{"id":914,"date":"2011-11-07T11:13:23","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T16:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ramchal.wordpress.com\/?p=914"},"modified":"2011-11-07T11:13:23","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T16:13:23","slug":"the-solution-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/2011\/11\/07\/the-solution-part-6\/","title":{"rendered":"The solution (Part 6)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we\u2019d said, Ramchal makes the point in Petach<\/em> 28 that the line\u2019s interactions with the trace are in accordance with the makeup and needs of the <\/strong>trace <\/strong>and everything connected with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll explain this by first offering this statement by Ari: \u201cThe top of this line extends from Ein<\/em> Sof<\/em> and makes contact with Him (there), but the other end, at the other extreme of the line, does not<\/em> touch the light of Ein<\/em> Sof<\/em>\u201d [1]. That\u2019s to say that while the line emanates outward from Ein<\/em> Sof<\/em>, as we\u2019d indicated already, it stops at a certain point close to the end of the trace environment without going all the way to the end, and without re-entering into the Ein<\/em> Sof<\/em> at the other end.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s so because if the line went straight from Ein<\/em> Sof<\/em> at point A to Ein<\/em> Sof<\/em> at point B (or at any point, for that matter), then the trace environment would be undone and \u201cpierced\u201d, the \u201cbubble\u201d would \u201cburst\u201d, so to speak, and all would be Ein<\/em> Sof<\/em> again as at the beginning.<\/p>\n

So God could be said to have had the line that pierces through the trace environment end<\/em> at a certain point so as to insure that it be finite, and to thus allow for reality as we know it. That way all interactions between God and the universe by means of the line are in keeping with the makeup and needs of our reality, not God\u2019s own.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Ramchal meant when he said in Petach<\/em> 28 that all of this<\/strong> — i.e., the line\u2019s interactions with the trace environment — is <\/strong>done only in such a way that the line accommodates itself to <\/strong>the makeup and needs of the trace <\/strong>and everything connected with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>That once again implies that God purposefully created our finite universe, that He interacts with it, and that He only interacts with it in ways that do not threaten the finite universe\u2019s boundaries or existence: that is, He purposely accedes to our needs to allow us our being.<\/p>\n

This is likewise explained by this, from, Petach<\/em> 27:<\/p>\n

Whatever God actually brings about within the trace <\/strong>environment is tailored to<\/strong> the needs of created phenomena, even though He Himself acts according to His perfection <\/strong>in the background, if you will. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ramchal adds another, more obscure point here, which is somewhat tangential: From the perspective of created phenomena, it is the trace, while from the perspective of the line God is acting according to His own perfection. <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s to say that from our perspective, the trace environment with all its ambiguities predominates; from God\u2019s perspective as He peers down upon through the lens of the line, though, it\u2019s actually the sovereignty environment, without any ambiguities, that predominates.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Tree of Life<\/em>, p. 15 (with slight changes)<\/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, Ramchal makes the point in Petach 28 that the line\u2019s interactions with the trace are in accordance with the makeup and needs of the trace and everything connected with it. We\u2019ll explain this by first offering this … 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-914","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\/914","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=914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ramchal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}