{"id":517,"date":"2011-03-20T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2011-03-20T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ramchal.wordpress.com\/?p=517"},"modified":"2011-03-20T12:00:57","modified_gmt":"2011-03-20T16:00:57","slug":"god-purposefully-created-a-world-of-relativity-opposites-multiplicity-and-nuance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/2011\/03\/20\/god-purposefully-created-a-world-of-relativity-opposites-multiplicity-and-nuance\/","title":{"rendered":"God purposefully created a world of relativity, opposites, multiplicity, and nuance"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Ramchal laid it out elsewhere, \u201camong the fundamental things that God instituted\u201d when He created the world \u201cwere the factors of \u2018measure\u2019 and \u2018dimension\u2019\u201d, which is to say sequence and the subsequent reality of relativity, \u201c\u2026 because He wanted (the world) to function sequentially, \u2026 (so that) one (thing) would be beneath another one, and so on down the line\u201d or some other thing would be above another. The point is that God created sequence so that things would compare and contrast with each other positively or negatively, both physically and<\/em> morally<\/em>, as we\u2019ll discuss below (Da\u2019at Tevunot<\/em> 118).<\/p>\n

We\u2019re thus told that God purposefully created a world of relativity, opposites, multiplicity, nuance, and — the truth be known — doubt. For \u201cthanks to\u201d measure and dimension we have the ability to catch sight here and there of God\u2019s intention, but we\u2019ve nevertheless been forbidden entrance into God\u2019s own realm of unity and absolute truth in the process. That affects our thoughts, utterances, and actions; it influences our inner beings very, very deeply; and it too has great bearing on our moral and spiritual standing.<\/p>\n

Before we discuss Ramchal\u2019s view of human morality though, let\u2019s see his other major point about God\u2019s usage of sequence.<\/p>\n

As he points out at a certain juncture, \u201csequence is what allows for time\u201d to exist (comment to Petach<\/em> 121). That\u2019s a very important point, needless to say, given that we depend on time for our knowledge of the world and ourselves. Yet he points out elsewhere that \u201ctime \u2026 won\u2019t exist in the World to Come\u201d (Adir<\/em> Bamarom<\/em> 1, p. 107) indicating that it\u2019s a temporary phenomenon. Still and all it is indeed a vital factor, for as Ramchal says elsewhere, the sort of universal perfection we\u2019re promised with the revelation of God\u2019s Yichud <\/em>\u201cwon\u2019t occur in one fell swoop but rather sequentially\u201d and in the process of time (comments to Petach<\/em> 42).<\/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 Ramchal laid it out elsewhere, \u201camong the fundamental things that God instituted\u201d when He created the world \u201cwere the factors of \u2018measure\u2019 and \u2018dimension\u2019\u201d, which is to say sequence and the subsequent reality of relativity, \u201c\u2026 because He wanted … 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-517","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\/517","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=517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}