Monthly Archives: March 2011

One can’t help but be stunned by the wonders of nature and its varieties and laws. How many times does one have to catch sight of the wide range of human hearts, faces, and realities, to say nothing of the even wider range of animal, vegetable, and mineral realities on earth, in the vast seas, and in the wide skies, before he steps back and is overtaken by the sheer magic of it all? And how stunning are the laws of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and more that seem to serve as the universe’s very keystones!

Yet, it could all have been otherwise. Not only could everything have looked, sounded, smelled, interacted, etc., differently than it does now; and not only could the “keystones” have functioned utterly unlike the way they do now; but, reality could have been formed to behave in astoundingly unknowable ways. Rather than needing to breathe to exist, as one trite example, we might have needed to irradiate one color one moment, and then to irradiate another color at another moment. And what if we were all somehow colorblind, and could thus never understand our situation?

So as people of faith we’re to believe that God created things just as it is and purposefully; and that He had everything follow certain rules and to interact in ways we can grasp just so we can grasp them and know what to expect (for the most part). After all, God is under no imperative to do anything whatsoever, given that His rule is sovereign, and that He’s omnipotent and omniscient.

So Ramchal makes the point that “The very first thing to know about (God’s) governance is that it’s dependent upon sequence, which is the first principle God wanted” to exist in the universe (comments to Petach 30), rather than the universe be “formless and empty” (Genesis 1: 2). In other words, God deliberately created sequence and order so that we might understand His ways herein. “No one could say that God was forced to act that way” or within such a system “… given that He’s utterly omnipotent” as Ramchal put it there and as we’d suggested ourselves above.

One clear implication of God’s having chosen to allow things to function in sequence and predictably (for the most part) is the fact that He chose to forgo or to delimit His omnipotence as a consequence, as Ramchal points out there, too. And He allowed things to work themselves out in time, bit by bit, otherwise we simply would never understand His ways whatsoever [1].

But there’s more to it than that, as one would expect.

Note:

[1]          See Ramchal’s Klallim Mitoch Milchemet Moshe, Da’at Tevunot 40, as well as his comments to Petach 10.

(c) 2011 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”.

I thought I’d fill in some blanks before going on with Ramchal’s concentration on sequence.

For one thing, here’s the chronology of the Kabbalists we cited: Ramban (13^th Century), Ra’avad (12^th Century), R’ Yitzchak Sagi Nahor (13^th Century), R’ Azriel (13^th Century), R’ Meir Ibn Gabbai (16^th Century), R’ Yoseph Gikitilia (13^th Century), R’ Racanti (13^th Century), and the author of Ma’arechet Elohut (16^th Century).

And I’d like to add this about Ari’s concentration on Partzufim. While no one added on to the Sephira and Partzuf system per se, some went in other directions with it. The subject calls for a long discussion but let this suffice. Ramchal concentrated on explaining Ari’s references as we’d mentioned, and others followed in his wake (especially R’ Y.I. Chaver in Pitchei Sha’arim); disciples of the Ba’al Shem Tov addressed certain psychological analogies to the Partzufim (as well as the Sephirot); R’ Yehudah Ashlag (20th Century) addressed certain ethical, psychological and sociological issues suggested by Ari’s revelations; and R’ Shalom Sharabi (18^th Century) and his disciples could be said to have added “width” and “heft” to the Sephirot and Partzufim by speaking of their assuming “dimensions” other than linear ones.

(c) 2011 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”.

There have been three areas of concentration among the earlier and later Kabbalists as we’d said: the Sephirot, the Partzufim, and the letters of the Aleph-Bet and their role in the Names of God. Ramchal has been concentrating upon the Sephirot until now and will continue to do so here in this section (which, as its title “The Essential Elements of Sephirot and their Governance” indicates, will lay out the makeup and role of the Sephirot), but he’ll also begin to discuss the Partzufim in this section’s final Petach, where he points out that there are Sephirot (to be considered) and Partzufim. He’ll then begin to concentrate upon the mystical implications of the various names of God in the next section. So let’s trace the movement from one area of concentration to the other.

