Ramchal

Let’s explain the place of “circles” and “straight lines” in God’s governance as cited in Petachim 9 and (most especially) 13. In order to do that we’d also need to explain Chessed (Kindness), Din (Judgment) or Rachamim (Mercy); “piercing”, and “ascending” or “descending”; linear and non-linear Divine Providence; and causality as opposed to non-causality. But let’s first quote the pertinent statement in Petach 13.

A (vision of a) “circle” refers to a circular (i.e., non-linear) mode of governance without differentiation as to Chessed (Kindness), Din (Judgment) or Rachamim (Mercy), but rather as (i.e., it’s an expression of) overall providence …. It is (a depiction of) the mystical notion of (linear) causality. The (vision of a) “straight line” on the other hand indicates a detailed mode of governance that is based on Chessed (Kindness), Din (Judgment) and Rachamim (Mercy, which are themselves laid out as) right, left or center (poles).

All of this refers to Ari’s depiction of how the Sephirot came about, and how they interact with each other in order to govern the universe according to God’s will, as we’ll explain.

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Why, though, were we told that “The Account of the Merkava should only be taught to the wise and to those able to deduce through wisdom on their own” (Mishna Chagiga 2:1)? Apparently because there were dangers involved, as in the case of the child who studied it and suddenly died (Chagiga 13b) and of the student who was struck with leprosy when studying it (J.T. Chagiga 3:1). Also because the Divine Presence and various ministering angels appear before those who study it (Chagiga 14b), or a fire would surround them and the earth would tremble (J.T. Chagiga 3:1), and few could withstand that.

Ramchal refers to the Merkava later on in Klach as we’ll see [1] and in other esoteric works to a limited extent. But he dedicated an entire, albeit small, book to the subject entitled Pinot HaMerkava (“The Corners of the Merkava”) [2].

An abstruse work, Pinot HaMerkava ties various themes together. Most significantly for our purposes it addresses the role that the Merkava plays in prophecy and what the prophet is to “envision”, and the place each “corner” has in the ultimate redemption and revelation of God’s Yichud. It’s thus easy to see why Ramchal discusses the subject at this early juncture even though its particulars don’t quite belong here.

Notes:

[1]       See Petachim 24, 31, 57, and 129.

[2]      It’s contained in Ginzei Ramchal pp. 310-359.

(c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Along with Ma’aseh Merkava (the account of the Merkava experience) as a subject of intense inquiry was Ma’aseh Breishit, the account of creation. Both had special status and carried a slew of restrictions, as we’ll see. While we won’t deal with Ma’aseh Breishit much here simply because it isn’t the subject at hand, we’ll offer this about the two “accounts”.

Rambam famously said that while Ma’aseh Breishit simply speaks to the laws of nature and the makeup of the cosmos, Ma’aseh Merkava simply speaks to metaphysics and the makeup of souls, angels, and the like [1]. The Kabbalists (Ramchal included) vehemently rejected that view and said it referred to themes discussed in the Zohar and other related mystical pehnomena [2].

Part of the reason the Kabbalists rebuffed Rambam’s model was that it placed the onus of proof upon traditional insights against Aristotle’s theories, which were assumed to be patently true. The Kabbalists held that it was offensive to take anything as more factual than the sort of prophetic visions that Ezekiel, Isaiah and others had of the Ma’aseh Merkava and that Moses had of Ma’aseh Breishit.

We in modernity know that the great preponderance of Aristotle’s ideas are simply wrong (in fact, one need only study Rambam writings on the subject that we cited in the notes to see how outlandish Aristotle’s idea have proven to be). Does anyone in fact claim to be a die-hard Aristotelian, Platonist, or the like today? Does anyone doubt that Rambam himself would reject Aristotle’s ideas if Rambam were alive today?

One point is that Aristotle’s physical model has failed, so subsuming prophetic insight into the nature of things to it is thus proved to be foolish, and we need to draw lessons from that [3].

Notes:

[1]       Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah Ch’s 1-4; see the Peticha to Section 3 of Moreh Nevuchim, and Ch’s 1-7 there for a discussion of Ma’aseh Merkava. Also see Meiri to Chaggigah 11a.

[2]       See Avodat HaKodesh, Chelek HaTachlit 15; Shomer Emunim 1:9 which cites several earlier sources. Also see Gra to Yoreh Deah 246:4, and Abarbanel’s introduction to his comments on Ezekiel.

[3]          That doesn’t mean to say that we of the traditional community have a “lock” on truth in light of that, since one’s readings of the traditional insights could prove to have been wrong in the end, too. It only means to argue for humility and for patience in the search for truth, which this is all about in the end.

