Category Archives: Kabbalah

The class can be found here.

1:5:1

In general, reality is comprised of two realms: a physical one and spiritual one [1]. The physical realm itself is comprised of the things that we can experience with our senses [2], be they the more astronomical sorts of things like the stars and planets, or the more terrestrial ones like the earth, seas, and sky, and all the other things that we can sense.

The spiritual realm is comprised of immaterial things that we can’t experience with our senses. They’re either souls which are the purely spiritual phenomena that enter into, are circumscribed by and are deeply connected to bodies so as to affect them in various ways and at different stages [3]. Or they’re transcendent phenomena that never enter into physical bodies like the “forces” [4] and angels [5]. The transcendent phenomena exist on different levels, they each have unique natures, and they’re so highly variable that each would seem to be in a class of its own, but they’re all of one sort.

There’s one specific entity, though, that’s a cross between the physical and spiritual in that it can’t be detected by the senses and isn’t bound by the constraints and laws of physicality,  and yet it’s very different from angels and forces (despite some similarities). These entities are known as “demons” [6]. And they, too, have specific inborn attributes and make-ups, and are also so highly variable that each would seem to be in a class of its own, but are likewise all of one sort.

It’s important to know that only humans consist of the two opposite components of an exalted soul and a lowly body. For while animals have “souls”, those souls aren’t actually spiritual phenomena — even though they’re the most spiritual of material phenomena. And while the same sort “soul” is in humans as well given that we too are mortal beings, we nonetheless also have immortal souls [7] which is an utterly unique entity that’s completely different than a body and incomparable to it, and which comes to us from and is connected to G-d for the reasons we explained above [8].

Notes:

[1]       See Ma’amar HaIkkurim, “B’Ruchniyim”, and Da’at Tevunot 78.

[2]       Or with devices that expand on them, regardless of how vast or minute, blunt or subtle they may be.

[3]       The idea that “souls … affect (bodies) in various ways and at different stages” refers to the relationship between bodies and souls in life, in the afterlife, in the resurrection of the dead, and in the world to come.

[4]       They’re termed “the roots of (all) created phenomena” in 4:6:13 below and are referred to as the Sephirot by the Kabbalists. See Ma’amar HaChochma, “HaSephirot” and elsewhere about them.

[5]       See 4:6:13 below as well as Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 108-109, Klallei Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 5,  Da’at Tevunot 116, 118, 126, 160, Derech Eitz Chaim p. 137, Messilat Yesharim Ch. 6, Adir Bamarom pp. 260, 195.

[6]       As demons are the most foreign to us of all of the above, they call for explanation. For one thing, it’s pointed out in the Talmud that demons are all around us all the time. They’re more numerous than we, and we’d in fact be thunderstruck and undone if we were actually able to see them (Berachot 6A). So they’re obviously a force to be reckoned with. For an exposition about them see Chagiga 16a, Yevamot 122a, Zohar 3:76b, etc. Also see Deuteronomy 32:17 and Psalms 106:37 for Biblical references to them.

Rambam denies their existence in his commentary to Avodah Zarah 4:7 and in Mishne Torah, Avodat Kochavim 11:6, but the Gaon of Vilna excoriates him for that opinion (Yoreh Deah 179:13). See Ramchal’s Iggerot 50 and Derech Eitz Chaim p. 142. Also see Eitz Chaim 50:8 for the Ari’s understanding of them.

[7]       As it’s said, “And G-d the L-rd formed man out of the dust of the ground and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7).

The type of soul that both animals and humans have is known as the Nephesh, while the one that’s unique to humans is known as the Neshama. See 3:1:1-6 below on the different parts of the human soul.

See Rambam’s Sh’mone Perakim, Ch. 1 as well as Ramchal’s Da’at Tevunot 24 and Adir Bamarom pp. 47, 275.

[8]        In short, only human beings are comprised of the two components of reality itself, both physicality and spirituality, at one and the same time. The forces, angels, and the like are spiritual but not material, and animals are physical but not spiritual (though they have something akin to a soul), and “demons” which seem to be a combination of the two aren’t really so (since they’re not physical, yet they’re also not angelic).

That’s why we humans are referred to as microcosms of the universe (see Tanchuma, Pekudei 3), given that only we are comprised of those two components. Ramchal apparently makes this point to underscore his ongoing idea about our unique situation in the universe.

