Toras Rav Ashlag

2007-12-09T10:58:00.000-05:00

I'm heartened by the fact that quite a few people have come upon this blog. The truth is, I've been doing a lot of re-writing in hopes of having this published, so I decided to revise the entries one at a time, starting with Chapter One.

I'll scrap the projected condensation for now, and go ahead with the chapter-by-chapter re-writes. I might enter new things from time to time, though. Oh -- and if you're a publisher who'd like to consider this work, please let me know ....

Please contact me at feldman@torah.org if you care to. Thanks.

2007-07-29T18:38:00.001-04:00

A New Sefer

Rabbi Gottlieb of obshalom.org has published a new edition of Shamatti, entitled "Hashem, Shamatti Shemaacha". While the first one published just a few short years ago by Rabbi Chagai Horowitz is fine and attractively set out, this new one has more biurim, mekorot, and more. The two volumes sell for $42 at my serforim store, and I suggest you grab it as soon as you can, as it will surely have a short shelf life. Try Biegeleisen's in Boro Park (718-436-1165). They'll probably have it.

2006-10-12T11:12:00.000-04:00

Chapter Seventy:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

70.

1.

"And the reason for that (i.e., for the Moshiach’s refusal to appear in our generation) as we've said is because those who do delve into Torah depreciate their own and Torah’s interior (aspect, by eschewing Kabbalah), and they regard the Torah’s interior as superfluous, only studying it when it’s neither 'day nor night'”.

"But they’re like blind people running their hands along a wall."
-- That’s to say, those laudable souls who study Torah in depth and dedicate their lives to the punctilious observance of mitzvot in the hopes of encouraging the Moshiach to arrive are barking up the wrong tree, if you will; they’re shortsightedly looking here (in the revealed Torah) for what’s actually there (in the concealed Torah).

"For they thus strengthen their own exterior (aspect), meaning the advantages of their body (over their soul), and they likewise bestow more importance to the Torah’s exterior (aspect) than to its interior (one) ... "
-- That is, they lend more credence to their bodies than to their souls by favoring the more practical, this-worldly aspects of the Torah over the Kabbalah-based ones.

" ... and thus allow the world’s exterior (aspects) to hold sway over its interior (ones), each according to its own makeup."
-- That is, they thus seem to advocate and grant more importance to externals, which is so much more destructive because they’re our greatest Torah scholars and leaders.

"For the exterior (aspect) of the Jewish Nation, meaning its less learned individuals, thus hold sway over and undo the Jewish Nation’s interior (aspect), her Torah Greats. And the exterior (aspect) of the Gentile nations, their destructive elements, likewise hold sway over and undo their interior (aspect), the righteous Gentiles. And the entire world’s exterior (aspect), the Gentile nations, holds sway over and undo the Jewish Nation, its interior (aspect)."
-- And so all externals overwhelm internals, leading to the more unlearned elements of the Jews to hold sway over the Torah greats, the more brutish elements of the Gentiles holding sway over its more righteous elements, and the Gentiles themselves to hold sway over the Jews in toto.

2.

"It’s (in fact) in just such a generation that the Gentile destroyers rear up their heads and most especially want to annihilate and butcher the Jewish Nation, (for) it’s said, 'calamity only befalls the world for (the sins of) the Jewish Nation' (Yebamot 63), and (as) it was said in the Tikkun (cited) above, 'the Gentile destroyers (will) bring poverty, ruin, robbery, looting, murder, and destruction upon the world' (then)."

"Hence, since all that had been (stated) in the Tikkunim has come about (in our times), because of our many sins; since (it’s also true that) disaster has struck at the very best of us in particular (in the course of the Holocaust), as it’s said, 'It (i.e., disaster) invariably begins with the righteous (Babba Kama 60); and since the dignity that the Jewish Nation once enjoyed in Poland, Lithuania, etc. only abides with the remnant (of Torah greats) living in Israel now, it’s incumbent upon us to correct that dreadful wrong. Each of us (of that caliber left) must take it upon himself with every fiber of his being and with all his means to bolster the Torah’s interior (aspect) and grant it its (rightful) place of honor above the Torah’s exterior (aspect) from now on (by studying the Zohar and Kabbalah)."

3.

"Then each one of us (Torah greats ourselves) will be awarded with a bolstering of his own interior (aspect), his inner 'Jewish Nation', which is the needs of the soul over his exterior (aspect), his inner 'Gentile nations', the needs of the body. But the capacity to do that will only come to the Jewish Nation (in its entirety) once the unlearned among us acknowledge and realize the value of the Torah greats over them and (begin to) listen to and obey them."
-- That is, once the Torah greats themselves delve into Kabbalah as they should they’ll nourish their own beings inside and out. And -- the implication is -- then they’ll appear in a new light in the eyes of the unlearned, who’ll admire and obey them by that point, study Kabbalah as well, and grow in their own beings. And once all that happens, ...

"Then the interior (aspect) of the Gentile nations, the righteous Gentiles, will overpower its exterior (aspect), their destroyers, and subdue them as well. And then the world’s interior (aspect), the (actual) Jewish Nation, will likewise gloriously and nobly overpower the world’s exterior (aspect), the Gentile nations, and all the nations of the world will recognize and acknowledge the preeminence of the Jewish Nation."

"And the words, 'The people will take them and bring them to their place; and the House of Israel will inherit them in G-d’s land' (Isaiah 14:2) will be fulfilled, as well as (the words) 'they will carry your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters on their shoulders' (Isaiah 49:22). For as the Zohar (itself) says, 'It is through (the study of) this work, the Zohar (most especially), that they’ll be freed from exile with mercy' (Parshat Nasah. p. 124). Amen, may it be so!"

(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"

2006-10-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

Chapter Sixty-Nine:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

69.

1.

"(In fact,) it’s said in the Tikkunei Zohar, 'Rise up and rouse yourself before the Holy Shechina (Divine Presence), for your heart is empty and without the knowledge (you’d need) to know and apprehend it even though it’s (right) in your midst'.”
-- The Tikkunei Zohar indicates that for some reason or another we haven’t the wherewithal to draw close to the Divine Presence.

“'The secret import of this is (contained in the verse,) "A voice says, Cry out!" (Isaiah 40:6) -- which is analogous to (the verse,) "Call now, but is there any who will answer you?" (Job 5:1). And she (i.e., the Shechina) said, "What should I cry out? All flesh is but grass" (meaning,) all (people) are like grass-eating animals, "and all its kindness is like the flower of the field!" (Isaiah 40:6) (meaning that) all the acts of kindness they proffer are for their own benefit' (Tikkun 40)."
-- What holds us back from drawing close to the Divine Presence in fact, and from hoisting it out of the pit it’s in, in our state of exile, is our selfishness and egotism, we’re told. Rabbi Ashlag will now expand upon that.

"The mystical meaning of that is as follows (Rabbi Ashlag offers). 'A voice says, Cry out!' (indicates that) a voice beats within each and every Jew’s heart to call out and pray for the ascent of the Holy Shechina, which encompasses all Jewish souls. And the Tikkunei Zohar refers to the verse, 'Call now, but is there any who will answer you?' (Job 5:1), to indicate that 'call' implies 'pray out to (in both instances)."

"But the Shechina replies, 'What should I cry out?, as if to say, I haven’t the strength to lift myself out of the dust (in which I lie, in exile), for 'all flesh is but grass', which is to say that 'they’re all like grass-eating animals', meaning that they all fulfill mitzvot mindlessly like animals, 'and all its kindness is like the flower of the field', which is to say that 'all the acts of kindness they proffer are for their own benefit', meaning that whenever they fulfill mitzvot they only do so to please themselves rather than their Creator."

"In fact, (that could) even (be said of) those who toil in Torah, for 'all the acts of kindness (that) *they* proffer are for their own benefit” (just as well, for indeed,) even the best of them, those who spend all their time studying Torah only, only do so for their own benefit, without meaning to please their Creator as they should."
-- Rabbi Ashlag had already expressed how deeply saddened he was by the fact that even the greatest Torah scholars of our generation don’t study Kabbalah, and of the spiritual “aridity and darkness we find ourselves to be in our generation” that has resulted (Ch. 57).
-- The greatest tragedy to come of that, though (aside from the Holocaust, alluded to at the end of the last chapter), is our aforementioned selfishness and egotism. His point is that the only way we can outgrow that is by honing all five aspects of our soul which we only manage to do when we delve into Kabbalah (Ch. 56).

2.

“'(It’s also said there in the Tikkunei Zohar of) such a generation (that they are like), "a spirit that passes away and does not return" (Psalms 78:39), referring to the spirit of the Moshiach, who is to deliver Israel from all its troubles (and lead us all) to the ultimate redemption, so as to fulfill the words: "for the earth will be full of the knowledge of G-d" (Isaiah 11:9). That spirit has left and doesn’t shine in the world (for now).'”
--The point is that the Moshiach is to come in order to reveal the sort knowledge of G-d that the Kabbalah explicates, but he’ll see how we don’t yearn for that knowledge and will turn around.

“Woe to those who cause the spirit of the Moshiach to vanish from the world and not return (in their day)! They make the Torah (seem) dry and without a drop of sense or wisdom! For they limit themselves to the practical aspects of the Torah and don’t want to understand the wisdom of the Kabbalah or know about and study the Torah’s mysteries or the reasons behind its mitzvot (that Kabbalah gives insight to). Woe to them! For they bring poverty, ruin, robbery, looting, murder, and destruction upon the world by their deeds.”

(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"

2006-10-04T08:34:00.000-04:00

Chapter Sixty-Eight:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

68.

1.

"It’s quite clear, then, that the Torah itself has interior and exterior (aspects) just like everything else in the universe. (It thus follows that) those who study Torah (also) fall into (one of) those two categories, ... "
-- That is, it follows that Torah scholars either express more of the interior or “Jewish” aspect of Torah, or more of the exterior or “non-Jewish” aspect of it.

"... and that the more one toils in the interior (aspect) of the Torah and its mysteries, the more able is he to elevate the interior (aspect) of the world, i.e., the (actual) Jewish Nation, higher and higher over its exterior (aspect), i.e., the Gentile nations; and (the more able is he) to have them recognize and acknowledge the preeminence of the Jewish Nation. And (when that happens,) then the words, 'The (Jewish) people will take them and bring them to their place; and the House of Israel will inherit them in G-d’s land' (Isaiah 14:2), and 'Thus says G-d the L-rd, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations and set up My standard to the peoples; and they will carry your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters on their shoulders' (Isaiah 49:22) will be realized."

2.

"But if, G-d forbid, the opposite happens and a Jew places less value upon the (study of the) interior (aspect) of the Torah and its mysteries, which deal with the ways of our souls and their levels, as well as with an aspect of the reasons for the mitzvot, than upon (studying) the Torah’s exterior (aspect), which deals with practicalities alone ... "
-- If a Jew who has access to Kabbalah refuses to take it seriously because it isn’t as weighty or relevant as the “revealed” Torah in his eyes since Kabbalah doesn’t touch upon practical halacha or help to explain abstruse themes in Tanach in more practical terms ...

" ... then even if he does in fact delve into the Torah’s interior (aspect) once in a while and grants it a little of his time, (that is,) when it’s neither 'night nor day', ... "
-- We’re actually bidden “to meditate upon (the Torah) all night and day” (Joshua 1:8) and are only allowed to delve into other things when its somehow neither night nor day, if that were possible. Those with little respect for Kabbalah would thus place it in the latter category and would only explore it now and again at odd moments, and begrudgingly at that.

" ... as if it were somehow superfluous, G-d forbid, then such a person degrades and demeans the interior (aspect) of the *world*, the (actual) Jewish Nation, and grants power to the exterior (aspect) of the world, the (actual) Gentile nations, over them and (he thus enables them) to humiliate and disgrace the Jewish Nation and to have *it* regarded as superfluous and of little worth, G-d forbid."
-- That is, if even Torah scholars deem Kabbalah of little worth, they’ll thus foster a sense among non-Jews that the Jewish Nation, who embody the heart of Torah that Kabbalah, is also of little worth. In fact, ...

"Not only that, but he’ll even enable the Gentile nations’ exterior (aspect) to overcome its interior (one)."
-- As we learned, the Gentile nations’ interior aspect is comprised of their righteous individuals while its exterior one is made up of their crass and destructive elements (see 65:1).

"And then the lower (elements) of the Gentile nations, those (among them who) destroy and ruin, will gain power and tower high over their interior (elements), the righteous gentiles, and be able to bring on (more of the sort of) ruination and heinous slaughter that our generation has witnessed, may G-d protect us from now on!"

3.

"Thus we see that the redemption and ascendancy of the Jewish Nation (indeed) depends upon our studying the Zohar and the (rest of the) interior (aspect) of the Torah."
-- This harkens back to the end of the last chapter where we learned that the Zohar indicates that our redemption will only come about through the study of the Zohar and Kabbalah.

"And (you likewise see that) on the contrary, all the ruin and decline of the Jewish Nation is a result of our abandoning and belittling the Torah’s interior (aspect) and considering it superfluous, G-d forbid."

(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"

2006-09-27T11:32:00.000-04:00

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"

2006-09-27T08:44:00.000-04:00

Chapter Sixty-Six:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

66.

1.

"Now, when a Jew fortifies and enhances his interior (aspect), his inner “Jewish Nation”, rather than his exterior (aspect), his inner “Gentile Nations”, by concentrating most of his efforts on fortifying and cultivating his interior (aspect) and bettering his soul, while only (dedicating) a few, essential efforts on sustaining his (inner) “Gentile NNations”, i.e., his bodily needs -- in keeping with the statement, "Make your Torah (study) permanent and your (worldly) efforts transient" (Pirkei Avot 1) -- both on an interior and exterior level, ... "
-- That is, when an individual Jew truly hones and enlarges his inner Jewishness while tempering and diminishing his Gentileness, inside and out, ...

"... he then enables the (actual) Jewish Nation to soar higher and higher upward, and (enables) the (actual) Gentile Nations, who are the world’s exterior (aspect), to recognize and acknowledge the value of the Jewish Nation."
-- ... he hones and enlarges the entire Jewish Nation inside and out."

2.

"But if, G-d forbid, the opposite occurs and a Jew fortifies and enhances his exterior (aspect) and his (inner) 'Gentile nations' -- the 'stranger in (his) midst' (Deuteronomy 28) -- more so than his (inner) 'Jewish Nation', ... "
-- That is, when an individual Jew hones and enlarges his inner Gentileness while tempering and diminishing his inner Jewishness, inside and out, ...

"... then his exterior (aspect) will (begin) to soar upward, and (the real) person, his actual interior (aspect) and inner 'Jewish Nation', will plunge downward. And that will have the exterior (aspect) of the world, i.e., the (actual) Gentile nations, soar ever upward and overcome the (actual) Jewish Nation, and have them sink down to the ground, and (it will enable) the (actual) Jewish Nation, i.e., the interior (aspect) of the world, to plunge deeper and deeper down, G-d forbid."
-- ... he then hones and enlarges the entire Gentile world, inside and out, and debases the Jewish Nation.
-- All this is true because “an impetus from below sets off an impetus up above” (see Zohar II, p.175B), which is to say that because “down and up” and “in and out” are parallel to each other, what we do effects the world at large as a consequence, much the way twins often effect each other on all levels despite physical distance. So we're duty-bound to fortify the Jewish Nation both within and without, and we'll soon see how we do that.

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"

2006-09-20T09:18:00.000-04:00

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"

2006-09-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

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"

2006-09-17T13:04:00.000-04:00

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"

2006-09-14T09:21:00.000-04:00

Chapter Sixty-Two:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

62.

1.

"We can now understand why even though the people of the earlier generations were of an immeasurably greater caliber than those of the latter ones (they weren’t privy to the Zohar or Kabbalah). For the rule regarding partzufim is that, be they partzufim of entire worlds or of souls, the subtler (elements) are fashioned first. And so the CHaBaD vessels are (always) fashioned first, whether it comes to the world at large or to souls."

"So while the individuals living in the first two millennia were of a much higher caliber than those of the latter ones, they nonetheless couldn’t partake of the full light (entailed in the revelation of the Zohar and Kabbalah) because they lacked the lower vessels of CHaGaT- NeHYM both on a personal and a universal level.'

2.

"The same was true later on, in the course of the middle two millennia, when the CHaGaT-vessels were fashioned in the world (at large) and in (individual) souls."
-- Those who lived in the course of the middle two millennia -- in the “Torah” era -- likewise didn’t merit knowledge of the Zohar or Kabbalah, despite their spiritual standing. For while many of them excelled in Torah, they weren’t ready for the sort of Torah of the final era which is Torah connected to the coming of the Moshiach.

"For though the souls (i.e., individuals alive then) were indeed very pure, as ChaGaT-vessels are nearly on par with ChaBaD-vessels, ... "
-- Both ChaBaD- and ChaGaT-vessels are sublime, despite their relative disparity, and the same is true of the individuals who lived in the course of the first and second two millennia: they too were sublime and far greater than we, ...

" ... nonetheless, the (more sublime) lights were still-and-all concealed from the world (then), because the vessels from the “chest” downward weren’t yet in place in the world or in souls."
-- ... which explains exactly why they, too, weren’t worthy of the Zohar and Kabbalah.

"But our generation -- despite the fact that the makeup of our souls is of the lowest quality, and have consequently not been fashioned in holiness -- has nonetheless allowed for the completion of the vessels of the partzuf of the world and (individual) souls. Thus the assignment (of allowing for the revelation of the Zohar and Kabbalah) has been completed by us."

"For now that the (final, lowest) vessels of NeHY and (thus) all the vessels of beginning, middle, and end are in place in the partzuf, whole configurations of light, that is, beginning, middle, and end; Nephesh, Ruach, and Neshama, are being extended (now) to all who merit it. And thus it’s only (now,) with the completion of such lowly souls that the supreme lights can be revealed, rather than before. "

(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"

2006-09-11T09:27:00.000-04:00

Chapter Sixty-One:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

61.

1.

"That brings us to the question as to why the Zohar wasn’t revealed to the early generations whose merits were undoubtedly greater than the later ones’ and who were more worthy (of such a revelation than they)? We’d also ask why a commentary to the Zohar wasn’t imparted before the time of the Ari (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, who died in 1572) by one of the kabbalists who preceded him? And most of all, why weren’t explanations of the Ari’s works and of the Zohar unveiled from then to now? Could this generation (possibly) be better than the earlier ones (see Yomah 9B)?"
-- His point is that the Zohar should logically have been revealed to earlier generations going all the way back to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s own. For they would’ve delved into for their own and our benefit, yet it wasn’t. What’s also notable is the fact that the most lucid explanation of the Zohar we have, which is the Ari’s (as all his works serve to explain the Kabbalistic system that’s laid out in the Zohar) has itself gone largely unexplained, until now thanks to Rabbi Ashlag himself. So, what is it that has allowed us to merit such a straightforward setting-out of the Kabbalistic system?

2.

"The answer lies in the fact that the 6,000 year course of the universe functions as a single partzuf ... "
-- A partzuf is an integrated cosmic configuration (see 44:2). Rabbi Ashlag is contending that reality as we know it, or the entire second era (see ch’s 14-20, etc.), functions as a single partzuf ...

"... that’s comprised of three (main) elements: a beginning, middle, and end, (made up of the configurations known as) CHaBaD, CHaGAT, and NeHY."
-- As we pointed out, there are ten sephirot in all: Keter, Chochma, Binah, Chessed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut (see 41:1). Sometimes, though, the quasi-sephira of Da’at replaces that of Keter, since Keter is so subtle, so G-dly that it’s said to be nullified by the Divine Presence itself. Da’at then serves to round-out the ten-sephira count. It sits below Binah. (There are other reasons why this configuration excludes Keter -- as well as Malchut, the last sephirah -- but that's beyond our concerns here.)
-- The first configuration, CHaBaD, is termed that because it’s comprised of CHochma, Binah, and Da’at. It’s the topmost configuration of the partzuf because it contains these mind-elements.
-- The middle configuration, CHaGAT, is comprised of CHessed, Gevurah, and Tifferet, and it’s said to be the middle configuration of the partzuf because it contains these heart-elements (much as the heart is in the middle of the body).
-- And the end configuration, NeHY, is comprised of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, and it’s the end because Netzach, Hod, and Yesod lie at the end of the partzuf (i.e., representing the legs and the organ of procreation).
-- But in order to understand that, and to see how that explains why the earlier generations weren’t granted the Zohar or a non-materialistic commentary to it that removes one of the major stumbling blocks to a proper understanding of it, we’d need to examine the following.

3.

"Our sages explained (that the 6,000 years of this world was to be divided thusly from the start: there would first be) '2,000 years of Tohu (formlessness, as in “And the earth was formless and void” [Genesis 1:2]; then there’d be) 2,000 (years) of Torah, and then 2,000 (years) of the Days of the Messiah' (Sanhedrin 97A) ... "
-- The Talmudic sages agreed that history -- the goings-on in the single partzuf that comprises the universe as we know it -- would be comprised of a beginning, middle, and end stage; but rather than designate them by their partzuf-specific names CHaBaD, CHaGAT, and NeHY, they categorized the three epoch periods of time as one of formlessness, another of Torah, and the third as that of the Messianic Era.

" ... (which illustrates the following). Throughout the course of the first two millennia, which correspond to the 'beginning' or CHaBaD (or 'formless' element of the partzuf and of its history), the lights (manifest there) were very slight, and were considered (to be like) a head without a body, having only Nefesh-light."
-- Toggling back and forth between terms, we’d depict Rabbi Ashlag as saying that the first, topmost course of history and its beginning was rather dark, formless and all-potential (as the term Chochma is a composite of the two terms “Koach-Mah”, meaning “the potential for anything”). But why would that be so, given how close it was to pre-creation's all-G-dliness?

"(That’s so) because there’s a converse relationship between lights and vessels."
-- “Lights” are the spiritual content of things, which are themselves termed “vessels” or “containers”. The classic analogy is that of the relationship between the soul and the body, where the soul is dubbed the body’s “light” and the body is taken to be the soul’s “vessel”. Being the integrated cosmic configuration that it is, the single partzuf that makes up all that we know is a combination of lights and vessels in various lay-outs.

"For when it comes to vessels, the rule is that the higher vessels grow first in the partzuf, whereas when it comes to lights, the opposite is true -- the lower lights become engarbed first in the partzuf. "
-- It’s simply a given that this single partzuf’s higher vessels grew in size and capacity before its lights did, and that its lesser lights were “engarbed” -- stored-away, and set aside for later use -- within the partzuf before its higher lights were.

"Thus, as long as only the higher parts of the vessels existed, meaning the CHaBaD vessels, then only the Nefesh-light could be engarbed in the partzuf, which are the lowest lights. And that’s why the first two millennia are referred to as Tohu."
-- That’s to say that the reason the first historical epoch didn’t have the Zohar and a commentary to it, though they seemingly should have, was simply because only the higher vessels (CHaBaD) and the lower lights (Nepesh) were in place there and then. So, while the people there (the vessels) were greater, the illuminations (the lights) were dimmer; hence the whole epoch was rather formless and only all-potential.