(c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

At one point in his comments to Petach 7 Ramchal says that the whole array of God’s governance, as exemplified by the traits of Divine tolerance (Chessed), strictness (Gevurah), and judiciousness (Rachamim), constitutes The Merkava (“Chariot”) that the prophets were able to envision. We’ll lay out the details of all this later on in this work but for now it’s important to explore the concept of The Merkava itself, since it has all sorts of associations in Kabbalistic and Rabbinic literature [1].

The term Merkava is mentioned quite a lot of times in Tanach, but the term is specifically taken to refer to Ezekiel’s vision as recorded in the first chapter of his work [2]. But chariots themselves do play significant roles in Tanach.

Pharaoh had Joseph ride in a chariot that would signal his coming to be second-in-command (Genesis 41:43, 46:29, and 50:9); King David’s heir-apparent Absalom was acquired a chariot along with horses and 50 runners to signify his stature (II Samuel 15:1, I Kings 1:5), and the prophet Elijah was said to have “ascended up to heaven in a whirlwind” upon “a chariot of fire (II Kings 2:11). So a chariot was clearly an important indicator of prestige and ascendance.

So, what’s the significance of the Merkava in the tradition, and why were we told that “The Account of the Merkava should only be taught to the wise and to those able to deduce through wisdom on their own” (Chagiga 2:1)?

Notes:

[1]       For one thing, Ramchal refers there to the combination of Chessed, Gevurah, and Rachamim as a “herkava” (a blend), which is obviously entomologically related to merkava. As such, the word merkava itself could merely be a different construct of “blend”. But Ramchal purposefully and unequivocally equates it with the Merkava that the prophets envisioned.

[2]       In Mishna Chagiga 2:1 the chapter is said to refer to Ma’aseh Merkava — an accounting of the Merkava (experience). In fact, the term Merkava isn’t cited in that chapter at all (or in chapters 8 and 10 there which refer to vision). But see I Chronicles 28:18.

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Along the same lines, many of the ancients spoke of the human form as the universal pattern, and of the universe thus being a single entity with many parts [1]. Perhaps the most beautiful depiction of the gist of that was Bachya Ibn Pakudah’s when he said that if you “observe the world as a whole (you’ll notice that) it emerges as a (single) complex composite of (many) parts, not even one of which is expendable. In fact, we experience it as a fully furnished house, with sky overhead as its roof, earth below as its bed, stars set about like lights, a variety of necessities stored away like buried treasure, with mankind in charge of it like a head of the house, making use of it all. There are all sorts of plants there for his sake and all kinds of animals for his use as well… The sun shines and sets to fix the course of day and night, it ascends and descends to furnish the world with heat and cold, so summer and winter can keep to their fixed and best courses without interruption… And the spheres rotate on course, stars and constellations move about in measured, even and immutable courses” (Chovot HaLevovot 1:6).

But these are obviously material (albeit cosmic) parallels to Ari’s Adam Kadmon which probably fed into and triggered his metaphysical understandings of it. Let’s see now what Ramchal said about Adam Kadmon aside from his key remarks cited in the body of Petach 12 [2].

“Everything (in the universe) is part of a single phenomenon that’s comprised of many elements” which is Adam Kadmon, he says; and he offers the following as proof-text, “As it’s written: “Let us make (a) Man in our image, after our likeness’ (Genesis 1:26)”. He then intensifies that with the remark that “this likeness”, Adam Kadmon, “incorporates all of the holy Forces” which refers to all the Sephirot, Olamot (i.e., “Worlds”, to be explained below), and Partzufim that Ari expands upon.

Then he goes on to illustrate how Adam Kadmon is comprised of many interconnected “body-parts”, as we’d cited before, by making use of their Partzuf and Olam (singular of Olamot) elements. As he puts it, “just as each individual Partzuf divides into 613 mystical lights which are its 613 ‘limbs’, the same is true of all of existence which is also comprised of 613 ‘limbs’, all of which constitute a single likeness. For even though each of the worlds is considered to be a world (unto itself), they’re all only limbs of this overall likeness. And all their connections and affiliations are (actually instances of) the connections and affiliations between these limbs”. We’ll explain the details cited here later on.

The final element of his depictions of Adam Kadmon is the fact that it’s said to illustrate God’s governance. We’ll use this theme to address why Ramchal speaks of Adam Kadmon here, so early on in Klach Pitchei Chochma, when he delves into it at length later on — most obviously in Petachim 31-35, which serves as a section unto itself that’s entitled “Adam Kadmon and its Offshoots”, and elsewhere.

As he puts it here, the various phenomena we see in the universe “aren’t separate items created for all sorts of reasons. There’s one single aim for everything”, which is to “allude to (God’s) governance”, given that “everything that occurs in the universe is part of (this) governance”. And he goes on to point out that aim of His governance is to bestow utter goodness upon creation, which is to say, to manifest His Yichud as discussed earlier.

