Monthly Archives: July 2011

Ramchal  speaks outright of the makeup of the Torah in Ma’amar HaIkurrim, Derech Hashem, in his lesser-known Derech Chochma, and in Da’at Tevunot, and more esoterically elsewhere.

He focuses on the makeup and structure of the Oral Torah in Ma’amar HaIkurrim where he addresses the need God perceived there to be to conceal things in His Written Torah which would then be revealed at length in His Oral Torah in various ways. And he then discussed the various allusions contained in the former which were fleshed out by the latter, both ritual and theological, and the Rabbinic enactments derived from them.

He makes the points in Derech Hashem that Torah study is the single best way for one to draw him- or herself close to God as well as the world at large (1:4:9); he discusses the ways that the Torah acts as a guide to determining God’s will for us at any one moment (4:2:1); and he asserts that it is God’s predominant agent for allowing His emanations to affect this world to various degrees, depending upon one’s character, demeanor and intentions when delving into it (4:2:2-7).

Well see what he offers in Derech Chochma and Da’at Tevunot next time.

(c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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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”.

See Ramchal’s Iggerot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at (7) and Klallei Ma’amar HaChochma (13) for more on the esoteric side of letters and their relationship to the various Divine names.

Ramchal ends this section with the assertion in Petach 23 that the (Divine) names … enable the Lights to bring about actions in the physical world; and he then adds the idea that the Torah encompasses all those names that went into actualizing things in this world, which is why it’s referred to as God’s “tool” for creation [1].

We’ll next see what Ramchal says about the Torah in general in other writings.

Note:

[1]       See the beginning of Breishit Rabbah.

(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”.

AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN will be discussed at length below in Petach 33 especially, which is dedicated to it, as well as in Petachim 55-57. They’re also discussed in Eitz Chaim (Gate 5) and in numerous places in Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar.

Other Divine names are discussed in various traditional sources: the twelve and forty-two letter names, for example, are cited in the Talmud in Kiddushin 71 and Yoma 39b, as well as in Tikkunei Zohar 19a, in Pardes 21:12. And see Ba’al HaTurim to Numbers 11:16 where he cites God’s seventy names.

(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”.

The Kabbalists pointed out that most of the letters of the Tetragrammaton (י-ה-ו-ה) can be spelled out in various ways. While the letter י is only spelled out as יו”ד, the letter ה can be spelled out as either ה”י, as ה”ה, or as ה”א ; while the letter ו could be spelled out as וי”ו, as וא”ו, or as ו”ו . In modern terms, that implies that the elements that go into the basic structure of everything can be further divided into different sub-elements, thus affecting the final outcomes in subtle or broad ways. They thus derived that there are four combinations in all: the aforementioned AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN.

The name AV refers to the letters ע and ב, which are written ע”ב in combination (hence “AV”) and have the numerical value of 72. It represents the Tetragrammaton written out as follows:  יו”ד ה”י וי”ו ה”י י-ה-ו-ה which has that numerical value.

The name SaG refers to the letters ס and ג, which are written ס”ג in combination (hence “SaG”) and have the numerical value of 63. It represents the Tetragrammaton written out as follows:  יו”ד ה”י וא”ו ה”י which has that numerical value.

The name MaH refers to the letters מ and ה, which are written   מ”ה in combination (hence “MaH”) and have the numerical value of 45. It represents the Tetragrammaton written out as follows:  יו”ד ה”א וא”ו ה”א which has that numerical value.

And the name BaN refers to the letters בand ן, which are written ב”ן in combination (hence “BaN”) and have the numerical value of 52. It represents the Tetragrammaton written out as follows:  יו”ד ה”ה ו”ו ה”ה which has that numerical value.

(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”.

Let’s return now to his statement in Petach 22 that the entire range of functions of the Sephirot is governed by the order of the ten Sephirot, which is itself contained within the order of the four letters of God’s Name, and which is also the order that governs the trope, vowels, “crowns” and letters through the mystical import of those four letters as well as the four names contained in each individual name.

As he explains in his comments there, “the four letters of God’s name (י-ה-ו-ה) incorporate all ten Sephirot, according to the mystical import of their essential division (which is) into the five Partzufim (Erech Anpin, Abba, Imma, Zeir Anpin, and Nukva).”

The first question is, how could the four lettered name of God represent five Partzufim? As he explains it, “the pointed (upper) end of the Yud (where the quill first touches the parchment in the process of setting down the letter) is (equivalent to Partzuf) Erech Anpin; (the body of) the Yud (i.e., which is fleshed out) is (equivalent to Partzuf) Abba; the (first) Heh (in its entirety) is (equivalent to Partzuf) Imma; the Vav (in its entirety) is (equivalent to Partzuf) Zeir Anpin; and the (second) Heh (also in its entirety) is (equivalent to Partzuf) Nukva” [1].

He then offers that the trope, vowels, and “crowns” likewise fall under the mystical import of those four letters in their own way. And the same is true of what he here terms “the four names”. These aren’t Divine names discussed just above, nor are they the attributes we also discussed; Ramchal explains them to refer to the “names” AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN. These are more like nick-names than actual appellations, if you will: acronyms formed from the various numerical equivalents of the Tetragrammaton, as we’ll see.

Note:

[1]       See 4:1,5 above.

(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”.