Chai Elul ...

Friday:

SHEVAT Tikkun - Sense: Eating, Taste

The rectified sense of eating is the special sense of the tzadik, as is said: "The tzadik eats to satisfy his soul" (Proverbs 13:25). This verse continues: "but the stomach of the wicked is always lacking." The soul-oriented tzadik feels "full" and happy with a little; the body-oriented wicked person never feels content.

Eating from the Tree of Life, the tzadik derives great pleasure ("life" in Torah means "pleasure") from the Divine sparks of light and lifeforce present within the food he eats. In his rectified state of consciousness he is continuously aware that "not on the [physical dimension of] bread alone does man live, but on each utterance of the mouth of God does man live."

The time of greatest pleasure in partaking of food is on the day of Shabbat. The word for "to satisfy [his soul]" (שֹׂבַע) is cognate to the word for "seven" (שֶׁבַע), alluding to the seventh day of Shabbat. [You will be able to perform the rectification of the sense of 'eating' and 'taste' related to Shabbos, exactly on the day of Shabbos.] A true tzadik experiences the pleasure of Shabbat the entire week (in the Zohar, the tzadik is called Shabbat). The word Shevat itself transforms to Shabbat (since the two letters tet and tav, both letters of the tongue, are phonetically interchangeable).

Saturday/Shabbos:

ADAR Tikkun - Sense: Laughter

Laughter is the expression of unbounded joy, the joy which results from witnessing the light brought forth from darkness. The epitome of laughter in the Torah is that of Sarah at the birth of Isaac (יצחק) whose name derives from the word for laughter (צחוק): "God made me laugh, whoever hears shall laugh with me.”

Giving birth at the age of 90 (and Abraham at the age of 100), after being barren and physically unable to have children, is witnessing Divine light and miracle emerging from total darkness. The word in Hebrew for "barren" is composed of the same letters (in the same order) as the word for "darkness." Purim (פורים) comes from the word meaning "be fruitful [and multiply]" (פרו).

Of Isaac, the archetype personification of laughter in the Torah, it is said "the fear [source of awe, i.e. God] of Isaac." This phrase can also be read as: "fear shall laugh"--the essence of fear shall metamorphize into the essence of laughter. In relation to Purim, the fear of (the decree of) Haman transforms into the exuberant laughter of the festival of Purim.