(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”.

The class can be found here.

1:4:11

So at bottom the ultimate intention behind all of the mitzvot is to draw close to G-d and to bask in His light.  And the whole point of refraining from sins is to avoid drawing away from Him [1].

While these are the overarching reasons for the mitzvot in general, their specific roles are rooted in deep mysteries that are dependent on man’s own and the world’s makeup, as we indicated [2]. But we’ll address some of that at a later point [3].

Footnotes:

[1]       Ramchal concludes this chapter by underscoring the fact that mitzvot serve a deeper, far more compelling role in the world than we imagine. For they’re not just “good deeds” or lovely expressions of cultural pride; they’re agents of sweeping change and consequence.

See a reiteration of these points in Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1 where Ramchal says that “our sages … taught us that we were created to delight in G-d and enjoy the radiance of His Divine presence ….” and that “the means to bring you to this goal are the mitzvot”; and where he also said that “it’s only fitting … that there be no goal in any of your actions, large or small, other than to get close to G-d and to eradicate the barriers that separate you from Him”.

Let it also be said that we see from here that G-d is both the originator of the mitzvah system and its objective, nothing or no one else. That’s to say that it and the Torah itself derive from Him and lead us back to Him as well, thus forming a perfect circle. And that is its most important point.

[2]       See 1:4:5. Also see 4:1:5 and 4:4:10 below as well as “Da’at Tevunot 2” (6).

[3]       See Section 4 below.

(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”.

The class can be found here.

1:4:10

At bottom, though, our spiritual standing ultimately depends on G-d either “shining His countenance” upon us or “withholding” it from us [1]. For, the more G-d shines His countenance upon us, the purer and more perfected we become, while the more it’s withheld from us, the less pure and perfect we become.

But the truth of the matter is that either phenomenon depends on us and our decisions, since G-d Himself doesn’t withhold His countenance of His own volition but only in response to our turning away from Him [2]. Hence, it’s our deciding to draw close to Him or not that determines the outcome.

We manifest His shining His countenance upon us by fulfilling His mitzvahs [3] and deny ourselves it by sinning, measure for measure. It’s the mitzvah system that enables that manifestation, in that each time we engage in it we expose ourselves to a greater illumination of G-d’s countenance, while each time we ignore it we allow it to be withheld to a degree and we demean our beings.

Notes:

[1]       That’s to say that even though your spiritual status is largely determined by your following the mitzvah system (1:4:5), loving and fearing G-d (1:4:8), and by engaging in Torah study (1:4:9), it’s ultimately determined by G-d drawing closer to or further from you, which is the mechanism that brings it about.

As to the significance of G-d shining or withdrawing His “countenance” from someone, that comes to this. As we all know, when someone looks intently at someone he admires, his face brightens and he senses himself growing warmer; well, that’s all the more so true if he looks intently at someone he loves. Thus, G-d shining or withholding His countenance is a barometer of His feelings towards someone.

As such, while there’s a lot that we can do to draw close to G-d on our own, what’s most effective is doing all we can to have G-d want to draw close to us. For like all close relationships, a bond with G-d should be reciprocal. It isn’t enough to try your best: you need to “convince” Him to succeed as well, so to speak.

See 1:2:3 above (and note 7 there for references) as well as 1:5:8, 2:8:3, 3:1:3, and 4:5:1 below for more on this idea.

[2]       That is, while G-d is always inclined towards loving us and peering upon us intimately and warmly, we oftentimes reject that love, disappoint Him, and have Him “look away”, if you will.

[3]       Recall that loving and fearing G-d, and studying His Torah referred to in note 1 above are mitzvahs, too, albeit especially potent ones.

(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”.

1:4:8

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What we all need to bolster is our love and fear of G-d [1]. We do that initially by reflecting on His great loftiness versus our own terrible lowliness, and by surrendering ourselves to Him accordingly and being abashed before Him. And then we’re to long to be among those who serve Him, and to sing praises to His exaltedness [2].

Those are very potent ways of drawing close to Him and of cleansing the murkiness of our physicality as well as of allowing the soul to shine [3]. They elevate you step by step to the point where you draw close to Him [4].