As we’d indicated, the earlier Kabbalists focused on the Sephirot. They include the authors of Sefer Yetzirah who spoke of them right off the bat (along with a discussion of the letters), of Masechet Atzilut (which first displayed their names at its end, as well as the names of the Worlds at its beginning), of Sefer Bahir (who cited their names in 141-146), as well as the earlier masters such as Ramban, Ra’avad, R’ Yitzchak Sagi Nahor, R’ Azriel, R’ Meir Ibn Gabbai, R’ Yoseph Gikitilia, Rabbeinu Bacahai, R’ Racanti, the author of Ma’arechet Elohut, and the bulk of the Zohar. And Ramak spent the preponderance of his time on an analysis of the Sephirot too (though he did touch upon the Partzufim later on, as we said in note 7 of Section Three).

It was Ari who first merited delving into the Partzufim in great detail. He drew upon some of the more esoteric sections of the Zohar for his depictions, including Iddra Rabba (“The Greater Assembly”), Iddra Zutta (“The Lesser Assembly”), and Sifre deTzeniuta (“The Book of Concealment”) [1].

As he laid them out, the Sephira of Keter is analogous to the Partzuf entitled Adam Kadmon (which we cited earlier and will discuss below, too) and to Erich Anpin (“The Greater Countenance”); the Sephirot of Chochma and Binah are analogous to the Partzufim termed Abba and Imma; the Partzuf termed Zeir Anpin (“Lesser Countenance”) is analogous to the six “extremities” or “limits” better known as the Sephirot of Chessed, Gevurah, Tipheret, Netzach, Hod and Yesod; and the Partzuf of Nukveh is analogous to Sephira of Malchut. There are other names for the Partzufim and other analogies which will also be discussed.

What concerns us now is the fact that all of this is very carefully and purposefully “arranged in a specific order” (Ramchal’s comment to Petach 9) as we’d cited at the end of the previous section. So we’ll now delve into Ramchal’s concern with sequence.

Note:

[1]          See note 3 to section 3.

(c) 2011 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”.

There have been three areas of concentration among the earlier and later Kabbalists as we’d said: the Sephirot, the Partzufim, and the letters of the Aleph-Bet and their role in the Names of God. Ramchal has been concentrating upon the Sephirot until now and will continue to do so here in this section (which, as its title “The Essential Elements of Sephirot and their Governance” indicates, will lay out the makeup and role of the Sephirot), but he’ll also begin to discuss the Partzufim in this section’s final Petach, where he points out that there are Sephirot (to be considered) and Partzufim. He’ll then begin to concentrate upon the mystical implications of the various names of God in the next section. So let’s trace the movement from one area of concentration to the other.

As we’d indicated, the earlier Kabbalists focused on the Sephirot. They include the authors of Sefer Yetzirah who spoke of them right off the bat (along with a discussion of the letters), of Masechet Atzilut (which first displayed their names at its end, as well as the names of the Worlds at its beginning), of Sefer Bahir (who cited their names in 141-146), as well as the earlier masters such as Ramban, Ra’avad, R’ Yitzchak Sagi Nahor, R’ Azriel, R’ Meir Ibn Gabbai, R’ Yoseph Gikitilia, Rabbeinu Bacahai, R’ Racanti, the author of Ma’arechet Elohut, and the bulk of the Zohar. And Ramak spent the preponderance of his time on an analysis of the Sephirot too (though he did touch upon the Partzufim later on, as we said in note 7 of Section Three).

It was Ari who first merited delving into the Partzufim in great detail. He drew upon some of the more esoteric sections of the Zohar for his depictions, including Iddra Rabba (“The Greater Assembly”), Iddra Zutta (“The Lesser Assembly”), and Sifre deTzeniuta (“The Book of Concealment”) [1].

