Ramchal's Spiritual Gems

Sunday, 24 January 2010

Aryeh

at Sunday, January 24, 2010

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality - Ch 1 - Par 5

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraph 5

Ramchal says something in the middle of this paragraph that would serve us best here, at the beginning. It's that the statements about G-d he's about to present to us are far beyond our grasp, and that we barely have the vocabulary for it.

Let's examine that. In the past, mankind had too often been struck by its own perceived ability to grasp things, and to be able to enunciate what it grasped. And it believed that what couldn't be enunciated just didn't exist.

So science did its best to plot and graph everything exactingly, literature strove to say things "just so", art and music tried to "capture the moment" perfectly, etc.

At a certain point in modernity though it became clear that things weren't what we perceived them to be. So science addressed issues like chaos (for example), literature turned to evoking hazy senses of things, art and music allowed for the abstract and discordant.

By this point we've apparently given up on the struggle altogether, and settled for "virtual reality".

Now, the Kabbalists always knew that virtual reality is all one could ever hope to understand in this world. For our senses only experience things that deeply, and no further. We simply don't have the capacity to dig deeper to "actual" reality. Much like our ancestors didn't have the capacity to grasp the truer picture that the microscope allowed then to have before it was invented.

As such we'd offer that there are essentially four levels of reality-- surface reality, microscopic (and submicroscopic) reality, virtual reality, and the actual reality. Mankind settled far too long for a surface view of things, we were then thrilled with a microscopic view, and have only now come upon virtual reality in the face of the actual level of reality which we now know is beyond us.

Though not often spoken of, this acquiescence to virtue reality is an exciting and profound admission of human limitations. (The truth of the matter is though that it's a mixed blessing, since many have already begun to accept virtual reality as actual reality, but that's beyond our scope here).

Ramchal's point is that when it comes to spirituality, the best we could ever hope for are virtual depictions. For the life of the spirit is far beyond our grasp. And consequently G-dliness (which can only be described as "meta-spirituality”) is hopelessly further yet beyond us.

Rambam (Maimonides) evoked a remarkable image relevant to our point. He declared (in Perek Chellek) that we haven't any more capacity to fully grasp the spiritual than fish have the ability to grasp the notion of fire! Drawing upon that we'd venture to say that we haven't any more capacity to fully grasp G-dliness than fish have the ability to grasp the notion of notions!

Ramchal goes on to say that the above is true because we can only imagine and fathom things that fit within the confines of G-d's created world which we can sense or imagine. That we really can't draw a parallel between what happens in our experience and G-d's own reality. For the two are utterly, utterly unalike.

That having been said, Ramchal offers that one of the few things that we *can* say about G-d is that He’s absolutely “simple” ( i.e., pure and straightforward). That's to say that while we and everything else around us is a melange of many distinct and dependent capacities, G-d isn't. He's one and whole, "pure and simple".

And while our various capacities often blend (we can, for example, evoke a memory of aromas and thus combine the tactile with the cerebral) we nonetheless force the two to combine artificially and ephemerally. While everything about Him is simply *there* in G-d, and wholly so.

Ramchal’s final point here is that in fact, there simply has to be a Being above the laws of nature, without lacks, imperfection, multiplicity, and relativity. Otherwise nothing else could exist.

That's to say, without the existence of a Being above and beyond all that, there couldn't ever be deficient, imperfect, multiple, and relative things-- much like there couldn't ever be lessons taught without a teacher "above and beyond" the lessons him- or herself.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.

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For any comments, questions or topic requests, please contact Rabbi Yaakov Feldman.

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Sunday, 17 January 2010

Aryeh

at Sunday, January 17, 2010

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1, Ch 3

Section 1, Chapter 3

Some individuals are said to enjoy “global vision”, in that they seem to see things from on high and take the whole into account. Others, though, including Ramchal, experience what we’d term “cosmic vision”. For while also seeing things from on high, these more exalted soul s also see them from beginning to end, and with a clear view of ultimate consequences.