Notes:

[1]       That is, besides infusing our directly mitzvah-related and everyday tasks with the conscious will to draw close to G-d (as spoken of above), we’re to go about that in a certain spirit — that of the love and fear of Him.

[2]       We foster — and bolster — the love and fear of G-d this way, as Ramchal lays it out. We begin by ruminating upon the essential, profound, and unfathomable difference between humankind and G-d Himself, and as a result of that realization we just naturally surrender ourselves to Him in love and are bashed in His presence in awe and fear given that He has encouraged us to draw close to Him. And we very humbly long for nothing more than to be His servants and devotees.

See 4:3:1 below as well as Hilchot Teshuvah 10:1-3 and Yesodei HaTorah 2:1-2.

[3]       That’s to say that not only are these good means of drawing close to Him as we’d discussed, but they’re also good means of enabling our souls to undo any impediments to that closeness.

[4]       Ramchal combines love with fear here rather than delving into both separately and in greater detail. He does do the latter in Messilat Yesharim, though, so we’ll cite from that work now to illustrate the point.

In short, “loving” and “fearing” G-d comes to having an intense and emotional relationship with Him that’s expressed either by an ardent yearning for Him, or a stunned dread of Him.

But it turns out that there are two sorts of love and two sorts of fear. A “lower” and “higher” one, depending on the intensity involved. The lower sort of love of G-d would entail your wanting to make Him “proud” of you much the way we’d like our parents to be proud of us. As such the person expressing that sort of love “would act as a loving son would to his father and would do more than his father would ask for.” He’d even do things “his father only unobtrusively hinted at” rather than asked for straight out. And “he’d deduce that such-and-such — something beyond what he was told — would make his father happy” and set out to do just that (Ch. 18).

Thus, one who loves G-d this way would go beyond the common expectations of a devotee, and would want nothing better than to please G-d. This sort of love of G-d is rooted in respect and admiration.

The higher sort of love for G-d is depicted in more romantic, quickened terms. One enjoying it would “literally desire and long for closeness to G-d” and “pursue” Him much the way “one would pursue anything” or anyone “he longed for”. It’s said that “even the mere mentioning of His name, enunciating of His praises, and being occupied in His mitzvot and G-dliness would become a treat and delight” to such a person (Ch. 19).

The lower sort of fear of G-d is marked by the feeling of dismay at going against His wishes because of the possible repercussions. It’s very easy to come by this sort of fear since “everybody has an instinct for self-preservation” and because, after all, “there’s nothing more likely to keep you away from doing something harmful to yourself than the fear of injurious consequences” (Ch. 24). Nonetheless, this sort of fear doesn’t befit intelligent and inquisitive spiritual seekers, we’re told, as it’s rather primitive.

The second, higher sort of fear (or “awe”) is referred to as “reverence for G-d’s Grandeur”. It’s rooted in the realization of two truisms: “that G-d’s Presence is found everywhere and that He involves Himself in everything, great and small“; in the teeming appreciation of the fact that “nothing is hidden from G-d, either …  great or small, scant or imposing”; and in the idea that “wherever you are, you stand in His Presence” (Ch. 25).

(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”.

The class can be found here.

1:4:7

There are two sorts of activities over-all [1]: the ones you do because God Himself rules that you must, which encompasses all of His mitzvahs; and the ones you do for one personal reason or another, which are the things you do for your own material benefit [2].

As we’d already explained, you engage in the mitzvahs in order to follow G-d’s charges and fulfill His will. You do that, incidentally, on two levels at the same time when you fulfill a mitzvah: first, by doing the specific thing He asked you to do just then [3]; and secondly, by perfecting yourself in the process in the way that only that mitzvah can enable you to [4] as G-d wants you to so as to benefit from His benevolence [5].

When it comes to the sorts of things you do for personal reasons, you’d need to be sure that they accord with G-d’s will and don’t involve anything forbidden. And they should be motivated by the need to maintain your health and well-being rather than to just satisfy your urges. You’d also do best to intend to serve G-d well and energetically when you do them [6].

Doing that will lead toward personal perfection, it will allow you to achieve the high standing that mitzvah-performance allows for [7], and it will enable you to ennoble all of creation in the process [8] since it will have been used to serve G-d [9].