As he laid them out, the Sephira of Keter is analogous to the Partzuf entitled Adam Kadmon (which we cited earlier and will discuss below, too) and to Erich Anpin (“The Greater Countenance”); the Sephirot of Chochma and Binah are analogous to the Partzufim termed Abba and Imma; the Partzuf termed Zeir Anpin (“Lesser Countenance”) is analogous to the six “extremities” or “limits” better known as the Sephirot of Chessed, Gevurah, Tipheret, Netzach, Hod and Yesod; and the Partzuf of Nukveh is analogous to Sephira of Malchut. There are other names for the Partzufim and other analogies which will also be discussed.

What concerns us now is the fact that all of this is very carefully and purposefully “arranged in a specific order” (Ramchal’s comment to Petach 9) as we’d cited at the end of the previous section. So we’ll now delve into Ramchal’s concern with sequence.

Note:

[1]          See note 3 to section 3.

(c) 2011 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”.

There have been three main areas of concentration among the earlier and later Kabbalists: the Sephirot, the Partzufim, and the Names of God. Ramchal has been concentrating upon the Sephirot until now and will continue to do so here in this section, but he’ll also begin to discuss the Partzufim in this section’s final Petach, and will then begin to concentrate upon the names of God in the next section.

And so we’ll delve here into the structure of the Sephirot including a discussion of the makeup of the structure and its gradations, the makeup of the gradations themselves, and the makeup of their parts, properties, and of their interactions (Petach 14). We won’t be discussing the first Sephira, Keter, which is rooted in the Divine Will itself, but we will be delving into whatever come after that, from Chochma and onward including the gradations and about how they function in the governance of the universe (Petach 15). We’ll focus first on the “forward” and “backward” movements of the Sephirot, from Keter to Malchut and back again, with some emphasis on the implications of all that (Petach 16). Then we’ll introduce the Partzufim, each of which is a full, detailed expression of the Sephirot (Petach 17).

And we’ll also spend some time discussing the yetzer harah and the yetzer hatov, reward and punishment, and creation by gradation.

(c) 2011 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”.

יש ספירה ויש פרצוף. ספירה הוא כח מן העשר כחות בכלל, שהוא המוסד שעליו נבנה כל בנין הפרטיות התלוי בו. אך פרצוף הוא שלמות כל הכח ההוא בפרט, נראה מפורש בסוד דמות אדם. ועיקרו בסוד התרי”ג, שהוא כל בנין האדם:

There are Sephirot (to be considered) and Partzufim. A Sephira is one of the ten generic forces that serve as the foundation upon which the entire structure of particulars that depend on it is built. But a Partzuf is the full, detailed expression of each force which is explicitly “envisioned” in the mystical form of a man, and is comprised at bottom of the mystical 613 (elements) that constitute the full structure of Adam (Kadmon).

And here are the ancillary themes listed in Ramchal’s comments: the difference between Ramak’s and Ari’s Kabbalistic systems, the difference roles played by Sephira and Partzuf in governance, the reason behind the use of the term Partzuf (“face”) in particular, and the significance of the number 613.

(c) 2011 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”.

יש בספירות אור ישר ואור חוזר משני מינים. א’, שאחר שירדו המדרגות מכתר עד מלכות, חוזר מלכות ונעשה כתר, וכן בדרך זה, עד שכתר נעשה מלכות. וזה מראה שליטת [נ”א, שלמות] הא”ס ב”ה, שממנו יוצא הכל, והוא סוד הכל, והיינו, “אני ראשון ואני אחרון”, והוא מתגלה כך בראשונה כמו באחרונה. והמדרגות – כל הקרוב קרוב אליו מתגדל בשמו, ומה שהיה מלכות נעשה כתר.

והמין הב’, שום אור אינו משלים ענינו אלא כשיוצא ועוד חוזר למקורו. והיינו כי יורד עד למטה בכח, ואחר כך מידי עלותו מניח למטה מדרגה מה שמניח, והוא מתעלה. ואז המדרגה נשארת בבנינה, וכן כולם:

The Sephirot express two sorts of “forward” and “backward” (movements of) light. Firstly, after the descent (of the Sephirot) grade by grade from Keter to Malchut, Malchut then turns backward (and moves on) to become Keter, and so on in the same way until Keter (turns forward and moves on until it) becomes Malchut. This illustrates the utter sovereignty of the Ein Sof and (the fact) that everything (manifestly) emanates from Him, and that He is the mystical underpinning of everything, as it’s written: “I am first, and I am last” (Isaiah 44:6). He is (accordingly) revealed at the beginning as at the end. (A couple of implications of the “forward” and “backward” movement of the lights are the facts that) the closer any gradation is to Him, the more magnified is it by (its proximity to) His Name, (and that) what was (once) Malchut (eventually) becomes Keter.

