Chapter Sixty-Five:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

65.

"But understand that there’s an interior and an exterior (aspect) to everything."
-- That is, everything is of cloth and lining; colored and striking, as well as muted and steady.

"Over-all, the Jewish Nation -- the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- are regarded as be the interior (aspect) of the world, ... "
-- ... since they comply with G-d’s wishes, over-all.

"... while the seventy (Gentile) nations are regarded as its exterior (aspect)."
-- Thus, just as each garment needs both its cloth and its lining, the universe itself needs both Jews and Gentiles.

"But within the Jewish Nation itself there is (an) interior (aspect), which is comprised of those who wholeheartedly serve G-d, ... "
-- That is, who comply with G-d’s wishes both inside *and* out ...

" ... and an exterior (one), which is comprised of those who don’t devote themselves to Divine service."
-- ... and only comply with G-d’s wishes externally, or hardly at all. But, again, both are needed.

"Likewise among the Gentile nations there’s an interior (aspect), which is comprised of righteous gentiles, and an exterior (one), which is comprised of the crass and destructive people among them."
-- And both of them are needed as well.

"But even among those within the Jewish Nation who wholeheartedly serve G-d there’s an interior (aspect), ... "
-- ... who comply with G-d’s wishes both inside and out, as well as within the interior of G-d's wishes, which touches upon Kabbalah as we'll now see.

" ... which is comprised of those who’ve been granted the ability to grasp the soul of the interior (aspect) of the Torah and its secrets, and an exterior (one), which is comprised of those who are only occupied with the practical aspects of the Torah.
-- And both of them are needed just as well.

"In fact, within each and every Jew there’s an interior (aspect) which is the 'Jewish Nation' within him, i.e., the point in the heart, ... "
-- As Rabbi Ashlag indicated earlier on, the “point in the heart” is “the hindmost part of our holy soul ... (that) only begins to come into play ... after (we reach) age 13 ... (and) only to the extent that we observe Torah and mitzvot” (see 30:1, 43:1 and our remarks there). The idea here is that the point in the heart serves as the interior aspect, the motherland, if you will, of every Jew and the core of his or her Jewish identity.

"... and an exterior (one), which is comprised of the 'Gentile nations' within him, i.e., the body itself. It’s just that the 'Gentile nations' within the latter are regarded as 'converts', ... "
-- That is, as gentiles transformed, since this person is still-and-all a Jew.

" ... since they cleave on to the interior (aspect), ... "
-- ... by virtue of their native Jewishness ...

" ... and they’re hence like righteous converts who cleave on to the Jewish Nation."

c) 2006 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*!
You can order it right now from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Chapter Sixty-Four:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

64.

"But don’t then ask why it’s prohibited to disagree with the early (sages) when it comes to the revealed (aspect of the) Torah."
-- Kabbalists speak of the “revealed” versus the “concealed” aspects of the Torah, where “revealed” refers to the open-and-above-board and practical aspects of G-d’s Torah like the meaning of the words involved in either Torah or Talmud as well as the halachic, moral, and inspirational implications of them; and the “concealed” refers to their esoteric connotations.
-- Now, if what we’d learned is true, that the later sages merited the revelation of Kabbalah and the Zohar because they were greater than those of the earlier generations, then our Talmudic sages should be able to argue with the decisions of the earlier Talmudists (when they’re in fact categorically forbidden to), because they’re greater than they. But as Rabbi Ashlag is about to point out, that argument is fallacious since the differences he’d cited between the earlier and later sages don’t hold true across the board.

"In fact, the opposite is true when it comes to reconciling the part (of the Torah) touching upon the mitzvot."
-- The Talmud itself and the subsequent halachic codes sometimes contradict each other, calling for a harmonizing of divergent halachic decisions. It’s always true, though, that not only must later decisors be logically sound and rigorous, as well as consistent with the entire Talmudic gestalt -- they must also take the earlier decisors’ opinions into consideration and acquiesce to them rather than defy them. Again, the idea is that that doesn’t seem to be true; it appears that the opinions of later decisors would hold more weight than that of the earlier ones.

"But the earlier (Talmudic and halachic sages) were more flawless than the latter (ones, in fact). (And that’s so) because when it comes to (actual, physical) actions, ... "
-- That is, when it comes to the “revealed”, practical aspect of the Torah, the opposite is true: the earlier sages were indeed greater than the later ones.

" ... (the pattern is such that) the vessels of the sephirot come into play (first) when it comes to the secrets of the Torah and the reasons for the mitzvot ... "
-- That is, when it comes to the “concealed” aspect of the Torah ...

" ... (that is,) the sephirah lights come into play first. For as you already know, there’s a converse relationship between lights and vessels (see 61:3). So, when it comes to vessels, ... "
-- That is, when it comes to the more external, i.e., “revealed” aspect of the Torah ...

"... the more exalted of them grow first; hence, the earlier (Talmudic and halachic sages) are more flawless than the latter (ones) when it comes to the practical aspect (of the Torah). "
-- So the latter must acquiesce to the former.

"But the opposite is true as far as the (coming into play of the sephiric) lights are concerned."
-- That is, when it comes to the more internal, i.e., “concealed” aspect of the Torah ...

"For their *lower* lights appear first. And that’s why the latter (Kabbalistic sages) are more flawless than the earlier (ones, despite their lesser over-all stature)."

c) 2006 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*!
You can order it right now from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Chapter Sixty-Three:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

63.

"In fact, our sages already raised this question themselves when they said the following."

"Rav Papa said to Abaya, ‘How were the earlier (sages) different (i.e., better, than we, so) that miracles befell them ... (while) miracles don’t befall us? Is it because of the (quality of our respective) studies? But, during the years of Rabbi Yehudah (i.e., among the earlier sages) Talmudic study consisted of Nezikin (alone, i.e., only one of the six orders of the Talmud) while we study the entire Talmud (so it can’t be that). And (why is it that) when Rabbi Yehudah was studying Tractate Okatzin he said (immediately about a certain case)..., I sense here the gist of (the arguments of) Rav and Shmuel, while we study Okatzin in thirteen yeshivot (and don’t merit that)? And (why is it that) as soon as Rabbi Yehudah would remove a single shoe (to begin his preparations for a fast to alleviate a drought) that rains came down, while we torment ourselves and cry out (for rain) and no one (in Heaven) notices?’ Abaya replied, ‘(It’s because) the earlier (sages) were willing to sacrifice their lives to sanctify G-d’s name'” (Berachot 20A).

"While it was clear to both the one who raised the question (Rav Papa) and the one who answered it (Abaya) that the earlier (sages) were greater than they both from a Torah and a wisdom perspective, (it was also clear) that Rav Papa and Abaya were (nonetheless) greater than the earlier (sages)."
-- On the one hand the earlier sages were less meritorious than those in Rav Papa and Abaya’s generation in fact because they studied less Torah than they, fewer people studied it in their time, and because their hearts didn’t break when they saw others suffering; yet on the other hand the earlier sages seemed more meritorious than they, since they were worthy of quick insight and solutions to their problems, and they were willing to sacrifice their lives to sanctify G-d’s name.

"Hence it’s clear that though the earlier (sages) were greater (in fact) than the latter (ones), as a consequence of the axiom that the more subtle is fashioned and brought into the world first, still-and-all more of the Torah’s wisdom is revealed in the latter generation. That’s because, as we said, an entity’s makeup is (only) brought to fruition by latter factors, and hence they (the latter ones) enjoy fuller lights (i.e., greater revelations, than the former) even though the latter are of a lesser quality (than they)."

c) 2006 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*!
You can order it right now from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"