Category Archives: Ramchal

The class can be found here.

“But the human situation has in fact changed greatly” Ramchal says. “What we see and determine about it now isn’t what it was originally”. And the difference came about through Adam and Eve’s sin [1].

This change is vastly important and it affects a nearly infinite number of small and large details. We’ll speak about some in broad terms below [2], but we obviously can’t point to or tie-in all of the details.

As such, there are two main epochs of time in the human experience: before Adam and Eve sinned, and after [3].

Notes:

[1]       We’ve alluded to this above, in note 1 to 1:2:5, note 3 to 1:3:1, and note 1 in 1:3:4.   It’s important then to keep in mind that it was Adam alone who was created “out of the blue” and infused by G-d Himself, along with Eve, with quick life, while everyone else was born and slowly nourished into life because of them and those they’d borne. In fact, everything they first were, did, thought, and said left an indelible and utterly profound impression upon their offspring and the world at large, while everything we are, do, think, and say only figures into the mix. And the material things they came into contact with only truly came alive and became meaningful the first time Adam and Eve saw, heard, tasted, smelled, or touched it, while our seeing, hearing, smelling, or touching things merely confirms and reconfirms Adam and Eve’s existence.

Thus, while we matter and are of consequence in the aggregate, Adam and Eve’s very beings were of utter, utter consequence — until they ate of The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, when both they and we were changed. Doing that, they affected our blood and bones as well as their own, which left an indelible and utterly profound impression upon our beings and theirs, and gave a whole new (albeit lesser) meaning to our material selves as well as theirs.

In a sense, then, they became what we are. For, while they’d once been perfectly balanced, they’d gone as off-kilter as we; and while all they needed to do was to opt for all-goodness and they’d have achieved it, they didn’t.

[2] See 2:4:2.

[3] The two epochs of time could be termed The Balanced (or, “Adamic”) Epoch, and The Unbalanced (or, “Late Adamic”) Epoch. But there’d actually been another Adamic Epoch — when the Torah was granted us and we were returned to that earlier state (Shir HaShirim Rabba 5:1). And there’ll prove to be a third and final Epoch as well — The Rebalanced or “Post-Adamic” one of The World to Come, when we’ll supersede Adam’s level and accomplish what he could not.

(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.

There was to be a fundamental difference between our worldly experience and our Afterlife one [1] — between the environment in which we struggle toward growth and perfection known as Olam Hazeh (“this world”), and the one in which we reap the fruits of our labors known as Olam Haba (“The World to Come”) [2].

This world would need to be set-up in such a way that the inner struggle between the soul and the body [3] could go on. That way materiality wouldn’t automatically hold sway over spirituality; and spirituality wouldn’t automatically dominate materiality. And while the latter would seem to be a good thing [4] it actually isn’t, given that our goal of achieving spiritual perfection and drawing close to G-d on our own would be thwarted [5]. And The World to Come needed to be the environment in which spirituality does indeed hold sway over materiality [6].

Notes:

[1]       As we indicated in note 3 to 1:3:1 above, we’re talking here about the ideal — the reality in place before Adam and Eve sinned. The equation was altered and the delicate balance of power between spirit and matter shifted after that, as we’ll see.

[2]       In fact, there are two usages of the term “The World to Come” in the tradition. The first one, championed by Rambam (Maimonides), is used to depict the place the soul goes to after death for reward or punishment (Hilchot Teshuvah Ch. 8); while the second, as used by Ramban (Nachmanides), is the place that (nearly) all will go to after the Messianic Era, the Great Day of Judgment, and the Resurrection of the Dead for eternal reward (Sha’ar HaGemul). Both can be termed the Afterlife.

Since death and reward and punishment hadn’t yet entered into the picture, as we’re talking about the time before Adam and Eve sinned, as indicated above, the term Olam Haba discussed here is clearly the one that Ramban addressed.

See Da’at Tevunot 88 for a full discussion of the stages in which the body and the soul respectively hold sway; also see Da’at Tevunot 126. And see 1:3: 10, 13 below.

[3]       Ramchal characterizes the soul here as (the seat of) “reason” as he did in 1:3:2.

[4]       Since it would allow us to arrive at spiritual perfection effortlessly and quickly.