4.

"But in the course of the world’s second two millennia, which is comprised of CHaGaT vessels, ... "
-- ... that are lower than the CHaBaD vessels present in the first two millennia, discussed above ...

" ... Ruach-light ... "
-- ... which is higher than the Nefesh-light present in the first two millennia ...

" ... descended upon and was engarbed in the world, which is (i.e., touches upon) the secret import of Torah. And that’s why the middle two millennia are referred to as (the epoch of) Torah."
-- Ruach-light touches upon the secret import of Torah (meaning that it most especially corresponds to the essence of Torah) because Torah serves as the mediator -- the Tifferet -- between the pure Chessed and Gevurah of the CHaGaT triad, in that it’s Torah’s rulings that settle the differences between those two opposing litigants. So the second epoch is termed Torah because it “mediates” between the Tohu and Messianic epochs.
-- The point is that while there was more actualization in the middle epoch than there had been before, there was still not enough to allow for the publication and circulation of the Zohar, to say nothing of an explanation of it. This will soon be expanded upon.
-- (Rabbi Ashlag is also saying that while what the Talmudic sages meant by the phrase "2,000 years of Tohu, 2,000 (years) of Torah, and then 2,000 (years) of the Days of the Messiah” was that the world will be characterized by moral and spiritual chaos and formlessness before we’d have received the Torah, nonetheless the granting of the Torah allows for the Messianic Era.)

"And Neshama-light -- which is the greatest one -- came to be engarbed in the world in the course of the final two millennia which are comprised of NeHYM vessels. And that’s why they’re referred to as the Days of the Messiah."
-- Being the greatest light of all, Neshama-light automatically harkens to the Days of the Messiah when illumination will abound.

5.

"That’s true of each specific partzuf as well: when it comes to the CHaBaD and CHaGaT vessels down to the 'chest', the lights (there) remain covered over and don’t begin to exhibit out-and-out mercy -- i.e., they only exhibit the sublime Chochma-light -- from the 'chest' downward, i.e., from the NeHYM (level)."
-- We’d learned that the grand partzuf that is the universe is comprised of a beginning, middle, and end which are termed CHaBaD, CHaGAT, and NeHY, and that there was so little manifest light in the course of the CHaBaD aspect that it was like a head without a body. Rabbi Ashlag’s point here is that what’s true of reality en toto is also true of each segment of it: the higher or CHaBaD aspect exhibits very little light, and as such, it too seems to be “like a head without a body” -- and that by extension, the ChaGaT aspect (which will be expanded on below) exhibits more light but not all that much.
-- (The “M” at the end of NeHYM stands for Malchut. That isn’t discussed much here as we’d indicated above, but suffice it to say that it represents the recipient or end-product of all that’s offered by CHaBaD, CHaGAT, and NeHY.)

"That’s the reason why the Zohar itself and Kabbalah in general weren’t revealed to the world before the vessels of NeHYM in the universe’s single partzuf, which represent the last two millennia, manifested themselves."
-- That’s to say, Kabbalah wasn’t promulgated until near-modernity (though it was studied within small circles of scholars) because the earlier eras simply couldn’t endure the degree of light that Kabbalah study would have manifested then in the world.

6.

"But in the course of his lifetime, which was near the end of the era of the completion of the vessels below the 'chest', ... "
-- ... corresponding to the beginning of the NeHYM era, when the sublime Chochma-light was allowed to be revealed (see 5 above) ...

" ... the G-dly Ari’s soul started to clandestinely reveal the light of the sublime Chochma, ... "
-- ... in fact ...

"... since he was ready to receive that great light. He (consequently) uncovered (and explained) the underlying themes (laid out) in the Zohar and in Kabbalah (in general), and (it became clear that he’d) usurped all his predecessors."

"But, since the (NeHYM) vessels weren’t yet completed -- as he’d died in (the course of the 5th millennium, in) 5332 (i.e., in 1572 CE) -- the world wasn’t yet worthy of discovering his teachings, and his holy words fell under the dominion of a chosen few who were (themselves) prohibited from revealing them to the world."

"But now, in our time, when we’re nearing the end of the last two millennia, ... "
-- ... and are thus drawing near to the Days of the Messiah ...

"... permission has been granted (Rabbi Ashlag and others) to unveil both the Ari’s and the Zohar’s teachings to the world, and to the extent where from now on the words of the Zohar will come to be more and more revealed in the world, (that is,) to the extent that G-d wants it to be."

(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"

2006-08-30T09:26:00.000-04:00

Chapter Sixty:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

60.

1.

"All I can say from my own experience is that from the day that G-d’s Holy Light accorded me the merit to begin mulling over this holy book it hadn’t ever occurred to me to question its origin. And that’s for one simple reason: because its contents have always evoked the rare qualities of the Tanna Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai to my mind far more so than that of any other Tanna."
-- Though it’s not often spoken of, there’s a distinct level of tonality -- of subtle hues, cadences, and lyricism -- in Torah literature that’s unique to each author and every Torah work. Torah doesn’t sing when it’s read as prose and exposition, but it most certainly does when it’s read as mystery solved and as truth laid out whole and in full, fertile measure.
-- An excellent reader, Rabbi Ashlag affirms that he’d never adduced anyone else’s tones in the Zohar other than Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s. For he never found the sort of off-rhyme there or fault in meter that one might expect every once in a while in a lesser kabbalists work.

2.

"Nonetheless, *if* it became clear to me that someone else -- like Rabbi Moshe De Leon -- wrote it, then I’d admire Rabbi Moshe De Leon (or whoever else wrote it) more than all the Tanaaim, including Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai."

"In fact, if I’d determined that its author was one of the 48 (Biblical) prophets, ..."
-- ... who were likely to have written so lofty a work of revelation, then ...

"... that actually would have sat even better with me than attributing it to any one of the Tanaaim, given the depth of the Zohar’s wisdom. The truth is that if I’d determined that Moses had received it (directly) from G-d on Mt. Sinai, that *really* would have sat well with me, since it would have been (utterly) fitting for such a work to have come from Moses!"

3.

"But since I merited providing a commentary that allows everyone who wants to examine it to (in fact) understand something of it, then I think I’m exempt from having to enter into that (fray) altogether. For no one versed in the Zohar could ever settle for an author of a lesser caliber than the Tanna Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai."
-- That is, being in a position to know the Zohar from the inside-out as he was, Rabbi Ashlag felt confident is saying that no one of a lesser stature than the great Shimon Bar Yochai could ever have written it.

(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"

2006-08-27T10:42:00.000-04:00

Chapter Fifty-Nine:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

59.

"All who frequent the holy Zohar -- which is to say, all who (really) understand what’s written in it -- agree that it was composed by the G-dly Tanna (i.e., 2nd. century Talmudic sage) Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. It's only those who are removed from Kabbalah and rely on its opponents' fabricated tales who doubt its origin and tend to say that its author was the Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe De Leon or his contemporaries."
-- The Zohar emerged at the hands of the Kabbalist (and scribe) Rabbi Moshe De Leon at the end of the 14th century, who claimed to have copied it from a manuscript in his posession that had been hidden away and only recently discovered, which he asserted was written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. A number of people doubted the text’s antiquity, though, including historian Heinrich Graetz (1818-1891) and scholar Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), and they attributed it to De Leon himself or to others in his circle.
-- Many Kabbalists and other traditional scholars were aghast at the absurd suggestion that the Zohar wasn’t authentic and set out to disprove the notion. (In fact, Rabbi Ashlag once averred that De Leon himself wasn’t quite the master Kabbalist he’d need to be and wasn't even qualified to have written the Zohar himself.)

(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"

2006-08-09T11:00:00.000-04:00

Chapter Fifty-Eight:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

58.

1.

"But I know the reason (why observant people don’t delve into the esoteric side of the Torah). It’s mainly because faith has largely abated (in our day and age) over-all, especially when it comes to faith in our holy ones and sages in each generation."
-- Not having access ourselves to the holy and wise, we doubt their very existence. While we might concede to there being exceptional people who are somehow comfortable with eternity, at ease with piety, and linked to G-d, and others who are profuse in genius and able to grasp dreadfully large amounts of information, we nonetheless know the difference between them and the holy and wise. For while the former are mystical and brilliant, the latter are impelled by forces much further away and far more inward. And we don’t see them around us.
-- But the holy and wise do exist; they do. But being ... holy and wise ... , they eschew much of what we surround ourselves with and cherish, so we never get the chance to meet them. That’s to say that they’re still where they’ve always been, but we’re not. Consequently our collective paths no longer cross, and we assume that they don’t exist. As a consequence, we’ve lost faith in G-d, too; since it’s the holy and wise who best suggest Him to us.
-- The observant have their faith and they sometimes even catch sight of the holy and wise (since they and the observant visit some of the same places now and then), still and all the observant don’t delve into the esoteric side of the Torah for the following reason.

"(They don’t delve into it) also because the books of Kabbalah and the Zohar are full of bodily depictions, so people are afraid of making the mistake of lapsing into anthropomorphisms and of thus losing more than they’d gain."
-- Such books often focus not only on bodily depictions, but on Divine dimensionality as well, if you will; and on things far, far too human for angels, souls, and aspects of G-d Almighty’s own Being to be concerned with when taken literally.
-- So the thinking is that it’s much more dangerous to possibly lapse into heretical thoughts reading such things than it would be beneficial to be inspired by them, since there are other much more discreet and quite valuable works to draw upon for inspiration that don’t present such a threat.
-- (We cited another reason, though, in 57:2 -- what we termed the clash between emphasizing boundaries and denying them. For while, as we indicated, halacha postulates and sets boundaries, Kabbalah eschews it; so observant people don’t engage in Kabbalah as a rule. But rather than conflict, Rabbi Ashlag’s explanation and my own are one and the same. For the problem with bodily depictions and the like is that they seem to affix physical and mortal boundaries to the Divine, which are anathema to observant sensibilities since they’re far beyond the halachic horizon.)

2.

"That’s in fact exactly what induced me to (first) write a comprehensive commentary to the Ari’s writings ... "
-- ... known as Talmud Esser Sephirot, which is an excellent and remarkably extensive, multi-volume work that arranges the Ari’s Eitz Chaim by subject matter, and offers explanatory notes, further and deeper analyses in separate articles, study material, definitions of terms, and more. To my mind it’s Rabbi Ashlag’s finest work.

" ... and (then) to the holy Zohar, for I completely eliminated that concern (by their means). For I explained and proved the spiritual import of everything (depicted in the Zohar in physical terms) that’s (in fact) abstract and devoid of all physicality, and beyond space and time, as the reader will see."
-- Rabbi Ashlag remarked that the Zohar itself and other Kabbalistic works employed “The Language of Branches”. That’s to say that, based on the principle that there’s nothing in the lower realms without its prototype in the upper ones, the Kabbalists applied earthly (“branch”) terms for things and phenomena that were (very roughly) equivalent to their celestial (“root”) counterparts. The thing to recall is that the two aren’t to be confused; any discussion of a “face” for example, in the literature doesn't mean to imply a Divine “face” and the like.

"(And I did that all) in order to enable every single Jew to study the Zohar and be warmed by its holy light."

3.

"I named my commentary HaSulam (The Ladder) to denote the fact that it (actually) serves the same purpose as any other ladder, in that if (for example) you had an attic that was full of all sorts of goodness, then what you’d need is a ladder to climb up to it and to take hold of that bounty. For a ladder has no other purpose (than that), and if you were to pause midway on it and not (use it to) enter the attic, then its purpose wouldn’t have been fulfilled. And the same is true of my commentary to the Zohar."
-- That’s to say, use HaSulam to study the Zohar and its purpose would have been fulfilled; “pause midway on it” by delving into it on its own rather than use it to enter “the attic” that is the Zohar and you will have defeated its purpose. For while Rabbi Ashlag’s comments are enthralling on their own, his point is that they only stand up in the light of the words of the Zohar itself.

"Because there hadn’t been a way to completely clarify these most profound of words (until I wrote my comments). So, I fashioned a path and an entrance (to the Zohar that’s designed) for all. Now anyone can gaze upon, plumb the depths of, and delve into the Zohar himself with it. (Once people do, then) my purpose for (having written) the commentary will have been fulfilled."

(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"

2006-07-24T11:08:00.000-04:00

Chapter Fifty-Seven:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

57.

-- It’s here that Rabbi Ashlag finally begins to approach the text at hand: the Zohar. For as we pointed out in our own introduction, while this work is entitled the “Introduction to the Zohar”, Rabbi Ashlag evidently felt impelled to provide us with the world of background we’d encountered to now before discussing it.
-- We’ll approach the Zohar head on in the very next chapter, but the following must be said in advance of that. And it touches upon something that clearly sat very heavily on Rabbi Ashlag’s heart, as we’ll see at the very end.

1.

"Now you can understand the (spiritual) aridity and darkness we find ourselves to be in our generation, the likes of which we’d never even heard of in earlier ones. It’s (all) because (of the fact that) even the observant Jews (among us) have forsaken the study of the secrets of the Torah."
-- One of Rabbi Ashlag’s major disappointments had been the fact that even those who fervently believe in and worship G-d, delve into His Torah, and live a mitzvah-based life nonetheless either belittled Kabbalah study and didn’t engage in it, or they placed those who’d study it on so high a pedestal that they didn’t engage in it for that reason. But that’s absurd. For Kabbalah study is not only not to be disparaged, as it’s so magnificent and bedazzling; it’s also not reserved for the pious alone (after all, would G-d not allow even His less lofty children a portion of His inheritance?).

2.

"Maimonides once offered an illustration of something that’s true of our situation (as well). (He said that) if there were a thousand blind people walking along a path, that they’d surely take the right road and not stumble into any nets and snares along the way as long as they followed a sighted leader, when they’d surely stumble over every hurdle along the way and fall into the pit if there were no such person (leading them)."

"And (in fact,) that’s our situation. For if the observant (i.e., the “sighted”) among us were at least concerned with esoteric Torah and (were thus) drawing down whole light from The Infinite (as a result), then the rest of the generation (i.e., the “blind”) would follow along (in their wake), and everyone would surely succeed."
-- Why would anyone not want to “draw down whole light from The Infinite” -- most especially people whose who lives are dedicated to fulfilling G-d’s will day after day? After all, isn’t the point of it all to “perfect the universe through the Almighty’s sovereignty” (Aleinu prayer) though our observance? And wouldn’t whole light drawn from The Infinite be a major component of the process?
-- But there’s a reason for the reticence. It touches upon many, many things, not the least of which is the ongoing dissonance between the revealing and beclouding of G-d’s presence in the world. But what it most especially centers on is the clash between emphasizing boundaries and denying them.
-- For while boundaries are essential in our experience and serve to maintain our physical, emotional, and social soundness, it’s also true that they’re oftentimes arbitrary, and other times indisputable but too austere.
-- Levelheaded, practical, and a guide to life in the world, halacha postulates and sets boundaries; diaphanous, concerned with G-d’s Being, and an escort beyond life in the world, Kabbalah eschews boundaries (though it lays out its own, but only to serve as points of reference).
-- Hence as a rule, halachically observant individuals very often act as guardians of boundaries and are opposed to their denial -- and for exemplary reasons for the most part. But they also deny themselves and perhaps even fear the valuable experience of transcendence in the process. And they thus ironically work at both revealing G-d’s presence in the world by adhering to His requirements here, and beclouding it by corralling it into too-tight borders.

"But given that (even) the observant have distanced themselves from this wisdom, then it’s no wonder why the whole generation is failing as a consequence. Nonetheless, because of my deep sorrow (about it) I can’t pursue this (point) any further .... "

(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"

2006-04-30T15:40:00.000-04:00

Chapter Fifty-Six:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

56.

1.

"But it’s important to realize that the (all-encompassing) N. R. N. C. Y. we’d cited above is comprised of five elements..., "
-- That is, it’s comprised of a full complex of Nephesh-, Ruach-, Neshama-, Chaya-, and Yechida-elements.

" ... and that all of existence is embodied in it."
-- The great and mammoth, round, gyrating all-encompassing N. R. N. C. Y. can be said to be the very ambiance and context of the cosmos.

"For indeed, everything but everything that exists functions as a consequence (and in the midst) of it, no matter how minuscule."

And so, even the spiritual mineral aspect in Asiyah (of one’s being) ...
-- That is, even when functioning on the lowest level of the lowest world one ...

" ... has to realize the five levels of N. R. N. C. Y. (relevant to him) that are affiliated with (and lower reflections of) the all-encompassing N. R. N. C. Y. "
-- For every single aspect of our being is tied to and absorbed in every other one, and the whole of it must work in tandem.

2.

"As such, it’s impossible to attain even the light of the mineral (aspect) of Asiyah ... "
-- ... to say nothing of even higher realms ...

"... without (having first succeeded in attaining) the (other) four aspects of (your Divine) service."

"As such, no Jew can excuse himself from engaging in them all (i.e., in the honing of all five aspects of his soul) to the degree appropriate to his (spiritual) status."
-- That is, since we’re expected to grow in our beings, as Jews, and to grant satisfaction to our Maker, there’s no reasonable way we can excuse ourselves from our obligations to follow through on that.
-- As such, each one of us must strive “to the degree appropriate to his (spiritual) status” -- which is to say, given his or her makeup, station, and environs -- to do our best.
-- For while we won’t be asked to account for not having been the person we’re not, we will, though, be asked to account for why we’re not the person we really *are*. And just as we’ll be recognized for having tried our hardest in light of our challenges, we’ll likewise be judged for not having done our best in light of our potential and for what lays latent, deep within. That being so, ...

"Each person would have to study Torah and fulfill mitzvot with (the proper) intents ... "
-- i.e., to grant G-d satisfaction.

"... to receive the (degree of) ruach (appropriate) to his status."

"He’d have to delve into the mysteries of the Torah according to his status ... "
-- ... which will be the thrust of the rest of this work.

"... to receive the (degree of) neshama (appropriate) to his status."

"And (he’d) likewise (have to engage in contemplating) the reasons for (or, the tastes of) the mitzvot ...
-- ... i.e., to delve into -- or savor -- what was on G-d’s “mind” when He charged us to do this or that mitzvah, and to thus commune with His inner will ...

"... since it’s impossible to realize even the smallest light of holiness without having done (all) that."

(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"

2006-04-24T17:52:00.000-04:00

Chapter Fifty-Five:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

55.

1.

"All that thus answers the questions we asked, 'Why would mankind need all the supernal worlds that the Creator forged for it? What use are they to him?'”
-- See 3:4, 33:1, and 41:1.

"For now we see that it would be impossible for you to achieve (the level of) bringing satisfaction to your Creator without the help of those worlds."
-- Indeed, we were taught that we’re charged to convert our ratzon l’kabel to a ratzon l’hashpia and grant satisfaction to our Maker rather than to ourselves (see 14:1, 32:1, 40:2).

"As the more you purify your ratzon l’kabel, the more lights and degrees of the soul termed (your) N. R. N. C. Y., will you achieve (see 32:1). In fact, the lights of each degree you achieve helps you to purify it. And you’ll thus ascend in degrees to the point where you attain the bliss of (having fulfilled) the intention behind creation ..."
... which was that we enjoy all sorts of spiritual “goodness, delight, and tranquility” (13:2; also see Ch. 12 and 14:3).

2.

"Now, we’re taught that 'whoever comes to purify (himself) is helped' (Yoma 38b). The Zohar asks, though, what exactly he’s helped with, and it offers that he’s helped with 'a sacred soul' (Zohar 1, p. 62A). (What that means to say is that) it’s impossible to purify yourself to the degree (required) for the intention of creation (to be fulfilled) without the help of all the N.R.N.C.Y. levels of the soul ...
... that is, without the “sacred soul” that the Zohar refers to. For while all souls are in fact sacred and derived from G-d’s very Being, they’re only fully sacred and thus really souls when they’re in full-flourish and all five of their elements are manifest.

(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"

2006-04-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

2006-04-02T09:33:00.000-04:00

Chapter Fifty-Four:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

54.

"When you merit permanently purifying the *verbal* aspect of your ratzon l’kabel you then merit achieving an affinity of form with the world of Atzilut, you ascend upward and you receive Chaya-Light on a permanent basis."

"Then should you merit ascending higher yet, you’d manage to achieve the light of the Infinite as well as the light of Yechida that’s engarbed in Chaya-Light -- but this isn’t the place to expand on that."
-- ... since that’s so sublime and near-ultimate a realm that touches on matters far beyond our concerns here in the text and in this world.
-- As we’ll soon see, we’ve now come to the end of this lengthy foray into the evolution of the soul from the rank of pure selfishness to that of near selflessness.

(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"

2006-03-29T09:28:00.000-05:00

Chapter Fifty-Three:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

53.

"Then after you purify the animal part of your ratzon l’kabel and transform it into a will to bestow 'until He who knows all secrets would testify that (you) won’t ever lapse' (again on that level), you will enjoy an affinity of form with the world of Briah, and you will then ascend upward and receive Neshama-Light on a permanent level."

"And once you purify the verbal part of your body, you can then ascend upward to the sephira of Chochma and receive the Chaya-Light there, even though you will not have yet permanently purified it, except the light will not shine (upon you) permanently (yet)."

(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"

2006-03-27T06:02:00.000-05:00

Chapter Fifty-Two:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

52.

"After you *permanently* purify the vegetative part of your ratzon l’kabel you’ll ascend to the world of Yetzira on a permanent basis ... "
-- For you will have transcended the world of Asiyah altogether.

" ... where you’ll attain a permanent degree of Ruach."
-- Since you will have transcended the Nephesh realm altogether.

"And from there you can also attain Neshama-light and Chaya-light from the sephirot of Binah and Chochma there, which are regarded as the Neshama (level) of Ruach and the Chaya (level) of Ruach, even before you will have merited permanently purifying your animalness and verbalness -- but (you will) not (have attained it) permanently."
-- That is, you’ll be able to attain *some* degree of Neshama- and Chaya-light before permanently purifying your animalness and verbalness, but only for a while. And you merit that because of the following.

"For by virtue of the fact that you’d purified the vegetative aspect of your ratzon l’kabel on a permanent level you’d thus already share an affinity of form with the entire world of Yetzirah to the highest degree."

(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"

2006-03-20T09:31:00.000-05:00

Chapter Fifty-One:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

51.

1.

"Know that you’re only credited with having repented and purified yourself when your efforts are permanent and when (it’s clear that) you won’t ever lapse. As it’s said, 'What is (true) penitence? When He who knows all secrets would testify that (you) won’t ever lapse' (see Hilchot Teshuvah 2:2)."
-- Rambam indicates that true repentance -- true spiritual ascent and expiation after having sinned and lowered one’s stature -- comes down to “no longer committing the sin one once committed, not thinking of committing it anymore, and affixing to his heart the commitment to never do it again” (ibid.), and doing that so distinctly that even He who knows your heart would affirm your effort.
-- Rabbi Ashlag will now make the point that the source of our sinning -- our stark willingness to only take-in -- also calls for penitence.

