Monthly Archives: January 2012

AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN Redux

Our next area of concentration, based on Petach 33, is that of the four numerical variations of the Tetragrammaton known as AV”, “SaG”, “MaH” and “BaN first revealed through Adam Kadmon and which function on various levels. We’ve explained this on a very basic level before (see here, etc.).

Ramchal makes a number of other, rather complex, points here about these names which we’ll try to elucidate. First, that AV corresponds to the level of Chochma of Adam Kadmon, and he then goes on to explain how it emanates its light. He then discusses SaG, which corresponds to the level of Binah of Adam Kadmon and how it functions; then he speaks of the combination of the two in the formation of “vessels”, and the roles that MaH and BaN, which correspond to the levels of Zeir Anpin and Nukveh respectively of Adam Kadmon, play.

We’ll discuss Ari’s vision of this, Ramchal’s statement of what’s envisioned and what it means, as well as other things Ramchal cites in his own comments to this Petach.

(c) 2012 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 Forehead and Beyond

We’ll finish off this part with mention of Adam Kadmon’s “forehead” as we said we would and with a general statement about Adam Kadmon [1].

As Ramchal goes on to say in his comments to Petach 32, “The ‘forehead’ emits a radiance of its own. This is something that’s also not seen now,” much the way the radiance of our own faces can’t be. “But if the radiance of the forehead were visible like the radiance of the other (of Adam Kadmon’s) senses, it would indeed be visible; for there’s (in fact) a very subtle fissure” on the surface of Adam Kadmon’s “forehead” which would allow for this radiance to shine through. The point is that despite this subtle fissure, the “forehead’s” radiance doesn’t appear at this time, but it will eventually irradiate outward.

He concludes that “Adam Kadmon itself is more elevated than the ‘senses’ and cannot be apprehended, which explains why we don’t occupy ourselves with Adam Kadmon itself” though we discuss its component elements. For at bottom, “Adam Kadmon itself is the recondite source of (Divine) governance, while its radiance (and its ‘senses’ which it passes through) is what’s revealed of Adam Kadmon” which is why we’re capable of discussing them.

Note:

[1]       The “forehead” will be discussed in more detail later on, in Petachim 59, 94, and 103 specifically. And note that we’ll also be discussing the “hair” of Adam Kadmon’s “head” as well as its “brain” in the very next Petach.

(c) 2012 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”.

Taking It Personally

The radiance within Adam Kadmon’s face is actually a paradigm of the radiance that’s intrinsic to our own face’s makeup, Ramchal indicates. As he worded it in his comments, “the (human) face should actually express a ‘shine’ or ‘splendor’ like the sun’s” and like Adam Kadmon’s face, “as was true of Moses, whose face radiated (Exodus 34:29) and of Pinchas [1]”.

“The reason why this radiance isn’t visible now is because since Adam’s sin man’s face is no longer perfect. As Adam had had this radiance [2]…. In point of fact, in the future we’ll all emit this radiance, as it’s written: ‘And they that are wise shall radiate splendor like the splendor of the firmament’ (Daniel 12:3)”.

Notes:

[1]       Vayikra Rabbah 1:1.

[2]       Zohar 1, 142b.

(c) 2012 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”.

Muted is good, muted is apropos

Now, the fact that we can only discern a muted version of God’s message to us raises a very interesting point that Ramchal addresses here.

“There’s a principle that you must constantly bear in mind” in order to understand both Kabbalah and God’s intentions for us, he says, It is that “everything that occurs in any given place occurs in accordance with that place”, i.e., that’s to say that each occurrence accommodates the needs and realities of the environment in which it’s active.

‘To take an example from the subject at hand,” he goes on to say, “what’s seen of the soul (i.e., of the soul’s radiance) through the face is arranged in a way that’s (best) suited to this phenomena; similarly, what’s revealed through the apertures produced by the soul (as its passes through Adam Kadmon’s face) is arranged in an order that’s best suited to this revelation”. That’s because “this is the (only) order it’s possible for the creatures in the lower realms to apprehend” what’s going on in the upper realms. “This means that those in the lower realm see only the most external aspect of the measure established for the governance of the (lower) worlds”.

That’s to say that since the residents of the lower realms, ourselves, can only perceive lesser perceptions, that is then what they’re exposed to. But doesn’t that imply that we in the lower realms aren’t privy to the truth of things; that we must settle for watered down truths?