[5]       So it would detract from our freedom of choice and cheapen our spirituality in the end.

[6]       Ramchal adds an interesting remark at the end. He depicts this world as a place “with the sort of natural laws that humanity would need” there, and The World to Come as the place “with the sort of laws that humanity would need” there, without saying what kind of laws or ways there’d be there (though he’s clearly referring to supernatural laws).

In essence, that says that each world has its own way of being and environment. The point is that the Afterlife will not simply be an extension of this world with the sorts of causes and effects we’re used to: it will be utterly different. We alluded to that in our remark above that “there was to be a fundamental difference between our worldly experience and our Afterlife one”.

(c) 2013 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.

Nonetheless, G-d decreed that there’d be a limit to our need to strive for perfection, after which we’d be recompensed [1]. So there are two epochs of time over-all: that of humankind’s efforts and struggles, and that of its reward and recompense [2].

It’s in fact because G-d’s benevolence far exceeds His ill will when it comes to His interactions with us [3] that He allowed for a limited amount of time for our efforts, and a countervailing never-ending amount of time for reward and on-going perfection [4].

Notes:

[1]       The clear implication here is that there might not have been a time limit, and that we’d need to go on with the struggle forever. But we’re told that G-d decided otherwise, mercifully.

One might argue that the cost of that decision is our mortality, and would wonder if the decision is merciful at all. But given that at bottom life is a spiritual battlefield, a time limit is a gift. Those for whom life isn’t a spiritual arena, though, for whom it’s a “Garden of Earthly Delights” instead perceive death as unkind, but the point is that it’s no such a thing, and that the recompense in the Afterlife is more delightful than any worldly pleasure (while the penalty one experiences in Gehennom, which lasts at worst only 12 months and is followed by spiritual reward, is understandable and meant for purification).

The Afterlife will be discussed below in 2:2:1, etc. and elsewhere.

[2]       In fact there’s a third epoch: before humankind was created, but our concern here is humankind, as we’d said, so that third epoch is irrelevant.

[3]       See Sotah 11a, Sanhedrin 100a, as well as Yoma 76a for discussions of G-d’s kindness outweighing His strict judgment.

In fact, on all levels there’s more goodness than malevolence — more to be enjoyed or benefited from than to be endured in the world. For all-in-all (with notable exceptions) the world is largely at peace; there are more instances of kindness than cruelty; more health than disease; more order than chaos; more reason than insanity, and the like. And while we might not recognize that, it’s because our perspectives are skewed and cynical. (See Moreh Nevuchim 3:12.)

[4]       That indicates that one reaches ever higher, deeper, and achieves greater levels of perfection ad infinitum in the World to Come, given that one draws closer and closer to G-d whose Being is infinite.

(c) 2013 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.

1:3:2

A certain cosmic condition had to exist if we were ever to achieve perfection on our own and to thus draw close to G-d, though. We humans had to have been comprised of two disparate phenomena: a body and a soul [1]. Ramchal depicts the body as “earthly” [2] and “murky”, and the soul as “intelligent” [3] and “clear” [4].

And each phenomenon would have to do its best to hold sway over us if we’re to have free will, and to provide ammunition for the battle we’d need to wage to have the soul eventually dominate.

The final point here is that once the soul dominates the body, both are then elevated and the individual eventually achieves perfection, whereas when the body dominates the soul, both are denigrated, and the individual is denied his or her perfection and is even said to be rejected by G-d [5]. How daunting a thought!

Notes:

[1]       In fact, not only are we comprised of the two separate phenomena of soul and a body, we’re likewise comprised of two separate proclivities: a body-orientation and a soul-orientation. The former inclines toward sin and the yetzer harah, and the latter toward goodness and the yetzer hatov (see 1:3:1).

Many would argue that the idea that we’re part-this and part-that is spurious. “We aren’t partly soul-oriented, partly body-oriented”, they’d insist, “we’re in fact both body and soul oriented.” While the point is well taken, it’s nonetheless misguided. The truth be known, if we were to pull back and look at humanity from a great distance — say from a “G-d’s eye-view” — we’d determine that we’re indeed body and soul oriented, that the breakdown into two opposing realms isn’t real, and that from that fuller perspective we’re indeed whole beings comprised of a body-soul. (Many make reference to this idea when they speak of the “mind-body connection”, by the way.)