"Hence it follows that what we'd said ... that if you purify the mineralness of your ratzon l’kabel that you’ll merit a partzuf of the Nephesh of Asiyah, and that you’ll ascend upward and be engarbed in the sephira of Malchut of Asiyah ... means that you’ll certainly be rewarded when you permanently purify your mineralness to the degree that you’ll never lapse. And that you’ll then be able to ascend to the spiritual world of Asiyah, since you’ll have realized purity and (will have achieved) an utter affinity of form with that world."
-- That means to say that if you repent for your willingness to only take-in on a mineral, a most basic level, then you’ll have achieved a degree of purity and penitence that would enable you to draw closer to G-d than you could have before. For you will have attained an “affinity of form with that world” at least, and thus begun the process of attaining an essential affinity with G-d Himself (see 11: 2), which is the greatest act of repentance and of drawing close to Him.

2.

"As to the (possibility of achieving the) other levels -- Ruach, Neshama, Chaya and Yechida of Asiyah -- you’d need to purify their ratzon l’kabel’s corresponding vegetableness, animalness, and verbalness in order for them to be engarbed in and receive those lights (and thus achieve those other levels). But that purification wouldn’t need to be permanent, (i.e., to the point where) 'He who knows all secrets will testify that (you) won’t fail again'."
-- ... as you had to do to achieve the above level.

"Because the whole world of Asiyah -- alone with its Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tipheret, and Malchut (cluster of) sephirot -- actually only encompasses the realm of Malchut, which is only germane to the purification of mineralness. And its five sephirot are only five subdivisions of Malchut."

"Thus, since you will have already merited purifying the mineral part of the ratzon l’kabel, you’d already (be experiencing an) affinity in form with the entire world of Asiyah."
-- That is, since “everything that exists on a comprehensive level exists on a particular level as well” (Ch. 50), you’re having achieved an affinity in form to the above degree insinuates that you’ll achieve it to succeeding degrees, too. But not permanently, as we’ll soon see.

3.

"It’s just that since each and every sephira from the world of Asiah receives (illumination) from its corresponding sephira in the higher worlds, thus when for example Tipheret of Asiyah receives (illumination) from the world of Yetzirah, which is all Tipheret and Ruach-Light; when Binah of Asiyah receives (illumination) from the world of Briah, which is all Neshama; or when Chochma of Asiyah receives (illumination) from Atzilut, which is all Chochma and Chaya-Light -- even though you’ll have only permanently purified your mineralness, still and all if you (eventually) purify the remaining three aspects of your ratzon l’kabel (i.e., their vegetable, animal, and verbal aspects), even though you will not permanently purified them, you can still receive the Ruach, Neshama, and Chaya (levels) from Tipheret, Binah, and Chochma of Asiyah, though only temporarily."
-- But why will you only receive the Ruach, Neshama, and Chaya (levels) from Tipheret, Binah, and Chochma of Asiyah *temporarily*?

"Because once one of those three parts of the ratzon l’kabel has been stirred, it’s immediately deprived of these lights."
-- That's to say that once your innate inclination to take-in rather than bestow kicks in, be it on a primitive or sophisticated level (for even the more erudite and learned lapse into selfishness to a degree from time to time), you'll have taken a step backward and wouldn't have truly repented of your ways as you would have to.

(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"

2006-03-08T13:13:00.000-05:00

Chapter Fifty:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

50.

"Nonetheless know that the five lights of Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida that were received from the world of Asiyah is only a Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida of Nefesh-Light, and hasn’t anything of Ruach-Light or beyond. Because Ruach-Light only exists in the world of Yetzirah, Neshama-Light only exists in the world of Briah, Chayah-Light only exists in the world of Atzilut, and Yechida-Light only exists in the world of Adam Kadmon."

"Still and all, as we’d indicated before, everything that exists on a comprehensive level exists one a particular level as well, and even in its remotest detail."
-- Rabbi Ashlag alluded to a core aspect of this principle (enunciated in the expression, “the beginning is lodged in the end and the end is lodged in the beginning”, Sefer Yetzirah 1:7) in Ch’s 9 and 15. He spoke directly of the idea above in broad terms in Ch. 42, in terms of all the worlds being “interwoven”, and said outright in Ch. 43 that “everything found in existence in general can also be found in each and every world, as well as in each and every one of each world’s tiniest fragments”.
-- His point is that we needn’t be overly concerned for the fact that the
five received lights spoken of above are an aspect of Nefesh-Light alone, for all the worlds are interwoven hence what’s true of one is likewise true of them all.

"Thus all five levels of Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida exist in the world of Asiyah as well, as we explained. It’s just that they’re only a *Nephesh* level of (the whole cluster of) Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida (for all practical purposes)."

"Along the very same lines there’s also a *Ruach* level Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida (cluster) in the world of Yetzirah; a *Neshama* level Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida of Neshama in Briah; a *Chaya* level Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida of Chayah in Atzilut; and a *Yechida* level Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida in Adam Kadmon. The discrepancies between them is the same as the ones we'd indicated between the Nephesh-, Ruach-, Neshama-, Chaya-, and Yechida- levels of Asiyah."

(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"

2006-03-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-Nine:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

49.

1.

-- We’re slowly approaching our end-point now with some final insights into just how we grow from harboring souls to bestowing ones.

"Then, once you earn this great light which is termed 'Neshama-Light', ... "
-- That is, once a “point from the light of holy-Chayah” referred to at the end of the last chapter, “extends outwards” and precipitates the appearance of a “partzuf of Neshama” ...

" ... (which is) the partzuf in which each of the 613 organs radiates fully and separately like an independent partzuf, ... "
-- You then earn a human-like partzuf that has command over each of its elements, unlike a mineral one, which has no command over its elements, ostensibly; a vegetable one, which has only some; and an animal one, which has a decidedly larger amount of command over its elements but hardly as much as this human-like one.

" ... then the means to observe each mitzvah with its true intention is provided you. For each organ of the partzuf of Neshama uncovers the path of each mitzvah relevant to that organ."
-- For once you achieve that state and your self is opened-up as never before, organ by organ, you’d have advanced to the point where you can fulfill mitzvot for their own ends alone rather than for selfish designs.

"And then, thanks to the great power of those lights, you’re able to go on to purify the verbal aspect of your ratzon l’kabel and to transform it into a willingness to bestow. And the point of Chayah-Light which is engarbed in your 248 spiritual organs and 365 spiritual tendons is then able to bolster itself correspondingly."

2.

"Indeed, when the point of Neshama-Light (eventually) becomes an entire partzuf (unto itself) it ascends upward and is engarbed in the sephirah of Chochma in the spiritual world of Asiyah, which is an unfathomably subtle vessel. It then extends a great and mighty light from the Infinite that’s termed Chayah-Light (referred to above) or the 'Neshama of Neshama'."
-- As was explained in Ch. 41, there are five supernal lights which correspond to the five levels of the soul that are termed Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida. Rabbi Ashlag has expanded upon Nephesh, Ruach, and Neshama so far. The "Neshama of Neshama" cited here corresponds to the Chaya which is the arcane root -- or “soul” -- of the more empirical, lower soul levels of Nephesh, Ruach, and Neshama. (We won’t be referring to the Chaya’s own “soul”, however, because as we also learned there, it’s utterly beyond our ken.)

"Then all the details of Asiyah -- all its mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness that correspond to the sephirah of Chochma -- help it take in the Chochma-light in full, along the lines we explained in regard to Nephesh-Light (see Ch’s 46-47). It’s then also termed 'Holy Verbalness' because it corresponds to the pure level of human verbalness."

3.

"The stature of that light vis a vis its G-dliness is equal to that of (the level of) verbalness in physical mineralness, vegetableness, animalness, and verbalness. That means to say that it develops an awareness of others."
-- The ability to not only move about at random and at will but to likewise move out of one’s own being, so to speak, and to thus be able empathize with others is what enables us to sense others’ needs and to bestow rather than just take-in.

"As such, this light’s level of spiritual mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness is on par with the material verbalness of material mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness."

"And the level of light of the Infinite engarbed in this partzuf is termed 'Yechidah-Light'."
-- Let’s now review how we’ve progessed from Nephesh-Light to Yechidah-Light.
-- We learned in Ch. 41 that, “the light of Yechida shines in Adam Kadmon” which is the highest realm, “the light of Chaya shines in Atzilut, the light of Neshama shines in Briah, the light of Ruach shines in Yetzirah, and the light of Nephesh shines in Asiyah”, in descending order. Our task was to reverse that process and to ascend upward from Nephesh-Light.
-- Nephesh-light corresponds to the pure mineralness of the ratzon l’kabel” (Ch. 45). We’re born with it. When “we struggle to observe Torah and Mitzvot with proper intentions” we manage to acquire a degree of Ruach-Light and to go on to develop the Neshama-Light that’s engarbed in it by “engaging in the secrets of the Torah and in the reasons behind the mitzvot” (Ch. 48).
-- Then as we saw in section 2 above “when the point of Neshama-Light becomes an entire partzuf it then ascends upward” and “extends a great and mighty light from the Infinite that’s termed Chayah-Light” which then leads to our developing a Yechidah-Light.

(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"

2006-02-06T11:46:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-Eight:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

48.

1.

"By then engaging in the secrets of the Torah and in the reasons behind the mitzvot ... "
-- Which is to say, by then delving into the heart and soul of the Torah and its mitzvah-system by reflecting upon Kabbalistic texts that reveal such things, ...

"... you purify the animate part of your ratzon l’kabel to the degree that you engage in that."
-- For the deeper you delve into the secrets of the Torah and in the reasons behind the mitzvot, the surer will be your realization of the fact that we’re all driven by a lethal and all-consuming willingness to take-in rather than bestow, and the deeper will be your commitment to undo it.

"You (then) build-up the point of your Neshama engarbed in its 248 organs and 365 tendons. When its structure is completed and it becomes a (full) partzuf, it ascends upwards and engarbs the sephira of Binah in the spiritual world of Asiyah, whose vessel is incomparably finer than the preceding ones, Tipheret and Malchut. And you then spread a great light from the Infinite into it which is termed 'Neshama-Light'”.
-- Refer to 44:2 which speaks of the stages you reach “when you fulfill all 613 mitzvot on a tangible level”; and to 44:3 which addresses the idea of your spiritual accomplishments corresponding to the “extent that (your) soul has (been) schooled” in and granted insights.

2.

-- The Kabbalistic terminology is beginning to get rather turgid at this point, so let’s review the basic concepts behind what’s being said.
-- As Rabbi Ashlag said, “reality is comprised of five (supernal) worlds”: Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Briah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah (ch. 41). The five of them in turn correspond to the five cluster sefirot, so that Adam Kadmon corresponds to Keter, Atzilut corresponds to Chochma, Briah corresponds to Binah, Yetzirah corresponds to Tifferet, and Asiyah corresponds to Malchut. Those five pairs further correspond to the five levels of the soul -- Yechida, Chaya, Neshama, Ruach, and Nephesh -- all which in turn correspond to the 4 letters of G-d’s name along with the tip of the first letter, yod, for a total of 5.
-- Recall that we’ve been discussing ascending upward in our beings from the bottom up, i.e., from mineralness, vegetableness, animalness, to verbal- or humaness (ch. 34).
-- To now we’ve addressed ascending up from the Nephesh-Asiyah-mineralness level to the Ruach-Yetzirah-vegetableness one. We’re now touching upon the next higher level.
-- Rabbi Ashlag’s point here once again is that once we engage “in the secrets of the Torah and in the reasons behind the mitzvot” (see above) we begin to “purify the animate part of (our) ratzon l’kabel” and we go on from there to “build-up the point of (our) Neshama” which then “ascends upwards and engarbs the sephira of Binah in the spiritual world of Asiyah” and to acquire “Neshama-Light”. That brings us up to date.
-- At that point, ...

"All the details of mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness in the world of Asiyah associated with the Binah-complex then come to help the humanness Neshama partzuf fully take-in light from the sephira of Binah, which is (then) also termed 'holy animalness' (simply) because it corresponds to the purest aspect of the (mundane) animal part of the human body. In fact, that is that’s light’s nature, as we explained in connection with corporeal animalness (see 37:2). (For,) it’s what grants the characteristic sensation that makes up each of the 613 organs of the partzuf, and (enables) each one to sense its own aliveness as well as its freedom and independence from the partzuf as a whole."

"And (that process of ascent continues to the point where each of) the 613 organs are deemed 613 (full) partzufim (unto themselves), each with it’s own cast of light. In fact, the spiritual status of this light in comparison to Ruach-light is nearly equal to the difference between animalness and that of mineral and vegetableness in the physical world."

"A point from the light of holy-Chayah, which is the light of the sephira of Chochma, extends outwards when the partzuf of Neshama appears, which is then engarbed in it."

(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"

2006-01-29T11:26:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-Seven:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

47.

1.

"As we’d already observed, the partzuf of Nephesh (i.e., the lowest partzuf of the five) that we achieve by (merely) observing Torah and Mitzvot without (any specific, lofty) intentions already has a point of Ruach-Light engarbed in it."
-- See 44:1.

"Thus, when we struggle to observe Torah and Mitzvot *with* proper intentions we purify the vegetable aspect of the ratzon l’kabel there, and build up the point of Ruach into a (full) partzuf to the extent that we do that."
-- That is, when elevate our intentions and serve G-d in love and awe, we correspondingly elevate our beings, step by step and measure for measure, and also begin to purge our ratzon l’kabel. What follows are the inner esoteric details.

2.

"When we fulfill the 248 imperative mitzvot with (the proper) intentions, the point (of the heart) expands outward to our 248 spiritual-organs; and when we avoid committing the 365 prohibitions the point expands outward to our 365 tendons."

"And when all 613 of our spiritual-organs are perfected, ..."
-- ... by our fulfilling all 248 imperative mitzvot and avoiding all 365 prohibitions en toto ...

" ... the point then ascends and becomes engarbed in the sephira of Tipheret in the world of Asiyah. The Infinite then issues it a more eminent light, termed Ruach-Light, in accordance with the degree you’d purified the vegetative aspect of your body."
-- That is, our beings continue to ascend higher and higher to the point where ...

"All the details of mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness in the world of Asiyah (in your being) which are relevant to the Tipheret-complex, then help your Ruach partzuf (which is higher than the Nephesh partzuf we’d been discussing) take in light from Tipheret in its entirety in ways we explained before in terms of the Nefesh-Light. And it’s then termed holy- vegetableness (as opposed to mere mineralness)."

"The light (of holy-vegetableness is indeed higher than mineralness, as can be determined by the fact that it) corresponds to material vegetableness in that one can differentiate actual movements in each detail, and the spiritual light of vegetableness then becomes powerful enough to emit light to each of the 613 organs in the partzuf of Ruach, which then exhibit the functions of that (spiritual) organ."

"And then, along with the appearance of the partzuf of Ruach, comes a point of the next highest level, which is to say, of Neshama-Light which becomes engarbed in it."

(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"

2006-01-16T11:19:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-Six:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

46.

1.

"But understand that while (all) the spherot -- from the top-most point of Keter in the world of Adam Kadmon to the bottom-most point of Malchut in the world of Asiyah -- are G-dly, changeless and undifferentiated, there’s still and all a *great* difference (between them) as far as those who receive (from them) are concerned."
-- That's to say that from a G-d's eye-view, the sepherot are all part of the one great, smooth, clear bouillon of His own making and Being without distinction and particularity. But from our perspective -- from the other side of the picture, touching on the effect that each sephira has upon us and absolutely everything in the material universe -- there's a "world" of difference.
-- We could perhaps liken the difference between the two perspectives to the one between how parents see themselves when they make a decision about the household -- as a unit, as opposed to how their children see them -- as mother versus father.

"For the sephirot are grouped into (two aspects:) lights and vessels. While their light (aspect) is pure G-dliness, their vessel (aspect), which is termed K.C.B.T.M. (i.e., Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tipheret, and Malchut), in each of the lower worlds of Briyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, are *not* deemed G-dliness. What they are, are cloaks that conceal the light of the Infinite within them and bestow the receivers with the amount of light each is to receive according to its degree of purity."
-- Though thoroughly G-dly on their own as we just learned, the sephirot are comprised of two aspects when they touch upon creation: an inner, essential one of light; and an outer, external one of vessel. What that comes to is this.
-- If the everything-bound-to-everything-else that is the primeval bouillon of G-d's light were to emanate as-is toward us, we'd drown outright. We could withstand it and would even flourish thanks to it if it came upon us bit by bit, though. The phenomenon of it all becoming bit by bit, though, is unnatural to the primeval bouillon, as it calls for everything-bound-to-everything-else to unbind, but it's a necessary event nonetheless. In order for each element to be set off from the next, though, it has to be encased and set off by a self-container or "vessel". Thus, everything in our experience is comprised by an essential light and a necessary (albeit nonessential) vessel or encasement.
-- Rabbi Ashlag is underscoring the point that while the sephirot's light aspect is pure G-dliness, their vessel aspect actually (though necessarily) conceal the light within them, while still-and-all bestowing us receivers with the light due us, according to our purity (or, preparedness). He also makes the point of saying that all that only occurs in the lower worlds of Briyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, but not in Atzilut. Because everything in Atzilut is undifferentiated G-dliness. But since that's out of our present experience, it's not to be considered.

2.

"As such, even though the light itself is one (i.e., undifferentiated), we nonetheless refer to the lights in the sephirot as N.R.N.C.Y. (Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida) ... "
-- That is, we break them down into their component parts, which can then be broken down into even more and more attenuate parts. And we do that ...

"... because the light is differentiated according to the character of the vessels."
-- That’s to say that we differentiate the lights into parts because the *recipients* of those lights each have their own needs. And we break them down by degrees, as we'll now see in *ascending* order.

"For Malchut, which is the thickest cloak, conceals (nearly all) the light of the Infinite. The amount of light that issues from the Infinite (though Malchut) to the receivers is very small in relation to the purity of the mineralness of man’s body. Its light is (thus only) termed Nephesh-light. The vessel of Tipheret is finer than that of Malchut’s, so the light that the Infinite issues (through it) is connected to the purity of the vegetable aspect of man's body, because it’s more active than the Nephesh-Light. Its light is termed Ruach-Light. The vessel of Binah is finer yet than Tipheret’s, so the light that the Infinite issues (through it) is connected to the purity of the animal part of man's body, and Its light is termed Neshama-Light. And the vessel of Chochma is the finest of them all, so the light that the Infinite issues (through it) is connected to the purity of the verbal part of man's body, and its light is termed Chaya-Light, and its actions are immeasurable (which is all the more so true of Yechida)."
-- The point is that the thinner and finer the cloak, the more light of the Infinite can shine through and the higher it passes in the human makeup, from mineralness all the way through to humanness. In ascending order that differentiated light is termed first Nephesh-light, then Ruach-Light, Neshama-Light, and Chaya-Light. "Yechidah-Light" isn't discussed because Yechida is the point at which the light is joined to ("yachad" with) the Yechida G-dliness itself, so there's absolutely no differentiation there whatsoever.

(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"

2006-01-11T10:10:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-Five:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

45.

1.

"This Nephesh-light is termed 'the holy light of mineralness of the world of Asiyah' because it corresponds to the pure mineralness of the ratzon l’kabel in the human body."
-- We’d just learned that it’s the point in your heart that’s the mineral aspect of your soul (44:2). Rabbi Ashlag is now terming that point “the holy light of the mineralness of the world of Asiyah” to indicate the fact that despite it’s essential, rank mundanity and mineralness, and its alignment with the basest expression of the ratzon l’kabel, it’s nevertheless holy since it’s an aspect of the world of Asiyah (which, while the lowest world indeed, is inarguably an aspect of pure G-dliness).

"Its light shines (i.e., functions) on a spiritual level much the way mineralness does in the physical world, whose details don’t move about on their own but rather in general and in ways that encompass all of its details equally."
-- That is, just as inanimate objects are .. inanimate ... and only move on a molecular level and perhaps from place to place as a whole, and then only when provoked by external forces, the light of the mineralness of the world of Asiyah likewise only functions to those minimal degrees.

2.

"The same is true of the light of the Partzuf of Nephesh of Asiyah. For even though it has 613 spiritual-organs that are (actually) 613 essentially different forms of accepting the (Divine) bounty, nonetheless those differences aren’t apparent, and (the only thing governing it) is an all encompassing light whose function affects them all equally without a clear distinction of details."
-- We'd already learned that all 613 spiritual-organs of the point in your heart form a Partzuf, which we depicted as an integrated organism (see 44:2). What’s being underscored here is the fact that those spiritual-organs serve as “613 essentially different forms of accepting the (Divine) bounty”, which means to say that like our bodily organs, each one of these spiritual-organs has likewise been created by G-d, and nourished and maintained by His bounty to serve distinct needs and to function in unique ways. It’s just that their mineralness dictates that the lot of them function as a whole (by means of “an all encompassing light”) rather than as the separate units they are.

(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"

2006-01-03T10:55:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-Four:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

44.

1.

"Now, this 'point in the heart' doesn’t become manifest before age 13, only afterwards, (and) when you begin to engage in Torah (study) and (the observance of) mitzvot."
-- That is, though we’re each born with this most basic albeit hindmost part of a soul, it still and all only hovers in the background until we become 13 and are responsible for mitzvah-observance. And it only truly comes into its own and becomes manifest when we do in fact engage in mitzvah-observance and Torah study. We’re taught however that *all* of us are mitzvah-observant to some degree or another (see Berachot 57A), so this last point shouldn’t be seen as discouragement so much as reassurance.

"It does though begin to develop and to display itself outright even if you do so (i.e., engage in mitzvah-observance) without (any specific, lofty) designs, which is to say, without the sort of love and fear (of G-d) that’s only warranted of one who serves a king; and even (if you engage in them) less than altruistically."
-- We’re said to serve G-d outright and to be near-at-hand to Him when we engage in His mitzvot and study His Torah. The realization of that should strike us deeply with either a sense of reverence or of love (or both) and should encourage us to do our best at it and to fulfill it in as high-minded a manner as we can. The point in our heart still and all manifests itself even if we engage in mitzvot in rather humdrum, even self-serving ways.

"For (in point of fact, we’re taught that) mitzvot needn’t (be fulfilled with) any designs, for even random (mitzvah-related) acts are qualified to purify your ratzon l’kabel -- but only to the lowest degree, i.e., (on the) mineral (level)."
-- That’s to say that if we do though engage in mitzvot perfunctorily or with an agenda of our own (either for reward, or for recognition and the like), our ratzon l’kabel will be purified indeed, but only to a minimum, mineral-level degree.

