Kabbalah Library

581. The cup of blessing requires ten things: the blessing over the food, three who ate, a cup. When not in three, it does not need a cup. A cup of blessing implies Malchut, who is blessed in three, HGT of ZA, and from the three and above, HGT NHY. But in less than three, she does not receive.

582. When three have eaten, he says, “Let us bless of whose we ate.” Here, we do not say whom we bless. Although they are three, he does not say “Let us bless the one of whose we ate,” or a name. Rather, he says, “Let us bless of whose,” but he does not say of whom.

583. Here the sage commented that a cup of blessing, Malchut, stands before him and his eyes look at it, as it is written, “The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it,” written about Malchut. And the cup of blessing receives blessings and food from the three patriarchs, HGT of ZA, and we eat from that food that the cup, Malchut, receives.

584. For this reason, we look at the cup and say, “Let us bless of whose we ate,” meaning let us agree to bless, since we have eaten of his, of Malchut, the cup, of that food that Malchut takes in order to nourish the world. Hence, there is no need to mention verbally whom we bless, for looking at the cup is enough.

585. And they answer and say to the upper world, ZA, “Blessed is He of whose we ate, and by whose kindness we live.” Now we register and say a certain degree from which all the food emerges, meaning we say “blessed.” “Blessed” is the king that peace is his, the upper king, ZA, from whom all the blessings emerge. Blessed is ZA, since it is written, “And king Solomon is blessed,” a king that peace is his, ZA, blessed.

586. For this reason, the two diners say the inscription of the place from which the blessings come, meaning “blessed,” which the one who blesses did not say. This is so because the upper world, Bina, first bestows blessings to the two Cherubim below her, right and left, HG of ZA. Hence, those two diners, HG, are registered first, to inscribe the inscription of a high degree, ZA, meaning that they will say “blessed,” who is ZA.

Afterwards, the one who blesses, who is in the middle, corresponding to Tifferet, the middle line, takes everything from between the two sides, HG, as well as the middle one. He blesses from here onward, answering them, “Blessed is He of whose we have eaten, and by whose kindness we live.” He registers the place and the degree from which the blessings emerge, meaning he says “blessed,” and then twelve tribes of above are perfumed together in great peace.

The three who ate imply the upper three lines, HGT of ZA, who bless Malchut. This is why the three who ate must bless over the cup, since the cup implies Malchut. They awaken by the blessing of the summoning, so the three lines of ZA will bestow upon Malchut. One who blesses over the cup corresponds to the middle line, which contains within it all three lines. And the two diners who reply to him correspond to the two lines right and left.

Why does the one who bless, who is the middle line, not mention the word “blessed” which implies the place of the blessings, ZA, but rather says “Let us bless of whose we ate,” and the two diners reply to him, “Blessed is He of whose,” mentioning the place of the blessings, ZA? The three lines of ZA receive their abundance from Bina. Bina gives mainly to the two lines right and left of ZA, and the middle line receives the blessings from the right and from the left.

For this reason, the one who blesses does not initially mention the word “blessed” until the two diners, which correspond to the right and left of ZA, say the word “blessed” which corresponds to right and left, receiving the blessings of ZA from Bina. Afterwards, the middle line, too, receives the blessings of ZA from the right and from the left, and he, too, can say “blessed.” This is why afterwards, he, too, answers them, “Blessed is He of whose we ate.”

And since the one who blesses said “bless,” as well, and the three of them extended the blessings from the place of the blessings, ZA, to Malchut, and then all are incorporated, the three who ate, the three lines with the cup, Malchut, with each other. At that time, there are three lines in each of these four, and four times three are twelve. This is the root of the tribes in Malchut, meaning that the three lines, the diners, with the cup, Malchut, are incorporated with each other, and three lines emerge in each of these four, and they are twelve tribes of above, in Malchut.

587 He says, “and by whose kindness we live,” and not “from whose kindness,” since ZA nourishes kindly that bottom world, Malchut, which emerges from the good quality itself, which is called “His kindness,” as it is written, “They will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness.” “To the Lord” is the bottom world, Malchut, and “His goodness” is the tree of life, ZA, and it is written, “and shall flow to the goodness of the Lord,” since through him, ZA, all the worlds are nourished and shine.

588. With ten who eat together, who correspond to the ten Sefirot, you find that they are all in one agreement to bless, from the top head, Keter, to the end of all the degrees, Malchut. Hence, the one who blesses says and inscribes, “Let us bless our God.”

589. So it is from there onward. Once he blesses the blessing “who nourishes,” over the food that emerges from the upper world, ZA, the origin of everything, he then reiterates and says “over a desirable land,” the lower world, Malchut because all the blessings must first be to the upper world, ZA, the origin of everything, and then to the holy bottom world, Malchut.

590. It is likewise in the Kadish [sanctification text read during prayer], “Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name” is the great, upper name over everything, the origin of life, from whom all the blessings and all the sanctities emerge. This is the next world, Bina. Afterwards, an extension is drawn from it, “throughout the world which He has created,” which is the bottom world, Malchut. It is likewise in all the blessings except for a prayer in blessings, the ones where a person bows in them, which begin from below upward.

591. The blessing over the earth is the bottom world, Malchut, who is incorporated in the covenant and in the Torah. The covenant is the tree of life, Yesod. Torah is the middle pillar, ZA. Life and food emerge from the next world, Bina, to nourish the bottom world with them, Malchut.

592. Women, slaves, and little ones are obligated to make the blessing over the food, but they do not bless for others. Woe to the man whose wife and children bless for him.

593. Women are obligated to read the scroll, but they do not read for others. However, they must hear the blessing from the one who blesses. Similarly, the woman must hear the blessing from her husband, and her husband must wait for her at the table so she would hear from the one who blesses.

594. If there is no male there, someone is called so as to bless for them. If there are many women, the one who blesses for them does not bless with the name. Because women do not join the summoning, the blessing for them is not with the name, since the blessing over the food is mainly in male form and not in female form. However, they must hear the blessing over the food, and must read the scroll and listen from the mouth of the reader.

595. The blessing, “the building of Jerusalem,” in the blessing over the food means that until now, we were blessing above, in the upper Sefirot, in ZA, Bina, and Malchut. And we should bless below, in this world, and bless over the building of the Temple, since from there, food comes out to the whole world, and the rest of the people of the world are nourished only from there, from the extract. It is all in the first blessing, which is the inclusion of everything.

596. One who blesses the blessing over the food is delighted above and delighted below. One should bless with joy and a willing heart, in order to delight the quality of the good, Malchut, as it is written, “And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful.” This is the quality of the good, as it is written, “The cheerful of heart has a continual feast.”