{"id":229,"date":"2017-11-15T21:54:04","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T21:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/?p=229"},"modified":"2017-11-15T21:54:04","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T21:54:04","slug":"daat-tevunot-27-80-middle-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/2017\/11\/15\/daat-tevunot-27-80-middle-81\/","title":{"rendered":"Da\u2019at Tevunot\u00a02:7 (# 80 [middle) \u2013 81)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Da\u2019at Tevunot<\/em>\u00a02:7 (# 80 [middle) \u2013 81)<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

The idea just discussed that the body models one thing about G-d while the soul models another was best explained by a quote from the Zohar (3:257b) 1<\/sup>. The Zohar there also addresses the point we\u2019d made early on that while we attribute many traits to G-d, those traits don\u2019t depict G-d Himself but rather what He does when He interacts with us 2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

So it would do us well to address both of these things, then go on to relate them to the body and soul. The Zohar there also underscores the fact that the soul\u2019s perfection alludes to G-d\u2019s own perfection just as its unknowable nature alludes to G-d\u2019s own unknowable nature.\u00a0 So, we\u2019ll touch upon that, too.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Let it first be said that the traits that G-d exhibits here weren\u2019t formed ad hoc when the world was created. For nothing about G-d ever suddenly appears out of the blue. G-d in fact always had the ability to manifest those traits within His being 3<\/sup>. It\u2019s just that there came to be a point when one trait or another was appropriate to what was happening in the world and needed to be \u201ccalled upon\u201d just then, if you will.<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

Now, the truth be known, we can\u2019t even refer to G-d by a name<\/em>, let alone depict Him 4<\/sup>. We call Him \u201cG-d\u201d in order to refer to Him, to be sure, but that\u2019s not His actual name<\/em> since we can only apply a name to something or someone that we can grasp, and we simply can\u2019t grasp G-d. Also because a name defines<\/em> whomever or whatever it refers to, and G-d Himself can\u2019t be defined 5<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

We likewise can\u2019t attribute traits<\/em> to something we can\u2019t define or comprehend. And yet we seem to comprehend certain things about G-d, don\u2019t we?<\/p>\n

The point of the matter is that we comprehend what He does<\/em> when He interacts with us, as when He seemingly exhibits compassion, governance, and the like. So we use those terms to depict Him even though those depictions don\u2019t befit G-d Himself. But we only do that because He allowed us to.<\/p>\n

We can now better understand something of the makeup of the body and soul, given all of this.<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

As we know, the body is comprised of various component parts with distinctive functions 6 <\/sup>while the soul is a single, indivisible entity that\u2019s utterly unlike the body 7<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

And yet the soul lies behind the body\u2019s functions. It\u2019s what hears with the body\u2019s ears, sees with the body\u2019s eyes, and the like, even though the soul itself is beyond such things 8<\/sup>.\u00a0 <\/sup>As such, the soul functions within the body\u2019s components 9<\/sup> and since the soul uses these component parts to do what it does, it\u2019s somehow associated with those functions.<\/p>\n

This contrast between the soul\u2019s actual makeup and its functions in the body, then, is analogous to G-d\u2019s makeup and His use of the traits attributed to Him when He interacts with the world.<\/p>\n

For, even though He Himself is utterly removed from such traits, He nonetheless wants them to be attributed to Him. And so by virtue of the fact that He uses those traits to function in this world, He\u2019s said to have<\/em> those traits when He really doesn\u2019t and He hasn\u2019t any inherent connection to them 10<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll soon see how this discrepancy between G-d\u2019s being and His functions in the world also helps us to understand the relationship between the body and the soul, which itself will explain the human situation at all junctures 11<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>This theme will prove to be the thrust of this chapter, but that won\u2019t become clear until the end since a number of other points will need to be made. That makes the chapter difficult, but keeping this idea in mind will help us to understand it. See footnote 10 below.<\/p>\n

