Da’at Tevunot 1:8 (# 40 [continued] )

Da’at Tevunot 1:8 (# 40 [continued] )

1.

Indeed, “all flaws” like evil, injustice and the like “will be undone once G-d’s Yichud is fully displayed, and everything will be rectified by virtue of the fact that His goodness alone will reign supreme” in the end [1].

But let’s consider the ramifications of that. It means, among other things, that all such flaws are and have always been meant to be “temporary” [2] and to be undone.

2.

It’s explained that they’re derived from the phenomenon known as G-d “hiding His countenance” from the world or an individual: from His not wanting to “reveal His countenance” initially so that the world not be perfected from the first but rather in the end [3].

But it was never G-d’s intention to keep His countenance hidden – He always intended to reveal it eventually and to undo the wrongfulness brought on by it [4]. So He established a structure to accomplish just that: the mitzvah-system. Follow it and you’ll enjoy eternity, we’re assured, the “obscured light” will shine upon you, you’ll “bask in the light of life” [5], and you’ll witness the revelation of G-d’s countenance for yourself.

There are other options, though, if one doesn’t take advantage of that, since G-d’s Yichud will inevitably be made manifest, one way or another. One option is to experience the consequences of one’s own sins [6] and the other is to repent [7].

3.

There’s yet another implication to the fact that G-d’s Yichud will inevitably manifest itself. It’s that free will -– which enables us to decide to either perfect ourselves or not — will be undone, Ramchal points out, at the end of the six-thousand years given humanity to serve G-d [8]. We’ll thus be angelic [9] and freed from the ties of the yetzer hara and everything associated with it.

Indeed, the whole point of manifesting G-d’s rule will be to show just how all-encompassing it has always been. For while life is stormy, and evil and injustice seems to reign without impediment and in full throttle, in the end G-d will be proven to reign supreme.

This in fact is the foundation of our faith as Jews and what has always kept our hearts strong in the long and bitter course of exile — the idea that while wrongdoing and injustice has had the wherewithal to do what it will, it will ultimately be undone and G-d’s Yichud will eventually manifest itself [10].

Footnotes:

[1]         As Ramchal put it elsewhere, “wrongdoing will actually turn back into good … all harm will be rectified, and all evil turned back into actual good … (once) G-d’s Yichud is revealed”.

We’ve grown so used to wrongdoing and injustice that we tend to take it in stride. Children, on the other hand, are flabbergasted by it and say things like, “That’s not fair! It shouldn’t be like that!” They know that wrong is just … wrong and that things shouldn’t be that way. They’ll have been proven to be right when G-d’s goodness and fairness will have full reign — when we sad, weathered adults will have been proven too cynical.

See Klach Pitchei Chochma 4, and refer to R’ Shriki’s thorough treatment of the role and undoing of evil in pp. 314-328 of his edition.

[2]         I.e., a “passing phase”. See 3:20 below.

All wrongdoing will prove to have been nothing other than a straw-man — a huge and daunting artifice apparently given the power to oppose G-d Almighty Himself, but not actually so.

[3]         See Numbers 6:25-26: “May G-d shine His countenance upon you and favor you, (and) may G-d raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace”.

The contrast between G-d’s hiding and revealing His countenance will factor into other phenomena as well, as we’ll see in 1:14 and 3:3 below. Also see Derech Hashem 1:4:10.

[4]         Understand of course that G-d didn’t disclose His Yichud from the first for a good reason: it would have foiled His intentions for us to perfect ourselves, as we’d seen in 1:1:2. So He held Himself back, if you will, and granted us the opportunity to allow Him to reveal His countenance on our own.

[5]         I.e., in G-d’s own light. See Ch. 1 of Messilat Yesharim and Derech Hashem 1:4:10.

[6]         Either in life or afterwards.

[7]         There’s a world of things to be said about these three options (mitzvah-observance, repentance, or retribution) whose implications are vast, but we’ll limit ourselves to the following.

The most important implication is that each and every one of us is sure to experience the Divine up close; no one will be forsaken (see 1:15 below, Adir Bamarom p. 211, and Ramchal’s Peirush HaZohar Reish Mishpatim pp. 277-278). Some of us will come to it willingly while others will come to it “kicking and screaming”, if you will, but all will be accommodated.

[8]         Don’t underestimate the primordial shift involved in the undoing of free will. After all, as Rambam puts it, “the human species is unique in the world and unlike any other (in this way specifically) …. in that man, of his own volition, consciously and with his own mind, can distinguish between good and evil, and can (freely) do whatever he wants to do, either good or evil, without anyone stopping him” (Hilchot Teshuva 5:1); and, “the ability to willfully do either good or bad things at any time is an essential part of our beings” (Sh’mone Perakim Ch. 8). So in a sense, we’ll no longer be human when G-d’s Yichud is revealed; we’ll be “angelic”, as Ramchal words it in our text.

Notice, too, that the necessity for free will was brought up just before this, in 1:7. The point is that, indeed, it will be necessary for the meanwhile, but not forever: like evil, it too will prove to be “temporary”.

[9]         I.e., given that angels don’t have free choice.

[10]      The revelation of G-d’s Yichud will be the instance par excellence of everything falling into place and of all vexing contradictions being solved in one fell swoop undoing all chaos.

 

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

Da’at Tevunot 1:7 (# 38 – 40 [beg.])

1.

Ramchal had said that everything will eventually play a role in the revelation of G-d’s Yichud — including our having been created flawed, and the reality of sin and wrongdoing. But that begs the question, though, of why flaws like injustice, wrongfulness, and sin exist in a perfect G-d’s world in the first place [1]? Ramchal’s point will be that it all has to do with the makeup of G-d’s Yichud as opposed to His other traits [2].

2.

It comes to this: when we talk about human traits we speak of them in diametrically opposite terms or in shades of gray. We depict people as good, bad, or somewhere in-between; as brilliant, foolish, or in-between, etc. Yet for the most part we can’t really talk about G-d’s traits that way [3]. For, while we can cite His wisdom, for example, we can’t legitimately speak of His “foolishness” or variations in-between; and while we can likewise cite His righteousness we can’t speak of His “wrongfulness” or anything in-between there either. For, as a perfect Being, G-d is wholly wise, righteous, and the like.

We can, though, posit shades of gray when it comes to one of G-d’s traits — His rule [4]. We can acknowledge that His rule is sovereign, or we can cite examples of things that seem to show that it’s limited [5]. This is what sets G-d’s Yichud apart from all of His other traits.

So, in order to prove just how supreme His sovereignty is, G-d first allows for wrongdoing to exist, which seems to show that His rule is limited [6]. And once this possibility exists, G-d could then show that He’s in fact utterly in control of everything by undoing wrongdoing [7]. Wrong, injustice, sin, and the like thus serve a vital and well-intended end which is the unveiling of G-d’s utter sovereignty, and they exist because they serve G-d’s purposes.

In fact, the reality of G-d’s utter sovereignty as opposed to His perceived limitations is central to our religious and ethical life. It allows for free will [8] and for our subsequent reward or punishment [9]. G-d’s Yichud is in fact the most defining of His traits in the world  [10]. All of His other traits are actually subsets of it [11].

In short, G-d purposely allowed for all wrongdoing, injustice, and evil to exist from the first, and He’ll eventually undo all of that, as we’ll see. For, “imperfection had to be allowed to appear at first” Ramchal explains, in order “to allow for it to be undone” in the end.

The revelation of G-d’s Yichud thus not only goes to explain why there’s wrongfulness in the world, it’s also the central theme of all of existence.

Footnotes:

[1]         This question was discussed in 1:2:3 where it was pointed out that the world was created flawed so that we might perfect ourselves and it on our own (see there). But there’ll prove to be a deeper reason for it as we’ll now see.

