1.<\/p>\n
Now we can settle the fifth question as well. <\/strong><\/p>\n See 1:6.<\/p>\n For, we asked how finite, mortal, and ephemeral creatures (like us) could ever derive from an Infinite Being.\u00a0But it now becomes clear (given) that we have already derived from Him, and are thus indeed (creations) of the caliber of (i.e., that one would expect to have emanated from) His infinite Being, since we\u2019re (already) eternal, perfect beings (in essence). <\/strong><\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n And (we can now understand as well that) it\u2019s our eternal nature that (actually) made it necessary for the husk that is our body (i.e., our self), which was granted us to serve (God), to be mortal and ephemeral. For had it remained in a state of eternity — God forbid! — we would have been separated from the Eternal forever!<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, the notion that we\u2019d have been separated from the Eternal forever had our essences remained in its primal state in the first era for eternity seems odd. After all, wouldn\u2019t we have just remained conjoined with Him there and then? But as we learned in Ch. 15, all three eras are interdependent; so, again, era one needed era two in order to eventually bring about era three.<\/p>\n For as we said in Ch. 13, the tsurah<\/em> of our body (i.e., our self) which is (at bottom) the willingness to accept things for our own purposes (as opposed to our essence), wasn\u2019t part of the (ultimate) intentions for eternity. And we were already in the state (there, in the first era) that we\u2019ll be in, in the third era. <\/strong><\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n (Understand, though, that) we needn\u2019t raise questions about the place of other (animate or inanimate) beings in the world. For humankind is the focal point of creation, whereas other beings have no intrinsic worth. In fact they\u2019re only of consequence when they (can) help humankind achieve perfection, and they only ascend and descend in relation to humankind and (thus) haven\u2019t any personal standing.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ashlag now addresses a very serious objection some might have. That\u2019s all very good as far as humankind is concerned, since it\u2019s subsumed in God\u2019s Presence in the first and third eras, and it need only endure the second so as to get from one to the other. But what of entities, phenomena, beings, etc, that will never be subsumed in His Presence and thus don\u2019t seem to matter at all?<\/p>\n He indicates though that that\u2019s a moot point, since nothing but humankind matters at bottom in the great rush and struggle to adhere unto God\u2019s Presence that is corporeal existence, other than as a subsidiary help or deterrent. (See 3:4 as well.)<\/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 we can settle the fifth question as well. See 1:6. For, we asked how finite, mortal, and ephemeral creatures (like us) could ever derive from an Infinite Being.\u00a0But it now becomes clear (given) that we have already derived … Continue reading