Et HaOchel עת האוכל merged https://www.sefaria.org/Et_HaOchel This file contains merged sections from the following text versions: -Sefaria Community Translation -https://www.sefaria.org Et HaOchel Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Just like every food has a special power to give life to the body, is it probably the same with the internal life force that is in it which gives life to the spirit. So it is probable that the seven species for which the land of Israel is praised corresponds to the seven well-known traits in the spirit; and dates are the last one. I have heard that this is why our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, expounded, at the end of Taanit (29b:2), "an ending and a hope (tikvah)" (Jeremiah 29:11), to be dates and linen. Linen is due to the expression, "a line (tikvat) of string" (Joshua 2:18). And an ending is because it is the last of the seven species. And it appears that it has the power to seek the end. And in Pesachim, [it says] that they were exiled to Babylonia so that they would eat dates and occupy themselves with Torah, meaning the Oral Torah that was established in Babylonia. And it is like it is written in the Yerushalmi, that honey accustoms the tongue to Torah. And that is why [dates] are called honey in the Torah, and not dates. And Kingship (Malkhut, the last of the traits), which is the mouth, is called the Oral Torah, as it is written in the Tikkunei Zohar (17a3). And in the first chapter of Ketuvot and of Taanit, [it says] that they causes diarrhea. It appears that this is also the case with the spirit, it likewise removes all types of refuse (pesolet). And that is why they grow in Babylonia, as it is as low as the Pit (Sheol), as [the Sages] say, may their memory be blessed; and also in the first chapter of Yevamot, [they speak about its] disqualification (pesul), see there. And any deep place is called Sheol and that is where dates grow; as it is written in the chapter [entitled] Makom SheNahagu, and as it is written in Eruvin, "There are two date trees in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, and the entrance to Geihinnom is there." And that is because 'the righteous one flowers like a date palm,' specifically from the entrance to Geihinnom and from the Pit. As it is written in Rosh Hashanah (17a), "The wicked Jews yell out [and arise]." And this is the power of the date, and that is the good ending. For all of this is for a good ending, since [in the end], 'none will be pushed away, etc.' And it is found in Moed Katan [that] the date palms will lower their heads to the one that is righteous like the date palm. This is also meaning to say that the power of date is for the good ending of the righteous one. And this also hints to what they, may their memory be blessed, said, "Just like a date changes its stem, etc." And there is somewhat of a consolation in this, as 'the sun rises and it sets.' And, "a land," separates the matter between Foundation (olives) and Kingship (dates) [in the verse that lists the seven species], which are [otherwise] attached together. So olive oil is foundation, for olives makes one forget and oil makes one remember, as it is written at the end of Horayot. And the beginning of evil is forgetting, as it is written (Deuteronomy 8:19), "And it shall be if you surely forget." And the root [of this] is in the organ of the Foundation, as I have written in another place. As [when] 'the iniquity is full (see I Chronicles 21:8 and Rashi there), even the pious of the pious [is not blameless], etc.' And this is the counsel of the [primordial] snake, as a result of which death, which is the absence of life in a person, was decreed. Yet in it is [also] the power of birth of the existence of the species. And the sweetening of the Foundation is through the fruit of the womb; and memory comes from them, like the matter of, "the one who comes from you shall teach you wisdom" (Yevamot 63a). And likewise the explanation in the Zohar, Vayishlach, of the sciatic tendon (gid hanasheh) is that it makes one forget (menasheh) and remove from one's mind. And that corresponds to the 9th of Av during the year, and it is known that the Messiah from David is born on the 9th of Av. Si that is the oil that comes from the olive. And hence the Foundation of the olive tree and its fruit that is connected to Kingship is the oil. And that is why it hints to Wisdom (Chokhmah); as I heard that the sweetening of the Foundation is with Wisdom. Hence in the eleven spices of the incense, cinnamon sweetens galbanum, which is the Foundation, and its sweetening is [thus] with Wisdom. And therefore [from] cinnamon going up to down, the ninth is the Foundation. And going down to up, the ninth is Wisdom. And in the chapter [entitled] Keitzad Mevarkhin, they said, "The whole verse is for measurements." The explanation is that it is like the reason of "Her husband is prominent in the gates (shaarim, which sounds like the word for measures)" (Proverbs 31:23). The measurements are the line of access for the grasping of God, may He be blessed, with a full heart. And most measurements are with olives, for the line of access is the secret in the olives. And most of the measurement of grasping is from one's cleanliness with Foundation. But there is no more room here [to elaborate further] about this.