[2]         Focusing the discussion here on G-d’s “traits” in this chapter is confusing. What’s being referred to here are G-d’s ways of interacting with it, as we’ll see.

[3]         That is, as a rule we really can’t explain G-d’s interactions with us in nuanced terms: He’s wholly this or that.

[4]         I.e., His way of interacting with us as the universal administrator.

[5]         Those who make the five errors discussed in chapter 1:5 do that, as when they speak of G-d working in tandem with some other entity, etc.

[6]         That is, it seems to show that people can thwart His wishes.

In other words, G-d initially interacts with us in a way that seems to indicate that He’s “vulnerable” and less than almighty.

[7]         Which He’ll eventually do, as we’ll see in the next chapter.

The next two themes in the original offer brilliant but decidedly tangential insights into the difference between human thought and G-d’s own, and into the idea that G-d accommodates His actions to our intellectual limitations in order to allow us to grasp something of His ways. Ramchal also discusses the idea that G-d could very well have created an utterly different reality than the one He did — an utterly un-linear one without clear cause and effect, without logical underpinnings. While all of this is astounding to consider and consequential in our understandings of the universe, its still-and-all out of place in the discussion and would draw us away from the vital point at hand.

It’s nonetheless clear that all of this is tangential since Ramchal says “let’s return to the subject at hand” right afterwards. So, we’ll be bypassing that discussion here so as to allow for an easier explanation of the very important an complex point about G-d’s Yichud which is central to Da’at Tevunot and Ramchal’s worldview.

See note 5 to 1:3 above which speaks to much of this when it speaks of the centrality of the idea of G-d’s Yichud in relation to G-d’s “accommodating Himself” to the reality of the world as we know it.)

[8]         After all, if we mistakenly believe that G-d’s reign is limited then we can also mistakenly believe that we can go against His wishes and suffer no consequences.

[9]         As a consequence of our reactions.

[10]      I.e., G-d’s interacting with us initially in a seemingly limited capacity then ultimately in an absolute capacity is in fact the most defining reality of our interactions with Him.

[11]      His sovereignty, we’re reminded here, implies that “no one else (but He) is in control, and (that) no one can oppose Him or thwart His wishes”. It follows then that His other traits like wisdom, which is defined in our text as His ability to “know how to fully and correctly conceive of things”, and His righteousness which is defined here as the capacity to “act (only) beneficially to all”, thus contribute to His ability to reign supreme — and beneficently, which is also His intention, as we were taught in 1:1:3.

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

Da’at Tevunot 1:6 (# 36 [cont.] – 37)

Da’at Tevunot 1:6 (# 36 [cont.] – 37)

1.

What believing in G-d’s Yichud — His supreme sovereignty — comes down to is having faith in the fact that nothing whatsoever can thwart Him, as He alone reigns supreme. Among other things that implies that not only is there no opposing deity to Him who controls wrong and injustice, but that in fact He Himself created both good and evil [1].

Unlike the ancient idolaters, we believe that nothing under Him — no “ruler” or “governor” — has command of the world. In point of fact, G-d Himself oversees each and every created entity personally. And nothing comes about without His willing it and bringing it about, as nothing happens by chance or as a consequence of nature or “fate”; everything is on purpose and on target, and G-d’s own idea [2].

We also believe that G-d is the lone Judge over everything celestial as well as the most mundane of things [3]. Since He’s compelled to do nothing, He needn’t even comply with His own edicts and requirements if they disagree with His ultimate will [4]. That’s not to say that He hasn’t granted us the freedom to do what we will [5], yet He can decide to not take our actions into account and to be benevolent to whomever He cares to [6].

That in fact has always been our people’s consolation and has allowed us hope for our ultimate future. For we’ve been taught that G-d will always abide by the vow He made with our ancestors and will never abandon His people despite our failings, and that He will indeed bring on the long awaited redemption when He sees fit. For “He is the L-rd”, as Ramchal reiterates, “so He can do that whenever He wants to”.

And the other point to be made is that no one can oppose G-d, even if he uses the very supernatural or natural mechanisms that G-d set up to challenge Him. For since He allowed for those mechanisms He can undo them all the same or change the “rules” as He wills.

2.

In point of fact, the only reason why we don’t realize all of this viscerally and must accept it on faith is because G-d’s utter sovereignty has been hidden away from us [7]. But there’ll come a time when G-d will openly display His absolute sovereignty, His Yichud. For as Ramchal asserts, it was toward that end alone that G-d established the world and all of its ways [8].

Indeed, everything but everything will prove to have played a role in the great drama of the revelation of G-d’s Yichud in the end. And once it’s revealed, we’ll be able to understand in retrospect the singular role that each and every element of the cosmos en toto has played in that reality. For each thing and every moment will prove to have served as a clue and solution to the great and dazzling fact of G-d’s absolute sovereignty [9] .

And we’ll also learn that our having been created imperfect and having been granted a way to perfect ourselves, of being rewarded, and of drawing closer to G-d in the process will also all prove to be an offshoot of the phenomenon of the revelation of G-d’s Yichud [10].

Footnotes:

[1]         See Isaiah 45:7.

This and the following affirmations are intended to countervail the mistakes cited in 1:5.

[2]         This is what’s referred to as “radical monotheism” — the belief that G-d is the lone cosmic protagonist.

[3]         And that He’s also the sole administrator of His judgments.

[4]         That is, if they disagree with His ultimate goal. For, in G-d’s eyes the ultimate end justifies all means.

[5]         Which would seem to expose us to disobedience. And by the way, free choice will itself be undone in the end: see 1:11 below.

[6]         As it’s said in G-d’s own name, “I will be gracious unto whomever I care to be, even if he isn’t worthy of it” (Berachot 7a). Also see Job 35:6, Jeremiah 50:20, Isaiah 43-25 and 48:11, and Zachariah 3:9, all of which underscore the fact that G-d can undo the rules, so to speak, if He cares to.

Thus, it could be said that rather than enabling humans to possibly rebel, G-d Himself can rebel, if you will, against the very system He has set in place, and do as He will whenever and in whatever instance He cares to. This is once again an indication of the  radical and thorough-going nature of G-d’s sovereignty, His Yichud.

[7]         This harkens back to the point the Soul made in Ramchal’s Introduction that while he accepts certain principles of the religion on faith, he nonetheless doesn’t actually sense them to be true on his own. Ramchal’s point here is that he — and we — will indeed sense the truth of all of them in the end.

[8]         Put plainly, everything is as it is because G-d wanted it to be so, so as to allow for the revelation of His Yichud which is the point of it all.

This revelation will begin in the Messianic Era (see Klach Pitchei Chochma 49) and will conclude in the Great Day of Judgment (Ibid. 79, 87 and Da’at Tevunot 170.)

[9]         Given that, we can now grasp something of the depth and breadth of the eventual revelation of G-d’s Yichud. It will entail an infinite and utterly unearthly series of revelations of the meaning behind and the processes embodied in this world which will go deeper and deeper, wider and wider ad infinitum.

What that means to say is that we’ll each come to understand G-d’s ways in this world on an endlessly more and more profound level. So for example while we might at first understand how we’d been influenced by our parents’ actions and how we’d influenced our own children’s actions in the great course of things (which is no small feat), we’d then perhaps come to realize the role our grandparents played on our beings, and how we’d influenced our own grandchildren’s lives, etc. We might then transcend that too by understanding our parents’ thoughts and motivations, as well as our children’s, etc.; then what instigated those motivations, etc., and so one. And then we’d go past all that to the point where we’d understand G-d’s role in all that by degrees.

[10]      He’s referring to the questions raised back in 1:2:1 about why we were created imperfect to begin with; his assertion here is that that, too, will become manifest once G-d’s Yichud is revealed.

