Chasidut · Breslov

Likutei Halakhot, Orach Chaim, Laws of Morning Conduct 4:9/ליקוטי הלכות·אורח חיים·הלכות השכמת הבוקר ד׳:ט׳

אוְעַל־כֵּן אָסוּר לְקַנֵּחַ בְּיָמִין מִפְּנֵי שֶׁקּוֹשֵׁר בָּהּ תְּפִלִּין (שלחן ערוך סימן ג׳, סעיף י׳).

1EXPELLING THE EXTRANEOUSA person should not wipe himself using the right hand (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim 3:10).Having explained that the spiritual purpose of wearing shoes is to protect Malkhut / lower wisdom from the extraneous forces, Reb Noson shows how keeping the laws in the Shulchan Arukh that are associated with other morning activities—particularly our conduct in the bathroom—similarly accomplishes this goal.And so, because the right side is synonymous with chesed, Jewish law states that after a person relieves himself he may not wipe himself using the right hand, since he uses that hand to tie the tefillin.⁷⁰ 62a. Using the right hand to remove fecal matter impedes it from drawing the rebuke-of-chesed aspect of tying tefillin that severs Malkhut from extraneous wisdom.

בכִּי חָכְמוֹת חִיצוֹנִיּוֹת, שֶׁעַל יָדָם נִמְשָׁכִין כְּפִירוֹת הֵם נִקְרָאִים ״קִיא צֹאָה בְּלִי מָקוֹם״ (ישעיה כח, ח), כִּי הַמַּאֲכָל מְחַיֶּה אֶת הָאָדָם וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה מֵאִיר פָּנָיו, כְּשֶׁאוֹכֵל בִּקְדֻשָּׁה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (רות ג, ז): וַיֹּאכַל וַיֵּשְׁתְּ וַיִּיטַב לִבּוֹ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר (לקוטי מוהר״ן חלק א׳ סימן יט).

2The explanation is as follows. Food consists of two elements, the absorbable nutrients and the waste product. Extraneous wisdom, through which heresy proliferates, is associated with the extraneous component of food, the waste that is termed “vomit and excrement, with no [clean] place.” Conversely, true wisdom is likened to the nutrients, because the food a person eats gives him life, and when he eats in holiness, it illuminates his panim. An allusion to this can be found in the verse “he ate and drank, and his heart was happy,” as explained elsewhere.⁷¹. See also LM I, 19:7.

גוְעִקַּר הַחִיּוּת בְּחִינַת הֶאָרַת פָּנִים שֶׁמְקַבְּלִים עַל־יְדֵי הַמַּאֲכָל הוּא עַל־יְדֵי רוּחָנִיּוּת הַמַּאֲכָל, שֶׁהוּא הַטּוֹב שֶׁבַּמַאֲכָל, שֶׁרַק זֶה מְחַיֶּה אֶת הָאָדָם, בִּבְחִינַת (דברים ח, ג): ״כִּי לֹא עַל הַלֶּחֶם לְבַדּוֹ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם, כִּי עַל כָּל מוֹצָא פִּי ה׳ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם״. אֲבָל גַּשְׁמִיּוּת הַמַּאֲכָל שֶׁנֶּאֱחַז בּוֹ הָרַע – נַעֲשֶׂה פְּסלֶֹת גָּמוּר וְנִדְחֶה לַחוּץ, כִּי הוּא בְּחִינַת חָכְמוֹת חִיצוֹנִיּוֹת – כְּפִירוּת, שֶׁהֵם ״קִיא צוֹאָה״, כַּנַּ״ל.

3The essence of this life-force—namely the illumination of the panim that a person receives from food—stems from the spiritual aspect of the food, which is the good that the food contains. Only this spiritual element gives a person real life, as in “that not on bread alone does man live, but on every utterance from the mouth of HaShem does man live.” However, the material aspect of the food, to which evil attaches itself, becomes complete waste and is expelled out of the body. It is akin to the extraneous wisdom / heresy, which is termed “vomit and excrement.”

