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Given the correlation of parts we spoke of before, we can now understand Ramchal’s statement in Petach 33 (along with our extrapolations from it) that AV corresponds to the level of Chochma of Adam Kadmon; SaG corresponds to the level of Binah there; and MaH and BaN correspond to the levels of Zeir Anpin and Nukveh respectively.

Let’s see how Ramchal expands upon all this (and what we’d spoken of above) in Sefer HaIlan (1:3-4) [1].

“The first (world) is Adam Kadmon. Four ‘senses’ emit from its ‘face’: that of ‘seeing’, of ‘hearing’, of ‘smell’, and of ‘speech’. The four letters of the Tetragrammaton (which) are (also elements of) four expanded forms (known as) AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN as well as the (configurations of the) tropes, vowels, ‘crowns’, and letters, are all interconnected (and are all represnted in Adam Kadmon).

“AV is located in (Adam Kadmon’s) ‘cranium’. Its elements are hidden, but it emits them from the ‘hair’ on (Adam Kadmon’s) ‘head’.

“SaG emits from (its) ‘ears’ and below. (SaG’s) tropes (i.e., its own AV) is divided into three aspects: upper, middle, and lower. Its upper aspect is (centered in) the ‘ears’, its middle aspect is (centered in) the ‘nose’, and its lower aspect is (centered in) the ‘mouth’” [2].

It gets more complex after that, as we’ll see.

Notes:

[1]     This is also expanded on in at great length in Pitchei Chochma V’Da’at 30-34 as well as in the body of Ramchal’s comments to Klach.

[2]     See Otzrot Chaim TNTA 1.

(c) 2012 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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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 find that one of the most important principles to set in mind is the lateral correlation between the various phenomena in the Kabbalistic system, and their hierarchal correlation. It might help to see it in terms of the lateral correlation between the various ranks in the armed services (i.e., Navy’s Admiral = Army’s General = Air Force’s Air Marshall) as opposed to their hierarchal correlation (i.e., from Navy’s Seaman to Leading Seaman to Petty Officer to Warrant Officer to Midshipman all the way up to Admiral = Army’s Private to Corporal to Sergeant to Sergeant Major to Officer Cadet all the way up to Admiral = Air Force’s Aircraftsman to Corporal to Sergeant to Warrant Officer to Officer Cadet all the way up to Air Marshall).

Thus, laterally we have the (Olamot’s) Worlds’ Adam Kadmon= the Partzufim’s Erich Anpin­ = the Sephirot’s Keter = the tip of the Yod of the Tetragrammaton = the soul’s Yechida. And hierarchically we have the Worlds’ Assiyah to Yetzirah to Briah to Atzilut all the way to Adam Kadmon; the Partzufim’s Nukveh to Zeir Anpin to Imma to Abba all the way to Erich Anpin, the Sephirot’s Malchut to Yesod to Hod to Netzach to Tipheret to Gevurah to Chessed to Binah to Chochma all the way to Keter; the Tetragrammaton’s lower Heh to Vav to upper Heh to Yod all the way to the tip of Yod, or from BaN to MaH to SaG to AV; and the soul’s Nephesh to Ruach to Neshama to Chaya all the way to Yechida.

Ramchal and we will be culling from this series of correlations throughout the rest of the book.

(c) 2012 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 presents us with a couple of vital over-arching remarks in his comments to Petach 33, one of which touches upon all the Partzufim, Sephirot, and Olamot, which is to say, upon all of reality itself, and another which explains a vital detail about Adam Kadmon in its entirety.

As to the former, he says that “the truth is that all the levels discussed in Kabbalah, from the beginning of Adam Kadmon to the end of all of Assiyah (the lowest world) are bound up with each other and develop from each other. The (major) difference between them is that higher levels are more concealed than the ones lower ones because things move from a state of concealment to one of revelation, but (the point still needs to be made that) all are one interconnected chain”. And so, for example, “everything that will eventually be revealed in the form of the lights of SaG where initially concealed in the lights of AV (which preceded it)” and the same goes for other such interconnected phenomena.

And he says in regard to the latter that “R’ Chaim Vital wrote that even though we use the terms ‘ear’ and ‘eyes’ in the context of Adam Kadmon, this is only …  to give us a faint indication of something that’s intrinsically beyond our grasp [1]. For these terms only actually apply where the light relates to the lower realms…. whereas here above (in the very highest realms) the use of these terms is purely figurative inasmuch as this is the place of the root of the phenomena below”. That’s to say that ‘seeing’, ‘hearing’, etc. are only ideational — “theoretical” — in Adam Kadmon. We extrapolate their functions and makeup from the lower realms in which they actually function [2], but these phenomena don’t actually function in the lofty and recondite realm of Adam Kadmon.