There very are many references to the fact, centrality, implications and revelation of G-d’s Yichud in Ramchal’s writing. See for example Klach Pitchei Chochma  1, 4, 16, 30, 39, 47-49, 79-80, 92, 113, and 138., Adir Bamarom pp. 197-199, 210, 225-227, Ma’amar Sod HaYichud, etc.

Refer to the following for discussions of G-d’s Yichud in Ramchal’s thoughts: R’ Shriki’s Rechev Yisrael pp. 167-228 and his essay HaYichud in his edition of Da’at Tevunot pp. 61-66; R’ Yoseph Avivi’s Zohar Ramchal pp. 178-191, 213-216; and R’ Friedlander’s edition of Klach Pitchei Chochma pp. 35-37.

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

 

 

Da’at Tevunot 1:5 (# 35 – 36 [beginning])

Da’at Tevunot 1:5 (# 35 – 36 [beginning])

The idea of G-d’s Yichud seems simple enough: doesn’t it just indicate that G-d is the only L-rd, there’s none other? Well, while that’s true overall, there are many factors in the tradition that expand on it that would need to be underscored and explained.

But the main thing we’d need to do would be to cite five theologically-calamitous mistakes that people make which prevent them from accepting just how unmitigated and absolute G-d’s sovereignty is [1].

The first of them (which seems rather laudatory and respectful of Him at first blush) is to think that G-d is “far too exalted”, much too “removed from the world to concern Himself with it” in Ramchal’s words. That in fact was the viewpoint of some early idolaters, who then worshipped the stars and constellations, which they considered G-d’s lofty agents on earth [2].

The second is to reason that since, as we’re taught, G-d is perfect, whole, and utterly benevolent, and yet there’s evil and wrongdoing in this world — then there have to be two deities: one of whom is responsible for the good and another for the bad [3].

The third mistake people have made [4] is to assume that the “laws of nature” (as well as the constraints of “destiny” and of “happenstance”) are indefatigable facts of life not to be denied, and that even G-d is beholden to them. They also believe that the sooner a person acknowledges those “rules” and starts to play by them, the better off he is, and that the longer he denies them the more likely he is to fail [5].

The fourth is to believe that His deeds are sometimes subordinate to man’s actions. They assert as an example the notion that while G-d had once chosen the Jewish Nation in fact to carry out His mission in this world, He no longer favors us since we continue to sin and stray, and that He was thus “forced” to abandon us, G-d forbid, as a consequence of those actions [6].

And the fifth mistake is to assume that though He is the Creator of each and every thing, we can still-and-all do things to get around His wishes or affect His deeds. Mistakenly believing that G-d must be vulnerable in some realm or another, and that they could subject Him to their manipulation and cunning, they would for example try to manipulate the sort of supernatural forces that G-d is thought to acquiesce to [7].

Footnotes:

[1]         Doubtlessly meaning to underscore the importance of the idea — which he says in the text is the cardinal and over-arching truism of the Jewish Faith — Ramchal elaborates here on verses that depict G-d’s sovereignty. We didn’t cite them above because they seem redundant in this sort of a treatment, but we’ll quote them here.

We’re thus told that “G-d is the L-rd” which is to say, the Absolute, Omnipotent Sovereign, “in Heaven above and on the earth below”, i.e., in orbits we experience and in others we cannot; “there is no other”, i.e., that’s true of Him, and Him alone (Deuteronomy 4:39). See Sanhedrin 67b on this verse.

“Behold, I am He” the Torah quotes G-d as declaring, meaning to say that G-d alone is the Absolute Sovereign, “there is no ‘(other) god’ with Me” i.e., He shares sovereignty with nothing and no one else. And the Torah underscores the point with the Divine affirmation that, “I (alone) bring on death and I bring to life; I wound and I heal” (Deuteronomy 32:39), thus asserting the profundity and finality of G-d’s determinations.

And we’re taught that G-d is “unchangeable; (so) who could turn Him around?”, which is to say that He cannot be dissuaded from doing anything He’s determined to do. It’s also said that “He does what He wants“(Job 23:13), for after all, “Who’d (dare) say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’“ (Job 9:12). In short we’re to understand that G-d’s rule is absolute and supreme. Nothing and no one could ever thwart Him.

It’s important to point out that Ramchal spoke of three sorts of Yichud in his writings. The one here refers to G-d’s utter sovereignty, as we’d indicated. There’s an instance of Yichud more fundamental to that though which is referred to as the Yichud — the uniqueness — of G-d’s existence, that is, the fact that only His existence is imperative (i.e., He alone is indispensable). That is, while everything else’s existence is expendable, G-d’s must exist if anything else is to. See Derech Hashem 1:1:3 as well as See Ma’amar HaIkkurim (“BaBorei Yitbarach”) and Ma’amar HaChochma (“Aleinu Leshabaiyach”) for a discussion of that. Also see Rambam’s Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1:2.

The third sort is more esoteric and is referred to as the Yichud of Reisha v’Saifa, “The conjunction of the beginning and end”. See Ramchal’s Sod HaYichud (found in Ginzei Ramchal p. 264). It refers to the point in the ultimate future when everything will return to G-dliness. But that’s not at all mentioned in Da’at Tevunot, our subject at hand, nor is it easy to explain without a huge and distracting discussion.

[2]         Those who think this way reason, “Wait a minute. He’s G-d! Why should He care about petty and ultimately inconsequential things like this world and us?” In Ramchal’s words, they think that He has left us under the control of “the stars, constellations, and their celestial counterparts, which then oversee the (workings of the) world”.

Some likewise-minded people today start off with something of the same premise but go elsewhere with it. “Since G-d is so lofty and transcendent” they contend, “He apparently left us to our own devices”. What they mean to suggest is either that we’re now on our own in the universe, masters of our own fate, and accountable to no one; or worse yet, that G-d is an aloof Master of the Universe who wouldn’t deign to concern Himself with this world. But both approaches are wrong. The first because it limits G-d’s reach and doesn’t factor in His ability (and wish) to interface with this world and ourselves in an imminent, near-at-hand sort of way. And the second is wrong because it limits His concerns for and faith in us, whom He created to fulfill His ultimate purpose.

[3]         Ramchal is referring to Zoroastrianism which thrived in Talmudic times and threatened Jewish beliefs. It maintained that a pair of co-equal deities called Ahura Mazda (the beneficent “Wise Lord”) and Angra Mainyu (the malevolent “Evil Spirit”) competed with each other for control of the universe (see Sanhedrin 39A).

The truth be known, that error is either based on our inability to fathom how a good G-d could allow for evil to manifest itself so often, or at all; or on our failure to appreciate when an instance of bad might actually prove to be good. The seeming contradiction and confusion in all that is so bothersome to some poor souls that they lapse into heresy or spiritual mayhem in the face of it, G-d forbid. But all of this will be discussed later.

[4]         And continue to make to this day, perhaps even more so than in the past, in fact.

[5]         But that would suggest that these “laws” existed before G-d Himself did, since they rather than He would be the very underpinnings of everything in the world. Yet that’s absurd, for by definition G-d never didn’t exist, so nothing could ever have preceded Him; and since He’s the Creator, He created those forces, too, and is thus beyond and above them.

It also follows, then, that since He is in fact beyond and above them (and everything else, as well), that these rules aren’t immutable. And rather than being “laws” of nature and facts of life, they’re actually only some of the multifarious, mutable means G-d uses to govern this world; that is, that like everything else, they too are beholden to Him, the Absolute Sovereign.

See Adir Bamarom, vol. 1,p. 458 and Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 150, 158 for discussions about how misguided and limited our perceptions can be.

[6]         First off, let’s quote G-d’s own words about the fixed and abiding nature of our people’s relationship to Him. “I will never give My glory to another (nation) “(Isaiah 48:11), since He has established a covenant between Himself and us that’s to last forever. And that as a consequence of that covenant He’ll expunge many of the things we do against Him, we’re assured.