But despite the utter truth of that, looking at things from that perspective is misleading — and counterproductive. For we don’t experience ourselves from a “G-d’s eye-view”; our very real, very human struggles, and our victories, too, are based on the fact that we experience a very real and compelling split in ourselves. One huge and electric part of us experiences ourselves as wholly of this earth, while another experiences ourselves as transcendent. So the point about our being both of body and soul at the same time is wasted.

Granted, there are great and holy individuals who know there isn’t a split, and don’t struggle within their beings. But the great preponderance of us simply don’t experience that. So it would be best to accept the reality we now know if we’re ever to encounter and cooperate with utter reality as we’re bidden to in this life.

See 3:1:1-2 below where Ramchal refers to the various levels of the soul. Also see Da’at Tevunot 69-70, Derech Eitz Chaim, and Klallim Rishonim 28 for discussions on the combination of body and soul.

[2]       Or what we’d term “down to earth” and “practical”.

[3]       Or what we’d term “theoretical” and “idealistic”.

[4]       On one level the body is termed “earthly” because it’s comprised of the same elements everything else on earth is. And the soul is termed “intelligent” because the least earthly thing we experience is pure abstract thought.

The two other depictions of body and soul — “murky” and “clear” — offer another insight. For we find that while murkiness and clarity are indeed two points on an illumination continuum, still and all, neither is an extreme. For were we to draw such a continuum we’d lay it out thusly (with an infinite number of degrees in between): Pitch black — murky — clear — glaringly bright.

Ramchal’s point thus seems to be that being body-oriented (i.e., “murky”) isn’t at all the most material you can be — being “pitch black” or evil is. And that being soul-oriented (i.e., “clear”) isn’t at all the most spiritual you can be — being “glaringly bright” or G-dly is.          The argument would then be that we’d each do well to determine just where we lie on the extended line over-all, and to strive higher.

[5]       As Ramchal put it in Messilat Yesharim (Ch. 1), “The world was created for our usage. But we stand in the midst of a great balance: should we be attracted to the world and distanced from our Creator, both we and the world with us would be damaged; but if we would master ourselves and clutch onto our Creator, and make use of the world’s things to help us in our Divine service, both we and the world with us will be elevated”.

Also see 1:3:12 below regarding the soul’s effect on the body, as well as Da’at Tevunot 126.

(c) 2013 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.

To reiterate, we alone among all beings are able to draw close to G-d and to attach onto His presence [1]; and we’re indeed able to achieve the sort of moral and spiritual perfection that would allow for that (as well as the imperfection that would disallow that). But if we’re to achieve that sort of perfection we’d need to strive for it by our own volition and free choice [2]. Because if we were to somehow come upon perfection by happenstance, by dint of inborn characteristics, or by legacy, then we wouldn’t have chosen to achieve it freely, as we must do.

That’s why humankind was originally placed in a situation in which each person could freely choose between perfection or imperfection and could achieve either [3], and why each was born with both a yetzer harah and a yetzer hatov either of which he could choose to favor [4].

Notes:

[1]       This chapter encapsulates a lot of what had been said in the previous one (especially 1:2:5), which is why we referred to this as a reiteration. These ideas are restated — better said, underscored here — because this chapter, which is entitled “Humankind”, will take what had been said before about humanity and build on it. In fact, that’s the basic underlying methodology of Derech Hashem: ideas are offered, expanded upon, and then further build upon.

[2]      While the idea of free will was discussed in the previous chapter, this is the first actual mention of it in Derech Hashem. As was pointed out in 1:1:2 we’re only free on an ethical, spiritual level. That’s what sets us apart from all other beings (see Da’at Tevunot 158).

For more on free will see 1:5:4-5, 2:1:3, 2:2:3, 2:4:2, 4:4:1, and 4:6:1 below; Adir Bamarom p. 88; Da’at Tevunot 43-44, 48 (as well as the other places cited here); Messilat Yesharim, intro.; “Da’at Tevunot Part 2” 4-6, 16, 18 (found in Ginzei Ramchal pp, 21-23, 26, 31); etc.

It’s vital to note, though, that while free will allows us greatness and it defines the human experience, it’s is only a “temporary” phenomenon and will be eradicated in the end, when it will no longer be needed (see Da’at Tevunot 40), since its purpose would already have been served and humanity will no longer strive toward spiritual excellence of their own volition.