And so we find Ramchal making certain “cosmic” statements like the following here: “If we were to dwell on the whole array of G-d’s actions (including) every major deed He has brought about since He placed man on earth to (every deed that) He assured us through His holy prophets that He would (eventually) bring about, it becomes entirely clear (that)”; “what we can gather overall from all the great seminal events that G-d has fostered onto the world (is that)”; and “when we delve into everything done under the sun we see but one ongoing process (which is)”. So let’s see what we’d notice if we too could take all that into account since it will explain so many things to us about G-d.

Before we get to that, though, there’s something we’d need to understand clearly.

Even though we’d said in the last chapter that G-d wants us to grasp His being and that we’re capable of doing that, it’s vitally important to know that we cannot grasp G-d’s full and infinite being. That’s simply beyond us. What we can understand though (and will experience in the end) is a fragment of G-d’s being -- that aspect of Him that He displays in this world [1].

After all, as Ramchal reminds us, “can you fathom the mystery of G-d? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?”(Job 11:7); and indeed, “who can utter the mighty acts of G-d or fully declare all His praise?” (Psalms 106:2) [2].

As such, while we’ll be discussing the overarching pattern of G-d’s ways in the world, the direction His actions are going in here, and His over- all goals -- which is all very buoyant and electric unto itself -- we nonetheless won’t be discussing G-d Himself [3]. In any event, it’s clear that our grasping even that relatively “small corner” of His being is what Ramchal and others assure us will bring us the great soul satisfaction we’d spoken of [4].

And so Ramchal now depicts what one would come to realize if he “were to dwell on the whole array of G-d’s actions”, if h e were to reflect upon “all the great seminal events”, or if he were to “delve into everything done under the sun” as cited above.

It would be the fact that G-d’s rule is supreme [5].

That’s to say that the one over-arching theme we’d see playing itself out in the long course of time from creation to the end of time is the fact that G-d is fully in charge of everything -- despite an almost endless array of paradoxes that seem to contradict that. We’ll expand upon this phenomenon shortly again and later on, as it will prove to be one of the major themes of Da’at Tevunot.

Notes:

[1] See R’ Friedlander’s note 13, pp. 9-11 as well as ¶’s 36 (beginning) and 40 (middle of paragraph beginnin g on p. 39 entitled “v’nashuv l’inyanneinu”).

Some argue that the idea that we can understand some aspect of G-d’s being though not all of it refers to the Kabbalistic theme of kav (though see our last note to the last chapter). See Klallim Rishonim 3.

[2] The truth be told, we0ll seem to touch upon many “hidden” and “secret” things in the course of this work. But let that serve as a lesson as to just what’s hidden and secret in the world and what’s not; what’s really beyond us and what only seems to be.

[3] In a manner of speaking, the one and only G-d can be said to have two “faces”, if you will. There’s His “private side” -- the way He is in His own element, where He’s free to be Himself and where no one other than He ever experiences Him. And then there’s His “public facade” -- the way He presents Himself outside of Himself, in the world.

The point is that while He’s not really Himself under the latter circumstances and is somewhat “restricted” there, nonetheless since we could potentially relate to Him under those circumstances rather than in His own element, and since His assuming His “public facade” best serves His ultimate purpose, He presents Himself that way to us.

[4] See 1:2:2. Though this is a decidedly esoteric point, Ramchal alludes elsewhere to stages of human attainment beyond the one spoken of here in Da’at Tevunot which will occur in the so-called eighth, ninth, and tenth “millennia” (i.e., after the Messianic Era) which will far surpass the dimensions we’ll be addressing here. But that discussion is far beyond the reach of this work. See R’ Shriki’s lengthy discussion of it in Rechev Yisroel pp. 137-164 which draws upon many of Ramchal’s works.