“I, I myself, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember your sins“ (Isaiah 43:25), G-d said at one point; “I will remove the iniquity of that country (Israel) in one day“ (Zechariah 3:9), He said at another; and He once assured us that “In those days and in that time… the iniquity of Israel will be searched out, and there will (be found to) be none; and the sins of Judah (will be searched out, too) and not be found. For, I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant“(Jeremiah 50:20).

That’s to say that His covenant with us is eternal and beyond others’ expectations. And that G-d is unaffected by and above our own or anyone else’s deeds, as well as any system He Himself set up to determine worth and merit. For as He put it, “I will be gracious to whomever I will be gracious — even though he may not be worthy of it”. And “I will show mercy upon whomever I will show mercy, even though he may not deserve it“(Berachot 7A). Also see Genesis 17:1-2, 7; Isaiah 54:10 and 59:21; 1 Chronicles 16:15-17; and elsewhere.

That’s not to deny the consequences that any one of us would have to suffer for our having broken our end of the bargain and sinned. For, despite the covenant between G-d Almighty and our people, the truth of the matter is that transgressions are transgressions indeed every bit as much as merits are merits; everyone must answer for his or her own deeds.

[7]         But they too are wrong. For G-d alone is G-d, and the Absolute Sovereign. Nothing can thwart Him. He alone reigns supreme; nothing exists save for the fact that He wills it to; and He oversees everything. He Himself enacted all laws and ordinances, and they’re thus beholden to Him, rather than He to them.

There will indeed be times when G-d chooses to accede to man’s deeds, but He needn’t do that if He chooses not to. And He’s likewise above even supernatural laws. After all, He Himself set it all in place and granted it its capabilities. He instituted everything and can correspondingly change and undo anything. For He alone is all-powerful.

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

Da’at Tevunot 1:4

Da’at Tevunot 1:4 (# 34 continued to end)

1.

As we’d indicated, the single thread that runs through the long course of history from beginning to end will prove to be the fact that G-d reigns over absolutely everything.

In point of fact, G-d’s sovereignty, know as His Yichud, is the only trait of His that we humans can fathom. For, while He is accessible to the heart and soul, and whereas we know a lot about Him from Torah, Tradition, and from logic, G-d Himself is utterly inaccessible to the mind.

So when reflecting on His perfection we might for example understand that G-d is wise, yet  we nonetheless can’t fathom the actual makeup of His wisdom; and though we can certainly follow that He’s omniscient, we nonetheless can’t grasp His actual omniscience; and the like. As our sages put it, “You (G-d) are wise, but not with a discernable kind of wisdom. You understand, but not with a discernable kind of understanding” (Tikkunei Zohar, 2nd Introduction) [1].

In fact, we’re not only not able to fathom those other traits, we’re actually warned not to even try. As it’s said, “Do not search out what is too wondrous for you, and do not delve into what is hidden from you” (Chagigah 13a), and “if your heart flees there …” i.e., to an idea that’s utterly beyond your mortal mind, then ”return to your place”, your own experience, instead (Sefer Yetzirah 1:8).

But while that’s true of abstract ideas about Him, nevertheless as the psalmist put it so effulgently, when one catches sight of G-d’s presence and sovereignty in the world he can “taste and see that G-d is good” (Psalm 34:8) — that He’s here in our world and holds sway over all of it.

2.

But Ramchal’s point is that not only can we discern G-d’s utter sovereignty now to a degree, it’s also true that it will become perfectly clear to us in fact in the end.

As such we’re actually charged by the Torah again and again to detect G-d’s sovereignty and to internalize its veracity, to the point where it’s unquestionable to us [2]. As it’s written, “Know this day and reflect upon it in your heart” again and again “that the L-rd He is G-d in heaven above and upon the earth below”, i.e., that He reigns supreme in all realms, and that “there is none else” who does (Deuteronomy 4:39). In point of fact, all of our people’s hopes and dreams as well as all the promises made to us about our ultimate redemption [3] hinge on G-d displaying His utter sovereignty — His Yichud — in the future.

We’ll discuss this all in more detail in the next few chapters; at this point, though, let’s just present the various verses that allude to this phenomenon.

G-d Himself expressed it in these terms: “I am He! There is no G-d with Me! I alone bring on death and bring on life; I alone wound and heal“(Deuteronomy 32:39); “I am He; before Me no ‘god’ was formed and after Me none shall be. I (alone) I am the L-rd, and aside from Me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:10-11); “I am the first and I am the last; there is no G-d beside Me“(Isaiah 44:6); and “Know … that there is none beside Me. I am G-d, no one else. I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I, G-d, do all these things“ (Isaiah 45:6-7) [4].

As the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah depicted it, “G-d alone will be exalted on that day“(Isaiah 2:11) — the day He reveals His Yichud — when, “G-d will (prove to) be king over all the earth. And … G-d and His name”, i.e., G-d and His reputation as sovereign of the universe, “will be one and the same“(Zechariah 14:9). And as it’s said “Hear O Israel! G-d our L-rd is the L-rd (i.e., His reign is sovereign) (Deuteronomy 6:4).

The point of the matter is that G-d alone reigns supreme — and that while there are undoubtedly other entities with wills of their own, ourselves included, in fact G-d alone will always have “the last word” so to speak; His Will will prove to reign supreme [5].

3.

In the end we’ll find that the whole slow, boundless, panoramic consideration of past, present and the promised future which we’ll be offered in this work will ultimately have us realize the fact of G-d’s Yichud.

And once we know that, we’ll be able to not only “know therefore this day” the truth of G-d’s absolute sovereignty in theory — we will have “reflect(ed) upon it in (our) heart”, and we’ll be able to realize on our own that “G-d alone is L-rd of Heaven above and of earth below — none other” (see Deuteronomy 4:39), despite the whirligig of earthly circumstances that seem to refute that.

Footnotes:

[1]         That’s because those and other such Divine traits are rooted in abstract notions about Him and about G-d’s inner being, while G-d’s sovereignty — His overarching command of everything in the universe — will manifest itself in the universe in the end.

[2]         Understand that most of us simply don’t sense G-d’s utter sovereignty. Even people of faith who assume that G-d certainly reigns in this world don’t actually assume He reigns supremely. And that’s because they presume that He Himself is subject and subservient to a number of cosmic laws and limitations (which Ramchal will discuss later on), and that His sovereignty can be thwarted, but that’s not true.

[3]         This refers to the Messianic Era, the resurrection of the dead, the great day of judgment, and the World to Come.

[4]         Great Mussar masters like R’ Yisrael Salanter, and R’ Yosef Zundel his teacher would counsel us to repeat Torah verses that speak to a trait one would like to foster in himself much the way that we in modernity speak of affirming certain insights we’d like to internalize by repeating them over and over again to himself. In that same spirit it would certainly do us all well to recite these statements about G-d’s utter sovereignty to affirm its reality to ourselves.

[5]         But haven’t we been granted free will which presupposes that one can thwart G-d’s will, which would suggest that His will and reign are not sovereign? And aren’t there forces for evil and sin in the world that seem to foil His will — and His benevolence cited earlier on — too? Suffice it to say that this will all be discussed later on.

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

 

 

Da’at Tevunot 1:3

Da’at Tevunot 1:3 (#’s 32 – 34 beginning)

1.

Some people are said to enjoy “global vision” in that they seem to see things on the ground from on high and to take the big-picture into account. Others, though, including Ramchal, experience what we’d term “cosmic vision”. For while also seeing things from on high, these more exalted souls also see them from beginning to end with a clear view of ultimate consequences.

And so we find Ramchal making certain “cosmic” statements like the following here: “When we dwell on the whole array of G-d’s actions” at creation, then on “every major deed He has brought about since He placed man on earth” since creation, to every deed that “He assured us through His holy prophets that He’d (eventually) bring about, it becomes entirely clear” that….