There’s another point to be made. We in the Western world consider ourselves to be quite free, quite at liberty to do and say as we please. But that’s political freedom rather than the sort of primal, transcendent, moral freedom which we’re granted and would need to bolster in order to achieve the kind of spiritual perfection we’re addressing here.

For the truth be known, our real power lies not in the civic realities and other circumstances that G-d alone controls. It lies in the freedom we have to fulfill ourselves on a deeply personal, existential level. And that’s what free will is all about. It touches on your essence rather than your trappings, your soul’s place in the cosmos rather than your personal place in the world.

[3]       It’s important to point out that while we were originally “placed in a situation in which each person could freely choose between perfection or imperfection and could achieve either”, that changed after Adam and Eve’s sin, as we’ll see in 2:4:2 below.

[4]       Yetzer harah is usually translated as “the evil inclination”, and yetzer hatov as “the good inclination”. Now in truth, most of us (with obvious exception) aren’t “inclined toward evil”; most can be said to be inclined toward good. But we do do wrong because of the yetzer harah, which is a pull downward toward the spiritually mundane, a settling for an existential B or C. What we’re to do then, is to strive to live up to the demands of the yetzer hatov, the inclination to be truly good (even great) on the deepest levels, and to thus attach onto G-d.

For more on the yetzer harah and yetzer hatov see 1:4:6, 2:2:2, 2:3:1, 2:6:2, and 4:8:1 below, as well as Adir Bamarom p. 88; Klach Pitchei Chochma 14 (in Ramchal’s own comments); Messilat Yesharim, Ch’s 2, 3, 5; etc.

Notice that the rest of the chapter doesn’t expand upon the yetzer harah–yetzer hatov dynamic, but rather on the body-soul interplay. In short, that’s because the body tends to encapsulate the expressions and needs of the yetzer harah while the soul does the same for the yetzer hatov, but much more can be said about that.

(c) 2013 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.

Human beings, who will assume the central role in the playing out of eternity and of G-d’s intentions for it, who will be the focus of the remainder of this work, and to whom all other entities both more mundane and more celestial than they are subservient, are in that position because of two propensities [1].

First, because we can grasp exalted things that no other entity can [2]; and second, because we can acquire far loftier characteristics [3]. That is what enables us to perfect ourselves and to draw close to G-d. Their opposites — concentrating on more mundane things, and settling for lesser character traits — are what limit us and draw us away from G-d.

We’ve thus been placed in a world that enables either propensity so that we’d (hopefully) choose the loftier one [4].

Notes:

[1] Many would be struck by the fact that Ramchal designated all of humanity as the center of concern rather than the Jewish Nation which, after all, has been chosen to observe G-d’s Torah and to thus fulfill His wishes in this world. He seemed to evidence that same sympathy at a couple of other points. He said that “all souls in their entirety are (in fact) one soul” (Klallei Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 4), Jew and Gentile alike; and similarly, that “all souls were incorporated in the soul of Adam” (Derech Eitz Chaim, based on Shemot Rabbah 40:3).

Nonetheless Ramchal explained in the fourth chapter of Section 2 below, there came to be a point when this was longer true. Indeed, had Adam and Eve not sinned, then all of humanity would have been capable of drawing close to G-d equally; and had later generations not sinned either, the same would have been true. But he underscores the fact that since that didn’t come to fruition then only the descendants of Abraham — the Jewish Nation — has that ability.

The point of the matter is that we’re still at the beginning of Ramchal’s study of human potential; and so far in this work, all of humanity has the ability to draw intimately close to G-d Almighty. But as we’ll discover, that’s simply no longer true; only the Jewish Nation can ultimately do so — and only by fulfilling the conditions presented below.

[2] See Rambam’s Iggeret Taimon; Moreh Nevuchim 3:54; and Sh’mone Perakim Ch’s 2, 7 (where he discusses good character traits, too). Also see Avodat HaKodesh 3:13.

[3] As most would understand by now, the more exalted things we’re encouraged to grapple with and try to grasp include G-d’s being and His intentions for the universe, and His Torah-based requirements of us. It’s not yet clear what personal characteristics he’s referring to, though. But that comes to this.

