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
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Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
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