The Gallbladder and the 272nd Prohibition — Jewish Psychosomatics

The Gallbladder and the 272nd Prohibition

Ben Ish Chai (zechuto yagen aleinu) cites a commentary by one of the masters of the hidden wisdom, the Kabbalist Rabbi Sasson Mordechai, on the verse: “You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin; I am the L-rd your G-d” (Vayikra 19:36): the human body contains four kinds of bile—red, black, green, and white. Each of them is present in a specific, precisely established quantity. If one becomes dominant over another, this leads to illness; and if the imbalance becomes excessive, the person will die. Maintaining the proper proportion among these types of bile is therefore the key to a person's health. Ben Ish Chai also cites the opinion of a hidden Kabbalist that the scales correspond to the Name of Ha-Shem — הוי׳׳ה: the chain hanging from the vertical support represents the letter י, “yud”; the support itself represents the letter ו, “vav”; and the two pans of the scales represent the two letters ה–ה, “heh”. These receive abundance from the aforementioned letters ו ׳׳ י and, in turn, radiate and distribute throughout the worlds, along the line of equilibrium, everything that is necessary for them and that they are capable of receiving. Therefore, one who gives short measure is not worthy of blessing. This is what is meant by: “Honest scales, honest weights … I am the L-rd, G-d,” for the scales allude to My Name. How then can you act deceitfully when weighing, G-d forbid?! It is also known that a person's bile is collected in a “kis” (a pouch or sac), [known in Hebrew as the “gallbladder” (“kis ha-marah”)]. A person's health depends on all the types of bile maintaining the measure and proportion established for them by the Almighty, blessed be He, so that none becomes dominant over another. If a person causes one pan of the scales to rise above the other through theft and deceit in weighing, then the proportion established among the various types of bile in the human body will likewise be disrupted. One will begin to dominate the others, and the person's health will suffer serious harm. The Torah's words can then be understood as follows: “You shall not have in your “kis” (“kis ha-marah”, (gallbladder)) “two kinds of weights … a large and a small one”—that is, of the two types of bile found there, neither should dominate the other, creating “larger and smaller” quantities; rather, equilibrium must be maintained between them. If you desire this, take care that your home does not contain “two kinds of ephah measures, a large and a small one,” for if you sin in this matter, the balance among the types of bile in your body will also be disturbed, and one will be “larger” while the other is “smaller.” That is why the verse continues (Devarim 25:15): “…so that your days may be prolonged upon the land,” for a person's life and health depend on the proper ratio among the types of bile, in which one does not exceed another in quantity. And if you ask: “Why is this sin [deceit in weighing] so grave that it directly affects a person's life?” the Torah answers immediately afterward: “For everyone who does such things, everyone who deals dishonestly, is an abomination to the L-rd your G-d,” because he damages His Name הוי׳׳ה, as explained above. Ben Ish Chai then recalls the words of the prophet Yeshayahu: “Your heart will recall the terror: ‘Where is the one who counts? Where is the one who weighs?’” (Yeshayahu 33:18) This refers to a twofold evil: deceit in counting, when a person counts out money for his fellow while misleading him, and deceit in weighing. One who commits these acts assumes that their consequences are confined to the lower, material world—but this is not so! In truth, all of this directly affects the higher realms as well, for it touches upon the letters of the Name of the Almighty, blessed be He. For it is written (Tehillim 121:5): “The L-rd is your guardian; the L-rd is your shadow at your right hand”—meaning that He is like a shadow, in that everything a person does below brings about a corresponding action above, whether for good or, G-d forbid, the opposite. The midrash Tanna Devei Eliyahu (200:15, Tzav) relates that the prophet Eliyahu, of blessed memory, said: “A man once came and sat opposite me. He was learned in Scripture, but not in Mishnah. He said to me: ‘Rabbi, once I sold a gentile four kur of dates [a kur equals 30 seah] and measured them out for him in a room that was half-dark, and he said to me: “Only you and G-d in Heaven know what measure you are using to measure out my goods.” But when measuring, I gave him three seah less of dates. Then I took the money from him and bought a jug of oil with it. I placed the oil in the same place where I had measured the dates, but the vessel broke and the oil spilled out. I said to him: “Blessed is the Almighty, Who renders impartial judgment.”’   Stories of Tzadikim – Rabbi David Ben Hasin