Ramchal explained this citation from the Zohar in a number of his works including Haga\u2019aot Otzrot Chaim<\/em> 9, Klach Pitchei Chochma<\/em> 27, 29, and Iggerot Pitchei Chochma V\u2019Da\u2019at. <\/em>Also see Eitz<\/em> Chaim<\/em> 1:1.<\/p>\n

2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>See 1:12 above where many of the very same points made here are first offered. The difference will lie in the fact that this idea is tied in here with the relationship between the soul and G-d\u2019s interactions with the world.<\/p>\n

3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>So they could be said to lie latent somewhere deep in the Upper Reaches somehow, but not manifest.<\/p>\n

4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>The English term \u201cG-d\u201d itself, incidentally, is said to be derived from the Proto-Indo-European term for \u201cthat which is invoked\u201d or prayed to, which thus refers to what G-d does<\/em> rather than what He is.<\/p>\n

5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>This is a stunning statement, since we attribute many<\/em> names to G-d and call out to Him by those names in our prayers to Him and the like. But the truth of the matter is that the four-letter name of Y-H-V-H referred to in the Torah which is said to be His \u201cdefinitive name\u201d (as opposed to E-L-O-H-I-M and the like which refer to His traits) only serves to depict His immortality (i.e., it contains the Hebrew words for \u201cwas\u201d, \u201cis\u201d, and \u201cwill be\u201d).\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 And, as the Kabbalists explain, the four letters of that name themselves actually stand for certain phenomena that function in creation and afterwards and the like, and have nothing directly to say about G-d Himself. But all of this is beyond the subject at hand.<\/p>\n

6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>And those various functions are analogous to the different depictions of G-d, as we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>The soul\u2019s oneness is analogous to G-d\u2019s own oneness which is utterly unfathomable.<\/p>\n

8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>Just like G-d\u2019s own being is behind every trait that He exhibits in the world even though He\u2019s beyond it.<\/p>\n

9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>Just as G-d, who is unlike anything in this world, functions within it by means of various traits.<\/p>\n

10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>This is the gist of what Ramchal is saying here. We already know that the body models one thing about G-d while the soul models another, as we indicated in footnote 1 above. He\u2019s saying here that that theme also plays itself out in the difference between G-d\u2019s essence and His role in the world and the soul\u2019s<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For, just as the soul is unknowable, singular and beyond the doings of the world, G-d is likewise unknowable, singular and beyond the doings of the world. Yet both G-d and the soul interact with the world. The point is that just as the soul only \u201cuses\u201d the body\u2019s many and variable parts to interact with the world even though it\u2019s removed from those body parts by nature, G-d likewise \u201cuses\u201d or exhibits many and variable traits to interact with the world even though in His essence He\u2019s removed from the world. So we see that the body models G-d\u2019s ways when He interacts with the world while the soul models His ways when He doesn\u2019t<\/em> interact with the world.<\/p>\n

11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>This alludes to the five junctures of time to be discussed in 2:10 below.<\/p>\n

(c) 2017 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

Feel free to contact me at\u00a0feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n

———————————————————-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rabbi Feldman’s new annotated translation of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag\u2019s \u201cIntroduction to the Zohar\u201d is available as \u201cThe Kabbalah of Self\u201d on Kindle\u00a0here<\/a>. His annotated translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and his annotated translation of Rabbeinu Yonah\u2019s “The Gates of Repentance” is available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).<\/p>\n

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes\u00a0torah.org<\/a>\u00a0entitled \u201cSpiritual Excellence<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d that can be subscribed to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Da\u2019at Tevunot\u00a02:7 (# 80 [middle) \u2013 81) 1. The idea just discussed that the body models one thing about G-d while the soul models another was best explained by a quote from the Zohar (3:257b) 1. The Zohar there also … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,3,4,5,6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hashkapha","category-jewish-thought","category-kabbalah","category-luzzatto","category-ramchal","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iqo7-3H","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions\/230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}