We all know very many “nice” and “good” people who go out of their way to be kind and friendly, who can take a joke, who like other people, and who think it’s good to be good, and bad to be bad. Yet they may be utterly childish at home, selfish, grumpy, rude, and even heartless; they may lose their temper easily, sulk, berate people behind their backs, cheat in small but nettlesome ways, respect hardly anyone, etc. That’s to say that they’re not truly “good” people so much as fairly average individuals who want to please and be liked, but who drop all that when they’re home and in safe quarters. Faced with the delicious prospect of drawing close to G-d Almighty, such individuals would certainly be “nice” to Him, too, but they’d probably complain about something He said once they’d left His presence.

Only the sort of person who’s good to the core, who’s driven by an electric and driving urge to be good, do good things, help, give, and excel in his or her being could ever hope to achieve the sort of laudable character we’d need to grow close to G-d.

Ramchal most famously laid out the character traits one should strive for in his Messilat Yesharim, but also see 2:3:1 below for some discussion of this.

[4] Many of these ideas will be reiterated later on this in this work, in 1:4:4, 4:4:1, 4:5:1, 4:9:1-2, etc. Also see Ma’amar HaIkkurim, “b’Torah u’Mitzvot”.

(c) 2013 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.

Since the polar opposite phenomena of spiritual “perfection” and “imperfection” we’d cited both need to exist [1] in order for humankind to freely choose between them (and to preferably choose perfection, of course), and since humankind had to have an environment in which to make that choice, it stands to reason that it became necessary to create such a setting. The point of the matter is that our universe, with all of its very many components where all of that is to be played out, is just that [2].

In a sense then, all of reality as we know it is the stage upon which humankind’s great moral-spiritual drama is to be enacted [3].

Humankind is thus the central character and focus of that reality since it alone can draw close to G-d by its own actions, while everything else is either a member of the ”supporting cast” or a “prop” [4].

Notes:

[1]       That is, since the ability to achieve spiritual perfection and to draw close to G-d by pursuing the good and the right, or to settle for spiritual imperfection and to avoid G-d by pursuing the bad and the wrong, had to exist.

Notice that contrary to common practice, Ramchal doesn’t speak in moral terms here so much as in utilitarian ones, saying in effect “if you want to succeed at what’s good rather than failing at it, then …” rather than “if you want to be good rather than bad, then ….”.

[2]       Also see Ma’amar HaIkkurim, “b’Torah u’Mitzvot”.

[3]       We purposely worded it ambiguously, saying, “in a sense then, all of reality as we know it is the stage upon which humankind’s great moral-spiritual drama is to be enacted” because Ramchal might have made another point here, as he did elsewhere.

For as we said in 1:2:1 note 4, Ramchal posited several reasons for the world’s existence. While he suggests here that it exists to allow for the playing out of human free will and for the chance to draw close to G-d, which we addressed in that note, at other points — as we also said there — he indicated that the world is more than a battlefield for humanity’s spiritual struggles: it’s where G-d will reveal His Sovereignty in the end despite humankind’s efforts, and regardless of the shifting, swaying, confounding, and often inexplicable sway of earthly circumstances.

See statements to that effect in Da’at Tevunot 17, 36, 48, 54, 80, etc.; Klach Pitchei Chochma 30 (in Ramchal’s own comments); Adir Bamarom pp. 80, 148; etc. And while the point is accentuated here, in Derech Hashem, nonetheless see 4:4:1, 7 below. Also see Zohar 1:70b (“Amar R’ Chizkiyah”) and elsewhere.

[4]       The idea of humankind’s centrality is a subject of great and contrasting discussion among our rabbis. See Kohelet Rabbah on Ecclesiastes 7:13; Sanhedrin 37a; Zohar 1:134b; Emunot v’Deot, introduction to Ch. 4; Ikkarim 1:11; Moreh Nevuchim 3:12; Avodat HaKodesh 3:3 and onward; Pardes 24:10; Eitz Chaim 26:1 and 39:4; Sha’arei Kiddusha 3:2; Shelah, “Asseret Hadibrot” 2; Leshem, SeferHaClallim  15:11; R’ Tzodek HaCohen, Sichat Malachei HaShoret 2; etc.

