Monthly Archives: November 2011

Petach 35

This is the section’s last Petach. We’ll be in Israel for a couple of weeks (Yay!), and we’ll also need to research this material afterwards, so we’ll be gone for a while.

בא”ק נעשה החבור של הקו עם הרשימו – שלקחו לו לכלי. והאור היוצא דרך החושים הוא אור שכבר נתחבר בכלי, שלכן אחר כך הוא מוציא כלי באורות הפה. ורק זה הוא האור הראוי לבנות ממנו כל הבנינים. ויצא מה שצריך לבנות ממנו כל הבנינים הנרצים, ונתפשט בהדרגה לפי צורך הנרצה בבנינים האלה:

It was in Adam Kadmon where the conjunction of the line with the trace — which the line took as its receptacle — came about.

Thus the light that emerged by way of the “senses” was light that was already conjoined with a receptacle (within Adam Kadmon), and that’s why it was able to produce a receptacle through the lights of the “mouth” (afterwards, when the lights passed through the “senses”).

This (i.e., the light that passed through Adam Kadmon’s “senses”) is the only light that’s fit to erect the various phenomena  (according to the mystical notion of a human stature) and to bring about whatever was needed to build all the intended phenomena  (i.e., the worlds of Atzilut, Briah, Yetzirah, and Assiyah as well as mortal man). And it progressively developed (by going from the “ears” to the “nose”, and from the “nose” to the “mouth”) whatever was necessary to actualize what was intended for these phenomena.

(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 34

המעברים שעוברים דרך שם האורות, הם נבחרים לפי מה שהם נקשרים לפנים עם ד’ השמות הנסדרים שם. והם לפי הרכבות קשרי המאורות, ודרך הליכת הרוח בהם, מקום שהוא נוגע ראשונה – שם הוא יוצא:

The “passageways” (i.e., the “ears”, “nose”, “mouth”, and “eyes” within Adam Kadmon’s “face”) through which the lights pass were chosen because of the way they’re connected to the interior (of Adam Kadmon) with the four names (“AV”, “SaG”, “MaH” and “BaN) arranged there.

They correspond to the combinations by which the (various) lights (in Adam Kadmon) are connected. As to the route through which the “spirit” passes through them: the first place it comes in contact with (in the interior) is where it emerges from.

(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 33

Just a couple of words here to people coming upon this blog for the first time (which will probably be repeated now and again): we’ve approached the thickest part of the Kabbalistic forest now. Hold on to your buddy’s hand, make sure you have your flashlight and lunch, and trust me now — I know where we’re heading…

 

ע”ב ס”ג מ”ה ב”ן מתגלים מא”ק. הע”ב לפי חכמתו של א”ק, ואינו מגיע הדברים להשגה, ומשלח הארותיו דרך שערות הראש, שהמוח מגלה בם ענינו, והוא נעלם. אך ס”ג מגלה האורות מה שנעלם בע”ב, והוא ענין האצילות שהולך ומתגלה מעט מעט. לכן בתחלה אור פנימי ואור מקיף רחוקים וה מזה, והולכים ומתקרבים מעט מעט עד הפה, שנעשה כלי שם. ושם נשרש דמות אדם כראוי, והוא ענין מ”ה וב”ן שנתגלה אחר כך

AV”, “SaG”, “MaH” and “BaN(which are the four numerical variations of the Tetragrammaton that will function on various levels) are (first) revealed through Adam Kadmon.

AV corresponds to the (level of) Chochma of Adam Kadmon and it doesn’t fall within our grasp. It sends forth its light by way of the “hairs” of the “head” (of Adam Kadmon), through which the “brain” (of Adam Kadmon also) exposes its contents while (still and all) remaining concealed.

But SaG (which corresponds to the level of Binah of Adam Kadmon) reveals the lights that are concealed in AV, and this is the emanation (or, world) of Atzilut, which becomes revealed little by little.

As such, while the (original) “inner” and “encompassing” lights were far apart, they (eventually) come closer together, little by little (in Adam Kadmon’s “nose”) until they reach the “mouth” (of Adam Kadmon), where a vessel is then brought about. That’s where the human likeness is properly rooted, and it constitutes the notions of MaH and BaN (which correspond to the levels of Zeir Anpin and Nukveh respectively of Adam Kadmon) that are to be revealed afterwards (in the lights of Adam Kadmon’s “forehead” and “eyes”).

