Chapter Sixty-Seven:
Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"
-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
__________________________________________________
67.
"But you needn’t be surprised by the fact that an individual can have the entire world plummet downward or soar upward by his deeds alone. It’s (simply due to the fact that there’s) an inviolable (cosmic) law that the universal and the particular correspond to each other like two (disparate but similar) drops in a pond, and that whatever occurs to the universal occurs to the particular, as well."
-- This is the principle of the microcosm corresponding to the macrocosm, each particle of a hologram mirroring the whole of it, each link reflecting the chain.
-- The point is that though we're each independent elements of the whole, ever one of us is inexorably linked to it. Jiggle one and you impel the other, and vice versa. As such, move one way, and you move the universe along with you, you are that powerful. (Contrarily, encounter the universe moving another way, and know that you’ll find yourself moved in that direction, too, you are that susceptible.)
"In fact, particulars do the selfsame things that the universal does, because the universal only comes to fruition after its particulars do, allowing for quantitative and qualitative differences."
-- So for example, the notion of “fourness” can’t exist until there are four separate entities. Each entity differs from the others, but they each go into making up the “fourness” they’ve now become, so they’re linked. As such, whatever happens to any one of them affects the lot of them, and it subsequently changes the entire “fourness” as well. The same is true of the universe: it wouldn't be what it is without each one of its necessary separate and unique elements, so each one is vital and representative of the whole.
"As such it follows that the acts of a particular (person) can (indeed) have the universe soar upward or plummet downward to a degree."
-- This chapter brings us back full circle to the book’s initial questions, and thus ties the whole work together.
-- If you recall, Rabbi Ashlag had asked (among other things) in the very first chapter: What are we at bottom? And, what role do we play in the great course of events which we’re such minor players in?
-- The bulk of the book is then spent explaining all that, but what’s most telling in the context of the present discussion about delving into Kabbalah and Zohar is what Rabbi Ashlag said in ch’s 48-49, 56, where he indicated that each one of us fully establishes what he or she is made of and fulfills his or her true raison d’etre when we study Kabbalah, since by doing that we each single-handedly help bring the universe to full blossom.
"In fact, that explains the Zohar’s statement (to the effect) that we’ll be brought from exile to redemption through the study of the Zohar and Kabbalah (Tikkunei Zohar 6). After all, what does studying the Zohar have to do with the redemption of the Jewish Nation from (its exile state) among the nations?"
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"
Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"
-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
__________________________________________________
67.
"But you needn’t be surprised by the fact that an individual can have the entire world plummet downward or soar upward by his deeds alone. It’s (simply due to the fact that there’s) an inviolable (cosmic) law that the universal and the particular correspond to each other like two (disparate but similar) drops in a pond, and that whatever occurs to the universal occurs to the particular, as well."
-- This is the principle of the microcosm corresponding to the macrocosm, each particle of a hologram mirroring the whole of it, each link reflecting the chain.
-- The point is that though we're each independent elements of the whole, ever one of us is inexorably linked to it. Jiggle one and you impel the other, and vice versa. As such, move one way, and you move the universe along with you, you are that powerful. (Contrarily, encounter the universe moving another way, and know that you’ll find yourself moved in that direction, too, you are that susceptible.)
"In fact, particulars do the selfsame things that the universal does, because the universal only comes to fruition after its particulars do, allowing for quantitative and qualitative differences."
-- So for example, the notion of “fourness” can’t exist until there are four separate entities. Each entity differs from the others, but they each go into making up the “fourness” they’ve now become, so they’re linked. As such, whatever happens to any one of them affects the lot of them, and it subsequently changes the entire “fourness” as well. The same is true of the universe: it wouldn't be what it is without each one of its necessary separate and unique elements, so each one is vital and representative of the whole.
"As such it follows that the acts of a particular (person) can (indeed) have the universe soar upward or plummet downward to a degree."
-- This chapter brings us back full circle to the book’s initial questions, and thus ties the whole work together.
-- If you recall, Rabbi Ashlag had asked (among other things) in the very first chapter: What are we at bottom? And, what role do we play in the great course of events which we’re such minor players in?
-- The bulk of the book is then spent explaining all that, but what’s most telling in the context of the present discussion about delving into Kabbalah and Zohar is what Rabbi Ashlag said in ch’s 48-49, 56, where he indicated that each one of us fully establishes what he or she is made of and fulfills his or her true raison d’etre when we study Kabbalah, since by doing that we each single-handedly help bring the universe to full blossom.
"In fact, that explains the Zohar’s statement (to the effect) that we’ll be brought from exile to redemption through the study of the Zohar and Kabbalah (Tikkunei Zohar 6). After all, what does studying the Zohar have to do with the redemption of the Jewish Nation from (its exile state) among the nations?"
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"
posted by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman at 11:32 AM
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