Ramchal offers some rather remarkable statements about the implications of Adam Kadmon in his own comments to Petach 32 [1].
He first puts forward the idea that what a “face” is, is that “part of the body by means of which the individual (literally, ‘the soul’) turns toward (i.e., ‘faces’) and keeps an eye on what concerns it in relation to things outside of itself”.
That’s to say, a “face” is the center of our interactions with others. And it uses “the faculties of vision, hearing, smell and speech” (as well as the mind behind it all) to do that, while the individual consciousness “remains in its sanctuary” assessing what it experiences. The face is thus the seat of control-central, which hearkens back to what he’d said before about Adam Kadmon representing God’s interactions with us.
But there’s a lot more said there.
Notes:
[1] Some of this is reiterated in Iggerot Pitchei Chochma 4 as well.
(c) 2012 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”.