(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 32

הפנים עשויות להאיר מה שנסדר בפנים בתוך הגוף, ומכל חוש יוצאות הארות מזה. ולכן יוצאים ד’ עולמות של ראיה אשמיעה ריח דבור. וגם מן המצח יוצא הארתו. נמצאו כל העולמות רק זיוו והארתו של א”ק, וא”ק נשגב מהם יותר. ואינו מושג.

The “face” of Adam Kadmon is formulated to irradiate out what’s arranged within the “body” of Adam Kadmon, and it’s the “senses” that irradiate outward. There are thus four worlds that emerge: the worlds of “vision”, “hearing”, “smell”, and “speech”. The “forehead” likewise emits radiance.

Thus all the worlds coming afterwards are nothing but the radiance and shine of Adam Kadmon, while Adam Kadmon itself is more exalted than they and cannot be comprehended.

(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 Seven

This section is termed “Adam Kadmon and its Offshoots” and it’s based on Petachim 31-35.

As we’ve done till now, we’ll present the Petachim themselves in translation one by one with some interpolation, and follow that up with a quick summation of their main points and their extra areas of discussion, onto an analyses of the whole section.

Petach 31

הסדר הראשון שקבל האור הנאצל לעמוד בסוד עשר ספירות בבחינת סדר דמות אדם – הוא נקרא אדם קדמון. והוא הסדר של שם הוי”ה ב”ה לעולם ולעולמי עולמים. וזה ענין – שכל הסדרים והחוקים כולם נמשכים ובאים תחת סדר ארבעה אותיות אלה. ולפי הסדר הזה הכל נדרש תמיד בסוד ארבעה אותיות השם ב”ה.

The first order adopted by the emanated light, i.e., the trace environment, that was to be established in the mystical configuration of ten Sephirot and to be arranged in the likeness of a human is termed Adam Kadmon. It always and forever follows the sequence of the four letters of the name Havayah, i.e., HehVavYod-Heh, a purposeful and reverent misspelled acronym of the Tetragrammaton spelled YodHehVavHeh.

This phenomenon is the source of the idea of the various orders and rules of governance of the worlds being extensions of and falling under the rule of following the order of these four letters. And it’s in keeping with this order that all the various esoteric levels to be discussed further are to be explained following the mystical notion of the four letters of God’s name.

 

(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”.

Another Quick Addendum

There’s one largely unknown work of his in which Ramchal waxes poetic about the line, published as Tiktu Tephillot (515 Prayers) in 1979 by R’ Shlomo Ulman, and republished in 1997 as Tephillot Ramchal (Ramchal’s Prayers) by R’ Mordechai Shriki (Machon Ramchal). The latter retains R’ Ulman’s comments and insights (as well as his invaluable essay on Ramchal’s Kabbalistic system), and it includes a number of other prayers written by Ramchal (hence the change of title), a voluminous index, and R’ Shriki’s own insights.

The line — known as the Kav — is seen there as being the symbol of the great hope (as in the correlative term Tikveh) of the Jewish Nation for its redemption. In fact, each of the 515 original prayers ends with the verse, Lishuatcha Kiviti — “I hope for Your salvation, God” (Genesis 49:18). It speaks to the ultimate role that the dynamic of the line will play in that redemption and in the ultimate revelation of God’s sovereignty, which is its goal.

(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”.

A Quick Addendum

For Ramchal’s other remarks about the trace, see Da’at Tevunot 48, Biurim leSefer Otzrot Chaim 8, and Assarah Orot 9 (also see Shemen Sasson 2 in the name of R’ Chaim Vitale); about the “place” created by the Tzimtzum, see Da’at Tevunot 58, Biurim leSefer Otzrot Chaim7-8, and Assarah Orot 9; about the “pipe (line)”, see Biurim leSefer Otzrot Chaim 11, 13; and about the line, see Da’at Tevunot 118.

(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 end of Section 6

The best encapsulation of this fulsome section is found in the body of Petach 30.

Rooted in the Tzimtzum i.e., behind God’s having allowed the Tzimtzum to occur when it needn’t have and when nothing whatsoever needed to be created, is the principle that everything in the created world would follow a natural course until the end. That’s to say, that human and situational flaws would exist in the course of things but that in the end — when God’s Yichud will be revealed and thus be seen for what it is — everything would return to its ultimate perfection as it had been before the Tzimtzum was allowed to occur.