So let’s see what we’d notice if we too could take all of that into account, since it will explain so many things to us about G-d.

2.

Before we get to that, though, there’s something we’d need to understand clearly [1]. It’s that even though we’d been told [2] that G-d wants us to grasp Him and that we’re capable of doing that in fact, it’s nonetheless vitally important to know that we could never grasp G-d’s full and infinite being. That’s simply beyond us. We can understand though (and will experience in the end) a fragment of G-d’s being.

After all, Ramchal points out, isn’t it said, “Can you fathom the mystery of G-d? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?”(Job 11:7); indeed, “who can enunciate the mighty acts of G-d or fully declare all His praise?” (Psalms 106:2) [3].

As such, while we’ll be discussing the overarching pattern of G-d’s ways in the world, the direction that His actions are heading in, here in the universe, and His over-all goals — which is all very buoyant, stunning, and electric unto itself — we nonetheless won’t be discussing G-d Himself [4].

In any event, our grasping even that relatively “small corner” of His being is what Ramchal and others assure us will bring us the great soul satisfaction we’d spoken of [5].

3.

And so Ramchal now depicts what one would come to realize if we were able to “dwell on the whole array of G-d’s actions”, on “every major deed He has brought about since He placed man on earth” , and on everything “He assured us through His holy prophets that He’d (eventually) bring about” cited above.

It would be the fact that G-d’s sovereignty and rule are supreme [6].

That’s to say that the one over-arching theme we’d see playing itself out in the long course of time from creation to the end of time is the fact that G-d is fully in charge of everything — despite an almost endless array of paradoxes that seem to contradict that. We’ll expand upon this phenomenon shortly again and later on, as it’s one of the major themes of Da’at Tevunot.

Footnotes:

[1]         Keep in mind that what’s to follow is one of the things we’d have to understand before we can know what we can draw upon to perfect ourselves — which is the actual subject at hand, as indicated at the end of 1:2.

[2]         See 1:2:1.

[3]         The truth be told, Ramchal will indeed be probing many hidden things in the course of this work. But let that serve as a lesson as to just what’s hidden from us and beyond our inquiries and what only seems to be.

[4]         G-d is utterly, utterly unfathomable, but not only because we aren’t privy to the mystery of His being, with the implication that eventually we just might. It’s because He is beyond space and time, and exists on a “plane” that existed before He created reality and will continue to exist after reality is undone.

Nonetheless, in a manner of speaking, the one and only G-d can be said to have two “sides”, if you will. There’s His “private side” — the way He is in His own element, where He is “Himself” and where no one other than He ever experiences Him. And then there’s His “public side” — the way He presents Himself outside of Himself, in the universe.

The point is that we won’t be discussing His “private side” since we simply cannot, but we can and are even encouraged to dwell on His “public side”.

Let it also be said that while He’s not really Himself under the latter circumstances and is somewhat “restricted” there, nonetheless since we could potentially relate to Him under those circumstances. and since His assuming His “public side” best serves His ultimate goals, He presents Himself that way to us.

[5] See 1:2:2 for a citation of this experience, and also see Adir Bamarom p. 396.

That’s to say that while we may become dismayed by the fact that we can only discern a small part of G-d’s being, all the same, discerning even that small part will bring us the unfathomable bliss promised us. In fact, the implication is that a revelation of a higher order would for all intents and purposes be just too much and would undo us.

[6]         This factor is termed the playing out of G-d’s Yichud. The word Yichud is derived from Echad, one, and literally translates as “unity” or “uniqueness”, but that’s not the point here. It’s closer to the idea of professing faith in the Yichud Hashem, “G-d’s Oneness” (see Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 417), i.e., in Monotheism, which is the gist of Ramchal point. What it comes down to is belief in the doctrine that G-d alone is in control of the universe.

The term will be expanded upon later. See for example 1:5:5, 1:7:2, 1:10:1, etc. See R’ Shriki’s Rechev Yisrael pp. 167-228, and his important essay HaYichud in his commentary to Da’at Tevunot pp. 61-66. And see Klach Pitchei Chochma 1-4 for a definition of the concept as well as a discussion of its dynamics.

This chapter is discussed on an esoteric level in Clallim Rishonim 3. The discussion there touches upon and goes beyond our discussion of the notion of Tzimtzum in our notes to the previous chapters so it would help to put Tzimtzum (and what’s beyond it) into context here in order to explain what’s said in Clallim Rishonim.

Simply put, the Ari said at the beginning of Eitz Chaim that before G-d created the cosmos all that existed was Himself. Given that He’s all-encompassing, infinite, and omnipotent, and that no mortal or finite being could exist in His environment, G-d “contracted” or “concealed” His full being so as to allow for an environment in which lesser beings could in fact exist, and that process is what’s termed Tzimtzum.

By doing that, G-d then created an “empty space” — a space devoid of His manifest presence — which would indeed allow for finitude to exist. Ramchal’s point in Clallim Rishonim is that that realm is what’s under discussion here, since it’s where G-d’s full being cannot be experienced.

That empty space was said to have been created in the “center” of the primordial “space” that was suddenly “devoid” of Him. Ramchal makes the point that the word “center” in this context isn’t to be taken literally, since we’re talking about a realm that’s beyond space and time; it’s only the “center” in the sense that it occupies “center stage” when it comes to G-d’s intentions for the universe.

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

 

 

Da’at Tevunot 1:2

Da’at Tevunot 1:2 (#’s 20-31)

1.

Now that we know that G-d wants us to perfect both ourselves and the universe we’ll need to unravel this next series of mysteries: just how are we imperfect and what are the consequences of that? What is human perfection in fact, and how does achieving it perfect all of creation? How do we come to it and what are its consequences [1]?

Well, there are Torah verses and quotes from our sages  we can cull from and some conclusions we can arrive at logically  to depict what perfection would be like. So we’d do well to use them to contrast perfection with, and to understand our current imperfection.

But Ramchal first indicates that in general perfection comes to “attaching oneself onto G-d’s holy presence [2], and to delighting in the act of grasping His glory without any of the impediments” [3]. He acknowledges that “we don’t really have the ability to understand just what this ‘attaching’ and ‘grasping’ is all about” at this point of our development, that is, “as long as we’re imperfect” [4]. But we’ve been granted allusions to it, as we’ll see.

2.

This phenomenon is depicted in the following verses: “Then you will delight in the L-rd, and I will have you ride on the heights of the earth” (Isaiah 58:14), “The upright will dwell in Your presence” (Psalms 140:13), and “In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalms 16:11). It’s spoken of in the Talmudic statement that “In the World to Come there will be neither eating nor drinking, nor procreation or business transactions, nor envy or hatred or rivalry; but the righteous will sit enthroned (there) with crowns on their heads, enjoying the luster of the Divine presence” (Berachot 17a). And it can be derived from the fact that like all things that yearn to return to their source, the soul likewise yearns to return its source, G-d Himself, and that achieving that would be perfection [5].

Nonetheless as long as we don’t yet cleave onto G-d’s presence and grasp His being we’re imperfect, and the fact remains that we were indeed created to achieve that and have been charged by G-d to set out to do it [6]. But there are a couple of other things we’d need to understand now that are rather mystifying before we can go forward.

3.

First off, it’s clear that G-d could have created us and the universe as utterly perfect to begin with, so why didn’t He? In fact we’d have expected Him to have, given His omnipotence [7]. The answer, we’re taught, lies in the fact that rather than create worlds and things in accordance with His own needs and abilities, G-d created them to fit ours.

As such, G-d could be said to have purposefully “held Himself back”, if you will; to have stifled His infinite ability to create perfectly when He formed the universe and ourselves. So, He didn’t create us as perfect to begin with simply because He deemed it necessary for us to perfect ourselves (and the universe with us) by ourselves. And that was so that we’d be able to achieve His goal that we be self-actualized [8].

