As we\u2019d said earlier on, Ramchal declared that we\u2019re to study Kabbalah because it \u201cexplains how everything created and fashioned in the universe emanated from the Supreme Will\u201d; because 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; because \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); and most especially because Kabbalah \u201ccomes to exhibit the truth of (the Jewish) Faith\u201d [1].<\/p>\n
But there are many who study it for all the wrong reasons simply because they don\u2019t understand it. On one level they can\u2019t be blamed because, as Ramchal put it, \u201cAri hardly explained himself since he didn\u2019t want to express his thoughts (openly) in writing\u201d. But as a consequence of that, \u201chis readers took his words literally and (understood them) on a superficial level\u201d. But that\u2019s not right he said — it didn\u2019t \u201cat all\u201d befit \u201ca subject of study\u201d of this caliber. And as a result all we have, for all intents and purposes, are \u201cnames and themes that one would have to memorize\u201d, which is tantamount to \u201ca table of contents\u201d. So we\u2019re left \u201cwithout knowing their intentions or meaning\u201d (Introduction to Ma\u2019amar HaVichuach<\/em>).<\/p>\n So what he set out to do, he wrote in a letter, was to \u201ceradicate the mistaken notion that there are (for example) lights that (literally) turn into \u2018circles\u2019 or \u2018lines\u2019 as some believe\u201d, which \u201cthe ear simply cannot accept\u201d. He took it upon himself to \u201cspell out the referent in each metaphor found in Ari\u2019s writings\u201d (Iggerot Ramchal<\/em> 50).<\/p>\n (c) 2011 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":" As we\u2019d said earlier on, Ramchal declared that we\u2019re to study Kabbalah because it \u201cexplains how everything created and fashioned in the universe emanated from the Supreme Will\u201d; because it \u201cshows how everything is governed the right way by the … Continue reading