And secondly, no light realizes its purpose until it emerges from and then returns back to its Source. That’s to say, (until) the light actively descends and then ascends, and it leaves behind in its place below the grade it had ascended from when the light itself ascended. That (lower) gradation then remains there in the structure, and so on.

This is one of the more esoteric Petachim which touches upon many important Kabbalistic themes. Many of those are touched upon in the body of the Petach itself and are expanded upon in Ramchal’s own comments. As such, there aren’t any ancillary themes cited there outright (though several are alluded to, including Tzimtzum, Kav, Reshimu, etc.).

(c) 2011 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”.

כל מה שתלוי במציאות הבנין, שהוא המונח הראשון של הספירות, אין לשאול טעם עליו, שהוא תלוי ברצון העליון. וכל מה שבא אחר המונח הזה – ניתן לשאול ולהבין, שהוא פעולות המדרגות האלה – מה הם בהנהגה:

We’re to not the question anything about the reasons for the makeup of the first principal, which is the Sephirot, as they’re rooted in the Divine Will (alone). But we are to ask about and (try to) understand (the makeup of) whatever come after that, which is to say, about the actions of the gradations and about how they function in the governance of the universe.

And here are the ancillary themes listed in Ramchal’s comments:

What exactly we can and must inquire about and what we may not; and the relationship between Keter, Chochma, Binah, Zeir Anpin and Nukveh.

(c) 2011 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”.

We now begin Section Four which is entitled “The Essential Elements of Sephirot and their Governance” and is comprised of Petachim 14-17.

We’ll present each Petach in translation along with a layout of the themes that Ramchal raises in his own comments there that aren’t explicit in the wording of the Petach itself.

Petach 14

מה שעומד במציאות בנין הספירות, פירוש – כל מה שהוא בנין כל המדרגות, ענין המדרגות עצמן, ענין כל חלקיהם ותכונותיהם וכל קשריהם – זה המונח הראשון של ההנהגה ששם אותו המאציל ית”ש,

לפי שהוא ידע שזהו מה שצריך, לא פחות, ולא יותר, לסבב הנהגה אחת שלמה, לבא אל המכוון אליו בבריאתו, שהוא ההטבה השלמה:

The first principal (to consider) regarding the (system of) governance that the Emanator instituted which is the structure of the Sephirot is (a consideration of) the makeup of the structure and its gradations, the makeup of the gradations themselves, and the makeup of their parts, properties, and interactions.

For He knew just what was needed, no less and no more, to bring about the full system of governance that would achieve His goal for creation, which is (the implementation of) perfect benevolence.

And here are the ancillary themes listed in Ramchal’s comments:

Yetzer harah versus yetzer hatov, reward and punishment, what is forbidden to inquire into and what is not, sequence (as cited at the end of the last section), exactness of design, and the 613 elements of Adam Kadmon.

(c) 2011 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”.

But again, these were prophetic visions. The Sephirot themselves didn’t assume shapes at all or move about.

For, as Ramchal underscores, while “we do speak in terms of (the Sephirot exhibiting) ‘smallness’ and ‘greatness’, ‘ascent’ and ‘descent’, (of their being) ‘clothed’ (in one another), (and of their assuming) ‘positions’ and the like …, we nonetheless cannot say that any of these phenomena actually exist in the Sephirot themselves” or that “that (the Sephirot) possess any form at all” (comments to Petach 7). They only seem to assume them (Petach 7).