[5] This is termed G-d’s “Yichud”. See section 3 to our Prologue, note 4 to Ramchal’s Introduction, and note 2 to 1:1. See R’ Shriki’s note 11 for more about G-d’s Yichud as it is dis cussed in Da’at Tevunot and Klach Pitchei Chochma. Also see his Rechev Yisroel pp. 167-228, and his essay HaYichud in his commentary to Da’at Tevunot pp. 61- 66. See 1-4 of Klach Pitchei Chochma for a definition of the concept as well as a discussion of its dynamics.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Aryeh

at Sunday, January 17, 2010

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality - Ch 1 - Par 3 and 4

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraphs 3 and 4

We've combined a couple of paragraphs this time, which we hadn't done so far, because they're short and related to each other.

Paragraph 3 speaks of G-d's existence being "imperative", and paragraph 4 speaks of His existence as being "independent" and not just imperative, but "*intrinsically* imperative".

We'd first need to explain terms, then try our hardest to understand what this all means.

By definition, an imperative is either a "prerequisite" or something "absolutely required". Emotionally, though, it implies something else. We'll touch on both.

When I think of a "prerequisite" or something "absolutely required" I'm immediately brought back to school. There were always prerequisite classes or courses you *had* to take before you could either go further on, or graduate.

With that in mind we'll take the expression that G-d's existence is imperative to mean that He simply *has* to exist if anything else is to follow. In other words, nothing but nothing could ever exist without Him, period.

As Ramchal puts it at the end of this paragraph, "G-d simply couldn't *not* exist" because if He didn't exist, then nothing else could.

We said there's an emotional sense of the term "imperative", too. When I have an "imperative need" for something, I have an acute, aching, burning need for it. I'm in pain without it. So in that sense of the word, I and everything else experiences a deep-below-the-surface "imperative need" for G-d all the time. We simply couldn't exist, couldn't "go on" without Him.

As such, G-d's existence is *imperative*, He couldn't possibly *not* exist both in fact, and as far as we’re concerned.

Again, as paragraph 4 puts it, G-d's existence is "independent", and not just imperative (as we said before), but "*intrinsically* imperative".

G-d's existence is said to be "independent" simply because He depends on nothing or no one else. After all, *by definition* an all-mighty God would simply have to be independent, sovereign, and self-sufficient. Otherwise he wouldn't be all-mighty. And G-d Almighty certainly meets those criteria.

That's simple enough. The next one, though, is a little more turgid.

By saying that G-d is *intrinsically* imperative Ramchal is stating that G-d's imperativeness (i.e., the fact that His existence is absolutely required) isn't a "rule" that He has to follow.

His point is that G-d "wrote the rule" of imperativeness just as He wrote all other rules. And He could wipe it out if He wants to or not. After all, as we said, He's *independent* and above all rules.

That's to say that G-d's existence is imperative *only because He wants it to be*. He Himself "decided" He'd work that way.

The ancient Greeks believed their gods (and there's simply no comparison) were beholden to something greater than they-- the so-called "Fates". If something was fated to happen, there was nothing a Greek god could do to prevent it. G-d Almighty is beholden to nothing. His existence is *intrinsically* imperative, i.e., it's only imperative *because He wanted it to be*.

The following idea isn't mentioned here, but we'll end with it. Many people mistakenly believe that G-d is beholden to logic. As if logic were more powerful than He, just as the "Fates" were more powerful than the ancient Greek gods. But that's simply not true.

G-d is no more beholden to logic than He is to, say, gravity. So all attempts to "force" Him into a logical corner fail in the end. And all questions of whether He could create a force greater than Himself or not and the like are simply irrelevant to His utmost, absolute sovereignty.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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For any comments, questions or topic requests, please contact Rabbi Yaakov Feldman.

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Sunday, 10 January 2010

Aryeh

at Sunday, January 10, 2010

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1 - Ch 2

Chapter 2

Now that we know that G-d wants us to perfect both ourselves and the universe in its entirety, we’ll need to unravel this next series of mysteries: What exactly is defective about us that needs to be rectified anyway? What are the consequences of our defects? Just what would we need to do to perfect ourselves? And what would be the consequences of our actually doing it?

