שׁ פְּקַ֖ח עֵינֶ֣יךָ שְֹֽבַֽע־לָֽחֶם – “Do not love sleep lest you become poor, open your eyes and be satisfied with bread” (Mishlei 20:13).
19:49 – We recite song only over wine, because song is another aspect of awakening, as we say on Shabbos in Lecha Dodi: עורי עורי שיר דברי – “Awake, awake! Give forth song!” A negative judgement or character trait can only be completely repaired at its root. To correct spiritual sleep, wine is elevated to its roots in holiness.
21:21 – Q&R about how sleep can be an aspect of עולם העשיה. All four worlds express action and עולם העשיה is the lowest of these worlds.
*22:00 – PARAGRAPH 3. “Ten measures of sleep came down to the world, nine of them were taken by servants” (Kidushin 49). עשיה is related to slavery, the lowest level of action. Shabbos is an aspect of waking up, because the six weekdays are associated with foolishness, as in שָׁ֩טוּ֩ הָעָ֨ם וְלָֽקְט֜וּ “They spread out [Zohar HaKodesh: became foolish]” (Bamidbar 11:8).
25:30 – NOTE: After Reb Nachman Tcherin ז”ל wrote sefer Yakara DeShabata he no longer slept during Shabbos at all. The neshama yeseyra – additional soul – received on Shabbos. However in practice: “Sleep on Shabbos is a pleasure”.
26:59 – Account of how the Arizal would visit the yeshivas of Olam HaEmes when he was asleep, as told over by his student, Reb Avraham Halevi Bruchim ז”ל.
*29:10 – On Shabbos, all 70 Faces of the Torah radiate light. This is why on Shabbos we can receive the Light of Hashem’s Countenance (Zohar HaKodesh, Terumah 135). The face of a person during the weekdays is not the same as their face on Shabbos.
30:00 – At the very beginning of Shabbos, just before ma’ariv on Friday night, we say כגונא דאינו תיחדין – “Just as they [the six sefiros of Zer Anpin] unite” (Zohar Terumah 134a). Toward the end of those paragraphs we say “Her face shines with a heavenly light” alluding to the fact that on Shabbos, all 70 Faces of the Torah are radiant.
30:30 – NOTE about Rabbi Chaim of Chernovitz ז”ל who authored the sefer Be’er Mayim Chayim, by which title he’s also known (1760-1816). He also wrote Siduro Shel Shabbos. It’s told that his face during weekdays was not recognizable as his face on Shabbos.
31:38 – Why we make kiddush specifically on wine, and why we begin Shabbos by telling the story of creation during Kiddush by saying וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכָל־צְבָאָֽם – “And the heavens and earth were completed, and all their array” – (Bereishis 2:1). Saying these words is an example of waking up from sleep by telling a “Story From Ancient Times” – the account of creation. Through elevating our speech in this way, we reconnect everything in creation to its Source. This is another aspect of “waking up from sleep” referred to in the Zohar HaKodesh as the “Awakening of All Worlds”.
*37:24 – Speech that comes from דעת is the life-energy of all worlds, as in בִּדְבַ֣ר יְ֖הֹוָה שָׁמַ֣יִם נַֽעֲשׂ֑וּ וּבְר֥וּחַ פִּ֜֗יו כָּל־צְבָאָֽם – “By the word of Hashem the heavens were made, and with the breath of His mouth, all their host” (Tehillim 33:6).
40:18 – שנה בשבת תענוג – “Sleep on Shabbos is a pleasure” because it’s an aspect of waking up from spiritual sleep (של”ה מסכת שבת נר מצוה נג).
40:59 – NOTE – Regulating sleep on Shabbos.
41:34 – Q&R Ways to merit the right kind of sleep on Shabbos. The first letters of שנה בשבת תענוג spell שבת.
43:14 – Closing blessings.
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