Ramchal replies that despite our only being allowed to settle for the lower edges of reality, in the end though “what they see is the truth of the matter according to the way it (really) is in depth” since seeing a part of the hologram is tantamount to seeing the whole of it, so to speak. And so we say that “they were given a complete (enough) and sufficient picture to enable them to understand the matter to the extent they’re able to” which is good enough. He then draws this analogy.

“This can be compared to the case of a sage who wants to teach his wisdom to a student. If the student is unable to receive the full depth of this wisdom, the teacher gives him as much of a conception of it as the student can take in. The picture (that is thus presented) is faithful to (i.e., consistent with) the full depth of the sage’s wisdom, yet it’s (presented in such a way that it’s) concise and comprehensible to the student”, so the gist of what the sage wanted to import manages to come through to the student.

At bottom his idea is that we’re presented with as much of the truth as we can bear, and that’s good enough under the circumstances. We’re not lied to but rather addressed in terms that suit us best which we can thus ruminate about and draw deeper lessons from should we care to.

(c) 2012 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”.

Why we don’t get it

“Note the significant difference between the (degree of) radiance visible on the (surface of Adam Kadmon’s) face”, Ramchal goes on to say, “as opposed to what passes out through the apertures”. That difference helps to explain why we can’t grasp everything that God communicates with us. It’s characterized by the fact that “the radiance is dimmed” and less lustrous than we would need it to be, given that “it has to pass through the face itself” which dims it.  But, why is that so? Because the thrust “of (God’s) governance that’s revealed to us is only the part of it that’s revealed after the Line has been engarbed in the Trace”. As a consequence of that, whatever else “the Line does … is unknown to us”.

That’s to say that we only get a part of the message — a dimmed and muted version of it at that — because the full message, which is connected to the Line or God’s presence, has been covered-over by all the noise and mayhem of the Trace element.

(c) 2012 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”.

All our thoughts and plans, and God’s too

Ramchal says in his comments to Petach 32 that “if you examine the matter carefully you’ll find that (Divine) governance is sequestered in the heart and in the rest of the (i.e., of Adam Kadmon’s) body, and is (only) revealed in Adam Kadmon’s face’s … apertures”. That’s to say that just as our private thoughts and plans are sequestered within our beings, God’s thoughts and plans for the universe are sequestered within Adam Kadmon, since it’s so close to His very presence. They do manifest themselves, though, through Adam Kadmon’s “eyes”, “ears”, and the like. Those thoughts and plans are termed Adam Kadmon’s “radiance” — the subtle indications of His personal reflections.

He goes on to say there that it’s this “radiance” – this inner luster — especially which “we’re concerned with in our studies of the Kabbalah. For, it’s the Light that reaches us, and it’s the only Light that we’re actually able to apprehend (to one degree or another). Whatever is more internal (i.e., more deeply thought and felt) is too elevated for us to know.” Hence, God communicates with us through the radiance that shines outward from Adam Kadmon’s inner being, and it behooves us to study Kabbalah in order to understand as much of His message as we can.

It goes without saying, though, that there’s a lot we simply cannot grasp.

(c) 2012 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”.

“Facing” backward

After getting my wind back from my flu I reviewed what I’d written so far about Adam Kadmon and I see that it called for clearing up. So I’m going to repeat my remarks with some changes.

We’ll begin this part with a quick statement from Ar”i about the seemingly out-and-out anthropomorphisms we’ll be using to depict Adam Kadmon. “We must speak in (anthropomorphic) metaphors and images in order to ‘soothe the ear’” [1], i.e., to be able to cogently explain and illustrate things in an actually fully abstract realm.

That having been said we need to know that everything “has two aspects: one is its expanding spiritual essence, and the other is its ‘vessels’ and ‘limbs’ into which this spiritual essence expands.” But we must realize also that “there are roots above for these aspects”, and that it’s those roots (which are found in Adam Kadmon and elsewhere) that are the actual the subject at hand.

Leading up to our investigations we’d put forward that Ar”i goes on to say that “there are four fundamental aspects to everything: sight, hearing, smell, and speech, which correspond to the four letters of God’s name (spoken of before)” [2]. That should lead us to our subject at hand. Here’s what Ramchal offers about that.