2.

"Now, the extent to which you purify the mineral part of your ratzon l’kabel is the very extent to which you build-up the 613 parts of the point in your heart, which is the mineral (aspect) of your holy soul."
-- We begin to purify the mineral, lowest, most demanding aspect of ourselves that only wants to take-in by first honestly taking note of it in our being, and by engaging in mitzvot, whose aim is to foster bestowance. (We'll explain the 613 parts of our soul shortly.)

"And when you fulfill all 613 mitzvot on a tangible level, ..."
-- As that can only actually be carried out by the entire Jewish Nation in the course of history in fact, seeing as some mitzvot can only be fulfilled by Cohanim or Leviim, for example, others can only be fulfilled while the Holy Temple is operational, etc., Rabbi Ashlag’s implying that once you play your part in the fulfillment of all 613 mitzvot, then ...

" ... you (begin to) perfect the 613 organs of the point in your heart, which is the mineral (aspect) of your holy soul."

"Since its 248 spiritual-organs are bolstered by fulfilling the 248 imperatives, and its 365 spiritual-tendons are bolstered by avoiding the 365 prohibitives, and it becomes a complete partsuf of a holy Nephesh. Then the soul ascends upward and engarbs the sephira of Malchut in the spiritual world of Asiyah."
-- There are 613 mitzvot in all (and 613 parts of our soul, as we indicated): 248 “imperatives” -- things we’re obliged to do, like be honest for example, observe the Shabbat, etc.; and 365 “prohibitives” -- things we’re obliged to *avoid* doing, like eating unkosher foods, stealing, etc.
-- When we do our part as members of the Jewish Nation to fulfill all 248 imperatives we bolster the 248 “spiritual-organs” of our mineral soul; and when we do what we can to avoid the 365 prohibitives we bolster the 365 “spiritual-tendons” of our mineral soul, and thus bolster all 613 of its parts.
-- We then cultivate a complete spiritual system known as a “partsuf” (literally, “face”, but perhaps best conceived of as an entire and integrated organism with a face or “presence” of its own). While it's indeed a partsuf and thus significant, it’s nonetheless a partsuf of the lowest order in that it’s attached to the lowest level of the soul (Nephesh), grade of being (mineral), sephirah (Malchut), and the lowest spiritual world (Asiyah), since it’s rooted in our only *beginning* to purify the lowest aspect of our ratzon l’kabel.

3.

"All the various spiritual aspects of mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness found in that world, which correspond to the sephira of Malchut of Asiyah, serve and aid the partsuf of the human-level Nephesh there."
-- Up to this point your having done your part to fulfill mitzvot with the full thrust of your mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness will have solidified your soul and enabled it to attain a portion of the *human* level of Asiyah (the lowest world). Your portion in it is dependant on something, though. For ...

"That's only to the extent that the soul has schooled them (i.e., the aspects of mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness in your being). For all insights (you'd have given them) nourish (the soul) spiritually and give it the wherewithal to grow and mature enough to draw down the light of the sephira of Malchut of Asiyah well enough to enlighten your body. And that full light then helps you in your Torah and mitzvot efforts and to reach (even) higher levels."
-- That's to say that your soul-advancement all depends on how much you'd wisened and enlightend your inner mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness as to what matters in this world and what doesn't. For if you'd struggled to concentrate on your relationship to G-d, and thus used your innate mineralness, vegetableness, and animalness to serve that end, then your observance and your very being will grow to greater and greater heights.

Now, as we indicated above, a point of the light of Nephesh comes upon and is engarbed in you as soon as you're born. The same is true in this instance as well, for as soon as a holy partzuf of Nephesh comes upon you, a point from a higher level is produced along with it, which is to say that the last degree of the light of a *Ruach* of Asiyah ...
-- ... which is a level up from the Nephesh of Asiyah ...

... then engarbs itself in the inner recesses of the partzuf of Nephesh.
-- And you ascend accordingly.

And so it is with each level. Each one that comes about is automatically accompanied by the lowest degree of the next higher one, since that’s (the import of) the connection between the higher and lower (worlds), all the way through to the highest levels. That's how this point itself is able to rise to the next level thanks to (the input of) the one above it.
-- The gist of the matter is that all worlds are inner-linked; you need only take hold of one from the bottom and you're then able to climb higher and higher, as in this instance.

(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"

2005-12-25T09:21:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-Three:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

43.

-- It’s important to review some things at this point in order to recoup our perspective.

-- Recall that this whole section is in response to Rabbi Ashlag's sixth inquiry as to how it could be that all the upper worlds as well as this corporeal world were created exclusively for the sake of man -- who by all appearances is, "so insignificant and hasn’t a hair’s-breadth of worth in comparison to all we see before us in this world -- to say nothing of the upper worlds" as Rabbi Ashlag put it in Ch. 33. So "why would man need (for there to be) such august and hallowed worlds?" he asked there. But as he said at the end of that chapter, it would be proven to be "worth G-d’s while to have created all the worlds, higher and lower alike, for the sake of the satisfaction and delight He’ll derive" from those of us who reach our full potential.

-- He then went on to explain that "since G-d wanted to prepare His created beings for the aforementioned exalted levels, He wished there to be four grades (of them) to unfold out of each other" (Ch. 34) so that we might ease into revelation. The four grades are "known as the 'mineral', 'vegetable', 'animal', and 'verbal' (beings)”. As he then said and as we'll begin to see exactly later on in this chapter, "those beings correspond to the four degrees of the ratzon l’kabel which the upper worlds are differentiated by.

-- As we then summed up in Ch. 39, it all has to do with the following: (1) with the fact that the only reason G-d created the world in the first place was to grant pleasure to His creations; (2) with the idea that the mechanism He created for us to enjoy that great pleasure is our ratzon l'kabel; (3) with the fact that while "some entities ... can’t sense G-d’s presence or great largesse at all ... ; others only sense it to a limited extent ... ; and others (yet) ... sense it fairly much ... "; and (4) with the idea that, in the end, it’s we humans alone who can fully sense G-d’s presence and benevolence.

-- What will prove to qualify us to sense G-d's presence and benevolence will be our adherence to the mitzvah-system, which is unsurpassed in its capacity to refine our ratzon l’kabel and to help us develop the sort of full-spectrum soul that will enable us to gain an essential affinity with G-d which is the greatest pleasure of all, and to thus satisfy G-d’s full intention for creation.

-- Rabbi Ashlag will now go on to discuss our souls and their component parts; to examine how they relate to the mineral, vegetable, animal, and verbal realms; to indicate how all that ties-in with the sephirot and the various supernal worlds; and to explain what all that has to do with the mitzvah-system after all.

-- The discussion itself will get rather complex and convoluted at times, but we’ll do what we can to resolve it and enunciate its overarching points.

1.

"We each receive a holy soul as soon as we’re born. But it’s not a soul per se that we receive so much as the hindmost part of one, which is the soul’s last rung and it’s termed a "point" because it’s (so relatively) small."
-- While holy, the soul we’re each born with isn’t a whole and utterly pure one so much as the augur of one in the form of its posterior, faintest, tiny sheen.

"And it’s engarbed in our heart, which is to say, in our ratzon l’kabel, which (in fact) manifests itself in our heart for the most part."
-- We’d been told earlier on about this hindmost part of our soul that’s termed our “point in the heart” and is engarbed in our ratzon l’kabel. And we learned that it’s only operative from age 13 onward, when we’re liable for mitzvah observance (see 30:1 and our remarks there). So we now start to see the connection between the elements enunciated to the mitzvah-system.

2.

"Now, note this principle: Everything found in existence in general can also be found in each and every world, as well as in each and every one of each world’s tiniest fragments."
-- Like a colossal clan-family and regardless of whether its members are in close proximity or not, everything is in everything else by degrees; a small or large part of this is found in that, and some of that is in this. As such, each world contains facets and parts of each other one, and each facet and part contains the lot of them to degrees.

"As such, just as there are five worlds over all which are the five aforementioned (cluster) sephirot Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tifferet, and Malchut there are likewise five (cluster) sephirot of Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tifferet, and Malchut in each and every world, as well as five (cluster) sephirot in the smallest fragment of each world (ad infinitum)."

3.

"Recall that we indicated that this world incorporates the four elements mineral, vegetable, animal, and verbal which correspond to the four (cluster) sephirot of Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tifferet, and Malchut. (Know that) mineral corresponds to Malchut, vegetable corresponds to Tifferet, animal corresponds to Binah, verbal corresponds to Chochma, and their all-inclusive root corresponds to Keter."
-- Minerals, the entities that can’t sense G-d’s presence or great largesse at all, correspond to Malchut, the least G-dly of worlds; and in ascending order, vegetable corresponds to Tifferet, animal corresponds to Binah, and verbal (or, human) corresponds to Chochma.
-- Their all-inclusive, unfathomable root, which transcends all adroitness including the very-human abilities to verbalize as well as think, make choices, and even to worship, corresponds to unfathomable, impenetrable Keter.

"Now as we indicated, (given that everything is in everything else by degrees, it follows that) even the smallest fragment of each grade of mineral, vegetable, animal, and verbal contains four (sub-) grades of mineralness, vegetableness, animalness, and verbalness in its being."

"Even a single component of the verbal grade, which is to say, even a single person, likewise contains mineralness, vegetableness, animalness, and verbalness, which are the four grades of his ratzon l’kabel and is where the 'point' of his Nephesh is engarbed."
-- The statement that “mineralness, vegetableness, animalness, and verbalness, ... are the four grades of (man’s) ratzon l’kabel” alludes to things said in earlier chapters. We learned that the mineral stage’s ratzon l’kabel only holds sway over the entity itself and not over its details (Ch. 35); the vegetable stage’s ratzon l’kabel prevails over each and every one of its details, but the details don’t exhibit a sense of self-will (Ch. 36); the animal stage’s ratzon l’kabel is very potent, and each and every one of its details has a sense of self-will (Ch. 37); and the human (i.e., “verbal”) stage’s ratzon l’kabel is fully active and aware of others (Ch. 38).
-- Thus the larger point is that each one of us has four degrees of a ratzon l’kabel, from an inert and self-contained one to a dynamic, far-reaching one.

(c) 2005 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"

2005-12-14T11:08:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-Two:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

42.

1.

"We’ve now explained the five worlds (i.e., Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Briah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah) that incorporate all of existence from the Infinite Himself to this world. We saw that they’re all interconnected and that each world contains five worlds -- the five (cluster sephirot) Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tifferet, and Malchut in which are engarbed in the five (supernal) lights of Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida, which correspond to those five worlds."
-- As we’ll see below, when something is said to “engarb” something else that means to say that the thing that’s overlaid serves and derives from the more exalted thing hovering over it. Thus we now learn that the Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida all derive from and serve Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Briah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. We’ll soon see the significance of this.

2.

"Now, aside from the five (cluster) sephirot Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tifferet, and Malchut found in each and every world, the four spiritual grades of mineral, vegetable, animal, and verbal are found in each as well."
-- We’ve come to see just how conjoined our souls, the sephirot, and the supernal worlds are with each other (along with the letters of G-d's Name). We’re about to start to explore how they all combine with the mitzvah-system by connecting that all with the four grades of being.

"For (when it comes to our physical world,) the human soul corresponds to the verbal grade here, the animal grade corresponds to angels in this world, the vegetable grade is termed (i.e., corresponds to) the world’s 'clothing', and the mineral grade is termed (i.e., corresponds to) its 'halls', and they’re all interwoven."
-- Parenthetically, one of the reasons why the animal grade is said to correspond to *angels* in this world, curiously enough, is because there’s a rather exalted class of angels that are termed “Chayot” which are usually translated as “Living Entities” (from “chaya”) but which could also indeed be translated as and thus taken to be “animals”, since they’re tantamount to brute creatures in relation to G-d’s Holy Presence which they serve (notwithstanding their exalted place in our own eyes).
-- The point is that we’re each part human, animal, and angel, and overlaid by fibrous pieces of “clothing” (i.e., bodies, personalities, etc.), and surrounded by all manner of inanimate extraneous hall-like things (i.e., surroundings, belongings, etc.). And the lot of it is interconnected and interdependent.
-- Nonetheless, ...

"The verbal stage which corresponds to human souls is engarbed in the five sephirot of Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tifferet, and Malchut here, which are this world’s G-dliness. The animal stage, which is the world’s angels, engarbs human souls; the vegetative stage, which are its 'clothes', engarbs the angels; and the mineral stage, which are its 'halls', encircles them all. (Now, what) 'engarbed' connotes is that the overlaid entity serves the thing hovering over it, and derives from it."
-- That's to say that our spiritual-physical-situational self is viscerally intertwined with the sephirot and higher worlds, and with G-dliness itself. And while there's a hierarchical relationship between them as we’ll soon see, at bottom, each member of our being supports the whole.

3.

"But as we explained in regard to this world’s actual physical minerals, vegetables, animals, and verbals, the (first) three grades -- mineral, vegetable, and animal -- didn’t emerge for their own sake, but only so that the fourth grade, humankind, could derive and advance thanks to them. Hence, their whole raison d’etre is to serve man and help him advance."
-- See Ch. 39.

"The same is true of all the spiritual worlds (i.e., beyond this world). Their mineral, vegetable, animal, and verbal beings likewise only emerged in order to serve them and help the verbal (beings) in that world, which (corresponds to) the soul of man, advance. That means to say that they all a -- (serve and) help advance -- man's soul."

(c) 2005 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"

2005-12-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

Chapter Forty-One:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

41.

1.

"We’d still need to clarify in fact why humankind would need all the supernal worlds that the Creator forged for it, though. What use are they to it?"
-- That will be solved for the most part by Ch. 56. But before we can understand the answer we’d first need to learn some things about the supernal worlds, about how they’re connected to humankind, and about what all that has to do with Torah and mitzvot. In fact we’ll find that they’re all intimately, even congenitally linked.
-- It's important to realize that unlike most of Rabbi Ashlag’s works, this one isn’t a Kabbalistic book per se, though these next few chapters will draw on certain Kabbalistic ideas and motifs. So while we’ll try to offer insight into their import and meaning, we won’t be providing the kind of detailed Kabbalistic comments here in our notes that would be called for in a Kabbalistic text.

"You’d need to know, though, that reality is comprised of five (supernal) worlds en toto which are termed: 'Adam Kadmon', 'Atzilut', 'Briah', 'Yetzirah', and 'Asiyah', each of which is comprised of an infinite number of elements."
-- These utterly nonmaterial, inchoate “worlds” can best be depicted as whole, largely unfathomable realms that somehow emanate and devolve downward from G-d’s nonmaterial, transcendent Being, and then culminate in our material universe.
-- Adam Kadmon (“Primordial Man”) is the first supernal, utterly transcendent world to have emerged from G-d’s Infinitude. It’s termed “Adam” (or, Man) because it’s the supernal basis of humankind, and “Kadmon” (or, Primordial) since it’s nearly as primeval as G-d’s original idea to create the universe in the first place.
-- Atzilut is the world that flowed forth from Adam Kadmon. It’s termed that both because it’s aristocratic, if you will, in its import, high standing, and inaccessibility (from “atzil”), and because it’s adjacent to and next after Adam Kadmon (from “eitzel”) in sweeping consequence.
-- Briah (“Creation”) is termed that because it’s the first utter existant appearing out of the relative formless nothingness of Adam Kadmon and Atzilut, which are so utterly unfathomable and immaterial.
-- Yetzirah (“Formation”) is the first realm in which "something” came about, and where the raw undefined “stuff” that was created out of the formless Divine began to assume shape.
-- And while Asiyah (“Activation”) is just as much a spiritual realm essentially as the others, it still-and-all grazes against the physical universe, and is thus able to provoke or activate formed and molded materiality.
-- It’s important to recall, as Rabbi Ashlag put it above, that each one of the five worlds is comprised of an infinite number of elements. For not only is each one of the worlds extensive in implication, they’re likewise comprehensive in scope, and each part of each is interwoven with each other part in an infinite amalgamation. Those elements are known as the Sephirot, which we’ll discuss below. They too are infinitely divisible.

"Those (five) worlds are (represented by) the five (primary) sephirot, termed K.C.B.T.M. (Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tifferet, and Malchut), in that Adam Kadmon is (represented by) Keter, Atzilut is (represented by) Chochma, Briah is (represented by) Binah, Yetzirah is (represented by) Tifferet, and Asiyah is (represented by) Malchut."
-- There are ten sephirot (“Spheres”, as in spheres of influence or of concern) altogether in fact: Keter (“Crown”), Chochma (“Wisdom”), Binah (“Understanding”), Chessed (“Kindness”), Gevurah (“Strength”), Tifferet (“Beauty”), Netzach (“Endurance”), Hod (“Splendor”), Yesod (“Foundation”) and Malchut (“Kingship”).
-- As we see here, the ten are often lumped together into a cluster of five: Keter, Chochma, Binah, Tifferet (which then incorporates Chessed, Gevurah, Tifferet itself, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod), and Malchut.
-- Suffice it to say that each sephirah has a unique luster and timbre, and that their names help explain that, but that’s all beside Rabbi Ashlag’s point here. He assumes we know all this already (or perhaps he's whetting our appetite for all this in hopes of encouraging us to study Kabbalah, which he’ll argue for later on in this work and elsewhere), and he means only to explain how the lot of them interact with our beings and the mitzvah-system as we indicated above.

2.

"The (supernal) lights that are engarbed in those five worlds are termed Y.C.N.R.N. (i.e., Yechida, Chaya, Neshama, Ruach, and Nephesh)."
-- What Rabbi Ashlag terms the “lights” are the five primary depths of the soul, from Yechida to Chaya to Neshama to Ruach to Nephesh in descending order.
-- Each term could be translated as either soul or spirit, but the Yechida, the most sublime level, is termed “the soul’s source”, the Chaya is “the soul’s soul”, the Neshama is “the soul” itself, the Ruach is perhaps best termed “the spirit”, while the Nephesh is what’s termed “the elan vital”.
-- Each of these is encased and irradiates in a corresponding world, so ...

"The light of Yechida shines in Adam Kadmon, the light of Chaya shines in Atzilut, the light of Neshama shines in Briah, the light of Ruach shines in Yetzirah, and the light of Nephesh shines in Asiyah."

"And all these worlds and everything included in them are incorporated in the holy name (spelled) 'Yod, Hey, Vav, and Hey' as well as the tip of the Yod. We can’t perceive anything of the first world, Adam Kadmon, whatsoever -- and that’s why it’s alluded to by the tip of the Yod and why we never speak of Adam Kadmon (itself) but only cite only the four worlds A.B.Y.A. (Atzilut, Briah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah). The Yod corresponds to Atzilut, the (first) Hey corresponds to Briah, the Vav corresponds to Yetzirah, and the final Hey corresponds to Asiyah."
-- G-d’s Ineffable Name, which is the basis for all of creation, is spelled out with the Hebrew letters “Yod”, “Hey”, “Vav”, and “Hey”. Each letter serves a particular function.
-- The letter Yod’s tip is considered a seperate and fifth “letter” if you will. Since it’s unapparent and because we’re only vaguely aware of it if at all, the tip of the Yod corresponds to Adam Kadmon, which “we can’t perceive anything of” and which isn’t spoken of in Kabbalistic literature because it’s so extramundane. And Yod itself corresponds to Atzilut, the first Hey corresponds to Briah, etc.
--In the end then the following is true:
-- The tip of the Yod = Yechida = Keter = Adam Kadmon.
-- Yod = Chaya = Chochma = Atzilut
-- The first Hey = Neshama = Binah = Beriah
-- Vav = Ruach = Tifferet = Yetzirah
-- And the final Hey = Nephesh = Malchut = Asiyah.
-- Thus we see that the letters of G-d's Name, our souls, the sephirot, and the supernal worlds do indeed interact with each other, and we'll soon see how all that ties in with the mitzvah-system.

(c) 2005 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"

2005-11-29T05:44:00.001-05:00

Chapter Forty:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now, I know that this (idea) is intolerable to some thinkers who simply can’t accept the notion that man, whom they regard as lowly and worthless, is the focal point of creation in all of its splendor.

"After all", they reason, "man is neither angel nor is he any greater than the humanoids he’d evolved from. So how could he possibly be God’s prized entity and the focus of all His attention?”

But (they only feel that way because) they’re like a worm that was born and raised in a radish who deemed all of God’s creation as bitter, dark, and tiny as that radish, and who suddenly sat up in stunned wonder and said: “I thought the whole world was the size of the radish I was raised in, and now I see a huge, splendid, beautiful, and wondrous world before me!” the moment the radish-shell breaks open and he was able to peer out.

For they too are encased -- in the shell of the ratzon l’kabel they were born with, and they never savored the sweet scent of Torah (study) and mitzvah-observance that can break through that hard shell and turn it into a willingness to bestow pleasure onto the Creator. In fact they can’t help but consider humankind worthless and empty -- since that’s what they themselves are (for all intents and purposes). (And it also explains why) they can’t fathom how all of reality was created for humankind’s sake alone.

Ashlag’s point is that those who contend that humankind is small and of little worth only feel that way because they’ve never attained the rank of true humanness. They’ve never looked past the pettinesses they -- and most of us -- function out of, or caught sight of the human they could be if they’d but follow the mitzvah-system that encourages selflessness and surrendering to God’s will. For following it enables one to transcend the ratzon l’kabel that defines most of humanity, and to draw close to God, which is God’s great aim and focus.

2.

Indeed, if they’d only delve into Torah and mitzvah-observance in order to bestow their Creator with satisfaction with as much purity (of intention and self) as they’d have to, and if they’d only try to pierce through the shell that is the ratzon l’kabel they were born with, and would be willing to accept a willingness to bestow, ...

Ashlag is reiterating the conditions under which we’d all have to live out a life of Torah and mitzvah-observance in order to reap the full ineffable rewards due us. For at bottom, most of us simply can’t accept the notion that "man is" -- that we ourselves are -- "the focal point of creation".

We’d have to sincerely, wholly, and only mean to delight God in the process, and we’d have to do that by transforming our innate ratzon l’kabel into a ratzon l’hashpia, a willingness to bestow. For if people would only do that,...

... their eyes would open right there and then, they’d come to behold themselves (for what they are), and they’d gain all the delicious, delightful, and ego-undoing wisdom, understanding, and lustrous knowledge prepared for them in the spiritual worlds.

And they themselves would then acknowledge, as the Jewish sages put it that, "A good guest is one who says, ‘How much trouble my host has gone to for my sake! How much meat ... wine ... (and) cake has he set before me! And all for my sake alone!’" (Berachot 58A).

For anyone who’d come to that point couldn’t help catch sight of God bestowing them with one favor after another in this world in His love for humankind and as a consequence of His aim for us.

(c) 2008 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"

2005-11-23T05:05:00.003-05:00

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now that it has been explained that God created everything in order to bestow pleasure upon His creatures...

See Ch’s 6-7.

