Category Archives: Kabbalah, Jewish Thought, Ramchal, Torah, Hashkafa

This final Petach of the section helps to explain what happens when Erich Anpin is engarbed within Attik but it can also address what happens when any Partzuf is engarbed within another. It also discusses the idea that the reasoning behind this is beyond us.

In each instance, the differences in an case of a higher Partzuf being engarbed in a lower one show whether its actions i.e. the actions of the one that’s engarbed, are to be significant or not. This is true when Attik is engarbed in Erich Anpin and in all other such instances.

And it, i.e., the degree of its significance, is always proportional to its, i.e., the engarbed Partzuf‘s, size. That’s to say that “if the engarbed Partzuf is of large proportion, that indicates that it has a lot to do,” Ramchal offers in his comments, “and if it’s of small proportion, then it has little to do”.

For, whether the engarbed Partzuf is to be of large or small proportion depends on whether the action in one instance is to be larger than the other one, and it all depends on the size of the parts of the engarbed Partzuf.

But the reasoning behind the proportioning is based on what the all-embracing intention for creation requires, which is beyond our ken. In fact, Ramchal offers that we aren’t even allowed to ask for the reason behind the makeup of “the edifice” (i.e., of the supernal prototypes) [1]; we’re just to accept the way things are set up. We are allowed to draw implications from their makeup, though. In any event, we’re to know that God uses all of these phenomena to govern the universe in ways it has to be governed to reach its end.

As he puts it, the study of Kabbalah requires us to know what follows what and what occurs in fact, but not the reason why anything in particular occurs. “Indeed, we could find many valid reasons for (the makeup of) these structures, but that’s not our intention. We’re (simply) to know what exists and its function in each instance”, Ramchal says.

 In fact, various reasons could be found for each proportion, because each has many facets. But we’re not to explore that. 

Footnotes:

[1]         See Petachim 14-15.

 (c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

The point of the matter is that even though our Divine service only functions in the world of Atzilut and below it, the fruit of our service has to somehow or another rise up to the eternal realm, and that’s where Attik comes into play. For Attik allows for that conveyance from this world to the eternal one. Here are some of the details laid out in this Petach.

In fact, this world is rooted in the mystical interactions of the names of MaH and BaN and in the Tikkunim that involve them, which are the thrust of our Divine service and a part of the Tikkun of the balance-scale. Now, while all of that’s important, it’s nonetheless not the ultimate goal. Because it only touches on MaH and BaN, and our reward goes beyond that. So those higher realms must somehow or another come to be affected by our Divine service.  That where Attik comes in.

That’s where man’s actions below — in the worlds of Atzilut and downward — are then transferred to the higher, world to come related realms like Adam Kadmon can then filter light downward. And that enables man to be rewarded for his work in the lower worldly realms as well as in the higher eternal ones. After all, it has always been God’s intention that man be rewarded for his efforts rather than be a recipient of Divine “charity”, if you will [1].

But there’s more to be said.

Footnote:

[1]  See 1:3 above.

(c) 2016 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 97 then makes a straightforward-enough point which is nevertheless profound. It contrasts the eternal realm which is situated in the world of Adam Kadmon with the lower worlds of Atzilut, Briah, and Assiyah, which comprise the realm that allows for our service to God and for Tikkun. He then underscores the fact that there’s nonetheless a bridge between the two realms: the Partzuf of Attik (which, if you’ll recall, has been our subject for the longest time).

The Petach states that from the world of Atzilut downwards to the worlds of Briah, Yetzirah and Assiyah everything follows the present world’s governing order, i.e., everything is subsumed to the factors of reward and punishment, right and wrong, free will and Divine determination, and the like. Things follow a specific cycle there until they eventually achieve perfect benevolence, i.e., until they achieve the utter perfection that will result in the full expression of Divine benevolence we’d spoken of as being the pinnacle of all of creation.

But from Attik upward which encompasses the most subtle realms, everything is and already functions as it will in eternity from the seventh millennium onward [1].

Attik itself is the central byway between the two systems of governance, i.e., between reward and punishment and the like, and utter unalloyed Divine benevolence. Accordingly, it allows for things done here and now to affect eternity, Ramchal adds in his comments here.

But the world of Adam Kadmon, which sits atop both Atzilut and Attik and is of a whole other order, is comprised of the whole of existence and of all times. It has bearing on the names of MaH and BaN already spoken of and referred to in the next Petach.

Footnotes:

[1]         See Clallim Rishonim 9 and Clallei Chochmat HaEmet 10 for the chronology.

(c) 2016 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 ends as follows: For this is the way that the names MaH and BaN were established under them, i.e., under Adam Kadmon‘s Yesod and Malchut [1]. That is done by means of the balance-scale [2], Ramchal adds in his comments, which is how all of the Partzufim experience Tikkun. In fact, this particular combination of MaH and BaN is the essential order of governance needed to ultimately bring about complete perfection.

So in short this Petach is making the point that the Partzuf of Attik supports the  Partzuf of Erich by means of the balance-scale which is rooted in it (and is the mystical notion of the conjunction of MaH and BaN). This phenomenon is the gist of the Tikkunim of all of the Partzufim since is governs all of the world of Atzilut.

It’s just that when this occurs, Atzilut stands under Adam Kadmon‘s Sephirot of Yesod and Malchut, since that’s where this Tikkun takes place. But since the conjunction of MaH and BaN is the playing out of the Tikkun of all damages, it follows that the balance-scale’s governance is the main form of governance, so Erich Anpin must stand under it.

Footnotes:

[1]         See 5:5 above for an explanation of the names MaH and BaN.

[2]         See Section 11.