As such, it’s clear that Ramchal’s objective behind citing Adam Kadmon here is to underscore his central theme, which, as stated in Petach 12, is that the whole on-going process of (God’s) governance (of the universe) … which the Emanator instituted was in fact instituted with the (singular) goal of bestowing utter goodness upon creation, which is the revelation of God’s Yichud.

His main point then is that everything in the universe serves its purpose, and each and every thing will illustrate God’s Yichud and play a role in His intentions to bring the universe to perfection.

But he’s also underscoring a couple of other very important things: first, the fact that while the many details of Adam Kadmon — the whole of reality — and its mechanics do indeed matter in our understanding of God’s governance of the cosmos, at bottom what matters most is that we know that the whole of reality has one Divine goal which we’re never to forget. Secondly, that there are only two beings at bottom: God and the universe; and that the two are constantly interacting.

Notes:

[1]       See Ibn Ezra’s comments to Exodus 25:40, Kuzari (4:3), and Moreh Nevuchim (1:72) for example.

[2]       All the citations here are from Ramchal’s comments to Petach 12.

(c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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Let’s backtrack a bit. No one before Ari spoke of Adam Kadmon; in fact, it was one of his greatest innovations. Ezekiel the prophet saw “on the likeness of the throne … a likeness like the appearance of a man upon it above” (Ezekiel 1:26) which does seem to allude to it, but most declare that it refers to God’s presence or governance.

The Zohar refers to Adam, the first human, as Adam Kadma (“original man”), which while related to the term Adam Kadmon, is nonetheless not identical with it, and the Zohar simply does nothing to expand on the theme whatsoever there (3, 279b). But the Tikkunei Zohar does speak of an Adam Kadmon (p. 42a), a first Adam; but then it speaks of a second, and a third Adam as well. Still and all, it’s fairly clear in context there (as the commentators point out) that it’s referring to Adam the man himself and his position in the various worlds.

Yet elsewhere the Tikkunei Zohar does indeed cite an Adam Kadmon that seems to be exactly what Ari was referring to (p. 120a). It’s said there to refer to Keter, the highest Sephira, but the verse “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’” (Genesis 1:26) is cited there, the text speaks of the various “images” and “likenesses” that Adam Kadmon assumes which goes at the heart of Ramchal’s theme here, it speaks of Adam Kadmon’s “body-parts” the way Ari does, and it speaks of it in other “Adamic” terms. So this seems to be a clear precedent for Ari’s Adam Kadmon indeed [1].

Note:

[1]          Also see Sefer Bahir 82, 172 for accounts of man’s body-parts as refection’s of the Divine form

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

The next theme Ramchal offers here is that all of creation is a single entity in human form known as Adam Kadmon. As he words it “the whole on-going process of governance (of the universe) … and the whole of creation (itself) encompasses one single phenomenon and order … (that is) the mystic figure of a (single) “person” with all his body-parts, which are all inter-connected exactly as they would be in a person (Petach 12). We’d cited Adam Kadmon (“Primordial Man”) before but let’s now explore it.

For one thing, this raises the whole issue of anthropomorphism, since Adam Kadmon seems to be such a blatant and resolute instance of it. But we’ll return to anthropomorphism below when we discuss Ramchal’s discussion of prophetic imagery.

The earliest allusion to Adam Kadmon is the statement in Breishit Rabbah to the effect that God first created the first man, Adam, as an unformed lump (see Psalms 139:16); as having been created him before the rest of creation; and as having spread him out from one corner of the universe to the other” (8:1). As such, Adam Kadmon is usually depicted as having been formed out of the unformed non-material stuff that preceded the universe, and as then occupying the entirety of the space devoid of God that He’d allowed for with the Tzimtzum.

The other element of Adam Kadmon is that it’s also said to be “Macrocosm” or large-depiction of the “Microcosm” or small-depiction that is the physical universe; and that is illustrated in the Zohar by the idea that Adam Kadmon is “in the image of everything that is above and below” (3, 141b). The truth of the matter is that the above Midrash also alludes to that, in that the original, universe-wide Adam can be seen as the source of the eventual earth-bound Adam.

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

Here’s how Ramchal explains the unique role that Malchut plays in the prophetic visions themselves [1]. As the last Sephira of the lot above and the first of the lot below, and the aforementioned entranceway to both, “Malchut … stands in the middle between the emanation and reception” processes. The difference between the two is as follows, though: “The powers of emanation up above are pure” i.e., utterly undifferentiated and formless, while everything down below is differentiated and formed where they’re received.

“So the Shechina must forge a bond between them (i.e., between the powers of emanation and of reception) when they (i.e., the emanations) descend below”.  They thus must pass through Malchut, the gateway, which enables them to “reach their places in the lower worlds” and to be received appropriately.

So much for the mechanics; but what is it about the nature of Malchut itself that allows for the various phenomena to be seen? Ramchal offers that Malchut acts as a sort of “lens” through which the images appear.