Well, there are several traditional and some more ancillary sources that we could cull from to depict what perfection itself would be like, which we could then draw upon to understand just what’s imperfect and flawed about us now in the interim [1]. The resources include various Torah verses, quotes from our sages, and some conclusions we can arrive at logically.

As such, Ramchal informs us that at bottom perfection comes down to “cleaving onto G-d’s Presence” [2] meaning to say, drawing as closely and as completely to Him as one can; and to “grasping His Glory without impediments” in his words, which is to say, understanding all the implications of G-d’s Being (as we’ll illustrate later on).

Ramchal acknowledges that “we don’t really have the ability to understand just what this ‘cleaving’ and ‘grasping’ is” at this point in our development, “as long as we’re imperfect” (much the way a four year old couldn’t be expected to fathom being forty). But we’ve been granted allusions to it.

As such, we’re told that this phenomenon is depicted in the following verses: “Then you will delight in the L-rd, and I will have you ride on the heights of the earth” (Isaiah 58:14), “The upright will dwell in Your presence” (Psalms 140:13), and “In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalms 16:11). It’s spoken of in the Talmudic statement that “In the World to Come there is neither eating nor drinking, nor procreation of children or business transactions, no envy or hatred or rivalry; but the righteous sit enthroned, their crowns on their heads, and enjoy the luster of the Divine Splendor” (Berachot 17a). And we can understand it to some degree by virtue of the fact that given that the soul “is a portion of G-d Above”, that as a consequence it’s clear that all it wants to do is to “return to and cleave onto its Source and to grasp it”, since it’s “the nature of each artifact to yearn for its Artisan” and to “not rest until it achieves that” [3].

That’s to say that the perfection we’re capable of achieving is to be understood as a state in which we’d dwell and delight in G-d’s lustrous presence joyfully as we soar upward above all human concerns, don “crowns” (signs of nobility), and ultimately realize our metaphysical dream of grasping G-d and cleaving onto His being [4].

Nonetheless as long as we don’t cleave onto G-d’s presence and grasp His being, we’re yet imperfect, and the fact remains that we were created to achieve just that, and we’ve been charged by G-d to set out to do it.

Thus to answer the questions we raised at the top, what is defective about us that needs to be rectified is our separation from G-d; the consequences of that is our toxic sense of purposelessness; and the consequences of our actually perfecting ourselves would be the sort of unalloyed joy t hat comes upon the soul when it realizes its full potential [5]. But there are a couple of other things we’d need to understand now that are rather mystifying before we can go forward.

First off, it’s clear that G-d could have created us and the universe as utterly perfect to begin with, so why didn’t He? In fact we’d have expected Him to have fashioned everything that way, given His omnipotence.

The answer, we’re taught, lies in the fact that rather than create worlds and things in accordance with His own needs and abilities, G-d created them to fit our needs and abilities. As such, G-d could be said to have purposefully “held Himself back”, if you will; to have stifled His infinite abilities to create the universe and ourselves. (And it’s here where Ramchal alludes to how little of G-d’s being has to do with creation, which is such an astounding notion!)

And so, He didn’t create us perfect to begin with simply because He deemed it necessary for us to perfect ourselves (and the universe with us) by ourselves. And that was so that we’d be able to achieve His goal for us to be self-actualized perfection [6].

Another legitimate question we could then ask is this: Given that we’re indeed imperfect, what then can we draw on to perfect ourselves [7]? We’ll have to wait till we can answer that one, though.

So to sum up the last chapter and this one (and we’ll be summing up a lot as we go along, for good reasons), we learn that G-d calls upon us to perfect ourselves and the universe at large, and that we’re to be richly recompensed for doing that; that the reward in fact will be an experience of G-d Himself, which we sorely lack now; and that there’s something within us that allows for so bold and otherworldly a phenomenon on our parts.