Another legitimate question we could then ask is this: Given that we’re indeed imperfect, what then can we draw upon to perfect ourselves [9]? We’ll have to wait till we can answer that one, though [10].

Footnotes:

[1]         These themes will be expanded on later on in the book.

[2]         See Derech Hashem 1:2:3 and Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1.

[3]         There are thus two aspects to this: first “attaching oneself onto G-d’s holy presence” itself which is followed by the experience of “delighting in the act of grasping His glory without any of the impediments”. But the latter aspect would seem to suggest a certain detachment from G-d — a stepping back in order to fully assess on one’s own his grasp of His glory — while the suggestion has always been that we’d enjoy an eternal attachment.

It seems the implication is that one would first enjoy the utterly unfathomable state of adhesion on to G-d’s very being due him, but then he’d pull back to realize that it was he himself who was experiencing that as his reward for all of his efforts and service to G-d, and that he’d then adhere once again ad infinitum.

[4]         Much the way a four year old couldn’t be expected to fathom being forty.

After all, how could a mortal being subject to the exigencies of space and time ever fathom being attached on to and experiencing G-d Himself?

[5]         That’s to say that the perfection we’re capable of achieving is the state in which we’d dwell and delight in G-d’s lustrous presence joyfully as we soar above all human concerns, don regal “crowns”, and realize our dream of returning to G-d.

The idea that all things naturally yearn to return to their “source” is classical. It was used for example by the ancients to explain why fire flickers upward — to return to the source of fire in the heavens, etc.

While that concept no longer rings true to those of us with a scientific background, the basic notion behind it is still valid on a human level and helps to explain many things, including why children cling to their mothers, why individuals tend to stay close to their people or are drawn to others from their hometown or alma mater, why our minds and imaginations often draw upon archetypical ideas and longings, why people often regress into childhood patterns when they grow old, and most significantly (as Ramchal indicates) why we would want to draw close to G-d.

This model is in fact found in many Kabalistic works, including but certainly not limited to Leshem Shevo v’Achlamah which states that “the goal of everything is to return to its Exalted Source” (Chelek HaBiurim 1, p. 83), and that “a lower light always longs to rise upward and to attach itself up above, so as to garner more and more light and blessings from the Infinite Light on high” (Ibid. 2, p. 14).

[6]         Thus to answer the questions raised at the top as to what’s imperfect about us that needs to be rectified — it’s our disconnection from G-d; the consequences of that are our sinfulness as well as our toxic sense of purposelessness; and the consequences of our actually perfecting ourselves would be the sort of unalloyed joy that comes upon the soul when it realizes its full potential.

[7]         That is, would Almighty G-d have been expected to do anything less than perfectly? It follows that His having created an imperfect world was on purpose. And we can extrapolate from there that everything G-d does is purposeful and premeditated, which is an axiom of faith and trust in G-d’s being and actions.

[8]         This too refers to the Kabbalistic concept of Tzimtzum (see note 7 to 1:1 above).

[9]         This won’t be fully explained until Section Two below.

[10]      So, to sum up the last chapter and this one, we learn that G-d calls upon us to perfect ourselves and the universe at large, and that we’re to be richly rewarded for doing that; that the reward in fact will be an experience of G-d Himself, which we sorely lack now; that G-d purposely fashioned us and the entire universe to accommodate our mission; and that there’s something within us that allows for so bold and otherworldly a phenomenon.

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

Da’at Tevunot 1:1 (#’s 12-19)

1.

 

It’s hard coming upon the secrets of the universe. You have to unpack one bag after another, lay their contents out next to each other, then compare and contrast them all until the whole picture comes through. That’s exactly what we’re cautioned about here, since we’re going to be exposed to some of life’s deepest mysteries in the course of this work by degrees. So we’ll all need to have patience as we follow “the bouncing ball” as it goes from point to point. Let this serve as a word of warning.

We’ll start off with what we hope to learn over-all in Da’at Tevunot, and what Ramchal will offer in response to the question about the four principles of our faith discussed in the introductory chapters, and go on from there. As Reason puts it, we hope to uncover man’s makeup, what’s incumbent upon him in this world, and the aim of his life [1]. So we’ll clearly be touching upon some core human — and several specifically Jewish — issues, and we’ll need to proceed step by step.

 

2.

 

As Reason puts it, “The primary principle upon which the entire edifice stands” — bottom line — is the fact that G-d wants us to perfect ourselves and to perfect all of creation along with us [2]. Understand of course that we’re referring to perfecting ourselves spiritually [3] — that is, achieving the greatest and most exalted degree of humanity possible and elevating the world along with us, while drawing both ourselves and all of creation close to G-d in the process [4].

But there’s another element to our having to perfect ourselves (rather than be perfected externally, as we’ll soon see). For by doing it on our own we’ll be rewarded for our efforts (which will foster a whole other level of perfection that we couldn’t come to if we didn’t do it on our own), and we’ll have earned perfection rather than just enjoyed it as a gift outright (which would sully the effect, as we’ll also see).

But why would G-d have wanted us to perfect ourselves? asks the Soul. In order to understand that, we’re told, we’d first have to know why G-d wanted to create the universe in the first place (another very, very weighty question!), as we now will.

 

3.

 

As best as we can determine — because we’re neither as wise nor as knowledgeable as we like to think we are, nor are we as privy to G-d’s plans as we’d like to be — it comes to this.

G-d is characterized as “The Benevolent Being” par excellence [5]. And given that it’s simply the way of one such as He to do good things, G-d thus set out to create entities to do good for, i.e., ourselves and the world at large. But in order for His goodness to be as beneficial as it could be, He needed to contend with one very human foible: the fact that we seem to need to do things on our own rather than accept handouts, given that “one who eats what’s not his own is ashamed to look (his benefactor) in the face” (Jerusalem Talmud, Orlah 1:3). That means to say that we find it hard to just take things [6].

His point is that if G-d didn’t make allowances for that, we’d be held back from achieving perfection, and His ultimate plan would thus have been thwarted; so He did indeed allow for it and has us strive for our own perfection rather than granting it to us outright [7].

Footnotes:

[1]         “Man’s makeup” refers to the fact that we’re ironically and so notably comprised of both a body and a soul, “what’s incumbent upon him in this world” refers to our moral and spiritual obligation to have our soul govern our body, and “the aim of his life” refers to the ominous notion that we were created to attach onto G-d’s presence. All of this will be discussed in the course of the book.

Ramchal offered in his introduction to Klach Pitchei Chochma that the best way to fight the yetzer hara, in fact, is to dwell on fundamental questions like this. Apparently because doing so keeps one on course and it reminds him of what his life’s about and how to direct one’s energies and proclivities. Sadly, our generation doesn’t dwell on these sorts of questions and we suffer deeply in our hearts and souls as a consequence.

[2]         As Ramchal put it elsewhere, “If we master ourselves, cleave onto our Creator, and make use of the world’s things to help us in our Divine service, both we and the world with us will be elevated” (Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1). Also see Derech Hashem 1:4:6-7, Iggerot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 18, Adir Bamarom p. 37, Ramchal’s own introduction to Ma’amar Havikuach, and Sefer Kitzur Hakavanot p. 1.

[3]         See Derech Hashem 1:2:2.

[4]         From the first let it be said that this is a daunting and stunning thought that should both humble and bolster us — humble us because it lays an enormous responsibility on our shoulders, and bolster us because it indicates that G-d apparently knows we’re capable of realizing it.

[5]         See Derech Hashem 1:2:1, Klach Pitchei Chochma 3, 92, and Adir Bamarom p. 393.

[6]         This is the element within us that what would have sullied the effect of our being perfected externally we cited above.

See Tosephot in Kiddushin 36b, “Kol Mitzvah”; Maggid Maisharim (Breishit, “Ohr Layom Shabbat 14 Tevet”); HaRav m’Fano’s Yonat Elim (beginning); and Orchot Tzaddikim, Sha’ar Habusha for this concept. Also see Klach Pitchei Chochma 4.