(c) 2013 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”.

I’m afraid that torah.org is still not archiving these classes.         

In the last segment Ramchal focused on the idea that G-d intended for us to perfect ourselves [1], since by doing that willfully and proactively, we become closer to Him. Ramchal’s point here is that it’s not just that we earn closeness to G-d by perfecting ourselves — we in fact become close to Him through the very process of perfecting ourselves [2].

It comes to this: as we’ve explained, G-d is utterly perfect [3], and all other instances of perfection are sorts of “offshoots” of G-d’s own perfection, much the way that a tree’s branches are offshoots of the tree itself. Now, just as one holds onto the tree itself when he holds onto its branch, one already “holds onto” G-d’s own Being in a certain sense when he takes hold of and pursues spiritual perfection [4]. Thus, perfecting yourself and drawing close to G-d are one and the same thing for all intents and purposes [5].

But there’s yet another, even more erudite way of looking at it, according to Ramchal’s explanation. G-d is said to either manifest or “shine” His face upon us when He approves of our actions [6], or to “hide” it from us when He disapproves [7]. It follows then that every time there’s an instance of imperfection, spiritual failing, injustice, wrongdoing somewhere, He hides His “face” from that event. And contrarily every time there’s an instance of perfection, spiritual excellence, justice, and goodness, G-d manifests His “face” and presence in that event. So whenever we exhibit a degree of perfection we attract His attention and indeed draw closer to Him in the process.

In any event, everyone who does the latter, as Ramchal depicts it here, “draws close to Him, enjoys His beneficence, and is himself responsible for his own goodness and (eventual) perfection”, which is the best one could ever hope for.

Notes:

[1]       “Perfecting” ourselves comes down to being as competent as we can in fulfilling G-d’s spiritual-, ethical-, and character-related expectations of us. As Ramchal put in the first chapter of Messilat Yesharim, the “mitzvot are the means to bring us to true perfection”.

[2]       Some of us perhaps wistfully imagine how sublime drawing close to G-d Almighty must be, while the more doggedly material and this-worldly among us haven’t even an inclination to do that. The righteous, though, dream about it in the deepest, most vivid corners of their hearts. Accordingly, they sometimes grow impatient in their quest, and yearn for a short-cut, if you will. That’s the issue Ramchal is addressing here.

In fact, it can be said that person’s true self can best be determined by the contrast between what he dreams of and what he ignores. It would do us each well to determine just where we ourselves stand on the “dream to get close to G-d” continuum in order to know our own spiritual station.

[3]       See 1:2:1.

[4]       … much the way a drowning person who takes hold of a life-preserver is essentially safely aboard the rescue ship.

Also see Tanya 1:4 which makes the point that someone who loves a king and wants to embrace him is satisfied with embracing his many royal garments because he knows that the king himself is within them.

[5]       Also see Da’at Tevunot 14, 18.

This is an extraordinary point. It indicates that since my efforts to draw close to G-d are themselves a degree of success, then even if I don’t fully achieve it by the time I die I’ll still and all be taken to have succeeded at it. After all, I was on the path and had “touched the tree’s branch” and thus embraced the tree itself for all intents and purposes.

But isn’t that unfair in a sense, since I will have seemingly earned so great a reward despite other faults I might have? Nonetheless see 2:2:5, 2:3:9 below, which point to the fact that there’ll indeed be consequences to my failings despite the fact that I’ll eventually succeed. Though this calls for a lengthier discussion than we can justify now, it helps to explain how anyone can ever hope for perfection, given that “there is not a righteous person on earth, that does (only) good, and doesn’t sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20); and it helps explains the fundamentals of reward and punishment.

[6]       As in, “May G-d shine His face upon you, and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25).

[7]       As in, “And on that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them” (Deuteronomy 31:17),

See Klallim Rishonim 8, Da’at Tevunot 76- 81, 84, and see 1:4:10, 1:5:8, 2:8:3, 3:1:3, etc. below for more about this important theme.

(c) 2013 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 is still not posted on torah.org, I’m afraid.

Derech Hashem 1:2:2

We come upon a most astounding fact of Divine intent and human purpose here. Ramchal declares that it was G-d’s intent that the recipients of His goodness — that we — be personally responsible for His benevolence rather than just passive recipients of it!