Notes:

[1] We’re taught that G-d warned Moses, who was about to experience G-d’s Presence as no one ever had to then that despite that, “no man can see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20). Yet isn’t it also said “And they saw the G-d of Israel” (Exodus 24:10, “G-d our L-rd has showed us His glory and greatness” (Deuteronomy 5:24), “and “my eyes have seen the King, the L-rd of Hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).

The point is that while some have experienced one or more aspect of G-d presence (or a corrupted and imperfect appearance of it), nonetheless the point remains that no man can see G-d fully and ye t live. The implication is of course that one can “see” G-d in the World to Come to a significant degree, which will prove to be Ramchal’s argument later on.

[2] See Derech Hashem 1:2:3 and Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1 where Ramchal directly equates perfection with attaching oneself to G-d.

[3] The idea that all “parts” (i.e., elements) naturally long to return to their “source” is classical. It was used for example by the ancients to explain why fire flickers upward -- to return to the source of fire in the heavens, etc.

While the concept no longer rings true on a scientific level, the basic abstract notion behind it is still valid on a human level and helps to explain many things, including why children cling to their mothers, why individuals tend to stay close to their people, or to be drawn to others from their hometown or alma mater, why our minds often draw upon archetypical ideas and longings, why people often regress into childhood patterns when they grow old, and most significantly (as Ramchal indicates) why we would want to draw close to G-d.

The model is found in many Kabalistic sources, including the early twentieth century masterpiece Leshem Shevo v’Achlamah which states that “the goal of everything is to return to its Exalted Source” (Chelek HaBiurim 1, p. 83), and “a lower light always longs to rise upward and=2 0to attach itself up above, so as to garner more and more light and blessings from the Infinite Light on high” (Ibid. 2, p. 14).

[4] But as we’ll learn in the next chapter, we won’t be fully grasping G-d or cleaving onto His presence unto itself, but rather only a segment of it. It’s important to understand this distinction.

[5] Though Ramchal doesn’t address what would happen to the universe when we perfect ourselves and it (spoken of in the first section), the implication is that it too would be perfected and would reach its own potential of being the sort of fit and full receptacle of G-d’s presence alluded to by0Athe verse “Holy! Holy! Holy! … The whole world is full of His Glory!” (Isaiah 6:3).

[6] This refers to the Kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum. See Ramchal’s Klallim Rishonim 2 and Klallot Ha’ilan 1, and Klallei Sefer Milchamot Hashem 2. See Friedlander p. 8 iyyun 6 and the other references cited there; Goldblatt pp. 26, 473; Shriki p. 16, note 9.

[7] This won’t be fully explained until much later on (¶’s 70, 72, 158). See Goldblatt pp. 28, 473 where he addresses the role of the “kav” in this phenomen.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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For any comments, questions or topic requests, please contact Rabbi Yaakov Feldman.

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Aryeh

at Sunday, January 10, 2010

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality - Ch 1 - Par 2

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraph 2

There are a number of cogent points made in this week's study. The first is that only G-d can comprehend His *true Being*. We simply cannot.

Let's start off by explaining that there are two perspectives from which to approach G-d. G-d as He is Himself, "within His own Essential Being", utterly transcendent of everyone and everything. And G-d "facing outward", so to speak, immanent and approachable.

Let me quickly make myself clear. Make no mistake about it-- there's only *one* G-d, and He is who He is wherever He is, without variation. I'm referring to how *we experience Him to be*, and the perspective from which we perceive Him.

In any event, when G-d is alone in His own Essential Being, He is utterly, utterly unfathomable and out of our experience. It's as impossible to grasp Him when He's "there" and "then" (in a state that can at best be called "therelessness" and "thenlessness", since it's fully removed from and alien to space and time) as it is to fully and truly grasp what's on someone's mind at any one moment.

For were I to catch you deep in thought, I might *assume* you're thinking about this or that either because that's what you tend to think about, that's what I'd be thinking about, or that's what most people in your situation would be thinking about. But I really couldn't know. And were I to offer that you were thinking about one thing or another, I might be partially right-- but only partially so.

