1.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n What I want to do in this work is clarify certain ostensibly simple things that everyone contends with and which a lot of ink has been spilt over trying to explain, that still-and-all haven\u2019t been spelled out clearly or adequately enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n Notice that Ashlag is claiming that he\u2019ll be clearing up some seemingly \u201csimple things\u201d which is a fairly humble way for him to put it, since he\u2019ll set out here to solve things that have bothered thinking people for millennia — like the meaning of life, our role in the universe, our relationship to God, and the like!<\/p>\n He apparently terms the things he\u2019ll first touch on as “ostensibly simple” because we tend to think we know the answers already, but his point is that we really don\u2019t. And he implies that he has an entirely different approach to all of it, largely because he does.<\/p>\n Here are the conundrums he\u2019ll be solving for us:<\/p>\n What are we essentially? What role do we play in the great course of events in the cosmos? Why were we created as imperfect as we are — after all, shouldn\u2019t a perfect Creator’s products be perfect themselves? Why did God create so many people who suffer and are tried their whole lives long? And, how could finite, mortal, and ephemeral creatures like ourselves ever derive from an Infinite Being like God as we\u2019re said to?<\/p>\n We\u2019d clearly need to first dissect the questions before we can begin to answer them, but let\u2019s go on though to present the questions. There are five in all. They\u2019re this work\u2019s most basic, underlying questions. There\u2019ll be others, too, but they will be secondary (and tertiary) to these.<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n First of all, what are we essentially?<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s no question asked more often than this one, on one level or another, both by each one of us about ourselves and by humankind at large.<\/p>\n We all know what we are basically. We\u2019re this body, this mind; with these feelings, these opinions, this sense of truth, these experiences, etc. But those aren\u2019t us, our selves. They can be termed our \u201coutright self\u201d — the combination of this and that with which we greet others, and which we take into consideration when we think about ourselves. But they\u2019re not what we are essentially.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t assume, though, that Ashlag is going to say that our souls<\/em> are our essential self, as so many do. He\u2019ll contend that we\u2019re defined by some other phenomenon; and that while we do indeed have souls, we\u2019re to know that they too are part of the \u201coutright self\u201d (albeit a deeper, more abstruse and subliminal, immortal aspect of it, as we\u2019ll illustrate in Ch\u2019s 9 and 20 below).<\/p>\n But now let’s turn to the rest of Ashlag\u2019s underlying questions, which touch on our place in the grand scheme of things, our stature, God\u2019s intentions for the universe, the place of pain and suffering, and our relationship to God.<\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n Second, what role do we play in the great course of events which we\u2019re such minor players in?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019d only be expected to wonder where we fit in, once we know who we are at bottom, which was the gist of the first question. After all, given that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, purposeful, and well-intentioned too (as we\u2019ll soon determine), it follows that everything and everyone created by Him must play some role or another in His creation. So, which one do we humans play?<\/p>\n Is it a major or a minor role? We\u2019d imagine we\u2019d only be expected to play a minor one, seeing how thick in the midst of so much matter and so many events and phenomena far more colossal and portentous than us we seem to be.<\/p>\n 4.<\/p>\n Third, when we consider ourselves closely we find ourselves to be as tainted and lowly as can be, and yet (conversely) when we look at our Creator we can\u2019t help but praise Him for how utterly exalted He is! But wouldn\u2019t a perfect Creator’s creations be expected to be perfect?<\/strong><\/p>\n That’s to say, we seem to be so base and garish at bottom, while God Almighty our Creator is so grand and sublime — which then raises the question of why one such as He would create us as we are. (See Ch. 17 below.)<\/p>\n 5.<\/p>\n Fourth, logic would suggest that God is all-good and utterly benevolent. So, how could He have purposefully created so many people who suffer and are tried their whole lives long? Wouldn\u2019t an all-good Creator be expected to be benevolent — if not at least less malevolent?<\/strong><\/p>\n God has no needs. After all, He’s perfect, utterly self sufficient, independent of everything, and fully contained. Thus everything He does is for “the other”. And since a being who does things only for the other is benevolent (by definition, since there\u2019d be no need for him to harm the other, which is only a self-serving need), then why does God indeed allow so many of us to suffer? It seems so \u201cout of character\u201d for Him.<\/p>\n Understand the ramifications of this question, if you will.<\/p>\n For indeed nothing lies deeper beneath the surface of human consciousness than the fact of suffering and the distinct possibility of sudden, virulent woe at that. After all, who hasn\u2019t heard of quick accidents out of the blue that maimed their victims? Or of sudden gunshots rushing through windows and mangling chance targets?<\/p>\n There are two broad reactions to that fear overall, though. The first is based on a deep and primal conviction that no Divine Entity would ever allow such a thing to happen, so when it does, that proves that there\u2019s no God. But the second reaction is based on the equally deep and primal conviction that nothing is as it appears to be (which is confirmed every day), and that while God\u2019s ways are largely inexplicable, He still-and-all has our best interests in mind. Those who believe that<\/em> draw comfort from the idea that when we suffer, we do so for some good reason. Yet they\u2019re still thrown by their pain and misery, and left in an emotional — if not a philosophical — quandary.<\/p>\n So we\u2019d need to understand the underpinnings of suffering in fact if we\u2019re to be steadfast in our faith.<\/p>\n 6.<\/p>\n And fifth, how could finite, mortal, and ephemeral creatures (like us) ever derive from an Infinite Being who is without beginning or end?<\/strong><\/p>\n In other words, how did we manage to be products of an Almighty Creator who\u2019s so unlike us, as we indicated (See Ch. 18 below)?<\/p>\n (c) 2010 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a> 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":" 1. What I want to do in this work is clarify certain ostensibly simple things that everyone contends with and which a lot of ink has been spilt over trying to explain, that still-and-all haven\u2019t been spelled out clearly or … Continue reading
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