Monthly Archives: July 2011

Section Six: Whoa! There’s a lot here!

Let’s lay out this very rich section theme by theme and go on to offer it bit by bit. It hearkens back to a number of things we’d already brought up and introduces a lot of things that help us understand Ramchal’s perspectives on Kabbalah as well as on God’s intentions for the universe.

Ari speaks of a Tzimtzum — what’s commonly translated as a “constriction” or “diminution” of God’s presence — as step one in the creation process; as a sort of “stepping aside” of God so that everything non-God can exist without being “smothered”, if you will, or “stifled” by His otherwise overarching and all-encompassing presence. We spoke of it before but we’ll go into it in depth here along with Ramchal and others. (It’s of course very interesting that no one spoke of this before him — though one person disagrees as we’ll see, and that it isn’t mentioned in the story of creation offered in the Torah.)

Ramchal depicts the Tzimtzum as the first step in the carrying out of the act of creation outside of God’s own Being. And rather than take it literally he understands it as referring to the Ein Sof purposefully set(ting) aside His infinitude and adopt(ing) the mode of finite action, i.e., of finitude, instead (Petach 24). So we’d need to discuss the difference between the two perspectives.

He also hearkens back to the idea of some individuals being able to envision the Sephirot with the remark that it was the Tzimtzum in fact that enabled God’s light and radiance to be envisioned (Petach 25). So we’ll return to that notion. Then he speaks to a rather arcane point about the light that can now be envisioned being termed “emanated light”… when in fact it’s only a specific aspect of the original light whose ability was diminished as a consequence of the Tzimtzum (Petach 25) which we’ll also need to flesh out.

Then he moves on to explain the next few steps in the creation process. While Ari seems to indicate that an utter void was left behind when God’s presence was withdrawn, Ramchal (and others) said that in fact a trace or remnant of the original light, i.e., of God’s presence, remained behind there which functions as the (finite) “place” of all of existent phenomena, given that it allows them what they need to experience physical existence, which God’s own presence there could not. This place is said by Ari and others to be empty since it’s devoid of the light of Ein Sof, but his point is that it’s not empty (Petach 26).

This “trace” itself is quite important in that everything that was to exist in the world has its roots in it. Ramchal then underscores the fact that the trace isn’t an independent agent but rather one of God’s tools (like the Sephirot), and that He controls (i.e., “governs”) it the way a soul governs a body, with all the implications involved in that (Petach 27). We’ll need to expand upon all this. And we’ll also need to delve into the place of the Sephirot in this scheme (Petach 29).

He then introduces the line that God projects into the center of the “emptiness” brought on by the Tzimtzum, and he addresses how the two interact with each other (Petach 27), how He interacts with both, and the role the Sephirot play in all this (Petachim 28-29). We’ll spend some time addressing all that.

And finally, Petach 30, the last one in this section, waxes even more philosophical and address the place of right and wrong in the universe, and the role that the ultimate revelation of God’s sovereignty — His Yichud — plays in that. We’ll cite what we said about that before and continue that conversation here.

 

            We’ll take a break, though, while we work in the background getting all of this together.

 (c) 2011 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”.

Petach 30

בצמצום הושרש שילכו הדברים לפי הנהגת העולם עד הסוף, פירוש – שיוכלו הקלקולים להמצא, אך שסוף הכל יחזור הכל לתיקון האחרון, שהיחוד יראה לאמיתו.

ועל פי הדרך הזה הושם החק – שסוף דבר נעשה המציאות בסוד טוב ורע, גם את זה לעומת זה, דהיינו שיתפשט ענין הספירות בכל מדרגותיהם וכל תולדותיהם, הכל לצד ההטבה. ושיברא בריאה אחת שיהיה בענינה כל קלקולי הטוב, והיא הנקראת ס”א. ויהיה הכוונה שיתגבר כח ההטבה, עד שכל קלקול יחזור לתקון, ואז יוודע היחוד לאמיתו.

Rooted in the Tzimtzum (is the principle) that everything (in the created world) would follow a natural course until the end. That’s to say, that flaws would exist (in the course of things) but that in the end — when God’s Yichud will be seen for what it is — everything would return to its ultimate perfection.

It was accordingly established that there’d ultimately be a realm of existence that would be based on (i.e., that the world would function according to the principle of) the mystical implications of right and wrong, and of thesis and antithesis. That’s to say that the Sephirot would unfold on all their levels and with all that they’re to generate in order to bestow (ultimate) goodness, while a (second, opposite) realm was to be brought into being that would allow for flaws and would be termed “the other (i.e., opposite) side”. And the (ultimate) goal is that the power to bestow goodness would hold sway, to the point where each flaw would return to a state of repair, and God’s actual Yichud would become realized.

(c) 2011 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”.