... so that they could know Him and His greatness, and accept all the goodness and delight He’d prepared for them to the extent enunciated in the verse, "Is Ephraim (not) My precious son? Is he (not) a darling child? For whenever I speak about him I earnestly remember him and my innards are moved by him” (Jeremiah 31:19)...

See 33:2.

... It’s obvious, then, that this intention doesn’t apply to the mineral (realm), or (even) to the great heavenly bodies like the earth, the moon, or the sun, however effulgent or immense (they are). And (it likewise doesn’t apply) to the vegetable or animal (realms either), since they aren’t even aware of others of their own species, and thus can’t sense Godliness or God’s beneficence. (It) Only (applies to) humankind, since it (alone) is aware of others of its kind.

2.

(But it’s mostly relevant to those who abide by God’s mitzvah-system, for it only comes to fruition) after delving in Torah and mitzvot which serves to overturn a ratzon l’kabel to a willingness to bestow and (thus) enables us to arrive at an affinity with God.

See 11:2, 14:3.

(For when we) attain to all the stages that had been prepared for us in the upper worlds termed N.R.N.C.Y., we become qualified to satisfy God’s intention behind the creation of the world.

See 32:1.

(It’s) thus (clear that) all of creation came about for mankind’s sake alone.

Here’s the gist of this vital chapter’s argument. We’re taught that “the only reason God created the world was to grant pleasure to His creations” (6:1). But He “had to have created a willingness to accept all the pleasure and goodness He’d planned for them” (7:1) -- and in fact, “all of creation, from start to finish, is nothing other than (the creation of) the ratzon l'kabel” (7:3).

But since God derives satisfaction from granting His creatures pleasure to “the extent to which they sense that it’s He who’s bestowing it” to them (33:2), it stands to reason that there would have to be some entities that couldn’t sense that (minerals), others that could only sense it to a limited extent (vegetatives), others that could sense it fairly much (animals), and others yet that could truly sense God’s presence and benevolence (humankind).

Yet most of mankind obviously cannot sense God’s presence and benevolence, so what is it that enables us to indeed be aware of that? The mitzvah-system. Since it enables man to “refine his inborn ratzon l’kabel and ... to draw a holy soul (i.e., a full N.R.N.C.Y.) downward from its root ... (and to eventually) gain an essential affinity with his Creator” (11:2) and to thus satisfy God’s intention for creation.

(c) 2008 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 from Yashar Books.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

2005-11-17T04:53:00.001-05:00

Chapter Thirty-Eight:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

And lastly comes the fourth, human (i.e., “verbal”) stage. The ratzon l’kabel is fully active and definitive by then, and it includes an awareness of others.

On the one hand, while we humans are able to move about freely and are aware of ourselves piece by piece unlike lesser entities, and we’re also able to sense others’ needs and commiserate with them altruistically unlike our closest type, animal-kind, we humans are correspondingly imbued with an ironic fierce and overarching need to take-in and satisfy ourselves piece by piece.

In fact, if you’d ask me to succinctly contrast the ratzon l’kabel of the third, animal stage with the fourth, human stage of it, I’d say that they were as different as a single being versus all of creation. For the ratzon l’kabel in the animal stage in which there’s no awareness of others can only foster the needs and desires that are specific to that one being, while the ratzon l’kabel of humans, who can sense others’ (needs), can also incorporate the needs of everything else.

For not only are we aware of what we need and want, we’re likewise only too well aware of others’ needs and wants, and we're inclined to want those same things -- and more -- knowing about them, since we have so potent a need to take-in.

And so we can covet and want whatever others have; and if you were to “give us an inch, we'd take a mile”. Indeed our needs can be so great that we’d want everything!

But while all that seems to damn human beings for our pettiness and to rail against our bottomless self-absorption, Ashlag’s point will be that our natures are God-given and intentional, and they bolster God's ultimate cosmic goal.

(c) 2008 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 from Yashar Books.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

2005-11-14T11:10:00.001-05:00

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

The third (even more developed) “animal” stage comes next. The ratzon l’kabel is very potent by then, and it engenders a sense of self-will and uniqueness for each and every detail.

If the last stage was organic, this one is out-and-out agile, brisk, and alive. It's depicted as the "animal" stage because aside from the same freedom of movement we humans have, animals likewise have nearly the same broad sense of self and freedom that we do. Thus they too know what they need and want over-all, and take pains to get it, detail by detail.

But those details don’t yet sense the existence of others, and they haven't the means to commiserate with another's pains or to share in its joys.

It’s just that animals can’t transcend their selves as we humans can or identify and empathize with others. But identifying with others is a complex of reactions, in that it enables one to be selflessly generous to others, or to selfishly envy them, as we'll see.

(c) 2008 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 from Yashar Books.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

2005-11-07T11:26:00.001-05:00

Chapter Thirty-Six:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

The second (more fully developed) “vegetable” stage comes next. It’s a more vigorous one than the inanimate stage, and the ratzon l’kabel prevails over each and every one of its details. For, each detail moves along on its own, length- and width-wise, (even) reaching for the sun.

This stage is organic, dynamic and vigorous. And it’s fecund and abundant enough in self-interest that its reach is far and wide. In fact, it’s so dynamic that...

Eating and drinking, and the elimination of waste manifest themselves in each one of its details.

Still-and-all, though, the details don’t exhibit an independent sense of self-will.

... as animate and verbal entities do, to a great degree.

(c) 2008 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 from Yashar Books.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

2005-11-06T11:39:00.001-05:00

Chapter Thirty-Five:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

The first or “mineral” stage of the ratzon l’kabel is its initial appearance in the physical world. It only has a potential for movement -- the one that all inanimate beings have. And none of its details move about, by all appearances.

On a surface level, inanimate entities don’t move. They’re said to have a “potential” for movement here because in classical terms everything that exists is said to be a combination of actualizations and potentials (even when those potentials aren’t actualized).

We now know that inanimate entities do in fact move on a microscopic level at least, so Ashlag says that their “details” or smallest components don’t move “by all appearances” only.

Still-and-all the argument is that while the ratzon l’kabel is stiff and inchoate at this point it nevertheless does exist, and that it will grow more and more dynamic as it passes from here to the “vegetative”, “animate”, and “verbal” stages.

For what the ratzon l’kabel does (at bottom) is create needs which then generate enough movement for those needs to be met.

As we’d explained, a ratzon l’kabel is a “willingness, wish, or intent to (only) accept, receive, or take things” (see 7:2). As Ashlag explains here, its modus operandi is to demonstrate a “need” for something or another (which is really only a desire, but becomes a “need” by growing louder and louder), which then sets off a vague, blunt, and blind spontaneous “itch” that brings about the motions needed to have itself “scratched”.

But since the ratzon l’kabel is minimal (at this point) it only prevails over the whole (inanimate) thing while seemingly not prevailing over its details.

That is, since the ratzon l’kabel is indeed minimal by this point, it has little effect.

(c) 2008 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 from Yashar Books.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

2005-10-31T06:12:00.001-05:00

Chapter Thirty-Four:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

Since God wanted to prepare His created beings for the aforementioned exalted levels, He required there to be four grades (of them) that were to unfold out of each other, known as the “mineral”, “vegetable”, “animal”, and “verbal” (beings).

Certain stages of existence had to have come into being before the ultimate created entity, humankind (i.e., “verbals”), could. They’re minerals, vegetables, and animals. Otherwise the human soul would sit stunned in full wonder, speechless and senseless, before the living presence of God Almighty, because it would have caught sight of it too soon.

These entities correspond to the birth-cycle in that the fetus first undergoes a “mineral” (fertilized egg) stage, from which it advances to a “vegetable” (blastocyst) one, and then proceeds on to a more “animal” (embryonic) stage, until it reaches the “verbal”, fully conscious stage.

Those beings correspond to the four degrees of the ratzon l’kabel which the upper worlds are differentiated by.

For as we’ll see, minerals barely have a ratzon l’kabel, vegetables have some but not much, animals have quite a bit but not all that much, while we humans have a great deal.

For, even though desires are mostly expressed through the ratzon l’kabel found in the fourth (i.e., “verbal”) level, that level can’t come about all at once. It needs to gradually pass through and unfold out of the three preceding ones in order to come to full fruition.

(c) 2008 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 from Yashar Books.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

2005-10-27T09:27:00.001-04:00

Chapter Thirty-Three:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

That now leaves us with the sixth inquiry to explain.

See 3:4.

(As we'd stated there), our sages said that all the upper worlds as well as this corporeal one were created for man’s sake alone. But isn’t that strange? After all, why would God bother to create all that for man, who’s so insignificant and hasn’t a hair’s-breadth of worth in comparison to all that we see before us in this world -- to say nothing of the upper ones. And besides, why would man need (for there to be) such august and hallowed worlds?

2.

(But in order to explain just how vitally significant mankind is we’ll start off with this.) It’s important to know that the satisfaction that God derives from granting His creatures pleasure depends on the extent to which they sense that it’s He who’s bestowing it. For when they do, God regales with them much the way a father regales with his beloved child when he senses that the child understands the father’s greatness and magnitude. It’s then that the father reveals all the treasures he’d prepared for the child.

God can be said to be thrilled when we, His children, take note of His presence and catch sight of His bounteous goodness and grandeur; and He wants to grant us even more goodness than before and of an even higher rank as a result -- His full presence. For only mankind can recognize God's presence in the face of things that seem to deny it, since lesser beings can't recognize it at all, and higher ones aren't denied access to it from the first.

As the verse depicts it (God says): "Is Ephraim (not) My precious son? Is he (not) a darling child? For whenever I speak about him I earnestly remember him and my innards are moved by him” (Jeremiah 31:19). Scrutinize these words and you’ll come to understand just how God will (eventually) regale with His perfected ones who merit sensing His greatness the ways He devised for them to. He’ll act (toward them then) as a father does with his “precious (and) darling child”.

But we needn’t go into this at length.

Since we aren’t able to, “For since the beginning of the world no men have heard ... nor has the eye seen” (Isaiah 64:3) such a sight.

Suffice it to say that it would be worth God’s while to have created all the worlds, higher and lower alike, for the sake of the satisfaction and delight He’ll derive from such perfected individuals.

It’s clear from this last statement and much of what we’d said up to now that we’re only “perfected” when we fully recognize God’s role in our lives, His grandeur, and His great benevolence; and when we replicate that benevolence by means of the mitzvah-system. It’s also clear that the reward for that will be the sort of full-face encounter with G-d’s Being in the World to Come that’s only due such a soul.

(c) 2008 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 from Yashar Books.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

2005-09-22T09:42:00.002-04:00

Chapter Thirty-Two:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

That now leaves us with the sixth inquiry to explain.

See 3:4.

(As we'd stated there), our sages said that all the upper worlds as well as this corporeal one were created for man’s sake alone. But isn’t that strange? After all, why would God bother to create all that for man, who’s so insignificant and hasn’t a hair’s-breadth of worth in comparison to all that we see before us in this world -- to say nothing of the upper ones. And besides, why would man need (for there to be) such august and hallowed worlds?

2.

(But in order to explain just how vitally significant mankind is we’ll start off with this.) It’s important to know that the satisfaction that God derives from granting His creatures pleasure depends on the extent to which they sense that it’s He who’s bestowing it. For when they do, God regales with them much the way a father regales with his beloved child when he senses that the child understands the father’s greatness and magnitude. It’s then that the father reveals all the treasures he’d prepared for the child.

God can be said to be thrilled when we, His children, take note of His presence and catch sight of His bounteous goodness and grandeur; and He wants to grant us even more goodness than before and of an even higher rank as a result -- His full presence. For only mankind can recognize God's presence in the face of things that seem to deny it, since lesser beings can't recognize it at all, and higher ones aren't denied access to it from the first.

As the verse depicts it (God says): "Is Ephraim (not) My precious son? Is he (not) a darling child? For whenever I speak about him I earnestly remember him and my innards are moved by him” (Jeremiah 31:19). Scrutinize these words and you’ll come to understand just how God will (eventually) regale with His perfected ones who merit sensing His greatness the ways He devised for them to. He’ll act (toward them then) as a father does with his “precious (and) darling child”.

But we needn’t go into this at length.

Since we aren’t able to, “For since the beginning of the world no men have heard ... nor has the eye seen” (Isaiah 64:3) such a sight.

Suffice it to say that it would be worth God’s while to have created all the worlds, higher and lower alike, for the sake of the satisfaction and delight He’ll derive from such perfected individuals.

It’s clear from this last statement and much of what we’d said up to now that we’re only “perfected” when we fully recognize God’s role in our lives, His grandeur, and His great benevolence; and when we replicate that benevolence by means of the mitzvah-system. It’s also clear that the reward for that will be the sort of full-face encounter with G-d’s Being in the World to Come that’s only due such a soul.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-09-18T09:57:00.001-04:00

Chapter Thirty-One:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Ashlag now cites a dictum that seems out of place on the surface. But as we’ll quickly see, it lends credence to what’s to follow.

It’s said about the verse, "The leech has two daughters (named) ‘Give’ (and) ‘Give’” (Proverbs 30:15), that “the leech stands for Hell, where all the wrongdoers stranded there cry out ‘Give! Give!’ like dogs; Give us all the riches of this world and of The World to Come!'” (Tikkunim Chadashim 97B).

That’s to say that since the Jewish sages argue that it’s greedy, lowly, and wrongful to want to be fulfilled on both a worldly and other-worldly level, it would seem wrong to foster both a material and a spiritual ratzon l’kabel as spoken of in the last chapter, wouldn’t it?

And yet it’s a very much higher level than the first.

That is, even though acquiring a spiritual ratzon l’kabel is an amplification and expansion of our inborn material ratzon l’kabel, and would thus seem to be an even more inherently selfish and lowly desire, it’s ironically loftier.

For aside from acquiring a full measure of ratzon l’kabel and using it for all the material things we’d need to engage in, in our Divine service (as we're asked to do), (we're also asked to realize a spiritual ratzon l’kabel, because achieving) that level is what leads us to (achieving) the level of (doing things) altruistically.

We're thus taught here that while we've indeed been created selfish and self-serving, that that's not necessarily a bad thing. What's asked of us is to use that inclination for good ends, though, and to thus set out to accrue things -- as we're prone to -- for Godly purposes. And so we'd do well to set aside the fine foods we crave for the special, sanctified Shabbat meals, when we serve God by purposely eating well and heartily. We're then asked to transcend that, too, by acquiring the spiritual ratzon l’kabel we spoke of before. But, how do we get from one to the other?

As our sages said (about doing that), “One should always (initially) observe Torah and mitzvot for self-serving purposes, since by doing that we (eventually) come to observe it for altruistic reasons” (Pesachim 50B).

The Jewish sages had long grappled with the tension between the very-human inclination to do things -- both holy and profane -- for self-serving purposes, and the Torah ideal of being altruistic.

Accepting the reality of the tension, they decided that the solution lies in using the flawed inclination to achieve the ideal one -- in observing Torah and mitzvot for self-serving purposes at first, so as to eventually observe it for altruistic ones. It's often equated with rewarding a child with a trinket when he or she does something important and noble on the assumption that the child will continue doing those sorts of things later on, on his own, once he understands how inherently important it is to be principled.

In our context that comes to this. As we've learned, it's vitally important for us to foster a willingness to bestow (which is the ideal; see 11:2), yet we're born with a contradictory very human ratzon l’kabel. So, how do we achieve a willingness to bestow? Again, by using the flawed inclination to achieve the ideal one: that is, by indeed observing Torah and mitzvot for self-serving purposes, but with an eye toward eventually observing it for altruistic ones. And by then striving to only want to bestow.

Understand though, as Ashlag emphasizes any number of times, it’s actually impossible for us to turn our natures around like that on our own. The only way we could ever achieve a willingness to bestow is with God’s direct intercedence. What’s asked of us to do, is to pray for that to happen, and to fulfill His mitzvot and learn His Torah for that end, and for no other.

That explains why this level which we (only) achieve after we’re thirteen is deemed holy.

... even though it would seem at first to be inherently selfish. For while it’s indeed a ratzon l’kabel, it’s still rooted in holiness and it will eventually lead to an altruistic willingness to only bestow (see 30:2).

2.

For our observing Torah and mitzvot for self-serving purposes (that way) is (likened to being) a pious maidservant serving her mistress, the holy Shechina, since it leads to an altruistic level which then enables us to merit having the Shechina dwell in our midst.

That is, the process of doing things for self-serving purposes at first so as to eventually do them altruistically is termed “a pious maidservant” because despite appearances of enjoying the prestige of being the maidservant of so lofty and venerated a mistress as the holy Shechina, the maidservant -- this process -- is still-in-all piously and selflessly executing its mistress’ bidding.

But we need to fulfill all the means necessary to arrive at altruism; because if we don’t, and don’t arrive at altruism, then we’ll plunge into the abyss (which is the realm) of the impure maidservant, the polar opposite of the holy maidservant, whose role is to confuse us (and convince us that) we’ll never observe Torah and mitzvot altruistically by (first) observing them for self-serving purposes. For she has been termed the, "maidservant who is heir to her mistress” (Proverbs 30:23), since she won’t let anyone near the holy Shechina, her mistress.

The seemingly noble idea that we should start out by trying to do things altruistically is actually quite naive. For while the heart knows only too well how wrong and unfair selfishness is, the mind knows just as well how fetching and urging our impulses are, how coaxing we have to be of them, and how important it is to use every ruse we can to mollify them -- like starting out with selfish intentions. There's simply no other way to succeed.

The ultimate reach in that would be falling madly in love with God, and acting like someone who’d long for a beloved he couldn’t take his mind off of the whole day long. As the poet expressed it, "I can’t sleep, thinking of Him (all the time)" (Selichot for the Ten Days of Repentance).

For when one falls madly in love with someone, longs for her, and can’t take his mind off of her the whole day long, he wants nothing better than to fulfill her every wish selflessly when he encounters her.

(Succeed at that, and) the phrase, "a desire that is fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12) would then be ascribed to you. Because the five levels of the soul, termed N.R.N.C.Y., are The Tree of Life that endured for 500 years -- 100 years each level; and you’d have come to earn all five of them in the third stage, as we’ll explain.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-29T09:38:00.001-04:00

Chapter Thirty:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

The second stage (of our Divine service) extends from age thirteen and onward, and it’s when the point in the heart -- which is the hindmost part of our holy soul, and is garbed in the native ratzon l’kabel -- is fortified. It only begins to come into play, though, after (we reach) age thirteen, and it begins to enter the realm of the system of the holy worlds to the extent that we observe Torah and mitzvot.

The “point in the heart” spoken of here is that region in our being where our worldly awareness and sensitivity lies. It’s a “point” rather than an entire dimension, and the “hindmost part of our holy soul” rather than an inner part of it, because while it indeed touches on momentous things in our lives, it still-and-all hasn’t any bearing on our essential being and it’s ultimately dispensable (though certainly not “point”-less).

But don’t misunderstand. It’s vitally important for each one of us to develop his or her own “point in the heart”. First, because without one we can't ever grow close to others or to God, or to mature in our beings; second, because it’s impossible to realize that we have a ratzon l’kabel, and then to transcend it, unless we gain insight into it and come to know how destructive it is. And only a well developed “point in the heart” allows us to do all that (see Ch’s 43, 65).

Ashlag is emphasizing the idea here that we only begin to grow aware and to be sensitive from age thirteen on (if at all; for the truth be known, many of us never do). For that’s when we begin to dabble in holiness and to expose ourselves to the nature of our beings; and it's likewise when we can begin to strive for a willingness to bestow -- after first having acquired what he refers to as a "spiritual" ratzon l’kabel as we'll soon see.

2.

Our primary function from that point is to acquire and foster a spirit-based ratzon l’kabel, for at birth we only have a ratzon l’kabel for material things. And so even though we’d acquired a comprehensive ratzon l’kabel before we turned thirteen, that’s not yet the ultimate reach of the ratzon l’kabel, for it is primarily meant to grow on a spiritual level.

A “spirit-based ratzon l’kabel” is a willingness to now accrue spiritual "playthings", like wisdom, revelation, and other such immortal delights, over the sort of worldly ones we’d embraced till then. Understand that while that too is rooted in self-serving needs, nonetheless a higher, more selfless self is served then.

But know as well that when Ashlag indicates that we're to achieve even more when it comes to our ratzon l’kabel he's alluding to the fact that there's even more to come. Because after having fostered a spirit-based ratzon l’kabel we're to then transpose it into a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia, and to ultimately cultivate a ratzon l’hashpia (see 27:2).

(Our only having a ratzon l’kabel for material things at first) explains, for example, why we (only) want to accumulate all sorts of worldly wealth and honor before we turn thirteen, though those things are clearly not eternal and merely ephemeral. For (in contrast) when we acquire a comprehensive spiritual ratzon l’kabel we want to have and enjoy all (sorts of spiritual delights, like) the “wealth” and “pleasure” to be had in the eternal upper worlds, which is an eternal possession. Thus (we see that) the comprehensive ratzon l’kabel is only completed for the most part with (i.e., when we acquire and foster a) spiritual ratzon l’kabel.

The statement that the comprehensive ratzon l’kabel is only completed for the most part when we acquire and foster a spiritual ratzon l’kabel underscores our remark above about having to subsequently acquire a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia and a ratzon l’hashpia.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:29:00.001-04:00

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

We can now finally begin to resolve our second inquiry, about the role we humans play in the great course of events that we’re such minor players in, and for such a short span.

See 1:3.

This inquiry is crucial to our purposes, for it sums up our raison d'être and offers us direct guidance in how we’re to draw close to God, which is the point of it all. We'll be occupied with it for the next few chapters.

Know that our lifelong Divine service is divided into four stages. The first centers on our acquiring a comprehensive ratzon l’kabel along with all the impurity (it garnered) from the four worlds of defiled-A.B.Y.A. (But, why would we have to attain it, seeing how foul it is?) Because we couldn’t rectify this corrupt ratzon l’kabel if we didn’t have it, since “no one can rectify something he doesn’t have".

We're passive participants in the first of the four stages of our spiritual development, since all we do, ironically, is take in the ratzon l’kabel -- the willingness to only take in -- in detail.

And we'd have to accept it in order to ultimately reject it. After all, how could we reject it if we didn't first know it? The first point, then, is that our having and internalizing wrong and un-Godliness is inevitable to our being, as well as to our growth.

But (know, too, that) the degree of ratzon l’kabel that’s granted (us) at birth isn’t enough (for our purposes). (So) it has to serve as a vehicle for the impure husks for no less than thirteen years. That means to say that the husks must control that ratzon l’kabel and grant it the husks’ lights (for that length of time), since those lights augment it. For the satisfaction that the husks supply the ratzon l’kabel increase and broaden its demands.

Even though Ashlag had originally termed the native ratzon l’kabel "comprehensive” and said that it had "all the impurity (it garnered) from the four worlds of defiled-A.B.Y.A.", that's not to say that it's the consummate ratzon l’kabel. For this native ratzon l’kabel will prove to be an obscure hint of its full and ugly self.