[7]         In short, G-d is benevolent to be sure, but He shapes His benevolence to the needs of human nature: we cannot easily accept “charity” outright so He tempers His kindness with some hesitance and allows us to “earn” it.

Without getting into too much detail, this is an illustration of the Kabbalistic notion of Tzimtzum — of G-d having had to limit His full presence with the creation of the universe in order to accommodate its nature and needs. See Ramchal’s Klallim Rishonim 2 and Klallot Ha’ilan1, and Klallei Sefer Milchamot Moshe 2 for discussions of Tzimtzum.

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

 

 

 

Ramchal’s Introduction (Da’at Tevunot #’s 1-11)

1.

Certain things are clear to us from the first while others simply aren’t. We may believe in them, espouse them, and live our lives according to them, but we still and all might not truly “get” them. And that’s certainly true for things about our own religion. For while there are specific matters of the faith that we’re to hold by if we’re to be true to our Torah’s ideals — known as Rambam’s “Thirteen Principles of the Faith”  — some of them are straightforward enough while others simply aren’t. It would clearly do us well to understand the ones that we can’t quite grasp at first.

So it seems that while the Soul who’ll be raising questions of Reason in Da’at Tevunot certainly believed in all thirteen of the principles, nonetheless as he put it, some of them “I accept as true but don’t actually understand”. The bulk of this work will set out to solve his dilemma. And this opening section of the book serves as its introduction, though Ramchal didn’t present it as one per se.

 

2.

 

As the Soul put it, he understands the fact of G-d’s existence as well as His oneness, eternality, and His non-physical makeup; the idea that everything that exists derived out of sheer nothingness (known as creation ex nihilo) [1]; the reality of prophecy and the uniqueness of Moses’ own prophecy; and the ideas that the Torah we have now is from G-d Himself, that it’s eternal and the very one revealed to us at Mount Sinai.

Why did he have no trouble with these themes? For, while they’re actually quite knotty and arcane, they’re somehow easier to contend with than the others. These touch on very abstract philosophical notions like how to define G-d, the makeup of the Torah and the nature of prophecy, and more, but the other ones that the Soul does want to dwell on go deeper-down into our beings. They include the ideas of Divine providence, G-d’s system of reward and punishment, the coming of the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead.

 

3.

 

Why would anyone be especially confused about these four? It seems because unlike the other principles cited, these touch upon our very own life-experiences, humanity, relationship to G-d, and our very raison d’être. As, “Divine providence” speaks to how we and G-d interact with each other, “reward and punishment” addresses the things that G-d values and what He disparages, “the coming of the Messiah” contends with the direction the world is heading in, and the idea of “the resurrection of the dead” helps define ultimate reality [2].

Indeed, we all need to have those things fleshed out for us, for the truth of the matter is that life seems so impetuous, haphazard, disordered, and aimless, that we often don’t quite catch sight of G-d’s providence or of His over-arching aim for the universe.

After all, things oftentimes seem to just befall us, to land upon our roofs at night at random, and to be beyond us. The outer cosmos seems to pirouette prettily in the vast distance, but — truth be known — for no apparent reason; as things don’t seem to be leading anywhere, and G-d’s attention seems to be otherwise riveted. There’s also the fact that many good souls often seem to know no peace, while the bad seem to do quite well, which has always puzzled many and will be touched upon here at some length. So allow us now to explore these principles of the faith — and our own souls in the process [3].

Notes:

[1]         Rambam didn’t actually include creation ex nihilo among the principles of the faith but see Moreh Nevuchim 2:13-35.

[2]         Though Ramchal did in fact explicate Divine providence, reward and punishment, the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead at length in Da’at Tevunot, the truth of the matter is that they’re actually not his main focus here as anyone who has studied the work in depth would know. The key and upending revelation of G-d’s overarching and utter Sovereignty (His “Yichud”) and the ramifications of it will prove to be the major themes here.  The latter, though, will help to explain Divine providence, reward and punishment, the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead, and vice versa.

[3]        As we’d indicated, Da’at Tevunot is rooted in a number of difficult Kabbalistic premises. While we won’t expand upon them much here, we’ll allude to them at various points.

As such, we’re told that the four principles of the faith that we’ll be expanding on here — Divine providence, reward and punishment, the coming of the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead — allude to the four Partzufim of the world of Atzilut (see R’ Goldblatt’s comments on pp. 18-19, 473 of his edition of Da’at Tevunot).

Irrespective of the terminology, the point is that those Partzufim speak to G-d’s various ways of interacting with us in the course of eternity (which clearly touches on Divine providence, reward and punishment, the coming of the Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, and more), and is thus very germane to the discussion.

 

(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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Part Three: On Da’at Tevunot (“Knowing the Reasons”)

Da’at Tevunot (“Knowing the Reasons”)

1.

Imagine sitting knee to knee with someone very wise, with the chance to ask anything you’d like. Well, that’s the setting to Ramchal’s Da’at Tevunot [1], which functions as a dialogue between a seeker and a sage … actually between a soul and reason itself. (Ramchal wrote other books in a dialogue format, but Da’at Tevunot was the best of them by far.)

The soul asked reason to explain a few things about the most important themes in Jewish Thought, which have come to be known as “The Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith”. For as the soul put it, “While I certainly accept all of them as true without hesitation, some of them I accept indeed and understand as well, while others of them I simply accept on faith without really understanding them”. And he was hoping that reason would spell them out to him.

It’s important for our purposes here to know that Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Maimonides, 1135-1204) listed thirteen fundamental things about the Jewish religion we’d need to accept in order to claim to be believing Jews in all honesty: That G-d exists, is the only G-d, is wholly spiritual and incorporeal, is eternal, and that He alone should be worshipped; that He revealed His wishes to us through the prophets, and that Moses was the greatest among them; that G-d’s Torah was given on Mount Sinai and is absolute; that G-d is omniscient, and rewards all good deeds and punishes all wrongful ones; and that the Messiah will come and the dead will eventually be resurrected [2].

But as the soul explained, he needed to have G-d’s omniscience, reward and punishment, the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead explained to him, since he doesn’t quite understand them. And therein lays the premise of the book.

We’ll come back to that shortly, but let’s first touch on the response to Da’at Tevunot in the Jewish world and its modern publication.

2.

Like all spectacular works of revelation, deep insight, and overarching truth, Da’at Tevunot seemed destined to be adored by those exposed to Jewish Thought and Kabbalah, and to go about unnoticed by others. And that indeed was what happened for the longest time.

Some of the greatest Jewish thinkers took to it right away, including but certainly not limited to the Maggid of Mezritch (the successor to the Ba’al Shem Tov) and The Gaon of Vilna (it should be said that though it would seem awkward to many to cite those great individuals side by side, but the fact that these “warring” giants both revered this work speaks to the greatness and universality of Ramchal); Rabbi Shmuel David Luzzatto (a distant cousin of the Ramchal, who was a great scholar in his own right), Rabbi Shlomo Eliyashav (1841-1925, known as The Leshem, in commemoration of his great series of Kabbalistic works), and others. But many learned Jews knew nothing of this vital work until Rabbi Chaim Friedlander (the mashgiach of the Ponevitzh Yeshiva, who was a student of Rabbi E. Dessler) offered it to the Jewish world in the 1980’s.

Rabbi Friedlander examined various manuscript versions of Da’at Tevunot in libraries and private collections throughout the world, and presented us with the most accurate edition to date. He then set the book in a more readable type, positioned whole sections of it as independent units, explained the difficulties, and elucidated many of the more elusive, erudite points.

