{"id":143,"date":"2010-11-21T06:52:06","date_gmt":"2010-11-21T10:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ramchal.wordpress.com\/?p=143"},"modified":"2010-11-21T06:52:06","modified_gmt":"2010-11-21T10:52:06","slug":"ramchals-reasons-for-studying-kabbalah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/2010\/11\/21\/ramchals-reasons-for-studying-kabbalah\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramchal’s Reasons for Studying Kabbalah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ramchal offers this as an introduction to Petach<\/em> 1 as well as to Klach<\/em> Petach<\/em> Chochma<\/em> itself which explains why we\u2019re to study Kabbalah. As he suggests, we ourselves derive a lot from the study of Kabbalah.<\/p>\n

After all, it \u201cexplains how everything created and fashioned in the universe emanated from the Supreme Will\u201d step by step, rather than out of sheer nothingness and at random. It \u201cshows how everything is governed the right way by the One God, blessed be He, so as to ultimately bring all of creation to (a state of) utter perfection\u201d. That\u2019s to say that by studying Kabbalah we\u2019ll catch sight of and follow God\u2019s overarching presence and sovereignty in the cosmos as His intentions work themselves out in the course of history towards a glorious end. (What will allow us to do that, by the way, is the fact that \u201call the details of this science [i.e., Kabbalah] serve as a laying-out of all the laws and processes [involved] in [God\u2019s] governance\u201d of the universe.)<\/p>\n

At bottom, though, Kabbalah \u201ccomes to exhibit the truth of (the Jewish) Faith\u201d, which is to say that what Kabbalah does better than anything else is explain in detail the metaphysical processes lying behind what we\u2019re to do as Jews, what we mean when we affirm that there\u2019s only one God, and why we\u2019re to cling fast on to God\u2019s Presence as we\u2019re implored to again and again [1].<\/p>\n

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Notes:<\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0As Ramchal worded it at a certain point, \u201cPeople neither know nor understand G-d\u2019s actual actions or (the idea and the ramifications of the fact) that He actually governs the universe. Instead, they attribute everything to nature, or to the stars and constellations\u201d (Introduction to Ma\u2019amar<\/em> HaVichuach<\/em> p. 19).<\/p>\n

Elsewhere Ramchal explains that the kabbalistic system serves three distinct functions over-all: it illustrates how the various names and depictions of God\u2019s traits offered in the Torah and elsewhere apply (which he terms Kabbalah\u2019s most \u201csuperficial\u201d function); it demonstrates the fact that God will eventually exhibit His abiding beneficence, which will then lead to the undoing of all wrongdoing and to the ultimate reward of the righteous (which will be discussed in the 2nd<\/sup> petach<\/em>); and lastly (what Ramchal terms its\u00a0most significant<\/em> <\/em>role) Kabbalah reveals God\u2019s\u00a0Yichud<\/em> and ever-presence, and shows just how everything will return to its Source (end of\u00a0Iggrot Pitchei Chochma v\u2019Da\u2019at<\/em>). This last, decidedly recondite, point — which could perhaps be termed The Great Implosion — is part of \u201cthe truth of the [Jewish] faith\u201d cited above, which Ramchal contends few of us understand. We\u2019ll return to this idea.<\/p>\n

An unknown student of Ramchal cited some other cogent reasons to study Kabbalah based on Ramchal\u2019s teachings, in a work known as\u00a0Klallim Mitoch Sefer Milchemet Moshe<\/em> (found on pp. 349- 365 of R\u2019 Friedlander\u2019s edition of\u00a0Da\u2019at Tevunot – Sefer HaKlallim<\/em>).<\/p>\n

One more cogent point is made about the role of Kabbalah at the end of the second\u00a0petach,<\/em> <\/em>where we\u2019re told that the Kabbalistic system will illustrate just how \u201ceverything comes only from God<\/em>\u201d and how \u201cHis \u2026 will to be beneficent will endure forever and nothing else<\/em>\u201d. See Ramchal\u2019s\u00a0Klallei Milchamot Moshe<\/em>, his\u00a0Choker u\u2019Mekubal<\/em>, as well as\u00a0petach<\/em> 12 and 30 below for further discussions of this.<\/p>\n

One of Ramchal\u2019s points here is that Kabbalah is in fact a\u00a0chochma<\/em> — a science, with the implication that it calls for independent thought and analysis, agreeing with HaYashar m\u2019Kandia\u2019s important work entitled\u00a0Novlot Chochma<\/em> among other early sources. That disagrees though with R\u2019 R.M. Ibn Gabai\u2019s\u00a0Shomer Emunim<\/em> along with others who say it\u2019s a\u00a0Kabbalah<\/em> — literally a tradition, implying that independent thought and analysis is anathema to it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to know that some latter-day Kabbalists disagreed with Ramchal\u2019s assessment of the role of Kabbalah, including the Hassidic Master, Rabbi Meshulam Feivish of Zhebariza, the author of\u00a0Yosher Divrei Emmet<\/em>; and Rabbi Shlomo Eliyashuv, the author of\u00a0Leshem Shevo v\u2019Achlamah<\/em> (Sefer HaDeah<\/em> p. 57).<\/p>\n

But see Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlop\u2019s\u00a0Mai<\/em> Marom<\/em> Ch. 8 note 17 (cited by Rabbi S. Debliztky in his approbation to Rabbi Mordechai Shriki\u2019s\u00a0Derech Chochmat haEmet<\/em>) where he explains Ramchal\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

(c) 2010 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n

———————————————————-<\/p>\n

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here<\/a> at a discount.<\/p>\n

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here<\/a> at a discount as well.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).<\/p>\n

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ramchal offers this as an introduction to Petach 1 as well as to Klach Petach Chochma itself which explains why we\u2019re to study Kabbalah. As he suggests, we ourselves derive a lot from the study of Kabbalah. After all, it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}