Indeed, we'd need to allow in a more lumbering, heftier ratzon l’kabel with each and every ugly, self-indulgent, mean detail, if we're to rectify it. For we'd have to experience the ratzon l’kabel in its entirety, in all its hideousness, in order to know it to be detrimental and objectionable (or else we'd bear with it, or just be annoyed by it). For only after having had our fill of it can we utterly reject it. Since "no one can rectify something he doesn’t have" and want to spurn.

That's why the native ratzon l’kabel must serve as a "vehicle (i.e., an instrument) for the impure husks for no less than thirteen years", until we ourselves can become "vehicles" for mitzvot. And it's why the native ratzon l’kabel must be controlled and emboldened by the impure husks that engorge and fatten it so.

2.

(That explains) for example, why a newborn only wants the smallest of things and no more, and why our ratzon l’kabel grows stronger and stronger when it gets what it wants, and even wants twice as much. And why it intensifies to such an extent that it immediately wants four times as much when it’s given double.

That is, while we're very willing and eager to take-in when we're born, indeed, the urge is nonetheless comparatively weak then, since we're only drawing upon our native ratzon l’kabel at that point. But our willingness to take-in will invariably grow exponentially stronger from there on, because we’ll begin to draw upon the sort of deeper, more impure levels of ratzon l’kabel cited before.

(That comes to teach us that) if we don't manage to overcome that (urge to take-in) through Torah and mitzvot, and to purify the ratzon l’kabel and transform it into a willingness to bestow, that our ratzon l’kabel will grow stronger and stronger throughout our life, and we'll eventually die without fulfilling half our desires -- which is tantamount to being left under the auspices of the other side and the husks, whose very function is to expand and increase our ratzon l’kabel, and to broaden it and take away all its restraints, so as to provide us with all the material we need to work with and rectify.

Hence, we're to know that the only way to change the cakey, bloated, wily entity that is our comprehensive ratzon l’kabel into a Godly, selfless, blameless one is to transform it into a comprehensive willingness to bestow. Otherwise it will only grow fatter and fatter till it pops. And we do that by subsuming ourselves in the mitzvah-system which demands selfless acquiescence to God's will.

But we're never to forget that we're only put through all that in order to prove ourselves valiant in battle; and that the grist for the whole alternately delectable and terrible mill that is the ratzon l’kabel is only there to "provide us with all the material we need to work with and rectify".

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:28:00.001-04:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

As to the sages’ statement that, “the dead will be brought back to life with all their defects (in place) and then be cured”, that means as follows.

The same body (i.e., self) with its comprehensive ratzon l’kabel will come back to life at the beginning (of the resurrection) without any restrictions whatsoever -- meaning to say, it will return just as it had been when it passed through the impure worlds system and before meriting being at all purified by (adherence to) Torah and mitzvot. That’s the meaning of (the idea that it will be brought back to life) “with all its defects”.

Also see 26:2.

(And as to the idea of them being “cured”, that's to be explained thusly.) We’ll then begin to engage in a new form of Divine service, and start to infuse our comprehensive ratzon l’kabel with a tsurah of bestowal, as we’d indicated, and (our body and self) will thus be cured! For it will have attained an affinity (with God).

In short, the idea that the dead will be brought back to life with all their defects in place and then be cured of them comes to this.

There'll come a time when the dead body and self will indeed come back to life in full, raw blossom. But not as it is now in our day-to-day experience with its expansive and comprehensive ratzon l’kabel in place -- instead, we'll begin to rectify that pure and unadulterated ratzon l’kabel at that point by transforming it into a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia -- a willingness to take in, in order to bestow. And that will cure it of its dread disease of alienation from God and will draw us close to Him as we emulate His ways.

2.

(As to the fact that) our sages said that the reason (we’re to be resurrected with all our defects in place) was so as “not to be mistaken for anyone else”, that's so it couldn’t be said that (the body or self) was of a different form than its original one in the intentions for creation, since the comprehensive ratzon l’kabel would have retained its intent to take in all the goodness (that it was meant to enjoy) in the (original) intention for creation; and that it was set among the husks for the meanwhile until it could be purified. For in the end there simply cannot be a different body. For if it were restrained in any way, it would be a different entity for all intents and purposes, and wouldn’t merit receiving all the goodness (planned for it) in the (original) intentions of creation it (had already) received in the first era.

On an even more arcane level, the idea that the body and self is to come back to life with all its defects -- i.e., in full, raw blossom -- just "so as not to be mistaken for anyone else", means to say this. The very same body/self that had been on God's "mind", if you will, in the first era when He set out to create the universe, and which He meant to exist in the second (and third) era -- with its entire comprehensive ratzon l’kabel in place -- is the one that will be resurrected, none other. It just had to experience this and that before it could be resurrected. And that will be clear; no one would be able to say that another, less ratzon l’kabel-ridden body/self was being resurrected. (Why would that matter? Because it has to be manifest that the very same body and self that was rooted in taking-in could in fact be transformed to one rooted in bestowing.)

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:26:00.003-04:00

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

In fact, the resurrection of the dead can only take place close to the full rectification that’s to occur at the end of the second era.

For (by then) we’d have merited abolishing our comprehensive ratzon l’kabel and received a willingness to only bestow (in its place), and merited (being endowed by the) prodigious qualities of the soul known as the nephesh, ruach, neshama, chaya, and yechidah as a consequence of all our efforts to abolish our ratzon l’kabel. And we’d have entered into (a state of) very great perfection.

This then is the classical Jewish chronology of the end: the Messiah will appear near the close of the present, second era. We'll then manage to transform our all-encompassing ratzon l’kabel to a full and comprehensive ratzon l’hashpia, and to then merit taking on all the recondite soul-levels one could, as a consequence of that. And then we'll experience the great rectification -- the time when nearly all connections between heaven and earth that had been stopped and clogged will be unstopped, so that Godliness can begin to pass through; and when God will face us and we'll start to be ready to face Him straight on. That will then usher in the resurrection, for...

(All) that would then enable the body, with its comprehensive ratzon l’kabel, to come back to life, and for us to no longer be severed from our adhesion (unto God). (In fact,) on the contrary, we’ll have overcome the ratzon l’kabel (by then) and will have granted the body its tsurah of bestowal.

2.

Now, that’s actually what we should do with every bad trait we want to eliminate. We should first thoroughly do away with it, and then to reincorporate it and make use of it (only) moderately. Because if we don’t (first) do away with it, we’ll never be able to use it moderately as we should.

This is a beguiling paragraph teeming with implication.

First off, it's important to know that it's rooted in Moses Maimonides' idea (see Sh'mone Perakim and Hilchot Deot) to the effect that extremes of behavior are always wrong and that the middle, moderate path is always best and healthiest. So, if for example you tend to get angry easily Maimonides would suggest that you not express any anger at all for a time, and that you're to continue acting that way until you'd have stifled your anger altogether. Then he'd advise you to "return to the middle way" of equilibrium and to indeed express anger to an appropriate degree and when fitting, and to do that for the rest of your life. He'd also suggest that you follow that pattern in relation to your other extreme traits.

Ashlag reiterates that point here, but he goes far beyond Maimonides' conception and adapts it to our ratzon l’kabel which, if you'll recall, is our very essence in this world.

Hence, Ashlag is saying that Maimonides' method is actually quite mystical, not merely ethical or psychological; and that it instructs us in how to get close to God. For while we'll indeed eventually get to the point where we undo our ratzon l’kabel altogether, that's nonetheless not the point. We're instead to once again allow our ratzon l’kabel in -- but only to a moderate degree. That's to say that we're develop a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia -- a willingness to take in, in order to bestow (see 11:2) and to utterly transform our beings in the process (see 30:2 as well).

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:25:00.001-04:00

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now, as we’ve already said, the (existence of the) first era made it necessary for the third era to materialize itself in full, in order to fulfill the intent for creation (already manifest) in the first era.

See Ch. 15.

Thus, the (existence of the) first era necessitated the resurrection of the body, which is to say that it made it necessary for the body's comprehensive ratzon l’kabel which had (already) come to an end, been undone, and decomposed in the course of the second era, to be resurrected anew, in full and comprehensive measure and to lack for nothing whatsoever -- i.e., with all its defects (in place).

In answer to our question of the last chapter as to why we're to be resurrected, it comes to this. We -- better yet, our bodies along with our personality and sense of self -- are to be fully and roundly resurrected when the time comes simply because that, too, is part of the great unfurling of God's will that was already encased in the first era, by virtue of the fact that it will play a part in our drawing close to God.

But, why will we be brought back "with all (our) defects (in place)"?, we also asked.

2.

But then our Divine service is to begin anew: (we’ll start) to convert our comprehensive ratzon l’kabel to the point where it only takes-in so as to bestow. And we'd have thus doubled our gain: first, we'd have had the capacity to accept all the goodness, pleasantness, and gentleness (we were meant to) in the (original) intent of creation, by having a body with a comprehensive ratzon l’kabel, which goes hand in hand with all those pleasures, as we indicated.

And secondly, since we received all the goodness, pleasantness, and gentleness (we were meant to), it would then only exist to the degree necessary to grant God contentment, and our ratzon l’kabel would be tantamount to an out-and-out bestowal.

See 11:2.

That would bring us to (a state of) essential affinity (with) or adhesion (onto God) -- which will be our tsurah in the third era. Thus we see that the (existence of the) first era did indeed make the resurrection of the dead an absolute necessity.

Things will be utterly different when we're resurrected, as would only be expected; and all our foci and insights will change accordingly. Rather than be self-absorbed, we'll be God-absorbed. For instead of being only willing to accept things that serve our own purposes, we'll only be willing to accept things that we could then bestow upon another (God, in this instance), like the guest who only ate to please his host (see the comments to 11:3).

That explains why we're to be brought back with all our defects. For, what "all our defects" refers to is all of our selfishness (also see Ch. 28); and it will be there for all to see at the point of resurrection, all right. But we'll be so out-and-out flummoxed by the sight ourselves that we'll be moved to (somehow) transform it to selflessness.

Ironically, though, we'll have benefitted from our selflessness in the end to a remarkable degree (though we wouldn't have set out to). For aside from having enjoyed the wherewithal to take in "all the goodness, pleasantness, and gentleness” we were meant to by virtue of the fact that "we’d already had a body with a comprehensive ratzon l’kabel", we'd also be able to make the very best and purest use of that skill by turning it around to a means of adhering on to God's presence.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:23:00.000-04:00

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

This is a rather complex chapter that draws upon a lot of what has been said and raises a lot of questions of its own that will be left unanswered for a while. We'll do what we can to encapsulate all what’s said here at the end, and point out where this whole chapter will be taking us. Then we’ll allow Ashlag to spell it all out for us.

We now have a solution to our fifth inquiry.

See 3:2.

We asked there why the body will be resurrected, seeing how base it is and given that its (immortal) soul won’t appear in it in all its purity until the body decomposes. (We can also now offer a solution to) our sages’ statement that “The dead will be brought back to life with all their defects (in place) so that they won’t be mistaken for anyone else (and that all those defects will be cured afterwards)” (Zohar, Emor 17).

But we’d first have to review the following in order to explain all that.

(Know, that) all of this is in keeping with the original intent behind creation in the first era. For, as we’d said, God intended for His creations to experience pleasure.

See 6:1.

So He created an enormous and comprehensive enough willingness to take-in all the vast amount of bounty that lay behind the intention of creation, since (the ability to take-in) a great deal of pleasure and (the need to have a correspondingly) comprehensive ratzon l’kabel go hand in hand.

See 6:2-3.

And so as we also said, this enormous ratzon l’kabel was the only thing created anew.

See 7:1-2.

Since God didn’t need to create anything else to carry out His intentions for creation, and (also) because it’s only natural that a perfect Producer wouldn’t produce anything extraneous.

We also said that this comprehensive ratzon l’kabel was withdrawn from the four worlds of holy-A.B.Y.A. and placed instead in the four worlds of defiled-A.B.Y.A., from which derived the bodies of this world, their sustenance, and all their circumstances.

See 10:2.

And we said that one only begins to attain a holy soul when he reaches age thirteen (or twelve, in the case of a young woman) thanks to his involvement in Torah and Mitzvot (with the intention to please God), and he starts to be nourished by the four worlds of holy-A.B.Y.A. to a degree that corresponds to the size of his holy (immortal) soul.

See 11:2.

We likewise said that during the six thousand years that we’d been granted to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, the body -- i.e., our comprehensive ratzon l’kabel -- wouldn’t be rectified (of its own accord). All the rectifications that will come about would be as a consequence of our efforts alone, and would only touch upon the nephesh (i.e., the lowest degree of soul), from which rectifications will ascend upward through the various degrees of holiness and purity in order to (eventually) enhance the ratzon l’hashpia that evolves along with the soul.

See 11:2.

(Just know, that) all that helps to explain why the body is doomed to die, be buried, and decompose. After all, the body wouldn’t have been rectified in any way, and yet it can't remain in that state (forever). However, if the (body's) comprehensive ratzon l’kabel would be (prematurely) removed from the world, then God's intentions for creation -- that everyone would be granted all the great delights that He wanted them to -- wouldn't be carried out, God forbid. After all (as we alluded to above), a great ratzon l’kabel and (the ability to sustain) a great deal of pleasure go hand in hand, and one's ratzon l’kabel diminishes to the selfsame degree that his delight and pleasure upon receiving diminishes. (So, what’s the solution?)

All Ashlag cited above begins to explain why the body must die and decompose before it's to be resurrected, so let’s synopsize it. As we learned, God intended mankind to derive pleasure in this world. So He quite logically instilled a desire for pleasure in our beings; and He likewise quite reasonably provided us with as great a desire for pleasure as the pleasure itself would be. And so God created our ratzon l’kabel.

But it's important to realize that it needs to be rectified. We'll get back to that below.

We also learned that we only begin to develop an immortal soul once we start to live out the mitzvah-system and to delve into the Torah; and that the greater and purer our engagements in that, the greater and purer will our soul be.

Nonetheless, that process won't rectify our problematic ratzon l’kabel unto itself. All we'd have accomplished by engaging in Torah and mitzvot would be to have advanced our soul upward by degrees and eventually bolstered our ratzon l’hashpia -- which is no mean feat at all! But we will not have undone our ratzon l’kabel.

So how will our ratzon l’kabel be undone in the end as it must be in order to accomplish God's plans? Why must we be resurrected? And why indeed did our sages say that the "dead will be brought back to life with all their defects (in place)" in order not to "be mistaken for anyone else" by that point? We'll come to uncover all that in the next few chapters.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:22:00.000-04:00

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

Now, since we’re essentially a ratzon l’kabel and everything that happens to us and all our circumstances are replete with that corrupt ratzon [1], (know that) we and all our circumstances are as ephemeral and mortal as a passing shadow that leaves nothing behind.

And that’s so because the a ratzon l’kabel will be undone in the end (see 19:2 ).

But in view of the fact that the immortal soul is essentially a ratzon l’hashpia and everything that happens to it and its circumstances are replete with that (lofty) ratzon [2], it is not at all ephemeral or mortal. It and its circumstances are eternal and will exist forever.

In fact, not only will the soul not experience nonexistence when the body dies, on the contrary, the nonexistence of the body will actually strengthen the soul and enable it to ascend to the Heavens.

The soul will come to full flower once the body and ego are undone because the soul will no longer be held back by the effect of the ratzon l’kabel and it can thus adhere onto God.

We’ve thus clearly demonstrated that the immortality of the soul is in no way dependent on the concepts we acquire, as certain philosophers claim. Instead, its immortality is inherent, meaning to say that it’s in its ratzon l’hashpia which is its essence. And any concepts it acquires will be its reward rather than its essence.

See 21:1.

Note:

[1] The text continues with, “… which was only created from the first to be eradicated from the world in order to bring on the perfect third era at the final reparation”, which we thus setting here rather than there, to a void redundancy.

[2] The text continues with, “… which already existed in the eternal first era as well as in the third era that’s due to come about”.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:20:00.000-04:00

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

Hence, our immortal souls want only to please their Creator -- which is actually their nature, as we indicated -- thanks to the garbs of “reverting light” that they received from the upper worlds they’d come from.

See 21:1.

That is, since “we can deduce things about the makeup of spiritual phenomena ... from the makeup of physical phenomena” as we learned at the end of the last chapter; and since we only want to please themselves and so all we do as a consequence is generate needs, thoughts about, and plans to satisfy their various desires -- it stands to reason that our immortal souls, which are comprised of a desire to please God rather than themselves would set out to actually please Him.

Once it’s clad in a human body, our immortal soul then starts to manifest needs, thoughts, and plans to satisfy its willingness to bestow to its fullest, and to please its Creator in proportion to its will to do that.

... much the way our egos manifest needs, thoughts, and plans to satisfy itself.

But rather than channel that desire through a combination of animalistic and more ideal venues the way our egos do, the immortal soul only sets out to satisfy God in an ideal fashion. Since it’s utterly spiritual and doesn’t do anything by degree or in combination the way physical things do.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:17:00.000-04:00

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

All three of these desire-types …

That is: animalistic desires, lesser human desires like that for respect and domination, and loftier desires as for knowledge and the like.

… are present in everyone, for the most part. It’s just that they’re within us in varying degrees and in combination, which explains the difference between people.

Ashlag’s point is that since we’re ratzon l’kabel- and pleasure-driven, it follows that even the best of us (with the exception of the scant few souls who have indeed achieved a ratzon l’hashpia in the here and now) have some base and small desires, and also that even the lowliest among us are drawn to higher ideals since all three desires-types are human archetypes.

The difference between us thus lies in the intensity with which we express those desires; in whether we express them in thought, speech, or action, or in combination; and the degree to which we express them in each of those realms.

For while the more-righteous want nothing better than to draw close to God (which is still-and-all a personal desire, don't forget) and they think, talk about, and do things that will help them do that, they also harbor a thought or more, say something or another, or do a thing or two that thwarts that. Most of us think and talk about, and do more things to thwart closeness to God, and think and talk about, and do a number of base and meaner things. And the lowliest among us think and talk about, and do a great deal of base and coarse things, and few lofty things.

(Know that) we can deduce things about the makeup of spiritual phenomena -- depending on their spiritual stature -- from the makeup of physical phenomena.

We’ll begin to discuss this in detail in the next chapter.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:11:00.000-04:00

Chapter Twenty-One:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now, don’t be led astray by the opinion of those philosopher who state that we're essentially comprised of our reason; that our beings only exist and expand by dint of our ability to conceive of things; that our (continued) existence and after-life depend solely on the caliber of the concepts we'd acquired; and that if we don't conceive of things, we won’t survive after death [1]. For that’s (simply untrue and) not a Torah perspective! And besides, it’s counter-intuitive; for as anyone who has ever tried to garner knowledge knows and senses, reason is something acquired rather than the acquirer himself.

This will be resolved in Ch. 24 below.

2.

As we explained, the essential makeup of both spiritual and material phenomena is nothing other than the ratzon l’kabel. And while we pointed out that our essences are (likewise) comprised of a full ratzon l’hashpia, that only comes into play after (a series of) reparations brought on by the “reverting light” that is granted it from the upper worlds from which it comes to us, as is discussed clearly in (Ashlag’s own) Peticha L’Chochmat HaKaballah (Ch’s 14-16, 19).

This last item is a rather arcane one, but suffice it to say that at one point in the creation process, the Celestial Light that shone downward upon creation came against a numinous screen which resisted it and forced it backward. The Celestial Light suddenly began to function as “Reverting Light”, and to act as a receiver rather than an imparter so as to allow for the creation of the ratzon l’kabel. But the entire process will be reversed, as Ashlag indicates, through a series of reparations, which will then lead to the emergence of the third era.

The point is that our essential makeup is our ratzon l’kabel as well (as a ratzon l’hashpia), which you’ll understand by seeing (what’s written) there.

3.

Indeed, the only thing that distinguishes one being (i.e., person or thing) from another is its will. For each being's will determines what it needs, which then elicits the sort of thoughts and plans it would need to have and make in order to fulfill the needs its ratzon l’kabel demands (in the first place). For just as we each have different wills (i.e., each one of us has a distinctive ratzon l’kabel), we likewise have different needs, thoughts, and plans.

There are a number of points to be made at this important juncture. First that not only do their wills differentiate beings -- their type of wills does, too. For while human beings have free wills, other beings have fixed wills. (Human free-will is the ideal in fact, it's relative to person and circumstance, and it's actually quite rare; but it's nonetheless assured of to all fully functioning people. It's rare because few of us act out on it, as most are so overwhelmed by influences that they couldn't truly be called free so much as free-enough to choose to be free. But that's all beside the point.) In any event, what sets one free-willed human being apart from the others and fixed-willed being apart from others is what he, she, or it wills.

But whatever your will, it's always a will for things that will serve your own purposes, a ratzon l’kabel.

When humans will something, they set out to fulfill it (either consciously, or by dint of influence, pressure, etc.) by first considering what they'd need in order to do that, by then planning and setting out to get those things, and by acting upon those things so as to have their will fulfilled. When non-humans will something they likewise plan and set out to get those things, and they also act upon them. But the variances are boundless, needless to say.

As we'll see in the next section, though, free-willed human beings invariably want things of a different caliber, which them sets them apart on whole other levels.

One other esoteric detail about the above. This statement is actually a plain-worded delineation of the Kabbalistic system, in that our will corresponds to the highest, most sublime sephirah of Keter; all the thinking and planning we do to fulfill that will corresponds to the "superior" (rosh, in Hebrew) sephirot of Chochma and Binah; and all we do to act out on all that corresponds to the "interior" (toch) sephirot that follow them (Chessed, Gevurah, etc.). And it's all in keeping with the statement in the Zohar that "everything in the world depends on will" (2:162b).

4.

That's why, for example, people whose ratzon l’kabel is rooted in animalistic desires alone only need, think about, and plan things that would satisfy those sorts of animalistic desires. For even though they'd be using their minds and reason just as (other) humans do, since it's “satisfying enough for the servant to be like his master” (see Berachot 58B), (i.e., they're satisfied enough identifying themselves with), their animalistic reasoning, and for their minds to be enslaved to and serve their animalistic will.

(It's also why) those whose ratzon l’kabel are preoccupied by “human” desires for the most part -- desires that aren't found in animals, like desires for respect, or for power over others -- channel the great majority of their needs, thoughts, and plans on satisfying those desires as much as possible.

(It's also why) those whose desires are mainly for (more transcendent and lofty things like) knowledge channel the great majority of their needs, thoughts, and plans into satisfying those sorts of desires as much as possible.

Since everyone (and everything) is ratzon l’kabel- and pleasure-driven, and seeing too that some of us are rather body-oriented, others more ego-oriented, and others yet more ideal-oriented, Ashlag now delves a bit into the whole notion of how people respond to drives.