Because while you might indeed be thinking about eating, for example, as I’d claim, you might also be thinking about money, your umbrella, daisies, the color yellow, etc., etc. And though you could indeed be thinking about eating, you might nonetheless be thinking about eating a wholly different way than I'd ever imagine.

In any event, just as I can never know you from *within* in all your fullness, though I can know you from *without* to some extent-- I can likewise never know G-d from within, and only somewhat from without, though infinitely less so.

Ramchal goes on to say, though, that we do know *something* about Him as He is, which is that He's *utterly whole* and lacks for nothing. That is, that He's utterly self-contained and self-sufficient, utterly independent (and hence utterly and truly free, immortal, and all-powerful in ways we can't fathom, but that's a subject unto itself).

How do we know that? Both from ancient tradition and from personal, soul-based experience, Ramchal offers. And he cites a verse to illustrate that, which reads "Take great care... never to forget what you saw with your own eyes... and let your children and your grandchildren (etc.) know about the day you stood before G-d your L-rd at Horeb (i.e., Mount Sinai)" (Deuteronomy 4:9-10).

In other words, as our sages put it, each one of us was at Mount Sinai on a soul level when G-d appeared in His utter wholeness there; and it thus behooves us to perpetuate that "racial memory" in the here and now by passing it on through the tradition.

Interestingly enough, though, Ramchal hears the objections of the sceptics out there, and offers that, in point of fact, G-d's utter wholeness can also be verified logically, demonstrated in nature, and be derived from physics and astronomy (which many have done, including Maimonides in his "Guide for the Perplexed", and Bachya Ibn Pakudah in his "The Duties of the Heart"). And the suggestion is that the curious would do well to study their works, or arrive at their own proofs.

But he declares that we won't be depending on such proofs in "The Way of G-d"; but rather on the principles laid down by the tradition attesting to G-d’s wholeness, which he'll thus be presenting in the course of this work.

There are two things to be said about that. First, that Ramchal’s point seems to be that logical, experimental insight invariably comes upon a brick wall when it tries to fathom the unfathomable. But at least it *somewhat* satisfies the testy soul who will not give in.

And second, that while we might not be able to recall the "racial memory" of experiencing G-d up close at Mount Sinai for ourselves, studying the traditions about it and sensing it deep in the heart that way is second best.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Courtesy of:

For any comments, questions or topic requests, please contact Rabbi Yaakov Feldman.

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Sunday, 3 January 2010

Aryeh

at Sunday, January 03, 2010

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1

Chapter 1

1. It’s hard coming upon the secrets of the universe. You have to unpack one bag after another; lay their contents next to each other, then compare and contrast them all until the whole picture comes through. And that’s exactly what we’re cautioned about here, since we’re going to be exposed to some of life’s deepe st mysteries in the course of this book, as Ramchal indicates. So we’ll all need to have patience as we follow “the bouncing ball” as it goes from point to point. Let this serve as a word of warning.

Let’s start off with what we hope to learn over-all in Da’at Tevunot and go on from there. As Reason puts it, we hope to uncover man’s makeup, what’s incumbent upon him in this world, and the meaning of life. We’ll obviously be touching upon some core human -- and several specifically Jewish -- issues, so we’ll need to proceed step by step.

2. As Reason puts it, the primary principle upon which the entire edifice stands” -- bottom line -- is the fact that G-d wants us to perfect ourselves, and to perfect all of creation along with us [1]. Understand of course that we’re referring to perfecting ourselves spiritually -- that is, achieving the greatest and most exalted degree of humanity possible and elevating the world along with us, while drawing both ourselves and all of creation close to G-d in the process. From the first let it be said that this is a daunting and stunning thought that should both humble and bolster us -- humble us because it lays an enormous responsibility on our shoulders, and it should bolster us because it indicates that G-d apparently knows we’re capable of realizing it. But there’s another element to our having to perfect ourselves (rather than be perfected externally).

For by doing it on our own we’ll be rewarded for our efforts20(which will foster a whole other level of perfection that we couldn’t come to if we didn’t do it on our own), and we’ll have earned perfection rather than enjoyed it as a gift outright (which would sully the effect, as we’ll soon see).