That’s to say, we’re to earn it rather than inherit it or “get it in the mail” so to speak — to be proactive in our growth and ascent, initiators of our own spiritual well-being, and we’re to use our freely made decisions to do good things in order to earn G-d’s favor [1]. Otherwise, Ramchal adds, G-d’s goodness would be flawed on some level, when we learned that G-d wanted to grant us perfect goodness [2].

He then goes on to point out that by indeed making use of our free will and playing an active role in our own growth, we thus achieve something of G-d’s perfection, and become closer to Him accordingly.

That is, we ourselves thus become free agents like Him. Now, there’s a whole order of difference between our free will and His, to be sure. Ours had to be implanted in us by G-d, while His is inherent. And we’re only free to make ethical and mitzvah-based choices (i.e., we can’t decide to fly for example, or disappear, etc.) which does indeed have a profound effect upon the course of things here and beyond, but it nonetheless doesn’t compare to G-d’s absolute freedom of choice.

Nonetheless the fact that only we humans and G-d are free agents — while angels, animals, vegetables, minerals, etc. are not — points to a unique kinship between G-d and ourselves. And it enables us to be holy and righteous, and to derive credit for having made the right choices.

G-d thus created a system of achieving either perfection or settling for flaws (by doing right or wrong things) [3]; a being who’d be able to choose either option (i.e., ourselves); and a system to achieve perfection or accrue flaws (i.e., the mitzvah system thanks to which we achieve a degree of perfection by following through on the positive mitzvot or we accrue flaws by engaging in prohibitions). And He thus granted us the means to be free agents and thus emulate Him to a degree, and to attach onto His presence and fully enjoy His benevolence.

Notes:

[1]       See Ramchal’s Da’at Tevunot 18,  Klallei Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 1, Kinat Hashem Tziva’ot, Klach Pitchei Chochma 4, and Adir Bamarom p. 393. Also see Emunot v’De’ot (introduction to Ch. 3); Zohar 2, 163b; Pardes 2:5:3, and Ari’s Likutei Torah, Ha’azinu, p. 28.

Our free will is to be discussed again in 1:2:4 and in some depth is the 3^rd chapter of his section.

[2]       See 1:2:1 for G-d’s utter and perfect benevolence.

But, why would G-d’s benevolence be less-than-perfect if we weren’t free agents? While Ramchal doesn’t explain it here, he does in some of the other works cited in note 1. He says that if we were granted out-and-out charity we’d experience what’s termed “the bread of shame” (based on the statement in T.J. Orlah 1:3 that “One who eats something that isn’t his own [i.e. that he himself didn’t earn] is ashamed to look in his [benefactor’s] face”; also see Tosephot on Kiddushin 36b, Ritvah on Rosh Hashanah 9b, and R’ Yoseph Karo’s Magid Maisharim, Breishit, 14 Tevet).

The point is that we’re to proudly and justifiably earn our reward rather than receive it shamefacedly as charity. Otherwise G-d’s generosity would be malevolent to a degree rather than wholly benevolent.

Ramchal defines “shame” in Adir Bamarom p. 252 as the experience of perceiving something as either being above oneself or beneath him: see his remarks there.

[3]       This begins to explain why there’s wrong and injustice in the world. The subject of wrong comes up in very many places in Ramchal’s writings including but certainly not limited to Klach Pitchei Chochma 30, 33, 37, 44, 45, 47, 53, 63, 83, and 108; Da’at Tevunot 96-133; and below in 1:2:5, 1:3:6, 1:5:7-9, 3:2:8, 4:1:3, 4:4:1,9, and 4:9:1.

(c) 2013 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 is still not posted on torah.org, I’m afraid.

1:2:1

People often ask why G-d created a universe in which people suffer [1]. The assumption lying behind the question is of course that life should be good, but where does that come from? After all, it’s easy enough to assume that life should be bad, or even indifferent. Why would we think otherwise? Apparently because the human heart knows only too well that G-d is good, and is stunned when things seem to contradict that.

Ramchal and others too [2] affirm our assumption that G-d in fact is good [3]. And he adds that in fact He created the world in order to “bestow goodness upon others” from the first [4].

