{"id":167,"date":"2013-12-15T06:37:57","date_gmt":"2013-12-15T15:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/derechhashem.wordpress.com\/?p=167"},"modified":"2013-12-15T06:37:57","modified_gmt":"2013-12-15T15:07:57","slug":"derech-hashem-133","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/2013\/12\/15\/derech-hashem-133\/","title":{"rendered":"Derech Hashem 1:3:3"},"content":{"rendered":"

The class can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, G-d decreed that there\u2019d be a limit to our need to strive for perfection, after which we\u2019d be recompensed [1]. So there are two epochs of time over-all: that of humankind\u2019s efforts and struggles, and that of its reward and recompense [2].<\/p>\n

It\u2019s in fact because G-d\u2019s 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].<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The clear implication here is that there might not have been a time limit, and that we\u2019d need to go on with the struggle forever. But we\u2019re told that G-d decided otherwise, mercifully.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t a spiritual arena, though, for whom it\u2019s a \u201cGarden of Earthly Delights\u201d instead perceive death as unkind, but the point is that it\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n

The Afterlife will be discussed below in 2:2:1, etc. and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

[2] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In fact there\u2019s a third epoch: before humankind was created, but our concern here is humankind, as we\u2019d said, so that third epoch is irrelevant.<\/p>\n

[3]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 See Sotah<\/i> 11a, Sanhedrin<\/i> 100a, as well as Yoma<\/i> 76a for discussions of G-d\u2019s kindness outweighing His strict judgment.<\/p>\n

In fact, on all levels<\/i> 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\u2019s because our perspectives are skewed and cynical. (See Moreh Nevuchim <\/i>3:12.)<\/p>\n

[4]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That indicates that one reaches ever higher, deeper, and achieves greater levels of perfection ad infinitum<\/i> in the World to Come, given that one draws closer and closer to G-d whose Being is infinite.<\/p>\n

(c) 2013 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The class can be found here. Nonetheless, G-d decreed that there\u2019d be a limit to our need to strive for perfection, after which we\u2019d be recompensed [1]. So there are two epochs of time over-all: that of humankind\u2019s efforts and … 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],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jewish-thought","category-kabbalah","category-ramchal","category-torah"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iqof-2H","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}