But why would G-d have wanted that to be so? asks the Soul. In order to know that, we’re told, we’d first have to learn why G-d wanted to create the universe in the first place, and so we now will.

3. As best as we can determine -- because we’re neither as wise or as knowledgeable as we like to think we are, nor are we as privy to G-d’s plans as we’d like to be -- it comes to this [2].

G-d is characterized as “The Benevolent Being” par excellence. And given that it’s simply the way of one such as He to do good things [3], G-d thus set out to create entities to do good for -- all of us [4].

But in order for His goodness to be as beneficial as it could be, He needed to contend with one very human foible: the fact that we seem to need to do things on our own rather than accept handouts, given that “one who eats what’s not his own is ashamed to look (his benefactor) in the face” (Jerusalem Talmud, Orlah 1:3). That means to say that we find it hard to just take things [5]. (This is the element within us that what would have sullied the effect of our being perfected externally we cited above.)

His point is that if G-d didn’t make allowances for that, we’d be held back from achieving perfection, and His ultimate plan would thus have been thwarted; so He did indeed allow for it.

[1] As Ramchal put it elsewhere, “If we master ourselves, cleave onto our Creator, and make use of the world's things to help us in our Divine service, both we and the world with us will be elevated” (Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1).

In fact, Ramchal offers this argument over and over again in his works. See for example Derech Hashem 1:4:6-7, Iggrot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 18, Adir Bamarom p. 37, his introduction to Ma’amar Havikuach, Sefer Kitzur Hakavanot p. 1, etc.

[2] We simply cannot fathom G-d Himself, nor can we grasp His thoughts or intentions. So when we say that we’re about to explain why G-d wanted to create the world, what we mean to say is that we’ll explain what we can grasp about G-d wants, and what has been revealed to us through prophecy and Divine inspiration (see Friedlander p. 4 iyyun 2).

[3]As the above note points out, we’re not speaking of G-d Himself when we indicate that it’s “simply the way< SPAN style="FONT- FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi- theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">” of G-d to do this or that, as if He were compelled to do anything. Again we’re referring to our understanding of how He took it upon Himself to act within creation (Friedlander ibid., as well as p. 49 iyyun 18, and p. 51, iyyun 19; also see Shriki p.12, note 6*).

[4] As Ramchal said, “Man was created to delight in G-d and enjoy the radiance of His Divine presence” (Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1); also see Derech Hashem 1:2.

But Ramchal elsewhere pointed to three reasons for the world having been created (Iggrot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at ), and while one of them is indeed so that G-d could bestow favors upon others, but another is to reveal His Yichud, as we indicated in note 4 to Ramchal’s Introduction. So, see R’ Shriki’s discussion of the discrepancy on pp.11-12, note 6 to his edition.

[5]As R’ Friedlander points out (p. 5 iyyun 4), this fundamental axiom cited in the Jerusalem Talmud and=2 0is quoted by Tosephot in Kiddushin 36b, “Kawl Mitzvah”. It’s referred to in R’ Yoseph Karo’s Maggid Maisharim (Breishit, “Ohr Layom Shabbat 14 Tevet”); also see HaRav m’Fano’s Yonat Elim (beginning) and Orchot Tzaddikim’s Sha’ar HaBusha.

Also see R’ Shriki’s note 7* on pp. 13-14 where he raises the question as to why G-d couldn’t just undo this anomaly.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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For any comments, questions or topic requests, please contact Rabbi Yaakov Feldman.

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Aryeh

at Sunday, January 03, 2010

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraph 1

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto offers that there are a certain number of things about G-d Almighty each one of us needs to both *know* and *believe*.

He apparently combines the two, because Rambam (Maimonides) said in one context that we're to *know* certain fundamentals of the faith, and in another he said we're to *believe* them. Ramchal apparently contends we'd need to do both at the same time.

