Ramchal begins this section with a retroactive excursion into the experiences of the first three and the final seven of the ten Sephirot<\/i> of Nikkudim<\/i> in the course of the breaking of the vessels.<\/p>\n
As we already pointed out in 8:1 above, the World of Nikkudim<\/i> was comprised of ten Sephirot<\/i> with a fundamental difference between its first three and the seven others, though. For, while the first three didn\u2019t shatter (though they did experience a sort of \u201cdegradation\u201d, as we\u2019ll see), the latter seven did. And they plunged to the realm that was eventually to be occupied by the worlds of Briah<\/i>, Yetzirah<\/i>, and Assiyah<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Ramchal begins with a discussion of the latter [1]. He offers that the<\/b> seven lower<\/b> Sephirot<\/i>, i.e., Chessed, Gevurah, Tipheret, Netzach, Yesod, and Malchut<\/i>, which are<\/b>, i.e., correspond to, the seven days of creation, are the root of the created realm <\/b>[2]. <\/b>As he offers in his own comments there, \u201cthe Kabbalists termed these seven \u2018the Sephirot<\/i> that (were used to) build (the physical universe)\u2019, as in the expression, \u2018the world was build upon Kindness (i.e., the Sephira<\/i> of Chessed<\/i>) (Psalms 59:3)\u2019 \u201d, which they did [3].<\/p>\n
Notes:<\/p>\n
[1] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 See elsewhere in Ramchal\u2019s works for ideas discussed in this Petach<\/i>, including: Iggerot Pitchei Chochma v\u2019Da\u2019at<\/i> 38; Klallei Chochmat HaEmes<\/i> 34, 69; and in Adir<\/i> Bamarom<\/i> pp. 26a and 28b.<\/p>\n
[2] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 See Petach<\/i> 115 below.<\/p>\n
[3] \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0See for example Eitz Chaim, Sha\u2019ar HaMalchim<\/i> 6; Ramban\u2019s commentary to Genesis 1:3 as well as to Sefer Yetzirah<\/i> beginning of 1:1 and end of 1:4; and see Ma\u2019arechet<\/i> Elohut<\/i> ch\u2019s 7, 8.<\/p>\n
(c) 2013 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 begins this section with a retroactive excursion into the experiences of the first three and the final seven of the ten Sephirot of Nikkudim in the course of the breaking of the vessels. As we already pointed out in … Continue reading