He also connected Da’at Tevunot to certain shorter works of Ramchal’s (the Klallim) that were related to it on an arcane level. For Ramchal contended that the Ari’s works were to be read and understood symbolically rather than literally (see below for a discussion of this). So, Ramchal encapsulated the Ari’s thoughts in his Klallim (and elsewhere), and then “translated” the symbols into terms more easily grasped in Da’at Tevunot. (Let it be known that not everyone agreed with Ramchal’s approach to Ari’s writings or to the idea that he “translated” Ari’s symbols, but that’s beyond our scope here.)

Rabbi Friedlander connected the works in his edition, showed how one reflected the other, and thus allowed readers to follow both the esoteric and exoteric perspectives. (Rabbi Friedlander edited and made many more of Ramchal’s works readily available as well in his relatively short life, and we all owe him a great debt.)

Da’at Tevunot was then translated into English by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein (who termed the work “The Knowing Heart” which, while inexact as a translation of the title, nonetheless served to transmit the main thoughts of the work), and several commentaries have been written to it aside from Rabbi Freidlander’s, including those of Rabbis Mordechai Shriki, Avraham Goldblatt, Yospeh Spinner, and Binyamin Effrati. As such, many who would never have had access to this masterpiece of Jewish Thought now do.

3.

Though Da’at Tevunot does indeed expound upon the great themes of G-d’s omniscience, reward and punishment, the coming of the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead as we’d said, it actually uses them to express some of Ramchal’s own greatest ideas. We’ll treat them one at a time, but in fact they come to G-d’s sovereignty, the role of evil and wrong in the world, the meaning of life, and G-d’s plans for the cosmos. Ramchal explained many other vital, overarching themes too in this work, but space will not allow us to delve into them as well. So we’ll concentrate on the ones just cited and present Ramchal’s ideas about them in our own words.

One of his major points is that we very often misconstrue the extent of G-d’s reach. Most of us who believe in Him — including many who have experienced honest and even profound apprehensions of His presence in the world — certainly accept the fact of His existence. But while we accept His presence in the Heavens or perhaps even on earth as well, few of us though accept the idea that He’s everywhere, throughout the cosmos. And that He’s not only present everywhere, but He’s also in command throughout the cosmos, too.

That’s to say that G-d not only created everything and sustains everything as well — He also holds ultimate and exclusive sway over everything! For G-d’s sovereignty and rule is absolute and can never, ever be thwarted. There is nothing that can get in His way, nothing that can challenge His intentions.

“Wait a minute!” you’re bound to say. “Didn’t He grant us the freedom to do what we will; and don’t many, many people use that to seemingly go against His will often enough?” — and you’d be right. So let’s use the opportunity to first explain Ramchal’s view on the next subject at hand, the role of evil and wrong in the world.

Only the most innocent and pure-hearted among us can say with aplomb that everything is for the good and as it should be. Yet we’re taught outright that “G-d is good to all and merciful unto all His handiwork” (Psalms 145:9) … so why don’t the rest of see that all around us? Ramchal would offer that we simply don’t know what we’re looking at when we catch sight of things, and that everything is indeed for the good. His explanation for the truth of the idea that everything is for the good is that bad and wrongfulness only serve as vehicles for the ultimate good (much the way fever serves to burn away infection, and surgery often carves out cancerous growths). His point is that wrong and misfortune — while certainly painful and daunting — serve as means to an end that are far greater than the pain involved.

Thus while we’re indeed free to do as we will, in the end nothing can ever truly go against G-d’s will, despite appearances; everything serves His purposes.

That brings us to the meaning of life and G-d’s ultimate plans for the cosmos, as Ramchal reveals them to us in this astounding work. At bottom, we’re taught here, what’s expected of us is to draw as close to G-d as we can by following His will. The irony however is that we’ll all manage to do that in the (ultimate) end — either directly, by adhering to His expectations for us, or by enduring the sort of remedial “surgery” we alluded to above. Our having arrived at that juncture will then enable us to experience G-d’s full, rich, and overarching omnipresence. And our having come to that point will serve to have been the fulfillment of G-d’s ultimate plans for the cosmos.

But let it be underscored that the single greatest theme that Ramchal set out to explain in Da’at Tevunot is G-d’s utter and all-encompassing Sovereignty (his Yichud in Hebrew).       For as we were taught G-d said, “I am the L-rd and there is no other; besides Me there is no G-d … there is no one besides Me. I am the L-rd and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:5-7). Ramchal also indicated that we can hasten the revelation of G-d’s Yichud if we choose.

4

There’s one other point to be made about this work. As we indicated above, like so many others of his books, Da’at Tevunot is deeply rooted in the works of the Ari (1534–1572). Anyone who has ever ventured into those writings can’t help but be struck by their inscrutable terminology and imagery.

The reader finds him or herself strolling about somehow in a universe (five universes in fact!) swollen with legions of alternatively whirling and still, descending and ascending, exploding and imploding bold and invisible things and non-things termed “worlds”, “spheres”, “faces”, “emanations”, “vessels”, “lights”, and “letters”. He’s also thrust in the middle of something that could only be termed the melding and severing of parts with the whole, and into instances of infinity and near infinity; and he’s faced with unexpected depictions of G-d Almighty’s will and much more. Could anyone not help but wonder what’s going on in all that?

Some of the Ari’s references have entered into contemporary Jewish Thought, but much of it eludes even the greatest Jewish scholars. In fact many who do use the terms on a more or less sophisticated level don’t really understand the underpinnings of the system well enough to saunter about it comfortably and methodically. As a consequence, many works that go about elucidating the Ari’s universe don’t actually explain it so much as allow the various parts to all fit neatly and precisely within the system itself, without offering the big picture and without explaining what’s being said at bottom.

Some great souls did indeed grasp the whole, though. They understood and were able to express what the Ari was talking about in plain-enough terms. For as the Gaon of Vilna and his disciples understood, the Ari’s imagery is utterly allegorical and was meant to depict the largely inexplicable through bold metaphor and imagery [3].

Ramchal also understood that. As he put it at one point, “The science of Kabbalah is only (meant) to (have one) understand how the Supreme Will governs, and (to explain) why G-d created all the various beings, what He expects of them, what will come about at the end of the universal cycle, and how these worldly phenomena are to be explained” (Klach Pitchei Chochma 30).

So, he set out to articulate Ari’s various themes one by one in several of his works, but most especially, vividly, and successfully in Da’at Tevunot. For rather than explain all the minutia of the Ari’s imagery there, what he set out to explain was G-d’s interactions with humankind based on Ari’s revelations and in lieu of his terminology.

One final thing, touching on the makeup of this work. The truth of the matter is that the dialogue form that Ramchal used in Da’at Tevunot is no longer popular or easy to read. It’s too cumbersome and artificial for our tastes, since the questioner (the soul) seems to act as a mere catalyst for the responder’s (reason’s) answers and the give-and-take seems too turgid and belabored.

So we’ve taken the liberty of laying out Ramchal’s statements in our own words, largely; and we’ve taken some excursions along the way that either touch upon things that are only mentioned in Da’at Tevunot cursorily which Ramchal went into in more detail elsewhere, or in order to offer our own insights. As such, this work actually serves as an adaptation of Da’at Tevunot.

May the merits of the righteous Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto of blessed memory draw us all close to G-d Almighty!

 

Footnotes:

[1]         Da’at Tevunot was first printed in Warsaw, Poland in 1889 by the well known scholar and bibliophile, Rabbi Shmuel Luria.

[2]         See his comments to Mishna Sanhedrin 10. We’ll expand upon this in Ramchal’s Introduction to follow.

[3]         See Nephesh HaChaim 3:7; see a letter written by Rabbi Avraham Simcha of Stislav cited in p. 236 of Rabbi Friedlander’s edition of Da’at Tevunot;  also see Rabbi Friedlander’s Iyyunim (#61) on p. 214 there for a discussion of the parabolic nature of prophetic visions in general.