His contention is that ... regardless of what drives us: physical delights, ego-satisfactions, or more metaphysical sorts of pleasures, like grasping deep and recondite concepts or experiencing sublime emotions, it all comes down to what we focus on. For while people driven by physical delights focus all of their resources on satisfying those sorts of urges (and are only too willing to subject themselves to their "master's" whims), those driven by the need to satisfy their egos, and those driven by more transcendent and lofty urges focus all of their resources on satisfying those urges ... again, the point is that we're each driven by a ratzon l’kabel regardless of how we express it. So no one can be criticized for his egocentricity, which is universal, so much as for his choices. But as we'd learned, there's also the option to act out of a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia.

Notes:

[1] See Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed" 1:1, 18, 41, etc.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:07:00.000-04:00

Chapter Twenty:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now that we've explained all that, we can solve our very first question which was, “What are we essentially?”

See 1:2.

What we are in essence is the very thing everything else is, which is a ratzon l’kabel -- no more and no less.

Our will, some would say need, to take-in all the time is ubiquitous, boundless, utterly normal, and not to be denied. What differentiates us from each other, though, is just what we want.

Some want only the bare minimum, others want more, and others want the maximum. Some who want the bare minimum want it for healthy reasons, others for unhealthy ones; and the same is true of those who want more and the most. Some only want material things, others want some combination of material and spiritual things, and some only want God. But even someone who wants God alone wants Him and for his own reasons, and thus is no less “wanting” than the person who wants as much material delight as he can get, though the first person’s Object of desire is far more sublime.

There’s very much to be remark about this, needless to say, but suffice it to say that Ashlag’s point is that we each want, and are rarely willing to give (unless we get more in return, the way we’re all willing to pay to get the things we want, though no one who gives money in such an instance would likely be termed altruistic). And anyone who thinks he or she is indeed and utterly altruistic is either a hypocrite, an innocent or naïf, or a liar (though we each can be altruistic to degrees).

That’s not to say that altruism isn’t attainable, because it is; it’s just not yet in our midst.

But we’re not (comprised of a ratzon l’kabel as) the ratzon l’kabel manifests itself now in the second era, as a desire to take-in and for our own benefit alone; but rather as it manifested in the first era in God’s Infinite Being, which is to say, in its eternal form of a willingness to take-in in order to gratify our Creator.

What we said above notwithstanding, still-and-all humankind isn’t essentially selfish. We’re only selfish “for now”, i.e., for the 6,000 years that comprise this second era. What we are at bottom is selfless, and only willing to take-in so as to give in return -- but again, that’s not how we know humankind and ourselves to be now. Yet we’re to know that we’ll eventually be so selfless that the only reason we’d ever accept anything (from God, from Whom everything comes at bottom) would be to give it back (to God), one way or another.

2.

And even though we haven’t yet actually arrived at the third era and won’t for some time, that doesn’t blemish our essence, for the third era is an inevitable consequence of the first (as we learned).

For (there's a Talmudic axiom to the effect that) “Everything due to be repaid is considered to be repaid already” (see Ketubot 81A); so our not having yet arrived at the third era would only be a problem if there were a question of our fulfilling what we'd have to in order to arrive at it. But since there's no question, it’s as though we’d indeed arrived at it already.

"Everything due to be repaid is considered to be repaid already" means to say that every debt is considered to have already been repaid since it will be, in the process of time ... absent some sort of mitigating circumstance. So, since absolutely nothing will thwart the arrival of the third era, it has already come for all intents and purposes.

As such, the body (i.e., self) that has been granted us in its present corrupted tsurah doesn’t blemish our essence, since it and all its effects stand ready to be annihilated along with the whole impure system from which it originates. That's also (true) because (there's another, equivalent Talmudic axiom to the effect that) “everything due to be burned is considered burned already” (Menachot 102B) and is regarded as never having existed.

"Everything due to be burned is considered burned already" means much the same as the above axiom to the effect that "everything due to be repaid is to be considered repaid already". The difference lies in the fact that while "everything due to be repaid ... " allows us to assume the third era is here for all intents and purposes, while "everything due to be burned ... " allows us to assume as well that nothing but the third era has ever existed for all intents and purposes!

3.

Indeed, the soul that's attired in our body is also essentially a ratzon. But (it’s different, in that) it’s a ratzon l’hashpia, which has been bestowed upon us from the four worlds of the holy-A.B.Y.A. (see 10:2). And it’s eternal, for the tsurah of a ratzon l’hashpia is in essential affinity with the Life of All Lives and is in no way mutable.

His point is that at bottom, everything and everyone, God included, has a ratzon: a will to do, have, bestow, etc. one thing or another. Some instances of ratzon are more beneficial than others, though. The least beneficial of all is a ratzon l’kabel, which our mortal and mutable bodies and selves have inherited from the defiled-A.B.Y.A.; while the most beneficial is a ratzon l’hashpia, which immortal and immutable God expresses intrinsically, and our immortal and immutable souls have inherited from Him through the immortal and immutable holy-A.B.Y.A.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T12:02:00.000-04:00

Chapter Nineteen:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

We can now also settle the fourth question.

See 1:5.

(Which was,) How could God, who is all-good and innately benevolent, have purposefully created so many people who suffer and are tried their whole lives long?

After all, as the question continues in the original, “Wouldn’t an all-good Creator be expected to be benevolent -- if not at least less malevolent?”

It thus comes to this. The (reality of the) first era necessitated all our trials and tribulations. For we humans have to choose either the path of Torah or the path of trial and tribulation in order to achieve the complete immortality that’s due us in the third era.

See Ch. 15.

That is, the third era will come about one way or the other, as a natural outcome of the fact that the first era had already been. And since we learned that there are only two ways to earn a place in the third era: by either faithfully adhering to God’s mitzvah-system, or by suffering trials and tribulations (see 16:2), it’s clear that we shouldn’t be surprised by the existence of trials and tribulations, since they serve a profound and ultimately benevolent end.

And (besides,) all those trials and tribulations only affect the husk that is our body (and person, but no deeper), which was only created (in the first place) to perish and be interred.

So while pain does indeed ache and oftentimes gnaws at our beings and grates at our bones, in the end that’s as far as it will ever go. For it will inevitably end up being nothing but a bitter and black memory that will itself vanish in the end, too (even though we never thought it would), much as our physical beings will.

2.

What that all comes to teach us is that our ratzon l’kabel was only created to (eventually) be annihilated and removed from the world, and to be transformed into a ratzon l’hashpia. And that all the trials and tribulations we suffer are (at bottom only meant) to serve as means of disclosing the ratzon l’kabel’s essential nothingness and great harmfulness.

Some wiser, more fortunate souls learn from adversity. They come to learn from poverty, for example, how to make do with what they have, use it to the maximum, and enjoy it. (Everything they own becomes even more luscious and rich as a result, if they become prosperous).

We ourselves are expected to be more thoughtful and insightful about our trials and tribulations in this second era (which will inevitably lead to the third era, at the beginning of which the following will all take place).

For while trials and tribulations are dreadful, before they vanish (which they inevitably will) we can learn from them that the ultimate purpose they served was to have us realize just how harmful their cause -- our self-absorption -- (our ratzon l’kabel) had been all along, and how much pain it had caused us.

Indeed, once we do that we can purposefully adopt the alternative, selflessness (a ratzon l’hashpia), and immediately realize its benefits. Or we can have suffered trials and tribulations, and have learned nothing from them (as most people do), and inherit a ratzon l’hashpia despite ourselves. But what benefits are there to becoming selfless? As we’ll see ...

3.

Understand (as well) that once all of humanity agrees to abolish and eradicate its ratzon l’kabel and to want nothing other than to bestow upon others, all our worldly worries and injuries will cease to exist, and everyone will be assured of a healthy and full life. For everyone would have an entire world concerned for him alone in with satisfying his (every) need.

But there’ll always be (the sort of) worries, trials and tribulations, wars, and bloodshed that we can’t (yet) avoid that dispirit, afflict, and pain us as long as everyone only wants things for his own benefit.

This is a quite remarkable section that cries out for explanation. First off it’s important to know that this will all happen at the beginning of the third era, since it refers to both mundane and rarefied events that will only come about then -- when Heaven and Earth commingle as they wouldn’t have till then and would always do from then on.

The point is that the essential nothingness and great harmfulness of the ratzon l’kabel pointed to above will become clear to all of humanity by that point; each and every person will decide that he or she had had enough of it, and would elect to express a ratzon l’hashpia instead.

Understand, of course, that this will be a massive and fulgent instance of pure, selfless knowing and revelation far out of our experience, and only comparable to the one the Jewish Nation people achieved when they said Na’aseh v’Nishma -- “We’ll do (all that’s asked of us right here and now, as God speaks) and listen (to His explanations afterwards)” (Exodus 24:7), after having been granted the Torah. After all, we’d be abandoning everything de rigueur and natural, and embracing a wholly new and unaccustomed perspective that would threaten us to the core!

But the shift will happen, we’re assured, and it will sit well with us after a time because we’d see the benefits. For by virtue of the fact that we’d all have chosen to bestow rather than take-in, whenever one of us wanted or needed something (for some unselfish and high-minded reason, of course), the rest of us would be ready to bestow it upon him. And no one would ever lack for anything again.

Parenthetically, Ashlag says in many places that we humans actually don’t have the ability to assume a ratzon l’hashpia on our own, and that the only thing we’re expected to do realistically to realize one would be to pray to God that He grant it to us; so how could the above statement stand? Apparently Ashlag’s point is that we will indeed have come to pray for it by that point -- every single one of us -- because it would have been the beginning of the third era by then; and the force of that universal prayer will storm the gates of Heaven and allow for the possibility.

4.

In point of fact, though, all the world’s trials and tribulations are only phantasms displayed before our eyes in order to prod us to undo the wrongful husk of the body (i.e., our ratzon l’kabel) and to accept upon ourselves the proper tsurah of the ratzon l’hashpia.

Each and every cataclysm and calamity we'd ever suffered, we'll learn, was nothing but a fable and as misleading as a nightmare. All it ever did was serve as a study in what matters and what doesn't, what's immutable and what ephemeral. The lesson we'll draw from it is this: the only reason we ever suffered was because we were always and only self-absorbed. And only now (we’ll say in the third era), when we're no longer self-absorbed and are fully blessed and content instead, do we know how true that all is.

But as we've said, (following) the path of trial and tribulation (in contradistinction to the path of Torah and mitzvot) will (also) grant us the means to assume the better tsurah (of a ratzon l’hashpia).

That is, we'll all perforce become selfless, as we've said; and we'll always have the option of learning the above lesson by means of experiencing trial and tribulation on our own, and then “getting it”. But Ashlag’s implication is that we could learn the very same lesson -- though more painlessly and expeditiously -- by drawing upon the wisdom of Torah which teaches us that and by living out its life-lessons through the mitzvah-system.

Nonetheless know that fulfilling interpersonal mitzvot takes precedence over fulfilling the more sacramental ones (having to do with our relationship to God), because (in the end) our bestowing upon others (by fulfilling interpersonal mitzvot) will have us bestow upon God (too, as a matter of course).

His final point here is that we're nonetheless to know that there are mitzvot, and there are mitzvot.

There are the more ceremonial ones (like donning tephillin, observing Shabbat, eating Matzah on Passover, etc.) that are relatively easy to fulfill since they only require that we do what God -- who is invisible, never complains, and is ever receptive and grateful -- asks us to; and there are the interpersonal ones (like giving charity, visiting the sick, loaning money, etc.) that are more difficult, since they demand that we contend with others’ own self-interests, which always run counter to our own.

In any event, the sort of muscular rowing against the deafening flux of egos we'd have to engage in to satisfy another's needs while subduing our own would serve us better in the end, since it would help us achieve a ratzon l’hashpia, and make it easier for us to acquiesce to God's will when that goes against the grain.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T11:59:00.000-04:00

Chapter Eighteen:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

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. But 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’re (already) eternal, perfect beings (in essence).

2.

And (we can now understand too that) it’s our eternal nature that (actually) made it necessary for the husk that is our body (i.e., 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!

Now, the notion that we’d 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’t 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.

For as we said in Ch. 13, the tsurah 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’t part of the (ultimate) intentions for eternity. And we were already in the state (there, in the first era) that we’ll be in, in the third era.

3.

(Understand, though, that) we needn’t 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’re only of consequence when they (can) help humankind achieve perfection, and they only ascend and descend in relation to humankind and (thus) haven’t any personal standing.

Ashlag now addresses a very serious objection some might have. That’s all very good as far as humankind is concerned, since it’s subsumed in God’s 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’t seem to matter at all?

He indicates though that that’s a moot point, since nothing but humankind matters at bottom in the great rush and struggle to adhere unto God’s Presence that is corporeal existence, other than as a subsidiary help or deterrent. (See 3:4 as well.)

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T11:57:00.000-04:00

Chapter Seventeen:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

With all this in mind we can now respond to our third question.

See 1:4.

For we’d raised the point (there) that when we consider ourselves closely we find ourselves to be as tainted and lowly as can be. Yet (conversely) when we consider our Creator, we (surmise that we) should actually be of the highest order, as only befits (creations of) such a Creator, whom no one is more exalted than. After all, it’s only natural (to assume) that a perfect Being (like Himself) would (only) produce perfect beings.

So, why aren’t we perfect?

But now we can understand why.

For the truth of the matter is...

Our body (i.e., our self), with all its meaningless exigencies and trappings, isn’t our real body (self)! (After all, how could it be, since) our real, eternal, and perfect body (self) has already existed in the Infinite’s Being in the first era, where it (had already) assumed the perfect tsurah of bestowance (due it) in the destined third era, where it’s (already) in essential affinity with the Infinite One.

That is, the people we are today, with all our foibles and missteps, woes and pratfalls, are not who we are at bottom. For our real selves are already subsumed in the Infinite’s Being, and is already without its uniquely human ratzon l’kabel, know it or not. Of course, Ashlag’s aim is to indeed have us know that, and to thus embrace the inevitable on our own by assuming a life of Torah and mitzvah observance.

But wouldn’t it be reasonable to argue that we really shouldn’t be made to endure the second era after all, in light of the acridness of the struggle and the agony of the obstacles? No, we’re told; for...

2.

Our situation in the first era (when we’re already subsumed in the Infinite’s Being) requires us to be conferred in the second era with a husk of a body (self) with its corrupt and flawed selfish ratzon l’kabel that separates us from God, so as to rectify it and to (thus) genuinely experience our eternal body (self) in the third era (on our own).

So we really shouldn’t object. Since (we have to experience the second era, because) we can only serve God in a mortal body (which we only have then), as one can’t repair something he doesn’t already have (see 15:4).

As such, there’s really no good reason to dismiss the second era, since it’s the only context in which we can purposefully and willfully serve God of our own volition, and undo our own very human blemishes when we have them to undo. For we haven’t any in the first era and won’t have them any longer in the third, so as it’s put so pithily in the Talmud, “if not now, then when? (Pirkei Avot 1:14)”

Despite that, the fact remains that...

We’re indeed already in the (sort of) perfected state that’s appropriate for (entities created by) the perfect Creator; and yet God has (indeed) also placed us in our situation in the second era (despite that, for the reasons we indicated). And so, our (present) body (self) doesn’t (actually) blemish us whatsoever, since it’s doomed to die and be undone, and it’s (in fact) only with us for the time it takes to be undone and to assume its eternal (perfect) state.

Only a seer of the likes of Yehudah Ashlag would dare wax poetic about “mere” death and pooh-pooh it as he does at the end here. But the truth lies with him in the end, and we’d all be wise to take heed.

(c) 2008 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T11:54:00.000-04:00

Chapter Sixteen:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

But don’t then raise the issue of our free choice being taken from us, seeing that we’ll inevitably be perfected and experience the third era that already existed in the first.

Human free choice is a fundamental of the Jewish Faith. And Ashlag is suggesting that we not bother thinking that what he'd said till now about the inevitability of our reaching the third era would seem to deny our freedom to choose to do the sorts of wrongful things that would seem to deny us a right to the third era (better known as a place in the World to Come: the era of cosmic perfection that will be achieved after the institution of the Messianic Era and the eventual resurrection of the dead). But let's explain free choice before we get into the conundrum. The immortal Jewish philosopher, moralist, physician and legalist, Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), laid it out as follows in his definite work of Jewish practice and belief, Mishne Torah:

“Every person has been granted the capacity to either incline himself in the direction of goodness and to be righteous, or, if he so chooses, in the direction of evil and be wicked .... That means to say that ... man, of his own volition, consciously and with his own mind, can distinguish between good and evil, and can do whatever he wants to do, either good or evil, without anyone stopping him. Don’t think that God decrees at birth whether a person is to be righteous or wicked; ... that simply isn’t so. In truth, everyone is capable of being as righteous as Moses, or as wicked as Jeroboam (a reprehensible renegade and idolater who reigned from 922 to 901 bcE; see 1, 2 Kings; 2 Chronicles); wise or obtuse, compassionate or cruel, miserly or generous, and the like. No one forces, decrees or draws a person in either direction. He alone, of his own volition, consciously inclines himself in the direction he so chooses” (Hilchot Teshuvah 5:1-2).

What that means to say, among other things, is that while all other things in the world are fixed and static in their essence, and the greater part of our being is itself fixed and static, too (i.e. our own personal biology, chemistry, and physics), our ethical stature is malleable and always in flux. After all, as the Talmud puts it, “Everything is in the hands of Heaven but the fear of Heaven” (Megillah 25A), which means that God furnishes us with everything, but our ethical response to it is entirely up to us.

Now, we’re to be judged in the end as to whether we used our free choice for good ends, to be sure. And we earn a place in the World to Come/the third era if we’re found to have done that (see Hilchot Teshuva 3:1, 7:1).

Yet much of what Maimonides has said about the World to Come seems to fly in the face of what Ashlag had said above. For Maimonides implies that we don’t each necessarily earn a share in it. But we’ll now see, though, everyone will in fact enter the World to Come/third era one way or another. So, are we free to make ethical choices (with all their concomitant consequences) or not? We are; but in unthought-of ways, as we’ll see. For ...

2.

The point is this. God readied two ways for us here in the course of the second (i.e., the present) era to reach the third one. One is the path of Torah observance, and the other is the path of trials and tribulations, which (while daunting, nonetheless enables us to) cleanse the body (of its dross), and (thus) forces us to transform our ratzon l’kabel into a willingness to bestow and to attach ourselves onto God’s Being.

That is, what we’re free to choose is the path we want to take to secure a place in the World to Come; but we’ll all inevitably reach that destination. For, we can either choose the longer way that’s actually shorter, or the shorter way that’s actually longer. But let’s explain.

We’re taught in the Talmud (Eruvin 53b) that Yehoshua ben Chananiah once reported that he’d “been on a journey when (he) noticed a little boy sitting at a cross-road”. He asked the boy which road he should take to get to town, and the boy offered that “this particular road is short -- but long” while the other one is “long -- but short”.

Yehoshua decided to take the apparently short road. He discovered after a while, though, that the boy was right. Because the apparently short road was blocked and thus really was a *long* one; and that the apparently long road was actually a short one because there were no impediments. This story suggests a number of things, but the point most applicable to our subject is this.

Each one of us could either live a life of relative moral restraint based on higher values, or one of moral unrestraint and license (or a combination of the two, which is the most popular choice of all). According to the Ashlag and the Jewish Tradition that means to say that we could either follow the mitzvah-system, or the dictates of our ratzon l’kabel.

The wise would determine, though, that while a life of license seems to be a readier, more direct path to happiness and satisfaction, it will actually prove to be a very long, convoluted, and painful one. For it will result in tribulations. And that while the mitzvah-system seems to inhibit our happiness and thwart our interests, it will actually prove to be the greatest, most delicious and “heavenly” shortcut of all to the ultimate human goal, since it would enable us to avoid the tribulations involved in the other choice.

But know that the suffering one undergoes for having chosen the ostensibly shorter path to happiness isn’t the sort of vengeful, priggish slap across the face we might take it to be. Ashlag depicts it instead as a means of cleansing the body of the dross of the ratzon l’kabel which then allows us to attach onto God’s presence (thus making it akin to the pain we’d willingly -- albeit hesitantly -- be willing to suffer in order to scrub off some very deeply embedded dirt that exasperates someone we love).

There’s yet another point to be made about this, though. Life becomes clearer at its end, when we start to sense where we’ve succeeded or failed.

As such, some old people in ill health simply want to die, and they say as much. They feel they have nothing to live for and that they’re nothing but dry lumber. Now we have found that few elderly, ill spiritually-centered and observant Jews say that, and fewer-yet elderly, ill observant and learned Jews say it. For they know that they can serve God as long as they’re alive (if only on a pallid and wan level), which gives each moment meaning and pith.

They (and their families) thus come to know that without the richness and call of Torah-reflection and mitzvah-observance in one’s life, all there often is, is the bitter and gnawing, trying reality of meaninglessness. And they come to realize how true that had been all along, though they've only come to see it so clearly at the end. They know that life comes down to a choice between the search for God that is embodied in Torah, and tribulation. And their knowledge of that isn’t abstract, but learned; indeed, rather than being rooted in pat theology, it’s grounded in having finally caught sight of life at its end.

For as the (ancient Jewish) Sages put it, (it’s as if God said to the Jewish Nation) “If you repent (i.e., if you eventually adapt the mitzvah system so as to draw close to God), fine; but if you don’t, I’ll (eventually) place a king like (the evil) Haman [2] over you who’ll force you to repent (i.e., to adapt the mitzvah system after all)”.

That is, we're free to adopt the mitzvah system with all its inscrutabilities and mystical locutions on our own, either from the first or in retrospect as an act of awakening; otherwise its alternative (tribulation) will be thrust upon us instead. There's simply no third option.

And as the Sages likewise said of the verse (that speaks of the redemption), “I God will hasten it -- in its time” (Isaiah 9:22): (the curious discord between the idea of God “hasten(ing) it” on the one hand, and only allowing it to come about “in its time” on the other comes to this) “If they’re worthy (i.e., if they follow the mitzvah system), I’ll “hasten (the redemption -- i.e., the World to Come and the third era)”; but if not, it will only come “in its time” (after a lot of tribulation)".

What that means to say is that if we become worthy by following the first path of Torah-reflection and mitzvah-observance, we’ll speed up our reparation and thus won’t have (to suffer) harsh and bitter tribulations, or endure the time it would take us to be compelled to better ourselves.

On the other hand, though, if we don’t (take that path, the redemption will come despite us, but only) "in its time". That is, only after tribulations -- which includes the punishment that souls suffer in Gehinom [3]. For, those tribulations will complete our reparations; and we’ll thus (and inevitably) experience the age of reparation (i.e., the third era/World to Come) despite ourselves.

3.

In any event, the rectification -- the third era -- will surely come about since it must, for the existence of the first era demands that. Thus the only choice we have is the one between the path of tribulations and the path of Torah-reflection and mitzvah-observance.