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, which would be makeup of the trace environment. That’s to say that the Sephirot would unfold on all their levels and with all that they’re to generate in that environment in order to bestow goodness in the end, while a second, opposite realm was to be brought into being that would allow for the flaws referred to above, and would be termed “the other (i.e., opposite) side”.

The ultimate goal though 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, all thanks to the entrance of the line which allows for that.

 

(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 solution (Part 7)

There are just a couple of points to underscore about all this before we move on. There’s this statement in Petach 28: This co-existence of two modes of Divine governance: that of the actual and imperfect one of the trace, and that of the potential and perfect one of the line is (i.e., touches upon the idea of) the “internal” and “external” lights of the Sephirot which is (i.e., also touches on) the mystical notion of the vessel.

As Ramchal explains in his comments here, the “internal” and “external” lights refer to God’s “encompassing light” (or, “presence”) as opposed to His “permeating light” (or, “presence”) [1]. God unto Himself, outside of the space created by the Tzimtzum, is termed His “encompassing light”, in that it hovers over and around the place (and all of existence); God’s manifest presence within the place and existence is termed His “permeating light”, in that it’s situated within the space.

Both of these manifestations of God’s presence function as a “light” (or, “as the essential content”) behind and within reality, which itself functions as a “vessel” (or, receptacle”) for that light. This is analogous to the relationship between the “body” and “soul”, in that the body likewise functions as the soul’s “vessel” [2].

The final though vitally important idea to consider about the line itself is that it functions as the central-core to the Sephirot and Partzufim which over-cover them and serves as its tools.

As Ramchal termed it in Petach 29: The Sephirot are what came forth from the mystical space that occurred at the time of the Tzimtzum. But each Sephira is a part of the trace, for 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 .… which is, i.e., which functions as, the line’s “garment”.

 

Notes:

[1]       See Zohar 3, 109b.

[2]       There are also two sorts of souls (five actually): an “encompassing” over-soul and a “permeating” animating soul. But that’s beyond the present discussion. See Ramchal’s comments to Petachim 28 and 29 for some explanation of this dynamic.

(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 solution (Part 6)

As we’d said, Ramchal makes the point in Petach 28 that the line’s interactions with the trace are in accordance with the makeup and needs of the trace and everything connected with it.

We’ll explain this by first offering this statement by Ari: “The top of this line extends from Ein Sof and makes contact with Him (there), but the other end, at the other extreme of the line, does not touch the light of Ein Sof” [1]. That’s to say that while the line emanates outward from Ein Sof, as we’d indicated already, it stops at a certain point close to the end of the trace environment without going all the way to the end, and without re-entering into the Ein Sof at the other end.

That’s so because if the line went straight from Ein Sof at point A to Ein Sof at point B (or at any point, for that matter), then the trace environment would be undone and “pierced”, the “bubble” would “burst”, so to speak, and all would be Ein Sof again as at the beginning.

So God could be said to have had the line that pierces through the trace environment end at a certain point so as to insure that it be finite, and to thus allow for reality as we know it. That way all interactions between God and the universe by means of the line are in keeping with the makeup and needs of our reality, not God’s own.

That’s what Ramchal meant when he said in Petach 28 that all of this — i.e., the line’s interactions with the trace environment — 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.

That once again implies that God purposefully created our finite universe, that He interacts with it, and that He only interacts with it in ways that do not threaten the finite universe’s boundaries or existence: that is, He purposely accedes to our needs to allow us our being.

This is likewise explained by this, from, Petach 27:

Whatever God actually brings about within the trace environment is tailored to the needs of created phenomena, even though He Himself acts according to His perfection in the background, if you will.

Ramchal adds another, more obscure point here, which is somewhat tangential: From the perspective of created phenomena, it is the trace, while from the perspective of the line God is acting according to His own perfection.

That’s to say that from our perspective, the trace environment with all its ambiguities predominates; from God’s perspective as He peers down upon through the lens of the line, though, it’s actually the sovereignty environment, without any ambiguities, that predominates.

Notes:

1.         The Tree of Life, p. 15 (with slight changes)

(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”.