Likutei Moharan, Part II 1:4/ליקוטי מוהר"ן·תנינא א׳:ד׳

14. The way to recognize which of the renowned figures owe their position to arrogance is through building Yerushalayim, which is the concept of the heart. YeRuShaLayiM corresponds to YiRah ShaLeM— i.e., the perfection of fear, which is dependent upon the heart. This is as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: Of those things that are given over to the heart, it is said, “And you shall fear your Lord!” (Kiddushin 32b).

2However, there are three traits that destroy Yerushalayim/the heart, undermining fear, which is dependent upon the heart. The three traits are craving wealth, craving food and craving sexual pleasure. These three traits are [centered] in the heart and so [have the power to] undermine the fear in the heart.

3Wealth is rooted in the heart, as in “God’s blessing enriches, and no sadness is added to it” (Proverbs 10:22), and “and it saddened Him in His heart” (Genesis 6:6).

4Food is the concept of “and bread sustains the heart of man” (Psalms 104:15).

5Sexual desire, too, is in the heart, because the desire stems mainly from the passion produced by the blood in the heart’s ventricle.

6And because they are [centered] in the heart, they undermine the fear in a person’s heart, which is Yerushalayim.

7This is the explanation of: The night consists of three watches. [At each watch, the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and roars like a lion, as it says: “God roars from on high…” (Jeremiah 25:30) . The sign [for each watch] is as follows: The first watch, a donkey brays; the second, dogs bark; the third, an infant nurses from its mother’s breasts and a woman converses with her husband] (Berakhot 3a).

8“Night” connotes darkness—i.e., obstacles. These are the three watches, the three traits.

9And this is: “The first watch, a donkey brays.” This corresponds to the craving for wealth, as in “Yissakhar is a strong-boned donkey” (Genesis 49:14), which Onkelos renders as “[Yissakhar is] rich with possessions.”

10“The second, dogs bark.” This connotes the craving for food, as it is written: “The dogs are brazen, they are never satiated” (Isaiah 56:11).

11“The third, an infant nurses from its mother’s breasts and a woman converses with her husband.” This connotes <the craving for> sexual pleasure, as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: “They saw her conversing…” (Ketuvot 13a).

12And this is the meaning of “an infant nurses from its mother’s breasts,” because this desire is related to nursing. If an infant suckles milk from an immodest woman, this desire becomes stronger within him, because “the blood decomposes and turns into milk” (Bekhorot 6b). Therefore, when she is immodest, the milk produced by the decomposition of her blood is harmful to the infant, generating passion in his heart, which strengthens this craving. Conversely, when he suckles milk from a modest woman, his heart is hollow within him and he has only as much passion as is necessary for [fulfilling] the commandments of the Creator, blessed be His Name.

13This is as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught (Avodah Zarah 4b) : David was not suited for that deed, as it is stated (Psalms 109:22), “and my heart is hollow within me.” The initial letters of Lebee Chalal B’kirbi (“my heart is hollow within me”) spell ChaLaV (milk). In other words, because of the modest woman’s milk, his heart is hollow within him and this desire does not dominate him. Therefore David, who had attained this level, was not suited for that deed. Conversely, the milk of an immodest woman generates excessive passion <in the heart>, corresponding to “Cham Lebee B’kirbi (My heart is hot within me)” (Psalms 39:4), the initial letters of which spell ChaLaV, [in the manner] explained above.

14And this is the meaning of what our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: At each watch, the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and roars like a lion (Berakhot, op. cit.)—i.e., over the undermining of fear, as in “A lion has roared; who will not fear?” (Amos 3:8). This is because the three traits, which are the three watches, undermine the building of Yerushalayim—i.e., the perfection of fear, which depends upon the heart.