The Fountain of Life

Be Careful Turning It On

The Baal Shem Tov had a prescription for eternal life, a life with no illness at all. So the legend goes. It was the secret of mayyin nukbin, the feminine waters. His followers embellished the telling over the years. You can sample a sip of the miraculous in the text below.

שמעתי סוד נפלא מסוד הייחוד הגדול הגבור והנורא בסוד אחד דקריאת שמע בדרך רמז גדול, ובסוד התפלה, היאך האדם התחתון והשפל יכולת בידו להעלות מיין נוקבין של ניצוצות הקדושים מתתא לעילא על ידו בכל פעם ובכל רגע לפי הזמן ושעת רצון עד ביאת המשיח, שאז ישתלם האדם בשלימות גדול שאין כמוהו                     

ולא יהיה שום מות וחולה כלל, בסוד בלע המות לנצח (ישעיהו כ״ה:ח׳)

I heard a wonderous secret from among the secrets concerning the great, the mighty, the awesome Unification, a secret pertaining to the (word) Ehad (One) in the reading of the Sh’ma, by way of a great hint, in the secret of prayer, how a person from down here, a lowly person might have the ability to elevate through mayyin nukbin the holy sparks from lower to higher, to do so at any moment, any minute, at any time or hour he desires until the coming of the messiah, so that a person might perfect oneself with so a great a perfection there is no other like it.….

Then there would be no dying, no illness at all, as is written in Isaiah (25:8): “Death will be destroyed forever…” -  Sefer Ba’al Shem Tov, Vaetchanan 14:1.

The Baal Shem Tov was considered a miracle worker performing wonders. Was he really that? By all accounts he was an unpretentious man but had such erudition and charisma that he attracted distinguished students. They absorbed his wisdom and within a few generations transformed the Jewish world. They embellished magical legends for those who delighted in magic but taught mystical teachings for those capable of deep learning. What’s the difference? Magical is the illusion of creating an effect without a cause. Mystical is the speculation into the mystery of the creative processes and into the depth of one’s soul.

Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl (1730-1797), a generation after the Baal Shem Tov (c.1700-c.1760), surely knew of the above legend. His Torah teaching Me’or Einayim examines mayyin nukbin through a mystical rather than a magical lens.

What is the secret of mayyin nukbin? What is the mystery of the feminine waters?

Me'or Einayim, Achrei Mot 1 with Connections (sefaria.org)

הענין הוא כתיב אחרי מות שני בני אהרן בקרבתם לפני ה׳ וימותו דבר אל אהרן אחיך ואל יבוא בכל עת אל הקודש גו׳ בזאת יבא אהרן אל הקודש, כי נדב ואביהוא בעבודתם וצדקתם השלימה השלימו את נפשם ומסרו את עצמם למיתה בהתדבקם בדביקות נפלא עד שנשארה נשמתם דבוקה באור העליון בסוד מיין נוקבין ויצאתה נשמתה כא׳

Our concern begins with what is written in Parshat Acharay Mot, that the two sons of Aaron died in the process of approaching the transcendent Holy One. (God said to Moses): “Speak to Aaron your brother telling him not to come at just any time into the Holy, etc. Rather with this (b’zoat; with this preparation) he should come into the Holy.”

As for Nadav and Avihu, perhaps they perfected their souls so completely through the intensity of their service and their righteousness, perhaps their adhesion (to the Holy One) was so complete, that they delivered themselves over to death. Their souls were absorbed within the heavenly light through the mystery of mayyin nukbin. Their souls departed into the Oneness.

The magical mayyin nukbin is said to lead to eternal life and wellness. One might compare these feminine waters to the miraculous waters of Lourdes. But Me’or Einayim suggests just the opposite. The exposure to mayyin nukbin led to the instant death of Aaron’s sons.

וזהו בקרבתם לפני ה׳ וימותו שכל כך קרבו ונתדבקו בדביקה ותשוקה גדולה עד שנגנזה נשמתם ונדבקה למעלה

And that’s what happened when they drew close to Ha-Shem, that they died because they were too close, they were so closely bound through their great desire until their souls were stored away and attached above.

The illustration at the beginning of this post was created by DALL-E 3, an artificial intelligence image generator. It was prompted by the miracle of life-giving waters. Below is the image of mayyim nukbin as prompted by the text above.

Nadav and Avihu are in there somewhere. Their fault was they turned on the mayyin nukbin to maximum force and were overwhelmed. But there is a middle ground between the legend of the Baal Shem Tov and the teaching of Me’or Einayim.

