Monthly Archives: September 2014

Ramchal himself agrees that the Great Day of Judgment will occur after the resurrection of the dead, and that everyone will then be judged. Those deserving of punishment (aside what they’d experienced of it in Gehenom) will suffer it then and will be utterly and eternally undone, while those deserving of reward (aside what they’d experienced of it in the Garden of Eden) will enjoy it then [1].

Everything that had ever occurred in the course of the six millennia of creation will be judged then individually. Then the seventh millennium will begin, when everything will change its form [2]. And then a great rectification will come about on par with what would have occurred had Adam and Eve not erred: all will be pure, all wrongfulness will be undone, and a new and unfathomable world will come about for all of eternity [3].

And as to Elijah’s role in all of this, as referred to in the quote from Malachi above…

Notes:

[1]       Ma’amar HaIkkurim.

[2]       Adir Bamarom p. 52.

[3]       Ma’amar HaGeulah.

(c) 2014 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”.

There are three “days of judgment” in fact: Rosh Hashanah, when you’re judged for the year to come; the day of your death, when you’re judged for the afterlife; and finally, when you’re to be judged for eternity [1] (which is why it’s termed the “Great” or ultimate Day of Judgment).

The Great Day of Judgment will occur after the resurrection of the dead [2], it will take place in Emek Yehosaphat [3], and it will be a “dark and stunning day — a fearsome and frightening” [4] and “horrific” [5] day.

It’s generally held that everyone’s right to resurrected in fact will be judged then, as well as the ultimate fate of each one’s body and soul [6]. But Ar’i contends that only non-Jews are to be judged then [7].

Two things will serve you especially well in the Great Day of Judgment: your having observed the Shabbat [8] and learned Torah [9].

And after the Great Day of Judgment will have come about God’s presence will become manifest to all [10], and it will become clear that everything that had occurred was purposeful and perfectly and flawlessly set in order [11].

Notes:

[1]       Ramban’s Sha’ar HaGemul.

[2]       Ibid.

[3]       Midrash v’Yoshaiah.

[4]       Otzar HaMidrashim.

[5]       Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudai.

[6]       Ramban’s Sha’ar HaGemul.

[7]       See Nephesh HaChaim 1:17, implying that they alone would need to be judged whereas the body and souls of all Jews will automatically merit The World to Come.

[8]       Mechilta, Beshalach.

[9]       Midrash Daniel.

[10]     Midrash Tanchuma, Shoftim.

[11]     Otzar HaMidrashim.

(c) 2014 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”.

Apropos to the sort of judgment spoke of until now in this section, Petach 79 offers that at the time of the Great Day of Judgment all the deeds of the world will be arranged and evaluated in the order in which they were carried out from the beginning of the universe until its end.

So we’ll first address the traditional view of the Great Day of Judgment and point to Ramchal’s remarks about it elsewhere.

(c) 2014 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 Petach concludes with the remark that at the end of the entire cycle i.e., at the end of time as we know it, there will be a complete Tikkun that would be based on everything that was done, good or — God forbid — bad.

That alludes to what was said above [1] to the effect that right and wrong will continue to exist in the course of history — as represented by the earlier statement in this Petach that nothing either good, bad, or a combination of the two is even forgotten before His Throne of Glory — until God’s will to bestow goodness will hold sway, His Yichud will be revealed, and everything will achieve perfection.

The thing to recall is that all of this plays itself out and functions in the Attik realm, the subject of the previous section which is being expanded upon in this section.

Note:

[1] See Petach 30.

(c) 2014 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 back up a bit and consider something that Ramchal offers in his own comments to our Petach. He cites the Trace and the Line spoken of at length above [1]. Let’s examine that in light of what we learned above, in Petach 78.

We’re told above in Petach 27 that everything that was to exist in the world has its roots in the Trace, which is a shadow of God’s presence [2]. That is, God has left a trace of His being in the world when He (apparently) left it, with the onset of the Tzimtzum process, and everything here is rooted in that trace of His being.

Petach 37 above goes on to say that the interaction on God’s part with the Trace is termed His having extended a single “line” … into the “emptiness” brought on by the Tzimtzum. That is, the Line represents God’s re-entering the empty space created by the Tzimtzum and His interacting with the world at large.

That having been said we see that Petach 78’s statement that each deed’s outcome continues to exist even when the deed itself is gone suddenly has a whole other import. And the idea there that when a flaw has been repaired, the trace (!) of the original flaw doesn’t disappear, etc. now implies this. A trace of the past always remains behind everything we do, to be sure, but we’re to know that given that that trace itself interacts with God’s being, it’s thus never overlooked or considered worthless. And so rather than seeming to be a nefarious remark to the effect that there’s no hope and that nothing but nothing is ever forgotten, the truth is that everything is indeed remembered and remains — that’s because everything matters in God’s interactions with the universe.

Notes:

[1] See Section 6 above.

[2] Da’at Tevunot 48.

(c) 2014 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”.