“In order for this order (i.e., Adam Kadmon) to be perfect,” he says, “it needs to be a complete Partzuf that’s comprised of (both) an interior and an exterior, which is related to the mystical notions of a body and a soul, or ‘lights’ and ‘receptacles’” (Iggerot Pitchei Chochma V’Da’at 3).

Ramchal then offers the following in Petach 32:

The “face” of Adam Kadmon was formulated to irradiate out what was arranged within the “body” of Adam Kadmon. It was in fact Adam Kadmon’s “senses” that irradiate outward.

In fact, four “worlds” emerged (i.e., irradiated outward): those of “vision” centered in Adam Kadmon’s “eyes”, “hearing” centered in Adam Kadmon’s “ears”, “smell” centered in Adam Kadmon’s “nose” and “speech” centered in Adam Kadmon’s “mouth”. And we’re told that the “forehead” likewise emits radiance.

 This largely harkens back to Ari’s depiction of the vision; what’s novel is the introduction of Adam Kadmon’s “forehead” which will come up later, and the idea of the irradiation of phenomena from within Adam Kadmon’s “body” which we’ll discuss shortly.

He adds a couple of things at the end of this Petach which also have great significance to our understanding: the fact that all the worlds that come about afterwards are nothing but the radiance and shine of Adam Kadmon as we’ll see; and the idea that Adam Kadmon itself is more exalted than they and cannot be comprehended whereas the other worlds can be comprehended to one degree or another. We’ll get to this soon enough as well.

We’re going to be citing Ramchal’s Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at in our attempt to follow what happens here– or better yet, what the prophets and other exalted souls were able to envision about the process of creation. Then we’ll touch on the “solution” to all this.

As Ramchal explains it [3], the Sephirot connected with Adam Kadmon “have an inner aspect — and an outer one, which conceals it”. It’s just that, “some of the inner aspect pierce through the outer ones and come into view (to the prophets and great souls) in order to perform some visible function” [4]. “This represents the esoteric idea of the piercing through of (Adam Kadmon’s inner radiance through it’s) ‘ear’, ’nose’, and ‘mouth’”, as he’ll go on to explain.

Put simply, some of Adam Kadmon’s inner radiance pierced through the apertures of its “face” — its “eyes”, “ears”, “nose”, “mouth”, and even its “forehead”. And it did that in order 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, as well as to bring about whatever was necessary to actualize what was intended for these phenomena (Petach 35).

Very well: now we know the makeup of Adam Kadmon, but what’s the “solution” to all that as Ramchal understands it; i.e., what’s being indicated by this visual phenomenon? For that we’ll need to turn to his Klallim Rishonim.

In explanation of all this Ramchal cites the two sorts of ways that God interacts with us: either openly, which is referred to his expressing Ha’aret Panim, looking at us “(with) face aglow”; or He interacts with us covertly, which is referred to His expressing Hester Panim, looking at us “(with a) hidden face” [5].

Now, when God interacts via Ha’aret Panim His interactions with us are full and unabated, whereas when He interacts via Hester Panim His interactions are limited and incomplete. And we’re taught that these paradigms play themselves out in the human sphere in terms of the body (which exemplifies Hester Panim) and the soul (which exemplifies Ha’aret Panim) [6]. We’re also taught that these two ways that God interacts with us also touch upon the Trace and the Line, where the former is an example of Hester Panim (since God’s presence is largely hidden there) and that the latter is an example of Ha’aret Panim (since God’s presence is manifest there).

Ramchal’s point here is that Adam Kadmon with its “face” and its “senses” is a representation of the Trace and the Line — of Ha’aret Panim and Hester Panim as well — at work. It’s just that sometimes one mode dominates, and another time the other one does. There’s also a subtle implication that the prophet or exalted soul can not only envision the reality of Adam Kadmon, but that he can likewise know which mode is predominant at the time. But that’s beside the point.

Ramchal offers some rather remarkable statements about the implications of Adam Kadmon in his own comments to Petach 32 [7].

He first puts forward the idea that what a “face” is, is that “part of the body by means of which the individual (literally, ‘the soul’) turns toward (i.e., faces) and keeps an eye on what concerns it in relation to things outside of itself”. That’s to say, a “face” is the center of our interactions with others. He goes on to say that a face uses “the faculties of vision, hearing, smell and speech” (as well as the mind behind it all) to do that, while the individual consciousness behind all that “remains in its sanctuary” assessing what it experiences.

