{"id":259,"date":"2013-04-11T12:53:53","date_gmt":"2013-04-11T12:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ravashlag.wordpress.com\/?p=259"},"modified":"2013-04-11T12:53:53","modified_gmt":"2013-04-11T12:53:53","slug":"r-ashlags-introduction-to-the-zohar-ch-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/2013\/04\/11\/r-ashlags-introduction-to-the-zohar-ch-69\/","title":{"rendered":"R’ Ashlag’s “Introduction to the Zohar”: Ch. 69"},"content":{"rendered":"

1.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 (In fact,) it\u2019s said in the Zohar<\/i>, “Rise up and rouse yourself before the Divine Presence! For your heart is empty, and it lacks the knowledge (you\u2019d need) to know and apprehend it, though it\u2019s (right) in your midst!\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

The Zohar<\/i> indicates that for some reason or another we haven\u2019t the wherewithal to draw close to the Divine Presence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The secret import of this is (alluded to in the verse,) \u201cA voice says, Cry out!\u201d (Isaiah 40:6). (We\u2019re taught that) the Divine Presence said (in response), \u201cWhat should I cry out? All flesh is but grass\u201d, (meaning to say that) all (people) are like grass-eating animals, \u201cand all its kindness is like the flower of the field!\u201d (meaning to say that) all the acts of kindness they proffer are for their own benefit\u201d (Tikkunei Zohar<\/i> 40).<\/b><\/p>\n

What holds us back from drawing close to the Divine Presence in fact and from hoisting it out of the pit it\u2019s in, in our state of exile, is our selfishness and egotism, we\u2019re told. Ashlag will now expand upon that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The mystical meaning of that is as follows. \u201cA voice says, Cry out!\u201d (indicates that) a voice beats in each and every Jew\u2019s heart to call out and pray for the ascent of the Divine Presence which encompasses all Jewish souls. But the Presence replies, \u201cWhat should I cry out?\u201d, as if to say, I haven\u2019t the strength to lift myself out of the dust (in which I lie, in exile), for \u201call flesh is but grass\u201d, which is to say that \u201cthey\u2019re all like grass-eating animals\u201d — they all fulfill mitzvot mindlessly like animals. \u201cAnd all (of humankind\u2019s) kindness is like the flower of the field\u201d means to say that \u201call the acts of kindness they proffer are for their own benefit\u201d, for whenever they fulfill mitzvot they only do it to please themselves rather than their Creator. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 In fact, (that could) even (be said of) those who toil in Torah, for \u201call the acts of kindness (that) they proffer are for their own benefit\u201d (as well, for indeed,) even the best of them, those who spend all their time studying Torah, only do so for their own benefit, without meaning to please their Creator as they should.<\/b><\/p>\n

Ashlag had already disclosed how deeply saddened he was by the fact that even the greatest Torah scholars of our generation don\u2019t study Kabbalah, and of the spiritual \u201caridity and darkness we find ourselves to be in our generation\u201d as a result (Ch. 57).<\/p>\n

The greatest tragedy to come of that, though (aside from the Holocaust, of course, which is alluded to at the end of the last chapter), is our aforementioned selfishness and egotism. His point is that the only way we can outgrow that is by honing all five aspects of our soul, which we only manage to do when we delve into Kabbalistic as well as the practical aspects of Torah (Ch. 56).<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (It\u2019s also said there in the Zohar<\/i> of) such a generation (that they are like), \u201ca spirit that passes away and does not return\u201d (Psalms 78:39), which refers to the spirit of the Messiah, who is to deliver Israel from all its troubles (and lead us all) to the ultimate redemption. For that spirit has left and doesn\u2019t shine in the world (for now).<\/b><\/p>\n

The point is that the Messiah is to come in order to reveal the sort of knowledge of God that the Kabbalah explicates, but he\u2019ll see how we don\u2019t yearn for that knowledge and will turn around.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Woe to those who cause the spirit of the Messiah to vanish from the world and not return (in their day)! They make the Torah (seem) dry and without a drop of sense or wisdom! For they restrict themselves to the practical aspects of the Torah and don\u2019t care to understand the wisdom of the Kabbalah, or to study the Torah\u2019s mysteries or the reasons behind its mitzvot (that Kabbalah gives insight to). <\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Woe to them! For they bring poverty, ruin, robbery, looting, murder, and destruction upon the world by their deeds. <\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

(c) 2013 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\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 (In fact,) it\u2019s said in the Zohar, “Rise up and rouse yourself before the Divine Presence! For your heart is empty, and it lacks the knowledge (you\u2019d need) to know and apprehend it, though it\u2019s (right) in … 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-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iqlA-4b","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/ravashlag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}