1.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 That now leaves us with the sixth inquiry to explain. <\/strong><\/p>\n See 3:4.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 (As we’d stated there), our sages said that all the upper worlds as well as this corporeal one were created for man\u2019s sake alone. But isn\u2019t that strange? After all, why would God bother to create all that for man, who\u2019s so insignificant and hasn\u2019t a hair\u2019s-breadth of worth in comparison to all that we see before us in this world — to say nothing of the upper worlds. And besides, why would man need (for there to be) such august and hallowed worlds?<\/strong><\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 (But in order to explain just how vitally significant mankind is we\u2019ll start off with this.) It\u2019s important to know that the satisfaction that God derives from granting His creatures pleasure depends on the extent to which they sense that it\u2019s He<\/em> who\u2019s bestowing it. For when they do, God regales with them much the way a father regales with his beloved child when he senses that the child understands the father\u2019s greatness and magnitude. It\u2019s then that the father reveals all the treasures he\u2019d prepared for the child. <\/strong><\/p>\n God can be said to be thrilled when we, His children, take note of His presence and catch sight of His bounteous goodness and grandeur; and He wants to grant us even more goodness than before and of an even higher rank as a result — His full presence. For only mankind can recognize God’s presence in the face of things that seem to deny it, since lesser beings can’t recognize it at all, and higher ones aren’t denied access to it from the first.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 As the verse depicts it (God says): “Is Ephraim (not) My precious son? Is he (not) a darling child? For whenever I speak about him I earnestly remember him and my innards are moved by him\u201d (Jeremiah 31:19). Scrutinize these words and you\u2019ll come to understand just how God will (eventually) regale with His perfected ones who merit sensing His greatness the ways He devised for them to. He\u2019ll act (toward them then) as a father does with his \u201cprecious (and) darling child\u201d. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 But we needn\u2019t go into this at length. Suffice it to say that it would be worth God\u2019s while to have created all the worlds, higher and lower alike, for the sake of the satisfaction and delight He\u2019ll derive from such perfected individuals.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s clear from this last statement and much of what we\u2019d said up to now that we\u2019re only \u201cperfected\u201d when we fully recognize God\u2019s role in our lives, His grandeur, and His great benevolence; and when we replicate that benevolence by means of the mitzvah-system. It\u2019s also clear that the reward for that will be the sort of full-face encounter with God\u2019s Being in the World to Come that\u2019s due such a soul.<\/p>\n (c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/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":" 1. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 That now leaves us with the sixth inquiry to explain. See 3:4. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 (As we’d stated there), our sages said that all the upper worlds as well as this corporeal one were created for man\u2019s sake … Continue reading