דוְעַל־כֵּן (ברכות טו.): ״הָרוֹצֶה לְקַבֵּל עָלָיו עוֹל מַלְכוּת שָׁמַיִם שְׁלֵמָה״ – שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת חָכְמָה תַּתָּאָה הַנַּ״ל, הוּא בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת כַּנַּ״ל, ״יְפַנֶּה וְיִטֹּל יָדָיו וְכוּ׳״. ״יְפַנֶּה״ – לִדְחוֹת הַמּוֹתָרוֹת, שֶׁהֵם בְּחִינַת חָכְמוֹת חִיצוֹנִיּוֹת כַּנַּ״ל. וְאַחַר־כָּךְ ״יִטֹּל יָדָיו״ בְּמֵימֵי הַחֶסֶד, לְהַמְשִׁיךְ הַחֶסֶד הַנַּ״ל, שֶׁעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה חוֹתְכִין הַמַּלְכוּת וּמְטַהֲרִין אוֹתָהּ מֵהֶם, (ועין מזה בהלכות סוטה הנכללת בהלכות גטין הלכה ד׳).

4Therefore “whoever wishes to accept upon himself the yoke of Heaven’s malkhut in a complete manner”—which corresponds to the rectification of lower wisdom/Malkhut—“should relieve himself and wash his hands.” “He should relieve himself” in order to expel the waste, which is synonymous with extraneous wisdom. And then he should wash his hands with water, symbolic of the waters of Chesed.⁷² of Chesed signifies outflowing and expansiveness, and thus is associated with the element of water. Washing one’s hands symbolizes the drawing of the root elements of Chesed, the chasadim (benevolences), from Daat (see above, p. 122, note 75) in order to “cleanse” lower wisdom / Malkhut. This is in order to evoke chesed through which to sever Malkhut and purify it from the Four Kingdoms.⁷³ that appear in LH, Gittin 4:15.

הוְאַחַר־כָּךְ יַנִּיחַ תְּפִלִּין וְיִקְרָא קְרִיאַת־שְׁמַע וְיִתְפַּלֵּל – כִּי כָל זֶה הוּא בְּחִינַת תִּקּוּנֵי הַתְּפִלָּה שֶׁבְּשַׁחֲרִית, שֶׁכָּל הַתִּקּוּנִים, שֶׁהֵם: הִתְעוֹרְרוּת הַשֵּׁנָה, וִיפַנֶּה, וְיִטֹּל יָדָיו, וְצִיצִית, וּתְפִלִּין, וּקְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, וּתְפִלָּה – הַכֹּל בִּשְׁבִיל עֲלִיַּת הַמַּלְכוּת, כַּיָּדוּעַ, שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת חָכְמָה תַּתָּאָה הַנַּ״ל, שֶׁזֶּהוּ בְּחִינַת ״אַבְרָהָם תִּקֵּן שַׁחֲרִית״, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּהַתּוֹרָה הַנַּ״ל (אות ו).

5After that “he should don tefillin, recite Shema and pray,” all of which relates to the rectifications accomplished through the prayer that he recites in the morning. All these rectifications—namely waking from sleep, relieving oneself, washing one’s hands, donning tzitzit and tefillin, reciting Shema and prayer—serve the purpose of elevating Malkhut.⁷⁴ 4 and 8. This elevation of Malkhut each morning is paralleled in lower wisdom, whose rectification is alluded to by the teaching “Avraham instituted Shacharit,” as explained in the Rebbe’s lesson.⁷⁵

ווְעַל־כֵּן אֵין מְקַנְּחִין בְּיָמִין מִפְּנֵי שֶׁקּוֹשֵׁר בָּהּ תְּפִלִּין, שֶׁהֵם אוֹר הַפָּנִים, שֶׁמִּשָּׁם עִקַּר הַחִיּוּת שֶׁל הַמַּלְכוּת שֶׁעוֹלָה וְנִטְהֶרֶת מֵהֶם כַּנַּ״ל.

6And so, because one wipes oneself to remove the waste associated with the extraneous wisdom of the Four Kingdoms, one should not wipe with the right hand, since he uses it to tie the tefillin, one of the morning rectifications that elevates Malkhut. Tefillin signify the revelation of the Ohr HaPanim, the source of Malkhut’s essential vitality that enables it to ascend and become purified from the Four Kingdoms.

זוְעַל־כֵּן אָסוּר לְפַנּוֹת מִזְרָח וּמַעֲרָב (ארח חיים סימן ג׳, סעיף ה׳), מֵחֲמַת שֶׁהוּא נֶגֶד יְרוּשָׁלַיִם שֶׁשָּׁם הַבֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, שֶׁשָּׁם עִקַּר אוֹר הַפָּנִים, וְכַנַּ״ל.

7This is also the reason a person may not relieve himself positioned between east and west,⁷⁶ 3:5. since he would then be facing Yerushalayim, the site of the Beit HaMikdash, where the main Ohr HaPanim is revealed.⁷⁷