The logic behind the assertion that G-d created the world in order to bestow goodness is as follows. We know that G-d Himself is good [5]; it’s axiomatic that good entities do good things [6]; and it’s obvious that there have to be recipients of that goodness. It thus follows that G-d created the universe in order to “bestow goodness upon others”– i.e., He created an atmosphere in which beings could exist to receive His goodness.

Ramchal then continues with the point that since, as we determined, G-d is utterly and perfectly whole [7], then He would logically be expected to bestow only wholly perfect goodness. And what is the only sort of perfect goodness that G-d could bestow? The experience of Himself! Hence, we enjoy G-d’s goodness most completely and most manifestly when we experience Him.

Such a full and utter experience of G-d Himself is referred to as d’vekut (clinging on to G-d) in Hebrew, It’s an ongoing theme in Kabbalah, Mussar, and Chassidic literature, and will be discussed in this work a number of times [8].

Perhaps the most cogent illustration of d’vekut is the one found in Sanhedrin 64a, where the experience is likened to that of two sticky dates attached to each other. The Talmud’s point there seems to be that it’s  an instance of two separate entities adhering on to each other for a time and becoming one for all intents and purposes (since it’s hard to determine just where one date ends, and the other begins), and of being affected deeply by the process.

The truth be known, Ramchal speaks elsewhere about what could only be referred to as “ultimate d’vekut“, in the End of Days [9}. But that’s not the subject at hand. His point here is that we can in fact attach ourselves on to G-d in different degrees in this world. And that while the ability to do that varies from person to person, each realization of it perfects us more and more so, brings us closer to Him, and it allows us to enjoy His true goodness (i.e., Himself).

Notes:

[1]       Ramchal especially stressed the importance of dwelling on these sorts of fundamental existential questions in Derech Eitz Chaim.

[2]       See Ramchal’s Da’at Tevunot 18, Klach Pitchei Chochma 2, Ma’amar HaChochma (“Hasephirot”), and Iggerot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at (end). Also see Emunot v’Deot 1:4, Pardes 2:6, and Eitz Chaim, Sha’ar Haklalim 1.

[3]       Until now we’ve proved that God exists and laid out His characteristics. We’ll now address His relationship with His creation and determine that He is purposeful (rather than simply present), engaging (rather than removed), and benevolent (rather than malevolent or indifferent).

[4]       Do people suffer? Decidedly so. So, how does that square with the idea of G-d’s benevolence? Ramchal seems to offer an explanation with a statement that he makes below that G-d only bestows goodness “to the degree that (His recipients) can benefit from it”. The point seems to be that while G-d always bestows goodness ultimately He also allows for wrong and bad outcomes because benefitting people who can’t accept, endure, or handle some level of goodness or another would harm or hurt them. So He allows those people to suffer, and to also concurrently manage to endure more and more goodness step by step. That way He’ll ultimately bestow pure goodness upon them, too … when they’re ready for it.

Elsewhere Ramchal offers other explanations for why this world was created that seem to contradict this one. He says at one point that G-d created the world to allow for an environment for human free-will (Adir Bamarom p. 88), which we’ll expand upon later on in this chapter; later on in this work he’ll explain that the world was created so that mankind could attach itself upon G-d’s being in the World to Come (2:21, 4:1:4), which we’ll address a little later; and elsewhere he says that He created it to reveal His Yichud — literally, His (utter) Oneness, but which actually  refers to His utter and sole sovereignty and rule (Da’at Tevunot 34; 4:4:1 below). He clears up the apparent contradiction by offering that G-d wanted man to earn His benevolence by his self-elected acts of righteousness (Da’at Tevunot 44). And that G-d’s ultimate reward (and act of benevolence) would be to, indeed, reveal His Yichud.

[5]       After all, He gives altruistically (what’s in it for Him anyway?) and takes nothing in return (what would He need?). See Rabbeinu Tam’s Sefer HaYashar, Gate 1.

[6]       See Da’at Tevunot 18 as well as Emek HaMelech, Sha’ar Sheahuai HaMelch 1 and Shomer Emunim 2:14.

[7]       See 1:1:2.

[8]       See 1:2:3-4; 1:3:1,6; 1:4:4; 2:2:1,5-6; 2:8:2; etc.

[9]       See note 4 above as well as the first chapter of Messilat Yesharim.

(c) 2013 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”.