(c) 2016 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”.

Section 17 is entitled “The Connection between (the world of) Atzilut and (the world of) Adam Kadmon through (the Partzufim of) Attik and Erich Anpin“, and it encompasses Petachim 96-100.

Let’s get our bearings again. As Ramchal points out in Sefer HaIlan (7), the Partzuf of Attik is above the other Partzufim. It’s actually the Malchut — i.e., it’s the lowest rung — of the high world of Adam Kadmon. Attik‘s own upper division is a separate entity, Radlah (“the Unfathomable Beginning”) which we discussed above, and it’s lower is engarbed in and thus permeates and thus influences the Partzuf below Adam Kadmon, Atzilut.

The first Petach of the section, Petach 96, is concerned with the connection between the exalted world of Adam Kadmon and the one just beneath it, Atzilut, and how that connection affects Divine governance.

We’ll be discussing that, Ramchal says in his comments here, since we’d already discussed in Section 16 above the two ways that the Partzuf of Erich Anpin functions — as itself, and as it relates to the Partzuf of Zeir Anpin below it — which is analogous to what we’ll be discussing here. But we’d first need to discuss the Partzuf of Attik Yomin that governs the Partzuf of Erich Anpin.

In truth, Petach 96 is a rather technical one that might distract us, but it serves to clear up an apparent contradiction in two statements in Eitz Chaim. We’ll proceed from it, of course, to the Petachim that follow which speak to the greater theme of the interactions of the various worlds, Partzufim and intentions for the universe under discussion.

(c) 2015 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”.

In each instance, the differences in a case of a higher Partzuf being engarbed within a lower one shows whether its actions i.e. the actions of the one that’s engarbed, are large or small. And it, i.e., the degree of its action, is always proportional to how its parts are divided.

Whether the engarbment is large in one instance or small shows whether the action taking place in one place is greater than in the other in proportion to the extent of each part of the engarbed.

The reason for the proportion of engarbment is rooted in what the all-embracing intention  of all-encompassing benevolence requires. And various reasons could be found for the particular degree in each case, because it has many facets.

חילוקי ההתלבשות ככל מקום שהוא – מורה פעולתו אם רב ואם מעט. הערך נשמר תמיד לפי שיעור התחלקו.

מקום שמתלבש חלק גדול,ומקום שמתלבש חלק קטן – מורה שהפעולה במקום אחד גדולה מהפעולה במקום השני, באותו הערך שיש בין חלק לחלק המתלבש.

אך טעם הערך הוא – כי זהו מצטרך לפי הכוונה הכללית. וכמה טעמים נוכל למצוא בערך ההוא, כי לכמה פינות הוא פונה:

(c) 2015 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”.

Radlah, which is the mystical notion of the conjunction of MaH and BaN above, is the source of all governance. The seven lower Sephirot of Attik, which are engarbed in Erich Anpin, govern it according to the makeup of Radlah above them.

Da’at of Attik, which is engarbed between Erich Anpin‘s “Crown” and “Brain”, is prepared to accept the deeds of humankind in accordance with the mystical notion of the present form of governance, and to transfer them through Radlah to all of the levels above to be fixed for eternity.

רדל”א הוא סוד חיבורי מ”ה וב”ן למעלה. מקור לכל ההנהגה. ז’ תחתומת דעתיק, המתלבשים בא”א, הם המנהגים אותו לפי ענין הרישא שלמעלה.

דעת דעתיק, המתלבשת בין כתרא ומוחא דא”א, עומד לקבל ענין מעשה בני האדם בסוד ההנהגה של עתה, ומעביר אותם על ידי רדל”א אל שלמעלה, להיות נקבעים לנצחיות:

(c) 2015 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”.

Until MaH and BaN came about everything proceeded in a state of Tikkun and nothing needed to be withheld. But there came to be a form of damage in BaN and its Tikkun lie in MaH. And they had to be given a realm in which to do what they had to, until they’d return to the state that’s beyond that of the worlds of Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzira, and Assiyah — when the lower beings will ascend higher and higher according to the mystical notion of the offshoots of Adam Kadmon until the ultimate ascent.

So Attik — which is the mystical notion of the conjunction of MaH and Ban — is ready to transfer things from the current order of governance to that of eternity. For every deed performed by those below has an effect on the conjunction of MaH and BaN and goes on to be fixed in eternity. Then when all the work of the lower beings will have been completed, everything needed for the conjunction of MaH and BaN will be complete, and what’s necessary will be fixed for all eternity in accordance with humankind’s deeds. Thus everything is in the merit of humankind and in accordance with its deeds.

ענין מ”ה וב”ן היה הולך הכל בתיקון, ושם לא הוצרך שום עיכוב. אך בב”ן היה הקלקול, ובמ”ה תיקונו. והוצרך לתת להם מקום לעשות את שלהם, עד שיחזרו אל ענין מה שלמעלה מהעולמות, ומציאות התחתונים מתעלה בסוד ענפי א”ק ממעלה למעלה, עד סוף כל העליות.

על כן עתיק העומד בסוד חיבור מ”ה וב”ן, הוא העומד להעביר הדברים מהנהגה זאת של עתה להנהגת הנצחיות. כי כל מעשה התחתונים עושה פעולה בענין חיבור מ”ה וב”ן, והולך ונקבע לנצחיות. ובהשתלם כל מעשה התחתונים, יהיה נשלם כל הצריך בחיבור מ”ה וב”ן. ונקבע מה שצריך לכל הנצחיות, להיות לפי מעשה שעשו בני האדם. ונמצא הכל בזכותו של האדם התחתון, ולפי מעשיו:

(c) 2015 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”.