Footnotes:

[1]       … that we’re to “apply … to this end without ever wavering from it”, as cited at the end of 1:4:6. That’s why sinful activities aren’t mentioned here though they comprise a large percentage of our activities as well, sad to say.

[2]       This is based on the following dilemma: we learned in the previous segment that we were to “constantly engage with G-d”, “attach ourselves onto Him”, and to “apply all of our activities to that end.” But the truth be known, we engage in many, many things that seem to have nothing to do with G-d. For while we may in fact do what we can to fulfill His mitzvot and thus draw close to Him, as well as to avoid the sorts of  things that would alienate us from Him, much of what we do can best be termed “discretionary” or mundane, and seems to have nothing to do with Him. So how can we ever hope to draw close to Him given that fact? Fortunately there’s a way. And it’s based on the metaphysical phenomenon depicted below.

[3]       By praying just then, celebrating a particular Holy Day at the time, giving charity to a particular cause being solicited, etc.

[4]       That’s to say that my donating to a particular worthy cause just then not only helps the cause and does good in the world, it also helps me on a very deep level and rectifies errors I might have made along the way touching on not being charitable. For in fact, G-d wants both to happen — both the inherent good, and the repair.

See Da’at Tevunot 160.

[5]       See 1:2:1 above as well as Klallei Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 1.

But, again, those situations only come up once in a while. So what are we to do the rest of the time to better the world and ourselves? We’re thus told that we can grant the same potency and possibility to nearly all the more ancillary things we occupy ourselves with in the course of the day (“nearly all” because what’s about to be said can’t be applied to illegal, immoral, or inconsiderate items or acts).

[6]       That is, you should have in mind that your engaged in them since no one can do much to draw close to G-d when he or she is ill or debilitated (rather than to simply be in “tip-top shape”). See Messilat Yesharim Ch’s 9, 13 as well as Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 231, Berachot 63a, and Pirke Avot 2:12, and Hilchot Dei’ot 3:3.

[7]       See Messilat Yesharim Ch. 26.

[8]       See Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1.

So, follow this regimen and even the more mundane sorts of things become infused with a mitzvah-quality that’s nearly on par with more clear-cut mitzvahs! And they become expressions of acquiescence to G-d’s will, and means of perfection. The very food we munch, exercise we do, shoreline we walk, etc. thus serves to fulfill G-d’s will in this world.

[9]       See 4:9:2 below.

(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”.

The class can be found here.

1:4:6

“The root of Divine service” Ramchal declares here [1], “lies in your constantly engaging yourself with your Creator [2] and comprehending that you were created to attach yourself onto G-d [3], and were placed in this world [4] to prevail over your yetzer harah [5], subjugate yourself to G-d [6] through reason [7], overturn your physical cravings and inclinations [8], and to apply all your activities to this end [9] without ever wavering from it [10].”

Notes:

[1] Though it hadn’t been our practice to do this till now, we’re about to present a literal translation of the entire paragraph, since it serves as a singularly vivid and pithy statement of the meaning of life.

In fact, a faithful student of truth and wisdom would do well to safeguard this paragraph for him or herself, and to set it aside in a cozy spot close to the heart. For what we’re about to read is a gift outright — a veritable recounting of the realizations the soul had before entering the world. If you find yourself somehow not taken by what’s stated here, then you’d do well to reconsider your vision of the ideal life and wait another five years before re-reading it. (I myself have read it again and again for decades now and have always been bedazzled by the brush with ultimate truth that it is.)

To put it into context recall that this statement is offered on the heels of our discussion about our inner and outer conflicts, about the great sway physicality holds over us, about the challenges presented us by that situation as well as the great spiritual victory it allows for, and about the great remedy for all that which is the mitzvah-system. And recall too that it sits in the midst of the chapter that focuses upon “Human Responsibility”.

We’ll try to explain each phrase as we come to it as succinctly as possible. As such, this first phrase “The root of Divine service” means to express the idea that what life is, all in all, is service to G-d rather than to self.

Ramchal raised the idea of dedicating what you do to the service of G-d in a number of places, including 1:4:7, 9, 2:2:1, 4:9:2 below; Messilat Yesharim, in the introduction and in Ch. 1 and Ch. 19; Derech Chochma; and in Sefer Kinat Hashem Tzivaot. Also see Berachot 63a and Rambam’s Shemone Perakim, Ch. 5.