Note:

[1]       Eitz Chaim, Gate O,Ch,P Ch. 1, p.34a.

[2]       See Adir Bamarom p. 337 where it’s written, “If you have the heart of a sage you’ll understand (i.e., extrapolate) the hidden from the revealed, that is, the superior (formation) from the inferior (one)”

(c) 2012 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”.

But, what’s going on here? Why break down the Tetragrammaton into these variations? The most obvious point behind it is to reiterate the idea offered above that Adam Kadmon (and everything following in its wake) always and forever follows the sequence of the four letters of the name Havayah, i.e., the Tetragrammaton (Petach 31).

It’s obvious, though, that Ar”i, who first spoke of this phenomenon in full (though it’s cited in the Zohar), understood that there’s the Tetragrammaton as its is put simply and there’s the Tetragrammaton in all its complexity; and that the breakdown of the four letters to AV, SaG, etc. is an expression of that complexity which calls for analysis and a setting down of what goes where, and to what end.

But Ramchal has a unique perspective on this in Iggerot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at (8). As he puts it, each phenomenon in the upper realms “needs a particular combination of Lights, and so for example, (one might require) a combination of 10 aspects of one Sephira, 3 of another, 5 of another, etc., in order to bring about the action that this combination alone can which none other could (whereas other phenomena would require other combinations)”. Then he points out that we find the same factor at play in nature, where each phenomenon requires a specific combination of ingredients without which the phenomenon wouldn’t do what it’s expected to.

So, in a manner of speaking, each Partzuf — Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Briah, etc. — requires a specific “recipe” of ingredients: the 72 letters of AV, the 63 of SaG, etc. That’s to say that they each require the input of the Tetragrammaton, but in specific combination, and that’s what’s under consideration here.

(c) 2012 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”.

Our next area of concentration, based on Petach 33, is that of the four numerical variations of the Tetragrammaton known as “AV”, “SaG”, “MaH” and “BaN” first revealed through Adam Kadmon and which function on various levels. We’ve explained this on a very basic level before (see here, etc.).

Ramchal makes a number of other, rather complex, points here about these names which we’ll try to elucidate. First, that AV corresponds to the level of Chochma of Adam Kadmon, and he then goes on to explain how it emanates its light. He then discusses SaG, which corresponds to the level of Binah of Adam Kadmon and how it functions; then he speaks of the combination of the two in the formation of “vessels”, and the roles that MaH and BaN, which correspond to the levels of Zeir Anpin and Nukveh respectively of Adam Kadmon, play.

We’ll discuss Ari’s vision of this, Ramchal’s statement of what’s envisioned and what it means, as well as other things Ramchal cites in his own comments to this Petach.

(c) 2012 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”.

We’ll finish off this part with mention of Adam Kadmon’s “forehead” as we said we would and with a general statement about Adam Kadmon [1].

As Ramchal goes on to say in his comments to Petach 32, “The ‘forehead’ emits a radiance of its own. This is something that’s also not seen now,” much the way the radiance of our own faces can’t be. “But if the radiance of the forehead were visible like the radiance of the other (of Adam Kadmon’s) senses, it would indeed be visible; for there’s (in fact) a very subtle fissure” on the surface of Adam Kadmon’s “forehead” which would allow for this radiance to shine through. The point is that despite this subtle fissure, the “forehead’s” radiance doesn’t appear at this time, but it will eventually irradiate outward.

He concludes that “Adam Kadmon itself is more elevated than the ‘senses’ and cannot be apprehended, which explains why we don’t occupy ourselves with Adam Kadmon itself” though we discuss its component elements. For at bottom, “Adam Kadmon itself is the recondite source of (Divine) governance, while its radiance (and its ‘senses’ which it passes through) is what’s revealed of Adam Kadmon” which is why we’re capable of discussing them.

Note:

[1]       The “forehead” will be discussed in more detail later on, in Petachim 59, 94, and 103 specifically. And note that we’ll also be discussing the “hair” of Adam Kadmon’s “head” as well as its “brain” in the very next Petach.

(c) 2012 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 radiance within Adam Kadmon’s face is actually a paradigm of the radiance that’s intrinsic to our own face’s makeup, Ramchal indicates. As he worded it in his comments, “the (human) face should actually express a ‘shine’ or ‘splendor’ like the sun’s” and like Adam Kadmon’s face, “as was true of Moses, whose face radiated (Exodus 34:29) and of Pinchas [1]”.

