Monthly Archives: June 2013

Given that a chariot represents what it does — the various ways God administers the cosmos from His throne — we now understand why we’re taught that “The subject of … the workings of the chariot (may not be expounded to anyone other than) . . . a sage who has an innate understanding (of it). (In fact,) whoever (else) speculates on it would have been better off not having come into the world” (Mishna Hagigah 2:1). That’s so because knowledge of God’s ways in the world can lead one astray.

Yet we’re taught that “The account of the Chariot is a great matter while the discussions of Abaya and Rava” — which is to say, the discussions upon which all practical Halacha are based — “is a lesser matter” (Sukkah 28a). And that a Torah scholar who appears before God after his death is asked, “My son, since you occupied yourself with the study of the Talmud, did you gaze upon the Chariot? For in My world there is no real pleasure except when sages are sitting occupied with the words of Torah and gaze and look, behold and meditate upon” the realm of the Chariot as well (Midrash Mishlei, Chapter 10). So it’s obviously a vitally important subject of study.

Interestingly enough, though, the above Midrash starts to veer off onto a discussion of the Divine Throne rather than on the Chariot per se, thus equating the two.

This could be explained by the fact that the word “chariot” isn’t cited in the first chapter of Ezekiel, as we indicated, while “throne” is (twice in 1:26). But that didn’t seem to affect the change, given that the term Chariot continued to be used after the codification of The Book of Ezekiel, as we see from the Post-Biblical references. So, when and why did the concern for the Chariot become a concern with the Throne?

(c) 2013 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”.

There are many instances of chariots in Tanach: from Joseph’s, which is indicative of righteous leadership and power (see Genesis 41:43, 46:29, and 50:9); to Pharaoh’s, which is indicative of wrongful leadership and power (see Exodus 14:6, 7, 9); on to a slew of various leaders’ chariots (see the books of Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets for example). But the most famous of all is the one cited in the very first chapter of Ezekiel — where the word “chariot” itself is never mentioned, but which is certainly understood and referred to in later writings.

In any event, at bottom a chariot is this: it’s a vehicle that allows its occupant to move at great speed without expending energy of his own, and that allows him to sit at ease while commanding a world of things that rush about at great speed about him following his orders. It’s clearly symbolic of the way of a thought sitting in the center of the mind unmoved yet affecting the entire thinking process; of the soul sitting in the center of the being unmoved yet affecting the entire self; and of God Almighty sitting in the center of the cosmos unmoved yet affecting the whole of it. And it’s easy to understand the eventual use of this symbol in the Tradition.

(c) 2013 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 begins Petach 57 which directly touches upon the 288 sparks thusly.

These four instances of AV that we discussed in the two previous Petachim which reinforce the four Partzufim of Abba, Imma, Zeir Anpin, and Nukveh in Erich Anpin, and which are removed from harm, are the essence of the “Chariot” that the Kabbalists refer to. It’s here that the “Throne” they speak of also “bears its bearers” as they put it.

He’ll explain what he means by “Chariot” in his comments here, (as well as the “Throne” that “bears its bearers”), but let’s explain the Chariot in its classical senses first.

(c) 2013 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 56 is also arcane, so we’ll again spell it out before presenting it as we did above for 55. This Petach is here to explain an anomaly and to reiterate a point. (Neither of these Petachim really add to our understanding of the Kabbalistic system itself to be sure, but Ramchal felt the need to address their issues since they’re contained in Ari’s writings, and they still and all do bolster the major theme of everything alluding to its source.)

We pointed out in the last Petach that the four names of AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN all allude to their source, which is Erich Anpin, since each has a hidden reference to it (see there), while having its own unique function.

Yet there’s an anomaly here. MaH doesn’t have an intrinsic function of its own: like Nukveh and Malchut to which it’s analogous, MaH is a passive receptor rather than an independent actor. So it doesn’t seem to be like AV, SaG, and MaH on that level. But the point is that it, too, alludes to its source AV. As Ramchal explains in his comments here, “No offshoot (i.e., none of the four names) can help but be subsumed under Erich Anpin, which is its root. For even BaN, which doesn’t have its own particular AV (which AV, SaG, and MaH do), nevertheless has the AV that exists in it by virtue of the fact that it’s a spelling-out of the Tetragrammaton”, i.e., it includes the simple quadruple form of Y (worth 10), Y-H (worth 15), Y-H-V (worth 21), and Y-H-V-H (worth 26) that total 72 altogether, which is the value of AV.

Here’s the Petach itself with explanation.

Although the quadrupled number representation of the Tetragrammaton written out as Y, Y-H, Y-H-V, and Y-H-V-H, which is, i.e., which equals the value of, AV which is 72, is contained in all of the names of AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN, as was pointed out in the last Petach, still and all the point must be made that only what’s particular to each name is considered intrinsic to it. But in the case of BaN which doesn’t have its own unique value it’s true that what’s there, i.e., the simple spelling-out of Y-H-V-H, is considered intrinsic to it. This shows that each name has the same value at first in its simple layout, because this is its essential makeup.

But when their letters are filled out and become AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN, their values change, and they become different from one another, each name is given a value of its own based on its specific function. And BaN, which doesn’t have a specific function but takes what’s given it instead, has no other value than the simple spelling of Y-H-V-H spelled-out, and it joins in with the others in the fact that it at least has the Tetragrammaton’s original general value.

(c) 2013 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”.