So we’re told that this “root” — i.e., the root and essential interactions of MaH and Ban — cannot be revealed [1]. That’s because it’s rooted in God’s “hidden agenda” [2]. In fact, Divine governance is entirety dependent on its being concealed, for when it’s concealed people engage in their affairs out of free will while God carries out His own hidden agenda in the background which is based on His foreknowledge. As such, it’s the concealment itself that allows for free actions which could be wrong and for eventual Tikkun and correction.
Accordingly, there is on one hand the overt order that God Himself displays that involves the order of Atzilut with its various Partzufim — Erich, Abbah, Imma, Zeir Anpin, and Nukveh, which are all rooted in free will, right and wrong and the like — while on the other hand there’s the concealed root that’s based on the fact that MaH is conjoined with BaN, which is covert and rooted in Divine foreknowledge [3].
We now have a deeper understanding of Ramchal’s viewpoint on free will versus foreknowledge. It comes to this: we do indeed have free will, yet given that nothing can thwart God’s will, our free will is often “bedside the point” when it comes to God’s ultimate wishes which are rooted in His foreknowledge and His own will.
Footnotes:
[1] That’s why it will also be referred to as Radlah, i.e., Reisha d’La Ityada, “The Unfathomable Head” See Petachim 85-89 below especially for more on this.
[2] Ramchal is commenting here on the fact that, as is shown in Eitz Chaim (Sha’ar Attik, Ch. 1), the layout of the interplay of MaH and BaN is decidedly neither linear nor straightforward, and he explains that as indicating the hidden inexplicable Divine agenda. See his own comments here for more on this.
[3] See 1:4 above for a discussion of the two agendas,
(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”.