אמנם באמת העובד עבודה כזו בדביקות נפלא חוזר וממשיך שפע חיות מלמעלה אליו בחיים חיותו כאמור (דברים ד׳, ד׳) ואתם הדבקים בה׳ אלהיכם חיים כולכם היום שמחמת הדביקות נתוסף חיים כי זה רצונו יתברך המחיה חיים

But in truth one who serves in such a way, in such wonderous adhesion, returns and draws the flow of abundant life from above to himself while he is yet alive, as it is said in Deut. 4:4, “And you who cleave to Adonai your God, all of you are living today,” implying that those who are so attached increase life, because this is the desire of the Blessed one who enlivens all life.

Me’or Einayim does not claim eternal life or magical healing but an increased flow of blessing and life enhancement. Rather than a torrent overwhelming one from above, imagine a heavenly pool (brichah) of blessing (bracha). But how does one initiate the flow in proper measure? Where did Aaron’s sons go wrong?

 אך מפני שהיה בהם חטא המעכב על פי דברי רז״ל באמרם שתויי יין וכו׳ או שהורו הלכה וכו׳ נמנע מהם השתלשלות השפע ההוא באור החוזר אליהם ונשארו נשמתם דבוקות שם בסוד מיין נוקבין.

Since they (the sons) had incurred transgression and had veered from Divine instruction … our rabbis suggested they might have been drunk or violated the injunction not to teach in the presence of their masters … they were denied the transmission of that abundant life within the returning light, and their souls were left behind attached to ha-Shem, in the mystery of mayyin nukbin.

The sons were not properly prepared, or their condition was such that they were not suitable for such deep immersion. “Drunk” then might be compared to LSD or other hallucinogens today. Alcohol or drugs remove the governors that protect those in mystical descent. Under artificial influence one might fall without restraint and be overwhelmed.

ע״כ הזהיר את אהרן ואמר ואל יבא בכל כו׳ ר״ל שבאמת כל עבודות הצדיקים צריך להיות על דרך זה למסור נפשם בסוד מיין נוקבין וזהו ואל יבוא בכל עת שבלתי אפשר לבוא בכל עת אל הקודש כי אם בזאת יבוא וגו׳ בבחי׳ זאת של בניו שהיו בסוד מיין נוקבין אף לא כדרך שמתו בניו ונשארו גנוזות שם רק להוסיף שפע חיות וקדושה אליו על ידי זה וזהו ואל ימות כדרך שמתו בניו

That’s why (Moses) cautioned Aaron saying, “Do not come at any (time into the Holy)…” because in truth the service of the righteous needs to be in line with this, to deliver their souls in the mystery of mayyin nukbin, and that is – “Don’t come at any time” – for it is not possible to come at just any time into the Holy except “through this (b’zoat, with proper preparation) you shall come”…It was because “this preparation” of the sons through the mystery of mayyin nukbin was not according to the proper path that the sons died, and their (souls) were stored away. (One does this practice) only for the purpose of increasing the abundance of life and holiness to Him. That’s why Aaron is cautioned lest he perish in the way his sons had perished.

It is through the mystery of mayyin nukbin we initiate and modulate the flow of life-enhancement from above to below. Too much can be lethal, too little not effective. The academic kabbalah suggests these feminine waters seduce and induce the emission of the flow of blessing from above. That’s erotic and poetic, but it doesn’t tell us how to do it.

Here’s another illustration, this one from Wikipedia.

This is a siphon. Have you ever run out of gas? You might take an empty can and a length of hose and ask a neighbor if you could siphon a gallon of gasoline from his car. How do you do that? You place your empty can on the ground below the tank, insert the hose, and draw the gasoline up and over the bend. If you don’t do it just right, you get a mouthful of gasoline. (Nadav and Avihu didn’t do it right.) But if you do it just right, the flow begins, from above to below, and continues. No further exertion is required. It’s like magic.

Yes, they knew of siphons in the early centuries. The siphon is not a recent invention. Still the first time you see one in action, it’s like magic.

So, what part of this is the mayyin nukbin? One might imagine the fluid in the lower container exhibits feminine attraction to lure and induce the flow from above. But the secret, the mystery, is to learn just how much to draw on the hose to initiate the flow.

How do you learn that? From a teacher. And how do you find such a teacher? With care.

The shaliach tzibbur, the leader of a prayer service, has the responsibility to draw the community together and initiate the service. So also, the teacher at a table of learning, who initiates the flow of Torah. Any pretension, any lack of sincerity will block that flow.

As you move from community to community, from minyan to minyan, from table to table, you will become sensitive to such spiritual leadership and acquire a teacher to coach you in drawing blessing and life-enhancement safely from the abundance above. This is the secret process of mayyin nukbin.