We now begin Section Four which is entitled “The Essential Elements of Sephirot and their Governance” and is comprised of Petachim 14-17.
We’ll present each Petach in translation along with a layout of the themes that Ramchal raises in his own comments there that aren’t explicit in the wording of the Petach itself.
Petach 14
מה שעומד במציאות בנין הספירות, פירוש – כל מה שהוא בנין כל המדרגות, ענין המדרגות עצמן, ענין כל חלקיהם ותכונותיהם וכל קשריהם – זה המונח הראשון של ההנהגה ששם אותו המאציל ית”ש,
לפי שהוא ידע שזהו מה שצריך, לא פחות, ולא יותר, לסבב הנהגה אחת שלמה, לבא אל המכוון אליו בבריאתו, שהוא ההטבה השלמה:
The first principal (to consider) regarding the (system of) governance that the Emanator instituted which is the structure of the Sephirot is (a consideration of) the makeup of the structure and its gradations, the makeup of the gradations themselves, and the makeup of their parts, properties, and interactions.
For He knew just what was needed, no less and no more, to bring about the full system of governance that would achieve His goal for creation, which is (the implementation of) perfect benevolence.
And here are the ancillary themes listed in Ramchal’s comments:
Yetzer harah versus yetzer hatov, reward and punishment, what is forbidden to inquire into and what is not, sequence (as cited at the end of the last section), exactness of design, and the 613 elements of Adam Kadmon.
(c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
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