We left off last time with the fact that, if you are using the right prayer book, the Friday night Kiddush has exactly 70 words. This is reflective of a fundamental concept in Kabbalah; the mystery of Nogah. According to the Kabbalah, there exists a struggle in the world between Good and Evil. There is an interface between the two called Nogah (Brightness). Forbidden actions are tied into Evil. Holy actions are tied into Good. But most of our activities are neutral; their spiritual value, positive or negative, depends on HOW we act, and what is our intent. For example, Kosher food is unchained; it rises or falls with our eating. If we eat with the intent of using that energy to do good and holy deeds, the energy of the food is uplifted. If, on the other hand, we eat with gluttony, or we use the energy to hurt others or otherwise commit acts against G-d, the energy is lowered. In fact, the word "permitted" (Mutar) actually means "untied". The word "forbidden" (Asur) actually means "tied". The non Kosher food is "tied" into Evil. The struggle of a Jew is in part dealing with what is permitted by the Torah, and transforming the act from a permissible one to a holy one. Friday afternoon, a holy fire descends on Nogah, "burning away" any hold Evil has on it. The "permissible" becomes the Sacred. I mentioned this idea in speaking of the obligation to wash in warm water before Shabbat. Eating, drinking, marital relations become sacred, without our struggle to keep them holy. Now, they ARE holy. The same is true of reading on Friday the Torah portion of the week twice in Hebrew, and once in Aramaic. The simple reason was to know the portion, and, when Jews spoke Aramaic, to help them understand what they were reading. The Hebrew tongue is intrinsically holy. But any language can be sanctified if used for Torah and prayer. The Talmud tells us that the angels detest Aramaic above all languages; so close to Hebrew, but yet so far. Kabbalah teaches that it represents Nogah. It is a dangerous twilight, that when used with Torah, becomes Brightness. Beyond that, the Evil inherent in the languages of the Nations ("Lashon" means tongue, language, and culture) is attacked and subdued through Aramaic, until they, too, become holy. The Targum (Aramaic translation of the Torah) is essentially a battle line between cultures; the Holy and the Unholy. The Jew stands ready to receive the Supreme Sanctity of Shabbat. Sadly, the rest of Mankind stands ready to party, to get high, or to get drunk. Most likely, all of the above. We have begun the battle with our shower and our reading the portion of the week. Now, the sun has set. Mankind is far from Holiness; very far. We recite the seventy words of the Kiddush, which represent the Biblical seventy nations. We subdue the Evil Leshonot (In this context, "cultures") and begin to elevate them into holiness. This is similar to the bulls sacrificed on Sukkot. All in all, seventy bulls are sacrificed in the course of the holiday. One view in the Talmud is that the purpose of these seventy bulls is to defeat the Gentile cultures. Another view is that they were offered in order to "lift up" all the Nations. Kabbalah explains that it is both. We wish to defeat the evils in these cultures, thereby lifting them up to become vehicles for holiness. To use Lincoln's words, at Kiddush "we are met on a great battle field of that war". In the midst of millennia of persecution and hate, the Jew sought not to destroy, but to transform. Nogah is meant to shine brightly! Now, dinner is served.
