Brachah (ברכה) — blessing

Core definition

Brachah — blessing — is the act of drawing down Divine life and revelation. "For the blessing with which a person blesses the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to draw life from the source of life" (Zohar III, Ra'aya Mehemna 72b): "to draw from the aspect of Keter — for it is known that the aspect of Keter is the intermediary between the Ma'atzil (Emanator) and the ne'etzalim (emanated)" — the upper half of Keter being Atik, "the source of life and the source of delights" [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 462]. A person "is obligated to bless a hundred blessings each day" — learned from "mah" read as "me'ah" (a hundred) [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 27].

How the Rebbeim develop it

Brachah vs. hoda'ah. "First it may be said — the difference between berachah (blessing) and hoda'ah (thanks/admission): 'we give thanks to You (modim anachnu lach)' — which implies that hoda'ah is to His essence and being itself. But berachah is only to 'Your name' — as written, 'and they shall bless the name of Your glory' (Nechemyah 9:5)" [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 33]. Why? "Berachah is a drawing-down from concealment to revelation" — "from the hidden world (alma d'iskasya) to the revealed world (alma d'isgalya)" — and this can apply only "in the aspect of Chochmah, which is the beginning of hishtalshelut": Chochmah has measure and is the source of the hidden world, so revelation can be drawn from it. "But from the aspect of the essence of the ohr of Ein Sof, it is impossible to draw in the aspect of berachah and revelation — for 'no thought grasps Him at all.'" There "only the aspect of hoda'ah" applies: "hoda'ah is not in the aspect of comprehension at all — only that although he does not comprehend with his intellect, he admits (modeh) that so is the truth" [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 522–537].

The formula's two languages. "In the formula of the berachah there is the language of presence (noche'ach — second person) and the language of concealment (nistar — third person): 'Blessed are You, Havayah' is the language of presence; 'who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us' is the language of concealment" [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 39]. Noche'ach — "Blessed are You" — draws from memale kol almin, the letters of thought and speech clothing the worlds; nistar — "who sanctified us" — draws from sovev kol almin, the aspect of concealment, "because it is not comprehended at all." But "it is impossible to draw from the aspect of sovev kol almin, unless there first be drawn from the aspect of memale kol almin" — when arousal from below reaches all it can, "then there shines by itself also a level and aspect that is'arusa d'lesata does not reach" — like the fiftieth gate drawn after counting forty-nine [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 462–465; Page summary (עמוד כב)].

The root: the letters of thought. "The root of the matter of berachah is a drawing-down from the aspect of the source of memale kol almin, in the aspect of the letters of thought — that is, from the aspect of the power of thought (ko'ach hamachshavah) in the letters of thought." The order of the drawing is "in the aspect of 'Havayah Elokeinu' — that is, in the aspect of the souls of Yisrael — for the souls of Yisrael 'arose in thought' (alu bemachshavah) — whereas the angels came into being from the aspect of supernal speech." Therefore "first it is drawn in the souls of Yisrael" — "Elokeinu — our power and our life" [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 48, 113; Page summary (עמוד טז)].

Drawing kingship. "And through the berachah we draw that there be the revelation of the aspect of meluchah": "let Havayah be King" — in meluchah (willing kingship) there shines the revelation of the name Havayah, as opposed to memshalah (dominion, "against their will"). "Melech ha'olam" — through berachah, willing kingship is drawn into the world; "when you make Me King above and below... you need nothing more" [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 208; Page summary (עמוד יז)].

Upon mitzvos specifically. "The berachah is specifically upon the mitzvos: because the mitzvos' root is very high — for the 613 mitzvos of the Torah and the 7 of the Rabbanan are 620 pillars of ohr, which is the aspect of Keter, sovev kol almin [therefore through fulfilling the mitzvos, the berachah is drawn — the revelation of the aspect of sovev kol almin]." And because "the main of the mitzvos is the aspect of bitul" — the three lines of bitul: avodah (offering the animal soul), prayer, and Torah in bitul (giving to one's fellow) [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 490].

Brachah gives emunah sight. "In the soul, the matter of berachah is likewise to draw the aspect of sight": emunah (faith) is only encompassing (makkif) — "therefore he can also do the opposite." "And the matter of berachah is to draw power and life into emunah — as written, 'and the tzaddik shall live by his faith'" — through the hundred berachos and ninety amens, "thereby they draw life into emunah" — "so hoda'ah becomes 'as if seeing literally'" [58844/maamar_003 :: עב׳ 528–541].

Key distinctions

Brachah vs. hoda'ah. Brachah is to "Your name" — drawing revelation from Chochmah, the beginning of hishtalshelus; hoda'ah is to "You" — Awtsmoos umahus — admitting what cannot be drawn or grasped [58844/maamar_003 :: Page summary (עמודים כג–כד)].

Noche'ach vs. nistar. The second-person formula draws from memale (the revealed letters); the third-person formula draws from sovev (the unconceivable) — but only after memale [58844/maamar_003 :: Page summary (עמוד כב)].

Meluchah vs. memshalah. Berachah draws willing kingship, not forced dominion [58844/maamar_003 :: Page summary (עמוד יז)].

Related concepts

Sources