{"id":51,"date":"2016-02-29T00:18:06","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T00:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daattevunot.wordpress.com\/?p=51"},"modified":"2016-02-29T00:18:06","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T00:18:06","slug":"daat-tevunot-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/2016\/02\/29\/daat-tevunot-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Da\u2019at Tevunot 1:4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Da\u2019at Tevunot<\/em> 1:4 (# 34 continued to end)<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

As we\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n

In point of fact, G-d\u2019s sovereignty, know as His Yichud<\/em>, is the only<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

So when reflecting on His perfection we might for example understand that G-d is wise, yet\u00a0 we nonetheless can\u2019t fathom the actual makeup of His wisdom; and though we can certainly follow that He’s omniscient, we nonetheless can\u2019t grasp His actual omniscience; and the like. As our sages put it, \u201cYou (G-d) are wise, but not with a discernable kind of wisdom. You understand, but not with a discernable kind of understanding\u201d (Tikkunei Zohar,<\/em> 2nd Introduction) [1].<\/p>\n

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, \u201cDo not search out what is too wondrous for you, and do not delve into what is hidden from you\u201d (Chagigah<\/em> 13a), and \u201cif your heart flees there \u2026\u201d i.e., to an idea that\u2019s utterly beyond your mortal mind, then \u201dreturn to your place\u201d, your own experience, instead (Sefer Yetzirah<\/em> 1:8).<\/p>\n

But while that\u2019s true of abstract ideas about Him, nevertheless as the psalmist put it so effulgently, when one catches sight of G-d\u2019s presence and sovereignty in the world he can \u201ctaste and see that G-d is good\u201d (Psalm 34:8) — that He\u2019s here in our world and holds sway over all of it.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

But Ramchal\u2019s point is that not only can we discern G-d\u2019s utter sovereignty now to a degree, it’s also true that it will become perfectly clear to us in fact in the end.<\/p>\n

As such we\u2019re actually charged by the Torah again and again to detect G-d’s sovereignty and to internalize its veracity, to the point where it\u2019s unquestionable to us [2]. As it\u2019s written, \u201cKnow this day and reflect upon it in your heart\u201d again and again \u201cthat the L-rd He is G-d in heaven above and upon the earth below\u201d, i.e., that He reigns supreme in all realms, and that \u201cthere is none else\u201d who does (Deuteronomy 4:39). In point of fact, all of our people\u2019s 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<\/em> — in the future.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll discuss this all in more detail in the next few chapters; at this point, though, let\u2019s just present the various verses that allude to this phenomenon.<\/p>\n

G-d Himself expressed it in these terms: \u201cI am He! There is no G-d with Me! I alone bring on death and bring on life; I alone wound and heal\u201c(Deuteronomy 32:39); \u201cI 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\u201d (Isaiah 43:10-11); \u201cI am the first and I am the last; there is no G-d beside Me\u201c(Isaiah 44:6); and \u201cKnow \u2026 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\u201c (Isaiah 45:6-7) [4].<\/p>\n

As the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah depicted it, \u201cG-d alone will be exalted on that day\u201c(Isaiah 2:11) — the day He reveals His Yichud<\/em> — when, \u201cG-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\u201c(Zechariah 14:9). And as it\u2019s said \u201cHear O Israel! G-d our L-rd is the L-rd (i.e., His reign is sovereign) (Deuteronomy 6:4).<\/p>\n

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 \u201cthe last word\u201d so to speak; His Will will prove to reign supreme [5].<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

In the end we\u2019ll find that the whole slow, boundless, panoramic consideration of past, present and the promised future which we\u2019ll be offered in this work will ultimately have us realize the fact of G-d\u2019s Yichud<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And once we know that, we\u2019ll be able to not only \u201cknow therefore this day\u201d the truth of G-d\u2019s absolute sovereignty in theory — we will have \u201creflect(ed) upon it in (our) heart\u201d, and we\u2019ll be able to realize<\/em> on our own that \u201cG-d alone is L-rd of Heaven above and of earth below — none other\u201d (see Deuteronomy 4:39), despite the whirligig of earthly circumstances that seem to refute that.<\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s because those and other such Divine traits are rooted in abstract notions about Him and about G-d’s inner being, while G-d\u2019s sovereignty — His overarching command of everything in the universe — will manifest itself in the universe in the end.<\/p>\n

[2] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Understand that most of us simply don\u2019t sense G-d\u2019s utter sovereignty. Even people of faith who assume that G-d certainly reigns in this world don\u2019t actually assume He reigns supremely<\/em>. And that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

[3] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This refers to the Messianic Era, the resurrection of the dead, the great day of judgment, and the World to Come.<\/p>\n

[4] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

[5] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But haven’t we been granted free will which presupposes that one can<\/em> thwart G-d’s will, which would suggest that His will and reign are not<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

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

———————————————————-<\/p>\n

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here<\/a> at a discount.<\/p>\n

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here<\/a> at a discount as well.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman 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 on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Da\u2019at Tevunot 1:4 (# 34 continued to end) 1. As we\u2019d 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 … 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":false,"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-51","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-P","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51","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=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/daattevunot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}