[2]       That Divine service “lies in your constantly engaging yourself with your Creator“, for unbeknownst to most, we’re to foster an intimacy with G-d that’s rooted in catching sight of Him and hearing out what He says all the time.

[3]         For “you were created to attach yourself onto G-d“ at bottom — nothing else. Everything else we do is either ancillary or disruptive, and every other attachment we have is non-adhesive in the end and piteous in comparison.

[4]       And you “were placed in this world” specifically, where things are meant to get done and where goals are meant to be met.

[5]       So as “to prevail over your yetzer harah” which is to say, to set self in hand, overcome all extraneous indulgences and charge ahead despite all other promptings.

[6]        And to then “subjugate yourself to G-d” rather than to glitz.

[7]       “Through reason” rather than through whim.

[8]       To “overturn your physical cravings and inclinations” in your quest for closeness to G-d to cravings for and inclinations toward Him instead.

[9]       To “apply all your activities to this end” alone, as this is your supreme mission after all.

[10]     And you’re to do that “without ever wavering from it” for a goal is a goal, and alacrity and dedication alone is what leads us to it.

(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”.

Class can be found here.

1:4:5

It’s in fact the mitzvah-system that lays out the parameters that we’re to function within [1]. Each imperative [2] is intended to allow one to earn and incorporate within himself a degree of perfection, and each prohibition [3] is meant to withhold a degree of murkiness and imperfection.

It’s vitally important to know that each element of every mitzvah has been designed with humankind’s true makeup and circumstances in mind, with the degree of one’s own and the world’s needs [4], as well as with each thing’s own needs and conditions for perfection.

Indeed, G-d who knows all of this in fact, and knows all of creation and the role each thing plays in creation, oversees everything and incorporated all of that in His mitzvah-system. As it’s said, “G-d commanded us to follow all of these rules … so that He might grant us goodness” (Deuteronomy 6:24) [5].

Notes:

[1]        … spoken of in 1:4:4.

Many people see mitzvahs as mere “good deeds” — as ways of earning Divine “merit badges”, if you will. Others see them as concrete symbols of high ideals, expressions of Jewish people-hood and culture, of uniquely Jewish ethical imperatives, and the like. And others tie them in with Jewish history and past circumstance (and come to dismiss them as irrelevant in modernity). But the mitzvah-system goes far beyond all of that. As we’ll see below, it was instigated by G-d Almighty who took our hearts and minds into consideration when determining its makeup, and who wants to draw us close to Him, and made that its goal.

Ramchal’s point here is that the only thing that takes the needs of both our body and our soul into consideration and can nourish both (see 1:4:2-3) is the mitzvah-system. For thanks to it I can, for example, eat for my body’s sake and yet have it fulfill my soul’s needs by reciting a beracha (i.e., blessing) before and after eating, eating to fulfill a Shabbos or Yom Tov obligation, etc.

Ramchal speaks about the mitzvah system in very many of his works. See for example Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1; Adir Bamarom pp. 3, 186; Tiktu Tephillot 267, “Da’at Tevunot 2” 9, 16, 44; Klallei Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 8; Introduction to Ma’amar HaVichuach; Da’at Tevunot 70, 126, 158; and Klach Pitchei Chochma 46.

Also see Avodat Hakodesh 3:63; and Sh’nei Luchot HaBrit, Torah Ohr, Re’eih.

[2]       I.e., each so-called “positive” mitzvah, which is a terrible translation of mitzvah tasseh, better translated as an act that it’s a mitzvah to do.

[3]       i.e., each so-called “negative” mitzvah, which is an even worse translation of mitzvah lo–tasseh, better translated as an act that it’s a mitzvah refrain from.

[4]       Thus the mitzvah-system in conjunction with the human soul, mind, body, and will could be said to be one huge “engine” with interrelated parts, along with interrelated processes that can sometimes be explained and otherwise not, that are sometimes manifestly successful and oftentimes only clandestinely so, but which is ultimately meant to move everything toward one end: closeness to G-d.

[5]       This makes the point that the mitzvah system is part of G-d’s means for beneficence (see 1:2:1-2).

(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”.

