Washing Your Troubles Away
Translated by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky from the Writings of the Ari,Shaar HaMitzvot, Ekev
One of the laws regarding Grace After Meals is that of
rinsing the hands before reciting the blessings, known as "mayim acharonim",
literally "after-waters".
Know that the "Other Side" hovers over the table, as
is described in the Zohar, (Zohar II:154a,b) and can gain control over an
individual more than it can at other times.
As described in the Zohar, eating and drinking by
their nature bolster a person's material orientation, thereby desensitizing him
to spirituality and divinity. One is thus, after having eaten his full,
particularly susceptible to the power of evil.
This is particularly true if he has eaten by himself,
and there are not three to recite Grace together. For the Invitation to Recite
Grace drives away Other Side from there, as is mentioned in the Zohar (Zohar
III:186b) regarding the incident of the young child.
According to Jewish law, if three or more men or three
or more women have eaten bread together, they must recite Grace together. One of
the party acts as the leader and formally invites the others to join him in
reciting Grace.  | | " The positive energy generated by their camaraderie overcomes the negative power of evil..." | | |
In the Zohar, it is recounted that the young, orphaned
son of Rabbi Hamnuna the Elder possessed great spiritual perception and mystical
knowledge of the Torah. One of the teachings he shared with his guests, two
students of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai, was that when the Invitation to Recite
Grace is recited, it weakens the power of evil present at the table.
The collective power of the three individuals' divine
souls and the positive energy generated by their camaraderie overcomes the
negative power of evil. This occurs, however, only when they consciously combine
their individual energies together to recite Grace, that is, to focus on the
spiritual dimension of the meal rather than simply the sensual pleasure of
eating. Hence the power and importance of the Invitation to Recite Grace.
A person must therefore be very careful to have the
proper intentions when rinsing his fingertips after the meal, in order that [the
Other Side] not prosecute him.
Whenever a person succumbs to the temptations of evil,
the sin he performs acts as a "prosecutor" against him in the heavenly court.
For by giving it this gift, as is known, the Other
Side departs, leaving [the person alone]. In the beginning [of the meal] it is
just a guest, but if the individual does not recite Grace with the proper
intention and concentration it becomes the host and prosecutes against him. As
we said, this is particularly true if one dines by himself, without the
[protection offered by the] Invitation to Recite Grace.
Rinsing the remains of the meal off the fingertips is
seen as "throwing the dog a bone." Evil possesses no intrinsic power; it derives
its power solely by virtue of man's misdeeds. However, it must be present to at
least some minimal extent in order for there to be free choice. If evil receives
this minimal sustenance, it is satisfied, and, realizing that it has nothing
more to expect from this meal, departs.
The mystical meaning of this statement is thus that
when washing the fingertips after the meal one must meditate on the name Eh-yeh.
Now, one should not make any interruption between
rinsing the fingertips and reciting Grace After Meals. I [ Chaim Vital] was once
with my master [the Ari] and someone came to me and said that he had been
suffering from severe shoulder pains for two days. My master looked at him and
said that this pain came from his having interrupted between rinsing the
fingertips and reciting Grace After Meals by studying a chapter of the Mishna.
He thus transgressed the instruction of our sages to proceed directly
from the rinsing to the blessing. (Berachot 42a) In so doing, he
transmuted the word for "directly" [in Hebrew, "teikef", spelled
tav-kaf-pei] into the word for "shoulder" ["kateif", kaf-tav-pei],
and he felt the pain there. | | " One must not make any interruption between the rinsing and the recital of Grace..." | | |
From this we see that one must not make any
interruption between the rinsing and the recital of Grace, even with words from
the Torah. If one wishes to converse [at his table] in the Torah, as our sages
have said one should, he should do so before the rinsing of the fingertips.
By not allowing any interruption between rinsing the
fingertips and the recitation of Grace, the individual demonstrates that they
form one conceptual unit, that is, the spiritual meaning of the former is also
that of the latter.
Nonetheless, one should recite the following
verses after rinsing the fingertips, before beginning the Grace After Meals: the
entire Psalm 67, and then the verse, "I will bless G-d at all times; His praise
is always in my mouth." (Psalms 34:2) This is because the Other Side hovers over
the table, as we have said, and it is called "at all times", as in the verse,
"He must not come into the sanctuary at all times." (Lev. 15:2) | | " The person...is declaring his wish to orient his consciousness toward the divine dimension of eating..." | | |
The Torah commands that the High Priest not enter the
Holy of Holies whenever he wants ("at all times"), but rather only on the day of
Yom Kippur. In this context, the phrase "at all times" is seen as something that
prevents one from entering the realm of holiness, i.e., evil. Reciting the verse
"I will bless G-d at all times" is thus seen as a formula that neutralizes the
power of evil present at the table.
It is interesting to note that Yom Kippur, the one day
when the Torah allows the High Priest to enter the inner sanctum of the Temple,
is a total fast day. On this day, of course, the evil that can potentially
become empowered through the process of eating is not operative.
In order to remove [the evil] from there [i.e., the
table], one must recite [the Invitation to Recite Grace, i.e.] "Bring us [the
goblet] and we will bless", as is stated in the story of the young child in the
Zohar. We therefore recite the verse "I will bless G-d at all times...", in case a
person is eating by himself and cannot say "Bring us and we will bless".
One should then say: "Ultimately, all is known: fear
G-d and observe His commandments, for this is the whole purpose of man."
(Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Then, one should say: "My mouth will utter the praise
of G-d, and let all flesh praise His holy Name forever", (Psalms 145:21) "And we
will bless G-d from now to all eternity. Praise G-d", (Ibid. 115:18) and
"And he said to me, this is the table that is before G-d". (Ezekiel 41:22)
[Note: In Rabbi Shneur Zalman's formulation of the liturgy,
all the above save this verse is recited before rinsing the fingertips.]
Only then should he commence Grace After Meals.
The common denominator of all these verses is that the
person saying them is declaring his wish to orient his consciousness toward the
divine dimension of eating rather than its worldly, material, aspects. As such,
these verses do not constitute a thematic interruption between the rinsing of
the fingertips and the recitation of Grace.
Visitor Comments: 1
sara zohar,8/1/2004
This set of articles is so ins
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