<\/b>Petach<\/i> 57 ends with the following. <\/b>After the vessels involved in the Shevira<\/i> process \u201cfunctioned as \u2026 imperfect phenomena\u201d (Petach<\/i> 54), and AV<\/i> became a dominant force (Petachim<\/i> 55-57),\u00a0 it then became necessary for 288 sparks <\/b>[1] of holiness that remained behind after the breaking of the vessels to descend from there<\/b> i.e., from the Chariot, so as to bolster and sustain the vessels that were descending <\/b>in the course of the breaking process. And that was so that there wouldn\u2019t be utter annihilation, and so that there\u2019d be <\/b>the <\/b>possibility of a<\/b> way<\/b> of returning and being repaired <\/b>instead.<\/b><\/p>\n
As is explained in Ramchal\u2019s comments here, this harkens back to the point made earlier on, in Petach<\/i> 30, that even though God\u2019s sovereignty was concealed, it still functioned of course. The effect of that came to manifest itself in the balancing of two opposing forces: on one level, rah<\/i> had to function (so as to allow for free will, and to seem to thwart God\u2019s Sovereignty), but it couldn\u2019t be allowed to continue to hold sway forever, or else the world would be destroyed in the end. So, 288 means of reparation were allowed to sprinkle about in the ether, if you will, so that there\u2019d be more than a tiny chance that all could go well eventually.<\/p>\n
As a result <\/b>of those 288 sparks, <\/b>Ramchal concludes, the phenomena of this world came to be such that a single power<\/b>, i.e., the Shechina<\/i>, would remain so that the world wouldn\u2019t be destroyed, God forbid, and so that what had been damaged could be repaired through this remaining power<\/b><\/p>\n
Notes: <\/b><\/p>\n
[1] \u00a0Quite simply, 288 is the value of the four AV\u2019<\/i>s spoken of above (i.e., 4 x 72 = 288). But there are another couple of reasons why there came to be 288 sparks specifically, all of which underscore the importance of AV<\/i> in all this.<\/p>\n
As Ramchal explains in his comments here, in fact \u201cvery many sparks \u2026 descended with the vessels …. But it became necessary to formulate a specific amount that would total 288. For if not, it would have meant either that there was no need for any specific number at all\u201d, which would defeat the lesson to be learned about the centrality of AV<\/i>, \u201cor that all the sparks that descended would have been counted as a single one\u201d, i.e. as a single amorphous conglomeration of all, without that same focus on AV<\/i>, \u201cor that the initial levels in each name\u201d, i.e., the specific instance of AV<\/i>, <\/b>SaG<\/i>, MaH<\/i>, and BaN<\/i> themselves \u201cwould have been counted\u201d rather than AV <\/i>itself.<\/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":" Petach 57 ends with the following. After the vessels involved in the Shevira process \u201cfunctioned as \u2026 imperfect phenomena\u201d (Petach 54), and AV became a dominant force (Petachim 55-57),\u00a0 it then became necessary for 288 sparks [1] of holiness that … Continue reading