For, as he says, “if the images the Sephirot assumed were intrinsic to the Sephirot, it would obviously be impossible to attribute contradictory opposites to the same subject” under consideration like “circles” as opposed to “straight lines”. However, “since these likenesses aren’t intrinsic to the Sephirot but were willed by God” to appear one way or another to the prophet at that time, “there is no difficulty in the fact that they might appear as contradictory likenesses…. (The explanation is that) at one moment the Supreme Will wants them to appear one way, and afterwards another way” (comments to Petach 8 )  [1].

In fact, they’re “envisioned by the prophets or (spiritually-gifted) souls much the way a person ‘sees’ the thoughts passing through his mind” (comments to Petach 7); or as Ramchal put it elsewhere, exactly the way things (appear) in a dream (Petach 8). For, what they were “seeing” was a this-world representation or a translation of a related heavenly phenomenon, as Ramchal puts it in his comments to Petachim 10 and 13).

As to the rare individuals who were able to “envision” the Sephirot, we’re told that they knew that they were experiencing “visions” all along, and that they understood the import of those visions as well [2]. We’re also told that the “visions” varied with each prophet observing them (Petach 7) [3], as they were personal “visions of the soul … rather than actual physical visions” (comment to Petach 9).

We would suggest that the best representation of the experience among ordinary though particularly-gifted individuals we might know or have read about in our day and age would be the expereince of “synesthesia”. Synesthesia (from the Greek terms for “together” and “sensation”) refers to the rare experience of somehow convincingly linking two utterly different sensations to each other in one’s mind. Some people who experience synesthesia might link specific numbers with colors in their experience and thus they might sense that the number 5 somehow links intrinsically with the color red; others might sense that Monday is “actually behind” Tuesday or Wednesday; that certain words actually exhibit specific “sounds”, etc.

The point of the matter is that like the prophets under discussion who were able to link certain things about the Sephirot to this-worldly phenomena, individuals with synesthesia could experience one thing on one sensual plane while somehow sensing that it links quite naturally with something else on an entirely different plane [4].

Finally, there’s one other theme enunciated here in the third section, and it’s the fact that what the soul sees are things about the spiritual realm ”that are arranged in a specific order” (comment to Petach 9). That refers to the sequential, time-based nature of phenomena occurring in the heavenly realm which the prophets “envision”. Ramchal cites this theme again and again in his writings, so we’ll speak of it at length in the following section where it’s enunciated in the body of one of the Petachim there.

Note:

[1]       See Da’at Tevunot 180 and 190; Klallim Rishonim 36; and Biurim l’Sefer Otzrot Chaim 8.

[2]       See Ramchal’s comments to Petach 9 and Da’at Tevunot 182-184.

[3]       See Da’at Tevunot 189-190.

[4]       See R’ Aryeh Kaplan’s note to Exodus 20:15.

(c) 2011 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”.

Here are some details about the “appearance” of the Sephirot.

First off, what the prophets and those more exalted souls “saw” were qualitative and quantitative differences and changes in the Sephirot. And so, in Ramchal’s words, the Sephirot can be envisioned as shining brightly or dimly (Petach 7), which is to say that they sometimes appeared more “fleshed out” if you will — detailed — than at others. “Dimmer”, less detailed, representations, Ramchal explained in his comments to Petach 7, were visions of the Sephirot alone, while “brighter”, more detailed, representations were visions of the Partzufim which we’ll discuss in detail later on which are more complex than pure Sephirot [1].

At other times the Sephirot were pictured as assuming different forms and figures (Petach 7) as when Ezekiel “saw” a “man”, a “lion”, an “ox”, and an “eagle” (Ezekiel 1:10). Sometimes they were seen to be moving about in specific ways, as when Ezekiel likewise saw various phenomena “running and returning” here and there (Ibid. 1:14). And they were also “seen” to follow certain rules of interactions, and could thus be pictured as being interdependent, sequential, or sequestered within each other (Petach 10).

But again, these were prophetic visions (which conformed to certain rules as we’ll see). The Sephirot themselves didn’t assume shapes at all or move about.

Note:

[1]       See Petachim 17 and 70.

(c) 2011 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”.