“The reason why this radiance isn’t visible now is because since Adam’s sin man’s face is no longer perfect. As Adam had had this radiance [2]…. In point of fact, in the future we’ll all emit this radiance, as it’s written: ‘And they that are wise shall radiate splendor like the splendor of the firmament’ (Daniel 12:3)”.

Notes:

[1]       Vayikra Rabbah 1:1.

[2]       Zohar 1, 142b.

(c) 2012 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”.

Now, the fact that we can only discern a muted version of God’s message to us raises a very interesting point that Ramchal addresses here.

“There’s a principle that you must constantly bear in mind” in order to understand both Kabbalah and God’s intentions for us, he says, It is that “everything that occurs in any given place occurs in accordance with that place”, i.e., that’s to say that each occurrence accommodates the needs and realities of the environment in which it’s active.

‘To take an example from the subject at hand,” he goes on to say, “what’s seen of the soul (i.e., of the soul’s radiance) through the face is arranged in a way that’s (best) suited to this phenomena; similarly, what’s revealed through the apertures produced by the soul (as its passes through Adam Kadmon’s face) is arranged in an order that’s best suited to this revelation”. That’s because “this is the (only) order it’s possible for the creatures in the lower realms to apprehend” what’s going on in the upper realms. “This means that those in the lower realm see only the most external aspect of the measure established for the governance of the (lower) worlds”.

That’s to say that since the residents of the lower realms, ourselves, can only perceive lesser perceptions, that is then what they’re exposed to. But doesn’t that imply that we in the lower realms aren’t privy to the truth of things; that we must settle for watered down truths?

Ramchal replies that despite our only being allowed to settle for the lower edges of reality, in the end though “what they see is the truth of the matter according to the way it (really) is in depth” since seeing a part of the hologram is tantamount to seeing the whole of it, so to speak. And so we say that “they were given a complete (enough) and sufficient picture to enable them to understand the matter to the extent they’re able to” which is good enough. He then draws this analogy.

“This can be compared to the case of a sage who wants to teach his wisdom to a student. If the student is unable to receive the full depth of this wisdom, the teacher gives him as much of a conception of it as the student can take in. The picture (that is thus presented) is faithful to (i.e., consistent with) the full depth of the sage’s wisdom, yet it’s (presented in such a way that it’s) concise and comprehensible to the student”, so the gist of what the sage wanted to import manages to come through to the student.

At bottom his idea is that we’re presented with as much of the truth as we can bear, and that’s good enough under the circumstances. We’re not lied to but rather addressed in terms that suit us best which we can thus ruminate about and draw deeper lessons from should we care to.

(c) 2012 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”.

“Note the significant difference between the (degree of) radiance visible on the (surface of Adam Kadmon’s) face”, Ramchal goes on to say, “as opposed to what passes out through the apertures”. That difference helps to explain why we can’t grasp everything that God communicates with us. It’s characterized by the fact that “the radiance is dimmed” and less lustrous than we would need it to be, given that “it has to pass through the face itself” which dims it.  But, why is that so? Because the thrust “of (God’s) governance that’s revealed to us is only the part of it that’s revealed after the Line has been engarbed in the Trace”. As a consequence of that, whatever else “the Line does … is unknown to us”.

That’s to say that we only get a part of the message — a dimmed and muted version of it at that — because the full message, which is connected to the Line or God’s presence, has been covered-over by all the noise and mayhem of the Trace element.

(c) 2012 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 says in his comments to Petach 32 that “if you examine the matter carefully you’ll find that (Divine) governance is sequestered in the heart and in the rest of the (i.e., of Adam Kadmon’s) body, and is (only) revealed in Adam Kadmon’s face’s … apertures”. That’s to say that just as our private thoughts and plans are sequestered within our beings, God’s thoughts and plans for the universe are sequestered within Adam Kadmon, since it’s so close to His very presence. They do manifest themselves, though, through Adam Kadmon’s “eyes”, “ears”, and the like. Those thoughts and plans are termed Adam Kadmon’s “radiance” — the subtle indications of His personal reflections.

He goes on to say there that it’s this “radiance” – this inner luster — especially which “we’re concerned with in our studies of the Kabbalah. For, it’s the Light that reaches us, and it’s the only Light that we’re actually able to apprehend (to one degree or another). Whatever is more internal (i.e., more deeply thought and felt) is too elevated for us to know.” Hence, God communicates with us through the radiance that shines outward from Adam Kadmon’s inner being, and it behooves us to study Kabbalah in order to understand as much of His message as we can.

It goes without saying, though, that there’s a lot we simply cannot grasp.

(c) 2012 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”.