The face is thus the seat of control-central, which hearkens back to what he’d said before about Adam Kadmon representing God’s interactions with us.

Ramchal also understands the face in this instance as being representative of “vessels” as opposed to Lights, and as being elements of “the Trace environment” as opposed to the Line. And he introduces a new element to the mix aside from the face and its apertures: the face’s “radiance” (זיו), which we’d referred to above and promised to explain.

Without taking too many liberties with his ideas we’d offer that he means to say is that the face proper is only the stage for what’s to occur. The actor, if you will, is the Light of the Ein Sof (i.e., the Line) that pierces through the face in the form of the “senses” produced within the apertures (and which like all actors, prod and react to others). These senses perform by governing the Partzufim that will appear after Adam Kadmon serves its function, much the way the soul “performs” upon the “stage” of the human body. And the character produced, if you will, is the face’s radiance — what we’d term an individual’s “character” or “personality”, i.e., what “shines through” when he or she interacts with animation. In fact, it’s the product of the interactions of the senses, the face, with the universe that experiences it.

But let’s go back to the face’s “radiance”. We’ll once again depend on Ramchal’s comments to Petach 32 for his explanations of it.

Notes:

[1]        See 3:4 and 6:6 above.

[2]       From The Tree of Life pp. 117-118 (with slight changes).

[3]       Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 29.

[4]       Parenthetically, why would there even need to be outer aspects? Because as Ramchal explains, “if there weren’t outer aspects, the inner aspects would function openly” and at full strength, which would be too overpowering; so “only a part of the inner aspect functions that way”, i.e., at full strength, thanks to that safeguard mechanism.

[5]       This is derived from Klallim Rishonim 8. See Da’at Tevunot 76-81, 84 where Ramchal expounds upon God’s two interactions and related phenomenon.

[6]       Though this isn’t cited it here, Hester Panim is also analogous to receptacles while Ha’aret Panim is analogous to Lights.

[7]       Some of this is reiterated in Iggerot Pitchei Chochma 4 as well.

(c) 2012 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”.

It must be raining in the upper spheres, the mists must be gathering …

… and the heat of Din must be circulating in the lower spheres ’cause I’ve got a head cold with low grade fever. So we’ll be gone for a few days.

Face as stage-center

Ramchal understands the face as representing the “vessels” (or, “receptacles”) as opposed to the Lights, and as elements of “the Trace environment” as opposed to the Line. And he introduces a new element to the mix aside from the face and its apertures: the face’s “radiance” (זיו).

Without taking too many liberties with his ideas we’d offer that that’s to say that the face proper is only the stage for what’s to occur. The actor, if you will, is the Light of the Ein Sof (i.e., the Line) that pierces through the face in the form of the “senses” produced within the apertures (and which like all actors, prod and react to others). These senses perform by governing the Partzufim that will appear after Adam Kadmon serves its function, much the way the soul “performs” upon the “stage” of the human body.

The character produced, if you will, is the face’s “radiance” — what we’d also term an individual’s “character” or “personality”, i.e., what “shines through” when he or she interacts with animation. In fact, it’s the product of the interactions of the senses, the face, with the universe that experiences it.

He then makes the point what there’s a qualitative difference, though, between the Lights which pass through the apertures and the face’s radiance, which we’ll explore next.

(c) 2012 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 “face” as control-central

Ramchal offers some rather remarkable statements about the implications of Adam Kadmon in his own comments to Petach 32 [1].

He first puts forward the idea that what a “face” is, is that “part of the body by means of which the individual (literally, ‘the soul’) turns toward (i.e., ‘faces’) and keeps an eye on what concerns it in relation to things outside of itself”.

That’s to say, a “face” is the center of our interactions with others. And it uses “the faculties of vision, hearing, smell and speech” (as well as the mind behind it all) to do that, while the individual consciousness “remains in its sanctuary” assessing what it experiences. The face is thus the seat of control-central, which hearkens back to what he’d said before about Adam Kadmon representing God’s interactions with us.

But there’s a lot more said there.

Notes:

[1]       Some of this is reiterated in Iggerot Pitchei Chochma 4 as well.

(c) 2012 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”.