KEEP THE WINE FLOWING - THE INNER MESSAGE OF THE NESACHIM
Shelach
In the book of Vayikra we learned all about the Korbanos; the different types of sacrifices both communal and personal, that would be brought in the Mishkan and later in the Beis Hamikdash.
Parshas Shelach introduces a new aspect of the Temple service, the Nesachim. The Nesachim were the wine libations which had to accompany each Korban. This wine was poured down a pipe built into the corner of the Mizbeach, where it would descend into the depths of the ground. The volume of wine required for the Nesachim would depend on the type of animal being offered.
In the Gemara, our sages teach that if a man recites Shema without wearing Tefillin, it is as though he had brought a Korban without its Nesachim.
What deeper message are Chaza”l teaching us? What do the Shema and Tefillin have in common with the sacrifices and their Nesachim? And what is deficient when the Tefillin or Nesachim are missing?
Sacrifices represent a spiritual elevation. The fires and smoke of the Mizbeach rise upwards, elevating the sacrifice on High. The Zohar teaches that the secret of the Korbanos rise up to the secret of the Ein Sof, the highest and deepest levels of G-dliness.
But these energies remain beyond, hidden in the spiritual heights. Their impact is felt on High, but down here in our worldly reality, they leave no impression.
Here comes the importance of the Nesachim. Our sages teach that when wine enters, secrets emerge. In fact the word סוד (secret) has the same Gematria as יין (wine).
We all put on a façade, hiding and restricting our real thoughts and feelings from others. Wine reduces our inhibitions and brings our hidden side to the fore.
Like wine which itself is drawn out from its hiddenness within the grape and thus has the power of revelation, the Nesachim also have the power to reveal that which is hidden.
In contrast to fire that rises upwards, wine flows downwards, coming to rest in the lowest spaces. The pouring of the Nesachim draws down the energies that were aroused by the Korban, bringing them from their hidden state into our world.
This is the metaphor which our sage use to describe the relationship of Shema and Tefillin.
Shema is a powerful prayer. It embodies our inner love and bond with Hashem and surrender to His oneness. Like a Korban, Shema elevates us to the greatest spiritual heights, transporting us from our earthly reality into the Ein Sof itself.
But like the Korban, the elevation achieved in Shema needs to be channelled downwards to impact our lives and the world around us. This is achieved by physical observance of Mitzvos within the world. The Mitzvah of Tefillin takes the sublime Echod of Shema, inscribes it with ink and brings it down into a reality of parchment and leather.
The deficiency of Shema without Tefillin is the same as bringing a Korban without Nesachim. Whilst it may cater to our spiritual yearnings with an outer-worldly G-dly experience, it does nothing to impact the world or help us grow and change in our daily reality.
We need the elevation experience represented by the Korban and the Shema. Chassidus refers to this as Ratzo - a running towards Hashem and escaping the world. But Hashem’s ultimate and essential desire is for a Dirah Betachtonim, that we reveal His presence within the physical world. This is the Shuv - the downward return, that like the Nesachim, brings G-dliness into the world.
The Mitzvah of the Nesachim comes at the end of Parshas Shelach, in direct response to the sin of the Meraglim (spies).
Chassidus explains that the Meraglim had positive, spiritual intentions. They did not want to go into Eretz Yisroel, because they wanted to remain in the spiritually-sublime environment of the desert. There, detached from worldliness, their souls could soar as they immersed themselves in study and mediation. They feared that involvement in the physicality of the world in Eretz Yisroel would “devour its inhabitants”.
But they were mistaken. The sojourn in the desert, like a Korban, was a necessary stage, to spiritually strengthen and elevate Bnei Yisroel. However, Hashem’s ultimate intention and the true observance of Torah, could only be actualised in Eretz Yisroel.
There they would have to work the land and engage with the physical world. This Avodah is the Nesachim that brings down the greatest revelations of G-dliness to permeate our world and transform it into a home for Hashem, so that the world itself is infused with and displays “Hashem Echod”, the oneness of Hashem.
Parshas Shelach introduces a new aspect of the Temple service, the Nesachim. The Nesachim were the wine libations which had to accompany each Korban. This wine was poured down a pipe built into the corner of the Mizbeach, where it would descend into the depths of the ground. The volume of wine required for the Nesachim would depend on the type of animal being offered.
In the Gemara, our sages teach that if a man recites Shema without wearing Tefillin, it is as though he had brought a Korban without its Nesachim.
What deeper message are Chaza”l teaching us? What do the Shema and Tefillin have in common with the sacrifices and their Nesachim? And what is deficient when the Tefillin or Nesachim are missing?
Sacrifices represent a spiritual elevation. The fires and smoke of the Mizbeach rise upwards, elevating the sacrifice on High. The Zohar teaches that the secret of the Korbanos rise up to the secret of the Ein Sof, the highest and deepest levels of G-dliness.
But these energies remain beyond, hidden in the spiritual heights. Their impact is felt on High, but down here in our worldly reality, they leave no impression.
Here comes the importance of the Nesachim. Our sages teach that when wine enters, secrets emerge. In fact the word סוד (secret) has the same Gematria as יין (wine).
We all put on a façade, hiding and restricting our real thoughts and feelings from others. Wine reduces our inhibitions and brings our hidden side to the fore.
Like wine which itself is drawn out from its hiddenness within the grape and thus has the power of revelation, the Nesachim also have the power to reveal that which is hidden.
In contrast to fire that rises upwards, wine flows downwards, coming to rest in the lowest spaces. The pouring of the Nesachim draws down the energies that were aroused by the Korban, bringing them from their hidden state into our world.
This is the metaphor which our sage use to describe the relationship of Shema and Tefillin.
Shema is a powerful prayer. It embodies our inner love and bond with Hashem and surrender to His oneness. Like a Korban, Shema elevates us to the greatest spiritual heights, transporting us from our earthly reality into the Ein Sof itself.
But like the Korban, the elevation achieved in Shema needs to be channelled downwards to impact our lives and the world around us. This is achieved by physical observance of Mitzvos within the world. The Mitzvah of Tefillin takes the sublime Echod of Shema, inscribes it with ink and brings it down into a reality of parchment and leather.
The deficiency of Shema without Tefillin is the same as bringing a Korban without Nesachim. Whilst it may cater to our spiritual yearnings with an outer-worldly G-dly experience, it does nothing to impact the world or help us grow and change in our daily reality.
We need the elevation experience represented by the Korban and the Shema. Chassidus refers to this as Ratzo - a running towards Hashem and escaping the world. But Hashem’s ultimate and essential desire is for a Dirah Betachtonim, that we reveal His presence within the physical world. This is the Shuv - the downward return, that like the Nesachim, brings G-dliness into the world.
The Mitzvah of the Nesachim comes at the end of Parshas Shelach, in direct response to the sin of the Meraglim (spies).
Chassidus explains that the Meraglim had positive, spiritual intentions. They did not want to go into Eretz Yisroel, because they wanted to remain in the spiritually-sublime environment of the desert. There, detached from worldliness, their souls could soar as they immersed themselves in study and mediation. They feared that involvement in the physicality of the world in Eretz Yisroel would “devour its inhabitants”.
But they were mistaken. The sojourn in the desert, like a Korban, was a necessary stage, to spiritually strengthen and elevate Bnei Yisroel. However, Hashem’s ultimate intention and the true observance of Torah, could only be actualised in Eretz Yisroel.
There they would have to work the land and engage with the physical world. This Avodah is the Nesachim that brings down the greatest revelations of G-dliness to permeate our world and transform it into a home for Hashem, so that the world itself is infused with and displays “Hashem Echod”, the oneness of Hashem.