BS”D
THE BEN ISH CHAI ON HAVDALAH
Today’s insight is posted in memory of my late Grandmother Shaina bas Jeruchem who has a Yortziet being the 15 Iyar, 5776 may her soul be elevated:
The Havdalah prayer is said at the departure of the Sabbath on Saturday night. Man is unique in his ability to discern thereby separating between holy and mundane concepts. Many claim the tradition of the Havdalah prayer was handed down by G-d to Moses at Sinai.
We say this special prayer at the end of Sabbath in doing so Jews recite blessings using the faculties of the highest and most elevated part of a person, that is our head. I think this is why the head was created by our creator the cause of all causes placing it on the top of a human being, it is because the head houses the highest of our faculties.
The human being is potentially the greatest of G-d’s creations evident from being the only mammal that walks completely upright. Man is named Adam in Hebrew, not surprisingly in Hebrew Adama means ground,it is ground that holds the ultimate potential for growth within.
Background before the insights
of the Ben Ish Chai of blessed memory:
Havadalah consist of 4
blessings:
The first is said over a cup
of wine, or a beverage that is served to important guests.
The second blessing is said
after smelling spices.
The third blessing is said looking at the fingernails or the shadow of the fingers under the light of the flames of a candle.
The fourth blessing praises G-D for separating holy and secular.
This week I was reading a
book an Anthology of the challenges of
Wealth and Poverty which contains insights from the great Sage the Ben Ish
Chai.
The book tells of a time
when this holy sage was a young boy, he and his sister were arguing at the end of the
Sabbath over who would hold the candle while the blessings were being said. Their holy father decided to resolve the
matter by suggesting the child who understood this “mitzvah” (command) best would get to
hold the candle.
Despite being a very young
boy the Ben Ish Chai told his father that he understood there was a reason for the particular order of the
blessings. He explained at this tender age, that he saw in
the blessing an ascending order of the highest human faculties bestowed on us by our creator. We use our mouth, then our nose, after our eyes and finally our brain.
The blessing over wine or
an important beverage is done using the mouth – we drink and taste.
The next moving up is done using the nose that is positioned above the mouth – we smell spices.
The third blessing is
performed with our eyes seeing the shadow of our fingers under the candle light – sight.
The final blessing is said
using the brain which is situated above the eyes and provides man
with the ability to distinguish between holy and mundane matters –
intellect and thought.
What he also pointed out was the faculties used by the head become more delicate or abstract as you ascend the face, I interpret this to mean they move from the most physical to spiritual aspects. Taste which involves substance, to smell which resides in the air, to sight less tangible and physical, to the most intransient being thoughts which reside completely in the brain.
What he also pointed out was the faculties used by the head become more delicate or abstract as you ascend the face, I interpret this to mean they move from the most physical to spiritual aspects. Taste which involves substance, to smell which resides in the air, to sight less tangible and physical, to the most intransient being thoughts which reside completely in the brain.
Amazing a young boy of
Sephardic decent who was destined for greatness, was so in touch with his Creator, this boy became the renowned Ben Ish Chai, may his
memory be for blessing.
Today he is recognized as a great sage by all Orthodox Jewry.
Today he is recognized as a great sage by all Orthodox Jewry.
Have a good week.
What I learnt at a wedding of my niece from a Talmud Scholar brought done by a famous Rabbi's Rabeinu is that the Four Brochas are an re-enactment of creation.
Lets examine the second verse in the Torah describing creation:
The four blessings we say over:
1. Wine is from the vine which grows on Land.
2. Spices are smelt with a Ruach, a spirit(wind).
3. The candle or light we see.
4. The separation between holy and secular.
What I learnt at a wedding of my niece from a Talmud Scholar brought done by a famous Rabbi's Rabeinu is that the Four Brochas are an re-enactment of creation.
Lets examine the second verse in the Torah describing creation:
The four blessings we say over:
1. Wine is from the vine which grows on Land.
2. Spices are smelt with a Ruach, a spirit(wind).
3. The candle or light we see.
4. The separation between holy and secular.
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אבְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ:
2Now the earth was astonishingly empty, and
darkness was on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over
the face of the water.
בוְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחשֶׁךְ עַל פְּנֵי תְהוֹם וְרוּחַ
אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם:
גוַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי אוֹר וַיְהִי אוֹר:
4And God saw the light that it was good, and God
separated between the light and between the darkness.
דוַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָאוֹר כִּי טוֹב וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים בֵּין הָאוֹר
וּבֵין הַחשֶׁךְ:
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G-d Bless
Michael