So much for the more academic answer to the question of why both are listed. We'd like to approach it differently now, and ask a couple of questions based on the combination. First, what's the difference between believing and knowing? And why, for our purposes, did Ramchal combine them?

The best way I know to define the difference between knowing and believing is to imagine being without either. It seems to me that not believing is more personally and existentially threatening, and more darkly dire than not knowing. Because I'm convinced that if I don't know something, I can always learn it; while if I don't believe it, I'm left somehow "stranded". And in fact, many of our Sages have taught that belief is higher than knowledge.

But not knowing threatens, also. Knowing for example why something bad happened to me seems to dampen the pain and lend solace. While not knowing seems to gnaw at my being and oppress me.

Apparently Ramchal's point is that we're to somehow or another so internalize the truth of G-d's existence, so convince ourselves of His living presence that both the dark, dread lack of faith in Him, and the bleak, dulling lack of knowledge of G-d's ways in the world simply disappear.

But how do we ever do *that*?

This may help. Notice how Ramchal titled this work "The *Way* of G-d" in the singular, rather than the *ways*, as we put it a couple of paragraphs back when we spoke of "G-d's ways in the world"?

I believe Ramchal put it in the singular because a major point of his throughout his writings is that all-in-all G-d has one broad way or *agenda* if you will; with many, many narrow paths or side-agendas so to speak along the way, that all lead to the realization of the main one.

Eventually grasping that-- learning that, and fully believing it heart and soul-- will have us both *know* and *believe*. And in fact a great part of the gift of this book will be underscoring the fact of G-d's ultimate agenda in light of His many side-agendas.

That having been said, what are we to believe and know after all? (There'll prove to be many things, and you and I will have to be patient, in light of the fact that "The Way of G-d" will prove to work in stages).

The first thing is that G-d's the *first being*; and that He existed *before* anything or anyone else, and will continue to exist *after* everything and everyone is gone.

But that's curious. If He's the *first being*, of course He existed *before* anything or anyone else. What's Ramchal's point? What's the difference? (We'll get to G-d's continuing to exist *after* everything else soon.)

Perhaps we can explain G-d's being called the *first being* this way.

Were we to somehow or another appear out of nowhere and come upon reality for the first time, the first being we'd *notice*-- the most obvious and preeminent Being-- would be G-d. Simply because we hadn't yet had a chance to take His presence for granted, and hadn't yet been waylaid by all the other things that have us overlook Him.

G-d will eventually prove to have existed *before* everything else, too. But knowing that would come later, after we'd have withstood the shock and stun of catching sight of His presence in the first place.

Again, we're also told that He will continue to exist *after* everything and everyone is gone. Why would we need to know that, too?

This seems to be the best way to illustrate and explain G-d's proceeding and succeeding everything and everyone. Imagine a grand concert full of roil and thunder, high pitches, low pitches, gravitas and piccolo. And imagine it beginning with a single note which somehow or another threads its way throughout the concert, and appears again at the concert's end.

Wouldn't that single note prove to have *defined* the concert, in retrospect, and to have given it it's heft?

That's exactly Ramchal's point. G-d's ineffable presence defines reality and gives it it's heft. And that by being the first and last, He is the better part of the whole.

His final point here is that G-d-- and G-d alone-- both *created* and *maintains* everything.

Simply put, that comes to deny the power of anything or anyone else to truly and utterly *create* out of the blue (despite our own personal fantasies and vainglory). And it comes to underscore the fact that G-d not only created us, he also *maintains* our beings moment by moment.

Returning to our musical analogy, G-d not only pressed His lips (if you will) to the mouth of our beings to start "playing" us (i.e., to animate us), He continues to, throughout the concert.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Courtesy of:

For any comments, questions or topic requests, please contact Rabbi Yaakov Feldman.

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Sunday, 24 January 2010

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Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

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Sunday, 17 January 2010

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Section 1, Chapter 3

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Chapter 1 - The Creator

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Sunday, 10 January 2010

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Chapter 2

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Sunday, 3 January 2010

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Chapter 1

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