Challah 3 – Reward for a Mitzvah Is Joy – Thunder Straightens Out the Heart – The Mind is Nourished by Bread – Eating in Holiness – Matzah on Pesach Elevates Chometz During the Year – Achieving Tefilah beKoach – Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon.
Hilkhos Challah 3 is based on Likutey Moharan 5 – “BeChatzotzros”.
00:00 – PARAGRAPH 1.
03:30 – The physical world is composed of three dimensions: space, time, and levels of soul – Domem, Tzomeyach, Chai, Medaber.
04:00 – True joy is impossible until the heart is “straightened out”. The sound of thunder removes the crookedness in the heart. A person can generate the quality of thunder through Tefilah beKoach – a higher level of sincerity in prayer achieved by using the breath more fully and applying stronger mental/emotional focus.
08:00 – The mind should be pure and cleared of troubles. Morning is an aspect of chessed. All revelation comes about through chessed.
*12:00 – PARAGRAPH 2. Hafrashas Challah – separating a portion of bread dough for the Kohen. Chometz is souring/spoilage of dough and alludes to misuse of the mind. The goal is to free the mind from the chometz of negative thoughts. Chometz is associated with the Sutra Achra. Only when the mind is cleared of negative thoughts can a person achieve Tefilah beKoach and true simcha.
15:00 – Q&R – The chessed aspect of Tefilah beKoach is the humility of pleading. Biographical NOTE: Rabbi Michel Dorfman zal: “There’s a difference between screaming to HaShem and screaming at HaShem.”
*17:45 – Life energy is the sechel – activity of the brain. הַֽחָכְמָ֖ה תְּחַיֶּ֥ה בְעָלֶֽיהָ – “…wisdom gives life to its possessor” (Koheles 7:12).
18:30 – The importance of Pas Shacharis – eating bread in the morning. The sechel is activated through eating.
22:00 – Koheles 5:15. Eating matzah especially straightens out the heart.
23:00 – Q&R about Tefilah beKoach. This level of prayer doesn’t necessarily mean using a louder, more forceful voice.
*38:00 – Eating Matza heals and purifies the mind and body and enables a similar purification and healing throughout the rest of the year through eating chometz/bread.
*42:00 – Bread is associated with holiness of the mind.
44:00 – It is a custom to emphasize the letter Hey when saying the bracha “HaMotzi” before eating bread. This connects the bread to the Hey of matzah.
46:00 – וַֽאֲכַלְתֶּ֚ם אָכוֹל֙ וְשָׂב֔וֹעַ וְהִלַּלְתֶּ֗ם אֶת־שֵׁ֚ם יְהֹוָה֙ אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה עִמָּכֶ֖ם לְהַפְלִ֑יא וְלֹֽא־יֵבֹ֥שׁוּ עַמִּ֖י לְעוֹלָֽם – “And you shall eat, eating and being sated, and you shall praise the Name of HaShem your G-d, Who has performed wonders with you, and My people shall never be ashamed” (Yoel 2:26).
47:00 – יַרְעֵ֚ם אֵ֣ל בְּ֖קוֹלוֹ נִפְלָא֑וֹת – “HaShem thunders with His voice wondrous [thundering]…” (Iyov 37:5).
48:00 – צַדִּ֗יק אֹ֖כֵל לְשֹ֣בַע נַפְשׁ֑וֹ – “A righteous man eats to sate his appetite…” (Mishlei 13:25).
49:00 – For the tzaddik, “satiation” is tefilah bekavana.
50:00 – Q&R about Tefilah beKoach. Since a person can scream silently, without engaging the vocal chords at all – הָרִ֚ימִי בַכֹּ֙חַ֙ קוֹלֵ֔ךְ – “…raise your voice with strength….” (Yeshaya 40:9) doesn’t necessarily mean raising the volume – it means elevating the use of the voice by putting more intense force behind the breath, and increasing focus in the mind and heart. [Tefilah beKoach can be achieved even in a whisper.]
To dedicate this shiur, click HERE.
