והבאתם את עומר וגו'. שאלתיו [את רבינו המגיד הגדול ממעזריטש] מה שנאמר בזוהר הקדוש (אמור דצ"ו ע"א וע"ב) שהעומר הוא כמנחת סוטה, ואמר, שהבעל שם טוב זלה"ה אמר כי פעם מרדו בני המדינה במלך ולא ידע מי הוא, ועשה משתה, ומשמחה יצא הכל ונתגלה הכל, והבן: (כתבי קודש די"ב ע"ב).
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. (ibid. 23:10) They asked [our Rabbi, the great Maggid of Mezritch] the meaning of the Zohar, which compares the First-Fruits offering to the meal offering of the Sotah.10The Sotah is a woman accused of adultery, whose guilt or innocence is determined in a special ceremony held in the Holy Temple (see Numbers 5). As part of the ceremony, she must offer a sacrifice of barley meal, usually considered animal fodder, symbolic of the carnal act that she allegedly committed. Likewise, the First Fruits Offering, brought on the day after Passover, also consists of barley meal. He said, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, that once, the citizens of a country rebelled against the king. However, the king did not know who they were. And so he made a banquet, and amidst the joy, everything came out and was revealed.11The meaning of this parable is still open to interpretation. Kisvei Kodesh, p. 12b12Kisvei Kodesh is a collection of personal notes, written down by the famous Chasidic master, R. Yisroel, the Maggid of Koshnitz. It contains numerous teachings that he heard directly from his teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch, many of which are cryptic.
והבאתם את עומר וגו'. שאלתיו [את רבינו המגיד הגדול ממעזריטש] מה שנאמר בזוהר הקדוש (אמור דצ"ו ע"א וע"ב) שהעומר הוא כמנחת סוטה, ואמר, שהבעל שם טוב זלה"ה אמר כי פעם מרדו בני המדינה במלך ולא ידע מי הוא, ועשה משתה, ומשמחה יצא הכל ונתגלה הכל, והבן:
(כתבי קודש די"ב ע"ב).
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. (ibid. 23:10)
They asked [our Rabbi, the great Maggid of Mezritch] the meaning of the Zohar, which compares the First-Fruits offering to the meal offering of the Sotah.10The Sotah is a woman accused of adultery, whose guilt or innocence is determined in a special ceremony held in the Holy Temple (see Numbers 5). As part of the ceremony, she must offer a sacrifice of barley meal, usually considered animal fodder, symbolic of the carnal act that she allegedly committed. Likewise, the First Fruits Offering, brought on the day after Passover, also consists of barley meal. He said, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, that once, the citizens of a country rebelled against the king. However, the king did not know who they were. And so he made a banquet, and amidst the joy, everything came out and was revealed.11The meaning of this parable is still open to interpretation.
Kisvei Kodesh, p. 12b12Kisvei Kodesh is a collection of personal notes, written down by the famous Chasidic master, R. Yisroel, the Maggid of Koshnitz. It contains numerous teachings that he heard directly from his teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch, many of which are cryptic.