Petach 29

הספירות הם מה שיצא מסוד המקום שנעשה בזמן הצמצום. כל ספירה – חלק מן הרשימו. ולפנים מזה יש פנימיות הנמצא מצד קו הא”ט ב”ה שנכנס בתוכו. והקו מאיר בתוך הפנימיות בסוד נשמה לנשמות. ומצד זה הוא שוה בכל המדרגות לגמרי. אך הנשמה שהיא הלבוש שלו – זאת נעשית לכל פרצוף לפי מה שראוי לו. ובה נבחנים הפרצופים זה מזה, שאין השינוי בקו, אלא בלבוש שלו שהיא הנשמה:

The Sephirot are what came forth from the mystical space that occurred at the time of the Tzimtzum. Each Sephira is a part of the trace. Within each Sephira lies an inner core that came about by the line of the Ein Sof entering it. This line shines within the inner core of each Sephira with the mystical implications of a soul (that would function as a source) to (other, lesser) souls. As such, the line is (i.e., it functions on an) utterly equal (basis) on all levels. Nonetheless the (Sephira’s) soul, which is (i.e., which functions as) the line’s “garment”, becomes (i.e., it serves as) a garment that’s tailored to each Partzuf, and is what distinguishes the Partzufim from each other. For, the differentiations (between them) don’t lie in the line itself but in its garment, which is the soul.

 

(c) 2011 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”.

Petach 28

קו הא”ס ב”ה, הנכנס בתוך הרשימו, נעלם בו בפנים בכל מדרגותיו, ונקרא שמנהגו. ועומד בחוץ ומקיפו, ונקרא שכולל כחו ומביט עליו לכל צד. ואף על פי כן, הכל רק בדרך מה שהוא משתווה לרשימו. וזהו אור פנימי ומקיף של ספירות, שהוא סוד הכלי:

The line of (i.e., that emanates from) Ein Sof which entered into the (“emptiness” that contains the) trace is sequestered within it on every level, and is said to govern it (from within). But it (also) stands outside of the trace and encompasses it, and is said to incorporate (all of) its abilities and to observe it from every angle (and to thus govern it from without). Nevertheless, all of this is (done) only in such a way that the line accommodates itself to (the makeup and needs of) the trace (and everything connected with it). This (idea) is (i.e., also touches upon the idea of) the “internal” and “external” lights of the Sephirot which is (i.e., it also touches on) the mystical notion of the vessel.

 

(c) 2011 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”.

Petach 27

בזה הרשימו נשרש כל מה שעתיד להיות. ומה שלא הושרש שם – לא יכול להיות אחר כך. ואף על פי כן, כל המושרש שם לא היה יכול למצא, אלא אם כן הבלתי -תכלית עצמו ינהג אותו. אלא שהבלתי -תכלית אף על פי כן לא יפעול אלא מה שמושרש ברשימו.והיינו כנשמה המנהגת את הגוף רק לפי מה שהוא.

וזה נקרא קו אחד מא”ס ב”ה הנכנס בתוך החלל. כי זה הענין עצמו שהוא פועל ברשימו – היינו לפי הנבראים. אך הוא בעצמו פועל אותו בשלמותו. והנה זה הענין לפי הנבראים הוא הרשימו, אך בקו הוא מה שהוא לפי שלמותו. ועוד, זה הנפעל לפי הנבראים הוא הרשימו, אך הדרך שהא”ס פועל אותו הוא הקו, שהוא לפי בלתי תכליתו, כמו שהוא בלתי -תכלית:

Everything that was to exist (in the world) has its roots in this trace; in fact, whatever hasn’t its roots there couldn’t exist (in this world) afterwards. Yet, whatever is rooted there could only have come into being with the Infinite’s own (willingness for and His) governance of it. Still and all, the Infinite only interacts with phenomena that are rooted in the trace the way a soul governs a body in accordance with its makeup.

 

This (interaction on the part of the Infinite with the trace) is termed (His having extended) a single “line” from the Ein Sof (Himself, who sits outside of it) into the (center of the) “emptiness” (brought on by the Tzimtzum). Whatever God actually brings about within the trace (i.e., within the “emptiness” that contains the trace) is tailored to (the needs of) created phenomena, even though He Himself acts according to His perfection.

For (that contradiction can be explained as follows: ) from the perspective of created phenomena, it is the trace (at play here), while from the perspective of the line God is acting according to His own perfection. For indeed, from the perspective of created phenomena, whatever is done occurs in the trace while from the perspective of Ein Sof it occurs in the line (which functions) in accordance with God’s own infinitude.

(c) 2011 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”.

Petach 26

זה האור שנאצל היה נקרא רשימו מן האור הקדום, שלרוב גדולתו לא היה מושג. וסוד זה הרשימו הוא הנקרא מקום כל הנמצא, לפי שהוא נותן להם מציאות, מה שלא היה נותן הבלתיא תכליות. זה המקום נקרא שהוא חלל, והוא פנוי מאור הא”ס ב”ה, דהיינו שאין הבלתי תכלית נמצא בו כבתחלה:

This (so called) emanated light is said to be a “vestige” of the original light which can’t be grasped because it’s so lofty. This mystical vestige is (also) said to be the (finite) “place” of all of existent phenomena because it allows them (what they need to experience physical) existence, which infinitude cannot. This place is (also) said to be (relatively) empty since it’s devoid of the light of Ein Sof, in that His infinitude can no longer be found there as (i.e., to the degree) it had.

