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

We’ll cite this quotation from the M. Friedlander translation of Moreh Nevuchim (1:70) which speaks to the points we’ve made about the significance of the Chariot (Merkava) as a representation of God’s rule. Rambam says there that:

“The term rakab, ‘to ride,’ is a synonym. In its primary signification it is applied to man’s riding on an animal, in the usual way; e.g., ‘Now he was riding (rokeb) upon his ass’ (Num. xxii. 22). It has then been figuratively used to denote ‘dominion over a thing’; because the rider governs and rules the animal he rides upon; e.g., ‘He made him ride (yarkibehu) on the high places of the earth’ (Deut. xxxii. 13); ‘and I will cause thee to ride (ve-hirkabtika) upon the high places of the earth’ (Isa. lviii. 14), that is, you shall have dominion over the highest (people) on earth; ‘I will make Ephraim to ride (arkib)’ (Hos. x. 11), i.e., I shall give him rule and dominion. In this same sense it is said of God, ‘who rideth (rokeb) upon the heaven in thy help’ (Deut. xxxiii. 26), that is, who rules the heaven; and ‘Him that rideth (la-rokeb) upon the ‘arabot’ (Ps. lxviii. 4), i.e., who rules the ‘arabot, the uppermost, all-encompassing sphere”.

….

“The rider is better than the animal upon which he rides — the comparative is only used for the sake of convenience, for the rider is not of the same class as the animal upon which he rides — furthermore, the rider moves the animal and leads it as he likes; it is as it were his instrument, which he uses according to his will; he is separate from it, apart from it, not connected with it. In like manner the uppermost sphere, by the rotation of which everything moveable is set in motion, is moved by God, who is separate from the sphere, and is not a power in it. In Bereshit Rabba we read that in commenting on the Divine words, ‘The eternal God is a refuge’ (lit., a dwelling, Deut. xxxiii. 27), our Sages said, ‘He is the dwelling of His world, the world is not His dwelling.’ This explanation is then followed by the remark, ‘The horse is secondary to the rider, the rider is not subservient to the horse; this is meant by ‘Thou wilt ride upon thy horses’ (Hab. iii. 8). Consider and learn how they described the relation of God to the sphere, asserting that the latter is His instrument, by means of which He rules the universe”.

(c) 2013 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).

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

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

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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 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

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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”.

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

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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”.

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

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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”.

We’ll soon discuss how the vessels continued to exist (even when they didn’t function) by means of the 288 sparks. But first we’ll need to provide some background information.

Ramchal’s statement in Petach 55 is very obscure, so let’s explain it out before we cite it.

As we’d indicated in 5:5 above (as well as in 7:5 to a degree), the names AV (72), SaG (63), MaH (45), and BaN (52) represent different ways of spelling out the Tetragrammaton. It’s important to know that while each name has the numerical value that it merits having based on its own specific spiritual level, sometimes the fact that they’re all derived from a single source — i.e., AV in this case, which is analogous to Erich Anpin — factors into that numerical value. As such we see that each of those four names contains within it an overt or recondite number value of 72 (the value of AV) aside from its own inherent numerical value [1].

What this indicates, among other things, is that while the source (AV or Erich Anpin) may seem just like any other offshoot of the Tetragrammaton, it’s in fact the most potent of them all, which important implications. Here’s how Ramchal words it.

When two or more of the names that are offshoots of the Tetragrammaton come to have the same numerical value, i.e., 72, contained within it albeit by different means, it’s to be understood that this is an instance of a single root, i.e., AV, which each of the other names must be connected to in its own way to be sure, but which in the end it will come to be connected to after all of its machinations.

This in fact is the mystery of the name AV that’s contained in each of the four names of AV, SaG, MaH, and in BaN. For, even though each separate name has its own way of doing so, each will all arrive at or somehow contain this value, i.e., 72. What this shows is that this AV is a root that each name must arrive at in its own way.

The truth of the matter is that this derives from and is analogous to Erich Anpin from which Abba and Imma, Zeir Anpin, and Nukveh derive. Erich Anpin in this instance is an AV whose four separate Yud’s produce an AV, SaG, MaH and BaN. And each one of them, i.e., each name AV, Sag, MaH, and BaN, must express the value of i.e., must add up to, its root, which is the name AV, which is their dominant power.

Finally, the fact that AV is the primary sum here alludes to the fact that “not only the expansion of AV but also all the other expansions eventually reach the total of 72”, which is the numerical value of Chessed, representative of God’s loving-kindness, “showing that the root of all the various means of governance is loving-kindness”, as Ramchal notes in his own comments.