1:4:4

Despite the fact that we’re bound to materiality from the first and our souls are so stifled, nonetheless on some arcane level [1] G-d arranged things in such a way that we’d be elevated in the end anyway. In fact, the very problem will prove to offer the solution [2] and our physicality itself will enable us to turn darkness to light and the shadows of death into beams of light [3].

For when we function within the parameters that G-d established for us when it comes to physicality [4] and we have the right intentions [5], the physical things we do allow for perfection and enable us to be elevated. Those parameters take into account our state of being and are just what’s needed to allow us to draw close to G-d and to bask in His presence in this physical world and beyond. As such, when we use our physicality within those parameters we garner what you need to ascend and avoid what keeps us back from drawing close to G-d.

In fact, if it weren’t for the aforementioned decree of death [6], our souls would instantly become empowered and our body would be weakened, and we’d be purified enough to indeed draw close to G-d when we acted within those parameters. But since that decree is in place in fact, the soul itself is purified on the spot to be sure (on an inchoate level), but the body is made more only potentially pure — until the time when both will indeed achieve perfection in tandem.

Notes:

[1]       The Hebrew term for this level translates as “from the depths of the guidance (of) His wisdom”. Ramchal uses it and similar expressions in 1:5:6 and 2:3:1 and elsewhere below, as well as in Da’at Tevunot (11, 44, 48, 52, etc.), and in various other works. It refers to the Kabbalistic concept of Reisha d’La Ityada (“the unfathomable beginning”), which is the source of all inscrutable Divine decisions and reckonings. See Klallim Rishonim 34, Da’at Tevunot 168-170, Klach Pitchei Chochma 78-88, etc.

[2]       Ramchal’s term is, “man’s lowliness will (itself) prove to be his greatness (in the end)”.  See Klach Pitchei Chochma 49, and also see Zohar 1, 245b as well as Emunot v’De’ot 6:4 and Pardes Rimonim 31:5.

Let’s try to illustrate that excellent principle with an analogy. Suppose there was once an utterly ignoble soul who’d somehow hit bottom. He became a drunk and a derelict perhaps, as well as brash, mean, wayward, and wanton. Suppose after a time he came to realize what he’d done to himself, turned himself around, worked hard and invested wisely, and became a mentsch (a fine, upstanding individual). Let’s even imagine that he became a selfless and ardent philanthropist after a time, and an advocate for all sorts of good causes. Then suppose there was another individual then who’d been born into a good family, had a sterling upbringing, was educated in the best of schools, and eventually inherited a great deal of wealth. Then imagine that they both advocated for and contributed toward the same noble causes.

The first individual would certainly be lauded more than the second one for his benevolence. Everyone would speak in awe of how someone like him, who’d once been such a cur and a dog, had turned himself around so and become so good. Everything good he did would be tripled in value in everyone’s eyes as a consequence, while the self-same acts done by the second person would simply be admired, and no more. (“After all,” people would reason, “we’d only expect as much from him”.)

Indeed, the first person’s initial lowliness would itself prove to be his greatness in the end.

This is the logic behind our having been thrust into a world that seems to foil our soul’s dream of closeness to G-d. For by transcending our limitations and using the very same environment in which we could easily fail as a base for succeeding we will have met the greatest challenge of all, and our lowliness will have indeed proven to be our greatness in the end.

It’s important to realize, by the way, that we’re contrasting mankind with supernatural beings like angels with this point. For, while we have to contend with conflicting urges and inclinations and we’re always threatened with defeat, they don’t have to. Angels can’t help but do good and holy things — that’s all they’re “programmed” to do. As such, any goodness and holiness they bring into the world is only to be expected (like the acts of the second person we cited above), while any goodness and holiness we might bring into the world is a triumph of the human spirit and a personal victory (like the acts of the first person).

[3]       “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, light shone upon them” (Isaiah 9:1). See Ch. 26 of Messilat Yesharim for illustrations of overturning physicality to spirituality.

[4]       See 2:6:1-5 for a different discussion of these parameters.

[5]       Which is primarily to draw close to G-d but could also be to act selflessly and lovingly. But see Ramchal’s Sefer HaHigayon 5 which speaks of two people doing the same thing which could wind up being either reprehensible of laudatory depending on each one’s original intentions.

[6]       See 1:3:9.

(c) 2014 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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