(c) 2011 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”.

Petach 25

הצמצום הזה עשה שיראה ממנו ב”ה – האור והזיו. מה שקודם לכן – ומה שגם עתה אין הצמצום מגיע לו – אינו ניתן להיות נראה ומושג כלל. וזה האור שניתן ליראות, נקרא אור נאצל, כי הוא נראה כמו אור שנתחדש. אך באמת אינו אלא איזה בחינה מן האור הקדום, שנתמעט כחו בסוד הצמצום:

It was the Tzimtzum that enabled God’s light and radiance to be envisioned. For before it occurred — and even now in the case of those levels which the Tzimtzum doesn’t affect — they couldn’t be envisioned or grasped at all.

Now, while the light that can now be envisioned is termed “emanated light” since it presents as a newly created light, in fact it’s only a specific aspect of the original light whose ability was diminished as a consequence of the mystical process of Tzimtzum.

(c) 2011 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”.


Section Six

Section Six, which is titled “The Tzimtzum and Kav”, is comprised of Petachim 24-30. We’ll start offering these Petachim one at a time as we’d been doing all long, and then delve into the lot of them.

Petach 24

בענין המשכת הפעולה לחוץ ממנו – רצה הא”ס ב”ה ועזב את בלתי -תכליתו, ולקח לו דרך פעולה מוגבלת, וזה נקרא צמצום א”ס ב”ה:

As to the carrying out of the act (of creation) outside of God’s own Being, (that came about thusly: ) the Ein Sof purposefully set aside His infinitude and adopted the mode of finite action (i.e., of finitude, instead). This is what’s referred to as the Tzimtzum of the Ein Sof.

(c) 2011 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”.

Summing up

Ramchal provides us with this fine encapsulation of the whole concept of the letters and Divine names in Adir Bamarom (p. 160), where he says that “the twenty-two letters (of the AlephBet) are the root of all of created phenomenon. The point is that the letters are the various elemental lights which bring about all created entities when those letters are combined and permutated in various ways. This is the matter of the two-hundred and thirty-one Aleph-Bet groups”. This last point alludes to the 231 possible two (non-identical) letter combinations generated by the 22 letters of the AlephBet which is cited in Sefer Yetzirah.

He offers another element: the fact that “each and every letter is comprised of different (pictorial) elements which are themselves letters. (So for example, the letter) א (is made up of the letters) ‘, ו, and ‘ (as we cited above); (the letter) ב (is comprised of) three ו’s, and the like”.  Thus, each letter also serves as a combination of letters which all factor into the mix.

Moving on to the Diviner names, he says there that “the bases of the makeup of the letters are the four letters of God’s name (י-ה-ו-ה)”. For, “there are two fundamental elements of the lights: points and surfaces”, which is to say that lights — i.e., the letters — are either one, two, or three (or more) dimensional. The letter י, for example, is considered to be a “point” relative to the other letters, while ה is multi-dimensional, and ו is considered a two-dimensional letter. All of these figure into the ability of the twenty-letters to interface with these four more basic letters of God’s name.

This concludes Section Five. I’m going to break-off for a while to review this section on my own, then we’ll move on to Section Six, “ The Tzimtzum and Kav” which is comprised of Petachim 24-30.

(c) 2011 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”.

Ramchal on the role of Torah (2)

His Derech HaChochma is dedicated to explaining the advantages to studying the various corners of Torah over other scholarly concerns, and it lays out a Torah curriculum of sorts. And another hardly-known book, Derech Tevunot, explicates many of the complications of Talmudic language and logic.

But Ramchal then gets rather rhapsodic about the Torah at a number of points elsewhere. He characterizes it, for example, as “truly one single light that was granted to Israel to bask in”, as “a holy thing that exists in the very highest heights”; as such “when someone engages in it below its light beams upon his soul so as to have it reach the most hidden-away heights, God’s own hidden realm”  (Derech Eitz Chaim). He offers that the mystical implications of the Torah is encapsulated by the notion of “the roots (i.e., the higher realms) providing the needs of the branches (i.e., the lower realms)”, given that “everything is in it”. He contends that it enables us to “eradicate the filth of the snake” given that it has the “power to purify” (Kinat Hashem Tz’vaot). He terms Torah “eternal life” and assures us that it embodies the “mystery of Tikkun (personal and universal rectification and perfection) and the soul’s (ultimate) reward” (Adir Bamarom pp. 109, 111-112), and reveals that it’s “rooted in the very roots of the Sephirot” (Ibid. p. 333) and it’s infinite (Ibid. p. 279).

(c) 2011 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”.