That alludes to the fact that the lower Partzufim of Abbah and Imma, and Zeir Anpin, and Nukveh respectively each derive from and draw upon God’s overarching benevolence.

Notes:

[1]       See how R’ David Cohen (“The Nazir”) laid it out the way to find 72’s in each name on p. 410 of his edition, as well as R’ Friedlander on p. 207 of his.

(c) 2013 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”.

היופי והחמדה של מלכות אינו בה אלא כשהיסוד עמה, כי שלימותה ממנו. ובהיותה בלא הוא – אדרבא ממנה כל חסרון וכל עוצב. ובהיותה עמו – ממנה כל שמחה לזכר עצמו.

ולכן נתחלה היה הכל בסוד ב”ן, והיא הנוק’ בלי הזכר, משם כל העוצב. והו”ק לא פנו אל המלכות, כי לא ניתנה להם החמדה. אך כשבא יסוד בסוד מ”ה – אז היא נשלמה, והיא עצמה מעוררת החמדה נזכר עצמו, וזהו התיקון:

Malchut in the Sephira configuration or Nukveh in the Partzuf configuration only becomes beautiful and delightful when Yesod or Zeir Anpin is with her, for she’s only made complete by means of Yesod or Zeir Anpin. But when Malchut or Nukveh is without Yesod or Zeir Anpin, she’s the source of all sorts of deficiency and “sadness”, yet when Malchut or Nukveh is with Yesod or Zeir Anpin, she’s the source of all sorts of  joy for the male, or for Yesod or Zeir Anpin, himself.

Accordingly, at first, i.e., in the course of the breaking of the vessels, everything was in the mystical configuration of BaN, which is Nukveh or Malchut without the male, i.e., without Yesod or Zeir Anpin, and that resulted in “sadness”. And the “six directions” contained in Zeir Anpin: Chessed, Gevurah, Tipheret, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, didn’t face Malchut or Nukveh, because they weren’t yet delightful. But when Yesod or Zeir Anpin assumes the mystical configuration of MaH in the course of the Tikkun, she, i.e., Malchut or Nukveh, will be perfected and will herself inspire delight in the male, i.e., in Yesod or Zeir Anpin, which is the Tikkun process itself.

(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”.

מנין אחד ששני שמות או יותר באים אליו בדרכים שונים – נודע שהוא עיקר אחד שצריכים להתחבר שם כל אחד לפי הדרך שלו. אך שבסוף מסיבותיו יגיע שם.

וזה סוד הע”ב, שיש בכל הד’ שמות ע”ב ס”ג מ”ה ב”ן, שלכל אחד יש דרך בפני עצמו, אך כולם מגיעים לזה. זה מראה שהוא עיקר אחד שצריכים כולם להגיע אליו, כל אחד לפי דרכו.

והאמת, שזה בא מא”א, שממנו יוצאים או”א זו”ן, והוא ע”ב אחד, שד’ יודי”ן שבו מוציאים עסמ”ב. וכל אחד מהם צריך להגיע אל הוראת שרשו, שהיא הע”ב, וזה הכח היותר חזק שבהם:

When two or more names come to have the same numerical value albeit by different means, it’s to be understood that this is an instance of a single root which each of its separate elements must be connected to in its own way to be sure, but which in the end it will come to be connected to after all of its experiences.

This in fact is the mystery of the name AV that’s contained in each of the four names of AV, SaG, MaH, and in BaN. For, even though each separate name has its own way of doing so, each will all arrive at this value. What this shows is that this AV is a root that each must reach in its own way.

The truth of the matter is that this derives from and is analogous to Erich Anpin from which Abba and Imma, Zeir Anpin, and Nukveh derive. Erich Anpin in this instance is an AV whose four separate Yuds produce an AV, SaG, MaH and BaN. And each one of them, i.e., each name AV, Sag, MaH, and BaN, must express the value of i.e., must add up to, its root, which is the name AV, which is their dominant power.

(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”.

מן שנשברו הכלים – ניטל מהם כח ההנהגה. וגם לא היו עומדים בסוד צורה שלמה, אלא מיני כח בלתי שלמים ובלתי ראוים לפעול פעולה. ומקורם היה מקיימם כך, עד בא הארה חדשה שתשלימם, ותתן להם צורה ופעולה:

            The ability to govern, i.e., to facilitate actions and contribute to a set goal, was taken away from the vessels when they were broken. They also didn’t function as the mystical configuration of a perfect form then. Instead, they functioned as various imperfect phenomena that were unfit to do things fully. It was their source i.e., the name AV,  that kept them that way throughout the breaking process until a new emanation, i.e., the name MaH, came about to perfect them and give them form and function.

(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”.