1.<\/p>\n
Now, when you reflect upon these three eras you discover that they\u2019re fully and utterly interdependent; and so much so, that if one were to somehow not exist, the others couldn’t exist either.<\/strong><\/p>\n To put it another way, it will be found, quite astonishingly, that if one of these eras in fact exists, then the two others must exist, too; for the three are the sole ingredients of the only dish there is. It thus follows then that if we who now experience the second era exist, then the first and third eras must exist, too.<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n So if for example the third era — when the tsurah<\/em> of receiving is overturned to one of bestowing — were not to come about, it would necessarily follow that the first era couldn\u2019t have come about in the Infinite\u2019s Being either. <\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019d have expected Ashlag to begin with the first era, but he starts instead with the third one, because that\u2019s the one we have to look forward to, and the one we’re to set our course by.<\/p>\n For all the perfection contained there (in the first era) only came about because it\u2019s due to exist in the third one; so it was as if it already functioned (there, in the first era). In fact, all the perfection depicted in that (first) era is actually something of an image of the future one (projected) onto that (first) one. In any event, if the future (era) were to somehow be abolished, (the first one) couldn\u2019t exist either. For, it\u2019s only because the third era is to exist that the first one did.<\/strong><\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n Now, that\u2019s all the more so true if the second (i.e., the present) era were to be undone. For it\u2019s the one in which we strive to achieve everything that will come to fruition in the third era; in which we do everything that (either) repairs or impairs (the spiritual order of things); and in which we continue (to hone) the (different) levels of (our) souls. After all, how would the third era ever come about (if this one were somehow undone)? So we see that the third era needs the second one (as well).<\/strong><\/p>\n And the same is true of the first era, which is (already) in the Infinite and where the perfection found in the third era (already) functions. It must conform to that (same principle); it too must demonstrate the (existence of the) second era as well as the third one in all its perfection.<\/strong><\/p>\n Let\u2019s draw an analogy to families in order to understand all this as best we can. It goes without saying that were it not for my grandparents I wouldn\u2019t exist; yet it\u2019s also true that if I (or my siblings and cousins) weren\u2019t born, my grandparents might as well not have existed for all intents and purposes; since they would have been nothing more than a breeze blowing past a minor character in an epic drama, for all intents and purposes, since they\u2019d have only come and gone (unless they\u2019d have done something momentous in their lives, and would thus at least have been a character in the drama).<\/p>\n In much the same way, it stands to reason that if the first era (in which everything is bundled and set for delivery) hadn\u2019t existed, then neither the second (in which the package is to be toyed with, probed, and used), nor the third (in which everything that was bundled is to finally be delivered, no worse for wear) could have existed. But it also stands to reason that if the second or third eras themselves didn\u2019t exist, that the first one might as well not have existed either since it didn\u2019t produce anything of endurance.<\/p>\n And besides, while the first and third eras (which are mirror images of each other and sort of alter egos) are utterly indispensable in the grand scheme, they still and all depend on the second era. For it — the second era — is the flowering of the kernel that is the first, and the blossoming of the fruit that is the third. So without it, the first and third will have been fallow and bone-dry.<\/p>\n It\u2019s vital to realize, though, that that\u2019s not to say that God depends on us, as this might seem to imply — and that without our efforts in era two His \u201cplans\u201d in era one and their manifestation in era three would be doomed. It only means to say that His wishes for this world (and not He Himself) would have been stymied in a manner of speaking. But since the three eras are indeed utterly interdependent, and His plans and their manifestation are sure and inevitable, nothing we do or don\u2019t do could affect that in the end.<\/p>\n 4.<\/p>\n It also follows that the (existence of the) first era itself made it necessary for the two antithetical systems (i.e., the four worlds of holy-A.B.Y.A. and their counterpart, the four worlds of defiled-A.B.Y.A.) to exist in the second era, which then allows the body with its corrupt ratzon l\u2019kabel<\/em> to come about by means of the impure system (i.e., the four worlds of defiled-A.B.Y.A.). <\/strong><\/p>\n For all that enables us to rectify it. In fact, if there hadn’t been a system of impure worlds, we wouldn\u2019t have a ratzon l\u2019kabel<\/em> to rectify (in the first place) and to thus arrive at the third era, since one can\u2019t repair something he doesn\u2019t already have. <\/strong><\/p>\n That is, were it not for the first and third eras, reality as we know it now, including ourselves, our overarching willingness to take-in without giving back, and the dilemmas of the spirit all that entails couldn\u2019t come about either. And we couldn\u2019t overcome all that and bask in triumph in the face of a hard-won battle as we inevitably will. For how dare crow in victory when you\u2019d been handed the metal on the sneak?<\/p>\n 5.<\/p>\n We needn\u2019t ask, though, how the impure system could manage to exist (at all) in the first era (which is utterly Godly and antithetical to impurity). For it\u2019s the very existence of the first era that allows for the (existence of the) impure system, and allows for it to be sustained in that form in the course of the second era.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ashlag is now re-addressing the arcane question he\u2019d touched on right before this of how evil could exist in God\u2019s presence, which seems so contradictory (see Ch. 12). In short his answer is that evil only exists in the first era (albeit in an inchoate, latent state) because, again, it\u2019s only thanks to the first era that the second one can exist; so if the first one didn\u2019t contain that latent evil, we couldn\u2019t experience it — and manage to overcome it — in the second.<\/p>\n (c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n —————————————————–<\/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. Now, when you reflect upon these three eras you discover that they\u2019re fully and utterly interdependent; and so much so, that if one were to somehow not exist, the others couldn’t exist either. To put it another way, it … Continue reading