Monthly Archives: May 2014

Derech Hashem 1:3:12

Unfortunately, the class isn’t yet posted on torah.org

 

1:3:12

 

The soul enjoys a couple of other advantages in the Soul World which will ultimately benefit it and the body when they’re rejoined [1].

Since it was decreed that one could only achieve perfection after having experienced death, it follows then that even if someone actually earned it while he was alive (which is in fact the only environment in which one could earn it [2]), he’ll have to wait for it.

What that implies is that the soul has to be exposed to sin and wrongfulness to one degree or another while the individual is in this world [3], and to become darkened and dimmed [4] as a result of that exposure. It also implies that the soul can’t express its full inherent luster while the individual is still alive [5], having been tinged that way.

Consequently, the body which could have benefitted and been purified from the soul’s luster can’t experience that in this world. And the soul suffers from the fact that it can’t manifest its luster in life too, since it can’t fulfill its raison d’être then, which is to purify the body, given that “things only achieve perfection when they fulfill their G-d-given purpose” [6]. It’s clear then that both the soul and the body lose a lot in life.

Ramchal’s point, then, is that the soul attains some of what it lacked for in life while in The Soul World. It can radiate fully there, and its ability to purify the body is bolstered there, too [7].

 

Notes:

[1]       In the text Ramchal makes two points about the soul at this point: that it “rests” in The Soul World — i.e., it remains in a state of suspended animation there; and that it also “looks for the body” there. That is, despite the spiritual advantages it will enjoy in The Soul World described below, at bottom the soul sits motionless awaiting its reunion with the body and wishes it could be with it in The Soul World, too. That comes to underscore the partnership and the love of body and soul rather than the sort of antagonism between them that others would posit.

[2]       “This world is like a vestibule before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the vestibule, so as to enter into the banquet hall” (Pirkei Avot 4:16); “‘You are to do (the mitzvahs) today, and not postpone them for tomorrow; since (while you can) do them today (in life), tomorrow (i.e., The World to Come, is set aside) for receiving the reward for (having done) them” (Eruvin 22a). Also see 1:3:3.

[3]       Which is so abhorrent and foreign to the soul.

[4]       I.e., demoted and demeaned.

[5]       I.e., it cannot be itself.

[6]       Along the same lines, Rambam contends that something is termed “good” only when it fulfills its life purpose (Moreh Nevuchim 3:13).

[7]       And it can thus “be more of itself” there. That is, like a bird that had been kept cooped up then set free, the soul’s release from the body enables it to fly, preen, and breathe freely. But the soul will not achieve its full capacity until The World to Come.

 

(c) 2014 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

 

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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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”.

Derech Hashem 1:3:11

The class can be found here.

1:3:11

Body and soul each go their own way at death. The body returns to the dust from which it was made [1], and the soul goes to The Soul World [2].

That is, the soul doesn’t just passively anticipate its true and infinite reward in The World to Come while the body decomposes, is purified, and then returns to the soul [3]. It enjoys something of the delight it will enjoy in The World to Come [4], according to the merits it will have earned in the physical world there in The Soul World (just as the delight it will experience in The World to Come will correspond to its merits) [5]. Nonetheless, as we said [6], true and fulsome reward and delight will ultimately be experienced by the body and soul together.

Notes:

[1]       “For you are dust, and you will return to the dust” (Genesis 3: 19).

[2]       In fact, the soul returns to its source as well: it revisits the Soul World from which it actually originated. See Tanchuma Pikudei 3 for the details of the soul’s experience before birth, also see Zohar 1:91b.

As to the posthumous experience of The Soul World, also known as “The Garden of Eden” or “Heaven”, there are several Traditional discussions of it. See Emunot v’De’ot 6:7, Moreh Nevuchim 1:70, Ikkarim 4:30, Torat HaAdam (Sha’ar HaGemul). Also see Shabbos 152b, Chagigah 12b, Tosephot (Rosh Hashanah 16b, “leyom hadin”), Vayikra Rabbah 18:1, Kohelet Rabbah 12:7.

The point, though, is that this Soul World isn’t the ultimate reach or the definitive end — The World to Come, which is far more arcane and profound an experience, is. The idea that there is something beyond the death experience and its mysteries is one of the points that sets Judaism apart from many other religions and world-views.

[3]       The body doesn’t just decompose in the dust, though: it has other experiences there. See Da’at Tevunot 72 and Adir Bamarom pp. 123, 198 where the cleansing process is discussed, and Derech Eitz Chaim (as well as Ari’s Sha’ar Hagilgul 23:3 and Reishit Chochma, Sha’ar HaYirah Ch. 12) for reference to Chibut HaKever (“the purgatory of the grave”).

[4]       See Ramchal’s Ma’amar HaChochma, “B’gemul”.

[5]       See 1:3:10.

[6]       See 1:3:7, 10.

 

(c) 2014 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”.