So while this is all conjecture on our part, we’d suggest that the prophet would somehow or another have to “enter” Malchut and, drawing upon its lens and gateway properties, he’d have to ascend to somehow get a sense of what was found above, then descend and “translate” what he’d seen into worldly terms.

Notes:

[1]       The quotes are from his own comments to Petach 11.

(c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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As to Ramchal’s and others’ portrayal of the role of the Sephira of Malchut in all this, it comes to the following. As the last of the ten Sephirot, Malchut is the repository of the lot of them [1] and is dependent upon them all for its light and abilities [2].  Yet it also serves as the mechanism through which the original plans are carried out [3] and actualized [4], and the world’s “architect” [5]. That’s what Ramchal was referring to when he said that Malchut is the root of the lower realms (Petach 11).

It’s equated with “land” [6] or, as we’d put it in modern terms, the “ground” or “ground floor”. Thus, in order to go from one level to a lower one, an individual must first pass through the higher one’s Malchut [7]. At that point Malchut no longer functions as the “ground floor” anymore, but rather as a new “ceiling” (i.e., Keter) of the lower level [8]. Malchut thus serves as the entranceway and port to lower and higher worlds. And that’s the import of Ramchal’s statement that one can only “ascend” or “receive” through Malchut (Petach 11).

Notes:

[1]       Eitz Chaim 6:5.

[2]       Zohar 1, 249b, Tikkunei Zohar 82b.

[3]       Eitz Chaim 3:1.

[4]       Zohar Chadash 34c.

[5]       Pardes 11:2. An architect in Ramak’s time almost undoubtedly served as a project’s principle builder rather than the sort of executive planner we understand the term to mean. So perhaps “master-craftsman” would better serve.

[6]       Zohar 1, 31b.

[7]       See Eitz Chaim 23:6, 76:2.

[8]       See Pardes 12:83.

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Ramchal speaks to all of the above throughout Klach Pitchei Chochma and in his other esoteric works as well, as one would expect. But he treats it rather peripherally in his more “popular” works like Derech Hashem and Ma’amar HaIkkurim [1]; whereas in Da’at Tevunot he couches it in terms of Creation Ex Nihilo [2] which the earlier sages spoke a lot about [3].

There’s a fundamental and vital difference though between the idea of Creation Ex Nihilo and the Kabbalistic idea of Sephirot, etc. Non-Kabbalists — Jewish and non-Jewish — argued from a perspective of everything arising anew out of sheer nothingness by Divine fiat from a God who was and is still very separate from it, whereas the Kabbalists argue that God Himself is the “No-thing” from which creation emanated and that He is still connected to it.

Returning to Ramchal’s statement we find that he says at the very end of Da’at Tevunot (193-195) that when God created “material substance”, which was “an utterly new phenomenon” — that’s to say that it’s utterly unlike His own Being — He did it in a way that we simply cannot fathom. He’s not arguing against Ari’s depictions here so much as pointing out that while, like Ari, one can arrive at metaphors that serve to address the issues at hand, one cannot actually depict the process itself since it occurred beyond space and time, and within God’s very Being. The metaphoric or non-metaphoric nature of Ari’s depictions proved to be a very controversial subject which we’ll discuss in some detail later on in this section, but suffice it to say that it’s easy to determine Ramchal’s stance on that from this statement alone.

In any event, the remark that sums up our concerns here reads, “When (God) wanted to create material substance out of ‘nothing’ (i.e., out of His Being) He set up an utterly original system of emanation from His Being that was meant to allow for this material substance”. And that “original system” alludes to Ari’s entire depiction [4].

We’ll discuss Ramchal’s portrayal of the Sephira of Malchut next.

Notes:

[1]       He only addresses the process of creation in passing in Ma’amar HaIkkurim where he differentiates between God Himself, His “Transcendent Forces” (Nivdalim, i.e., the Sephirot, Partzufim, etc.), and the various created entities that followed from angels and souls downwards. He offers much of the same, though in more detail, in Derech Hashem, where he likewise differentiates between all of that (see the first chapter; 1:5:1, 3-4) but see 2:5:1, 3, 6 where he addresses the issue of emanation which is to be discussed below.

[2]       That is, the creation of the universe “out of the blue”, i.e., out of sheer nothingness (but see Da’at Tevunot 80, near the beginning, for some allusion to the Ari’s system).

[3]          See Sa’adiah Gaon’s Emunot v’Deot 1:1–2; Ibn Gabirol’s Keter Malchut; Rambam’s Moreh Nevuchim 2:22, 24-25; Crescas’ Ohr Hashem 3:1, 4–5; etc.

[4]          As we’ll see, Ramchal also discusses the rarely cited Creation Ex Nihilo system known in Sefer Yetzirah as “Tsur Tak” in Petach 39 (in his comments there).

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