{"id":180,"date":"2014-01-14T05:27:25","date_gmt":"2014-01-14T13:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/derechhashem.wordpress.com\/?p=180"},"modified":"2014-01-14T05:27:25","modified_gmt":"2014-01-14T13:57:25","slug":"derech-hashem-135","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/2014\/01\/14\/derech-hashem-135\/","title":{"rendered":"Derech Hashem 1:3:5"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut the human situation has in fact changed greatly\u201d Ramchal says. \u201cWhat we see and determine about it now isn\u2019t what it was originally\u201d. And the difference came about through Adam and Eve\u2019s sin [1].<\/p>\n

This change is vastly important and it affects a nearly infinite number of small and large details. We\u2019ll speak about some in broad terms below [2], but we obviously can\u2019t point to or tie-in all of the details.<\/p>\n

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

Notes:<\/p>\n

[1] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019ve alluded to this above, in note 1 to 1:2:5, note 3 to 1:3:1, and note 1 in 1:3:4. \u00a0 It\u2019s 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\u2019d 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\u2019s existence.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

[2] See 2:4:2.<\/p>\n

[3] The two epochs of time could be termed The Balanced (or, “Adamic”) Epoch, and The Unbalanced (or, “Late Adamic”) Epoch. But there\u2019d 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\u2019ll supersede Adam\u2019s level and accomplish what he could not.<\/p>\n

(c) 2014 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. \u00a0 \u201cBut the human situation has in fact changed greatly\u201d Ramchal says. \u201cWhat we see and determine about it now isn\u2019t what it was originally\u201d. And the difference came about through Adam and Eve\u2019s … 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-180","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-2U","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","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=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/derechhashem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}