We’ve now thus demonstrated how all three eras of the soul are interconnected and necessitate one another.

Yet as we'll soon discover, there's a lot more to clear up vis a vis all the questions we raised at the very beginning of of our efforts. Once we do all that, though, we'll finally discuss the Zohar itself (which is the subject of this work after all, don’t forget).

Notes:

[1] Jeroboam was a reprehensible renegade and idolater who reigned from 922 to 901 bcE; see 1, 2 Kings; 2 Chronicles.

[2] Haman the Agagite, who was the influential chief minister of the Persian king Ahasuerus in the 6th century BCE, set out to destroy the Jewish Nation; see The Book of Esther.

[3] Gehinom is the name used in the Jewish Tradition for Hell. In point of fact, it’s far more analogous to the notion of Purgatory, in that the souls sent there only stay there the amount of time it takes to be purified (usually under a year).

(c) 2007 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T11:49:00.000-04:00

Chapter Fifteen:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now, when you reflect upon these three eras you discover that they’re 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 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.

2.

So if for example the third era -- when the tsurah of receiving is overturned to one of bestowing -- were not to come about, it would necessarily follow that the first era couldn’t have come about in the Infinite’s Being either.

We’d have expected Ashlag to begin with the first era, but he starts instead with the third one, because that’s the one we have to look forward to, and the one we're to set our course by.

For all the perfection contained there (in the first era) only came about because it’s 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’t exist either. For, it’s only because the third era is to exist that the first one did.

3.

Now, that’s all the more so true if the second (i.e., the present) era were to be undone. For it’s 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).

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.

Let’s 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’t exist; yet it’s also true that if I (or my siblings and cousins) weren’t 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’d have only come and gone (unless they’d have done something momentous in their lives, and would thus at least have been a character in the drama).

In much the same way, it stands to reason that if the first era (in which everything is bundled and set for delivery) hadn’t 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’t exist, that the first one might as well not have existed either since it didn’t produce anything of endurance.

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.

It’s vital to realize, though, that that’s not to say that God depends on us, as this might seem to imply -- and that without our efforts in era two His “plans” in era one and their manifestation in era three are 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’t do could affect that in the end.

4.

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’kabel to come about by means of the impure system (i.e., the four worlds of defiled-A.B.Y.A.).

For all that enables us to rectify it. In fact, if there hadn't been a system of impure worlds, we wouldn’t have a ratzon l’kabel to rectify (in the first place) and to thus arrive at the third era, since one can’t repair something he doesn’t already have.

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’t come about either. And we couldn’t 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’d been handed the metal on the sneak?

5.

We needn’t 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’s 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.

Ashlag is now re-addressing the arcane question he’d touched on right before this of how evil could exist in God’s 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’s only thanks to the first era that the second one can exist; so if the first one didn’t contain that latent evil, we couldn’t experience it -- and manage to overcome it -- in the second.

(c) 2007 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). 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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T11:46:00.000-04:00

Chapter Fourteen:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Thus, souls experience three distinct “eras” all told. The first encompasses the “time” they're lodged within the Infinite’s intentions for creation and when they already have the tsurah they'll assume when the final rectification comes about.

What we have here is an esoteric laying out of all of reality -- from the very beginning, when all there was, was God; to the very end, when all there will be, will be God; through life as we know it now, when all there is, is God and the appearance of not-God. All of that is expressed variously in the Jewish tradition by statements that: “Their conclusion is embedded in their beginning, and their beginning in their conclusion (Sefer Yetzirah 1:7), “The final achievement was in the original thought” (Lecha Dodi), “Before the world was created, He and His Name were (already) one” (Pirke D’Rebbe Eliezer, Ch. 3), “What will be seen in the end is what was already there at the beginning” (Klach Pitchei Chochma, 49), and “(we’ll eventually) reach the point we had started from” (Ibid.).

The first era, we’re told here, encompasses the timeless-time the souls were lodged within the Infinite, and when they already have their final tsurah.

2.

The second era encompasses the six thousand years (“of creation”, i.e., of life as we know it), in the course of which the souls are separated by (passing through) the two previously cited systems (i.e., the four worlds of holy-A.B.Y.A. and their counterpart, the four worlds of defiled-A.B.Y.A [see 10:2]) into a body and a soul. It’s when the observance of Torah and mitzvot has been granted them so they might convert their ratzon l’kabel to a ratzon l’hashpia and grant satisfaction to their Maker rather than to themselves.

The second era, our own, is the one in which everything needs to be done and will be given the means to. It is life as we know it: bifurcated in every way but flush with the great and consummate communal row homeward toward the broad and sweeping, epochal and selfless admixture of the already-mixed.

But only souls can be rectified in the course of that era, not bodies. For (in order for the body to be rectified), it would need to undo its ratzon l’kabel, which is the (essence of the) "body”, and to set in its place a ratzon l’hashpia, which is the soul's tsurah of willingness (to bestow).

We’re taught that soul and body will both be rewarded in the end, but not before, since body and soul are now cleft apart. For as things stand now, the soul is rewarded after death, but the body merely decomposes, The body will be rewarded however in the course of the third era, when the ratzon l’hashpia is restored, and everyone and everything’s original and true willingness-to-only-give-out will be restored.

In fact, even the souls of the righteous won’t be able to rejoice in the Garden of Eden after their death (in the course of the second era) until their body would have decomposed into dust.

That’s to say that even if one rectified his being in his lifetime and became truly righteous, he still and all won’t be able to bask in God’s light in the Afterlife in the course of this second era until his body will have decomposed in the ground. Nonetheless the point is that too will be reversed in the third era.

3.

The third (and final) era will encompass the rectification of all souls (and it will come about) after the resurrection of the dead, when even bodies will be fully rectified. For the ratzon l’kabel for our own sake, which is the body’s tsurah, will be overturned (by then), and a tsurah of pure bestowance will come upon it, when it will deserve (and experience) all the good, pleasure, and delight contained in the (original) intentions for the universe. And we’ll merit (experiencing) a surpassingly strong (degree of) attachment (onto God’s presence) as a consequence of our essential affinity with the Creator.

But that won’t come about from their ratzon l’kabel but rather because of their (having fostered the) willingness to grant satisfaction to their Creator. And God will derive pleasure from their having received that from Him.

This is a loaded statement. What it’s saying first is that the third era will only come about when the very thing that the souls had always sought -- all the good, pleasure, and delight of attaching itself onto God's presence -- will have been achieved. And secondly, that that can only be achieved selflessly, with God's wishes in mind alone.

Nonetheless the truth is that the third era will come about in any event, we're taught; since it was always part of God's intentions for the universe (see 13:2).

So the point is that the souls are to achieve all that goodness on their own by following through on God's mitzvot, and that "God will derive pleasure from their having received it from Him" in recompense for that in the end.

For brevity’s sake I’ll simply refer to the first era, second era, and third era from now on (when I discuss this phenomenon). Remember this well.

(c) 2007 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 by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it).
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available at www.discounttextbooks.net
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T11:41:00.000-04:00

Chapter Thirteen:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

But we'd still need to understand (a few things about) this. How in fact could the ratzon l’kabel have been a part of God's original intentions for creation (altogether), since it's so defiled and impure, while God's Being is so unfathomably and indescribably purely One (i.e., integrated and without contradiction)?

That is, how could a pastiche of desires like wanting to take-in and not wanting to give-out at the same time have been a part of God's Being on any level? After all, the two are so antithetical that it seems blasphemous to see them as intertwined. But as we'll soon see, there's no real contradiction there.

2.

The point is that as soon as it occurred to God to create the cosmos, that very thought alone brought it about in its entirety. For God doesn't need to resort to action per se the way we do (to bring anything about; for the reality of it just has to occur to Him and it's instantly and automatically fulfilled).

Know that God's methods, scopes, and domains are utterly unlike our own. For while things physical demand time, place, and person, the ethereal stuff of His formless and primal dominion does not. His considerations make things so; His Self immerses itself in its Self and something other than Him appears in coat and hat. And that was true of the whole of reality as well.

So, as soon as (He decided to create them,) all the souls and worlds that were to have been created, were created -- full of all the goodness, delight, and tranquility planned for them. And they were also already in the ultimately perfect state they're destined to be in when everything is rectified in the end -- which is to say, when the soul's ratzon l’kabel is fully rectified and is transformed into pure bestowance, in complete affinity with the Emanator.

Past, present, and future are one and the same to the Eternal, (so) the future functions as the present for Him, and all the impediments of time are irrelevant to Him.

For not only was the whole of past and present reality already in God's mind (i.e., His intentions), all of what seems to us to be a gathering, impending reality was there, too, at that point -- including the furthermost, ultimate end. And that's the point at which there'll no longer be the appearance of a ratzon l’kabel in the face of a bestowing God; when there'll no longer be the contradistinction between beginning and end we now imagine there to be because we don't understand how above cause and effect God is.

3.

Hence, the matter of the corrupt ratzon l’kabel -- which is a tsurah (that's diametrically opposite to God's own, since it's the embodiment) of separation from the Infinite -- was never at issue. In fact, the opposite is true. For the essential affinity (between our souls and God) that's to be revealed when all is fully rectified came about automatically, thanks to God's Infinite nature. Our sages depicted this mystical phenomenon with the expression, "Even before the world was created, He and His name were one" (Pirke D'Rebbe Eliezer, Ch. 3).

For the tsurah of separation (from the Infinite) found in the ratzon l’kabel never actually manifested itself in the souls that emanated from the (i.e., God's) intent to create (the cosmos). Instead, they (always) enjoyed the d'vekut with Him that is essential affinity, in keeping with the stated mystical phenomenon of "He and His name (are) one".

Ashlag's point is that beginning and end are one and the same in God's Being. Thus, while we certainly experience a ratzon l’kabel, the irony of its existence is outside of God's consideration, and might as well not exist as far as His experience goes. For both, “before the world was created” and subsequent to its being created and then being undone, “He (His being) and His Name (what He's known for; i.e., creation en toto)”, will prove to have always been conjoined, with nothing actually interposing between them -- even a ratzon l’kabel.

For as we'll start to examine in the next chapter, there will prove to be three cosmic "eras": the first, which concerns itself with the period of "time" before the cosmos were created; the second, which concerns itself with the period of (actual) time the cosmos exist; and the third, which concerns itself with the period of "time" the cosmos will no longer exist. And Rabbi Ashlag's point is that the three have already played themselves out in full in God's Being, though not in ours.

So, yes, there is a ratzon l’kabel as far as we're concerned, which is no small matter; but, no, the ratzon l’kabel hasn't a place in God Being, so it doesn't contradict the fact of Him being the Ultimate Benefactor.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T11:39:00.000-04:00

Chapter Twelve:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

We’ve thus clearly explained how the ratzon l’kabel -- which had been implanted in our souls in order to fulfill (God's) intentions for creation (in point of fact) -- is to be rectified.

For (as we said,) God purposefully prepared the aforementioned two parallel but opposite systems (i.e., holy-A.B.Y.A. and defiled-A.B.Y.A.) which all souls pass through, and they then became separated into two aspects -- body and spirit -- which became enmeshed with each other.

But they’re able to eventually transform the trait of a ratzon l’kabel into a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia by adhering to Torah and mitzvot, when they then become ready to accept all the good (prepared for them, as laid out) in (God's original) intentions for creation.

And they also merit experiencing a strong attachment onto God as a consequence of their having attained an affinity with Him, which is full and absolute rectification, by adhering to Torah and mitzvot.

(Another series of monumental events would then occur.) The impure Other Side would be eliminated from the world, since there’d no longer be a need for it; and death would be annihilated (see Isaiah 25: 8). All the Torah and mitzvah-based tasks given to the world for the duration of the six thousand years (of the universe as we know it), as well as to every individual in the course of his seventy years of life, would (prove to only have existed in order to) bring them to the ultimate rectification that is the affinity of tsurot we spoke about (and will thus be null and void, having served their end).

2.

(An additional consequence of what we’ve indicated to now is that now) the issue of how the husks and impurity could come about from God's own Holiness has been solved. (For as we’d explained) it had to exist in order to allow for bodies that would eventually be rectified by (adherence to) Torah and mitzvot.

For if our bodies with their defiled ratzon l’kabel would not have passed through the impure system, we would never be able to rectify ourselves, for one cannot correct something not (already) within him. (And so the husks and impurity will also be undone in the end after having served their end.)

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T11:31:00.000-04:00

Chapter Eleven:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

The (supernal) worlds devolved downward (in intensity) to this physical world, which is the environment for body and soul, and the period for (both) ruin and repair. The individual (literally, “the body”) who is the ratzon l’kabel (incarnate) is drawn down from his root in the thought of creation and passes downward through the defiled-worlds system [1]. And he remains subservient to that system (i.e., the defiled-worlds system) for his first thirteen years, which is the period of ruin (rather than repair).

Ashlag had promised to explain what “defilement and the husks (were) all about” so as to spell out how they “could ... ever have been culled from and created by (God)”, and so we begin.

We’re taught here that the supernatural worlds “devolved downward”. Understand that the supernatural worlds are utterly unearthly, thus the phrase “devolve downward” is likely to confuse us. But since we’ve always been granted the right to draw analogies between the upper realms and our own one, we’ll offer this one now to explain the concept.

The idea of the supernatural worlds devolving downward is comparable to what we experience when our plans become less and less abstract and more and more concrete the closer they get to fruition. Let’s take the example of committees set up to accomplish a certain project. As most know, members of such committees enter the first meeting with a lot of ideas and expectations but precious little sum and substance. The further along the process goes, though, the more concrete the details become, until the original committee itself ceases to function and the project-come-alive is taken over by functionaries with all their gear and fittings.

As Ashlag puts it, this world is where “the individual ... devolves downward from his root in the thought of creation and passes through the defiled worlds system” to dwell in the material world in much the same way. He then depicts the material world as being “the period of (both) ruin and repair”. What he means to say is that what the physical world is at bottom is the stage upon which freewill plays itself out, which then allows for either spiritual ruin and debasement or repair and elevation (as we’ll see).

We're then told that the individual then remains tied to unholiness for his first thirteen years -before his yetzer hatov (i.e., the innate drive toward holiness) appears; and that those thirteen years constitute “the period of ruin” because the individual has no hope yet for elevation since he hasn't yet been introduced to the mitzvah system that will provide him the means to elevate himself (as we'll see).

So far Ashlag has explained how the soul devolves into this world. He’ll now illustrate what the individual soul can do to improve its lot here.

2.

But once he engages in mitzvot from the age of thirteen onward (with the intent) to please his Creator, he begins to refine his inborn ratzon l’kabel and to very slowly transform it into a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia (i.e., a willingness to take in, in order to bestow). And that enables him to draw a holy soul downward from its root in the intentions behind creation, which passes through the system of holy worlds and engarbs itself in the individual (literally, “the body”). This is the period of repair (rather than ruin).

The individual then continues to acquire degrees of the holiness of the Infinite’s intentions for creation, which then help him turn his ratzon l’kabel to a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia and to please his Creator rather than himself. And He thus gains an essential affinity with his Creator, since a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia is tantamount to out-and-out bestowance.

As Ashlag points out many times in his writings, mitzvot are depicted two different ways in the Zohar: as pieces of advice offered to us, or as deposits. He maintains that they're both of those actually, since they first advise us how to draw close to God (they say, "do this to draw close to Him, and avoid that to not draw away from Him"), and then, once we take drawing close to God as the whole point of fulfilling mitzvot (rather than to accrue reward or for any other reason) the mitzvot deposit God's Light in our being and we indeed draw close to Him.

Thus once a person begins to fulfill mitzvot from bar or bat mitzvah age and onward (in the course of the "period of repair") for the express purpose of pleasing and drawing close to God, he or she ceases to be self-centered, and begins the long process of replacing his or her own self-serving desires with the desire to please God alone. That’s to say, the individual starts to transform his usual and quite normal willingness-to-only-take-in into a willingness-to-take-in-so-as-to-give-back-in-return. Having started that process, he then merits a soul. But that calls for some explanation; for don't we all have souls?

As we'll find later on (starting in Ch. 34), there are actually five degrees of "soul". The lowest is the nephesh, higher than that is the ruach, higher yet is the neshama (the best-known term for the soul), higher yet is the chaya, and then there's the yechidah, which is the most sublime degree. As we'll find, one has to earn a neshama (to say nothing of a chaya and a yechidah), and one only comes to earn it by transforming his ratzon l’kabel to a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia.

Once one does that, he gains an affinity with God, who only bestows. Understand, though, that we humans aren't expected (or even encouraged) to achieve an out-and-out ratzon l’hashpia (a willingness to only bestow) and thus be Godly; we're encouraged to achieve the aforementioned willingness-to-take-in-so-as-to-give-back-in-return And once we do, we will have become Godly for all intents and purposes.

3.

After all, as it’s written in the Talmud (Kiddushin 7a), when it comes to a prominent man, a woman can offer (a betrothal pledge) and the man can agree to confirm the betrothal (and the marriage is legitimized). That's because it's an instance of someone accepting something in order to please someone else, which is deemed a (i.e., an act of) complete bestowance and giving.

Ever the Talmudist and originally addressing himself to a readership that is well versed in Talmudic reference, Ashlag offers a classical (albeit obscure) Talmudic reference to shore up his argument. Here’s the entire rather knotty and convoluted statement meant to explain Ashlag’s contentions along with Ashlag's remarks (and our explanation).

“Raba asked: What if she says (i.e., what would be the halachic outcome if a woman says to a prominent man) ‘Here's a maneh-coin (as a betrothal pledge -- when it's the man who usually offers the betrothal pledge to the woman -- and she then says) ... 'I am hereby betrothed to you'? (Is she in fact betrothed to him?)

Mar Zutra ruled in R. Papa's name that she is.... (But, how could that be? Because) He's a prominent man whom she completely abdicates to (in great joy, and she thus agrees to his "offer to marry her", so to speak) because of the satisfaction (that she derives) from the fact that (someone of his stature) would accept a gift (i.e., a betrothal pledge) from (someone like) her.”

Rabbi Ashlag terms that whole transaction "an instance of someone accepting something in order to please someone else", and he equates it with out-and-out bestowance.

Let’s now explain the reference in terms we’re more familiar with by now. We'd learned that while we're all very ready and willing to take-in and hardly willing to bestow, there are nonetheless instances in which we're indeed willing and even eager to bestow -- when we benefit from our "generosity". The Talmudic example makes the point that if someone truly important were willing to take something (a betrothal pledge in this instance) from me, I'd be so honored by his deigning to acknowledge my presence that way that his taking it from me would be tantamount to his bestowing me with something.

Thus we see that one can indeed take-in as we're inclined to do, and yet do so with the other person in mind -- when he bestows in return. Ashlag's final point is that doing that is in fact the best that we could hope for as human beings who always need to take in, unlike God who has no need to take-in, and always bestows.

For when one does that (i.e., takes-in with the other in mind, rather than for self-serving purposes alone), he comes to be utterly attached to God, since d’vekut on a spiritual level comes about with an affinity of tsurot (as we'd indicated).

For as our sages put it, "One cannot attach himself onto God (per se), but (he can attach onto or align himself with) His attributes" (Sifre to Deuteronomy 11:22). And when one does that, he merits receiving the delight, pleasure, and pleasantness that lie within the (original) thought of creation.

In sum, when we take-in so as to give-back we align ourselves with God's being as much as we can as humans, and we thus come to cling unto His Presence. This will prove to be a major thesis of Ashlag’s and one of the primary ways he indicated we can fulfill our roles in life en toto and God’s wishes for us.

Ashlag offers a cogent parable for this. A certain Mr. A was hungry when he arrived at his friend Mr. B's house; and whether knowing that or not, Mr. B offered him a meal. Mr. A declined despite his hunger, because he didn't want to put Mr. B out by eating at his expense. As any good host would do though, Mr. B insisted on serving Mr. A something, and Mr. A finally accepted so as not to upset his host.

The point is that though Mr. A did indeed benefit from his friend's largesse, he did as much good for Mr. B by accepting his meal as he did for himself by satisfying his own hunger; and so Mr. A also became a benefactor in the process like Mr. B. So we see that we can indeed bestow even as we take-in; and that that's essentially equivalent to out-and-out bestowing.

____________________________________________--

Notes:

[1] The verse “man is born a wild donkey” (Job 11:12) is cited here as a source for this insight.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:53:00.000-04:00

Chapter Ten:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now we can begin to understand (the dynamic behind) our fourth inquiry, as to how it was possible for the chariot of defilement and husks, which is so utterly and completely apart from Him, to emerge from God; and how it could be that He supports and sustains it. But we'd first have to understand what defilement and the husks are all about.

See our opening remarks about all this in 3:1.

Just know that our vast ratzon l’kabel -- the essence of our souls, the reason for their being created, and the means by which we’re prepared to accept everything incorporated in the thought of creation -- won't be with us forever. Because if it were, we would be separated from God forever, inasmuch as such a discrepancy of tsurot would (inevitably) separate us from Him forever.

Rabbi Ashlag's vital point here is that while our ratzon l’kabel is eminently purposeful and of ultimate importance for our functions in this universe, it's still-and-all temporary, and it will become unfixed -- when the universe is undone in The End of Days, as it must be.

This is a rather shocking idea to those of us who can't quite understand how anything as fundamental to the human situation as the ratzon l’kabel is said to be could ever be undone. For it's commonly held that while any and all worldly circumstances can change, human nature is immutable. After all, they reason, doesn't world literature prove that! Aren't we the same piteous fools and venerable sages the Phoneticians and early Chinese were? Won't we always be?

But human nature will indeed change, we’re told, forever and radically so. And, ironically, while at present human deeds and moods vary all the time with changes of circumstance while basic human nature doesn't, when the greatest change of circumstance possible occurs, human deeds and moods will slowly become undone, and human nature will be utterly refashioned.

What makes this point so consequential is that we’d learned that our ratzon l’kabel -- our God-given ability to take in all that God, the Ultimate Benefactor, has provided us with -- was granted us purposefully. For were we not willing to accept what God offers us, then His plans for the cosmos would seemingly be thwarted on some level.

Nonetheless the point is that since our taking-in does undo our relationship to God, which is the only thing that will endure in the end, bar none, our ratzon l’kabel will and must terminate in the end. But for a vital and Godly reason, as we'll see.

2.

So in order to repair this division that had been implanted in our soul's vessel, i.e., our ratzon l’kabel, after creating the various worlds, God then divided them into two systems, in keeping with (the mystical import of) the statement that “God made the one as well as the other” (Ecclesiastes 7:14).

This verse is cited because it implies that everything but God Himself has its equal and opposite counterpart in the universe; its doppelganger.

The two systems comprise the four worlds of holy-A.B.Y.A., and their counterpart, the four worlds of defiled-A.B.Y.A.

A.B.Y.A. is an acronym for A-tzilut, B-eria, Y-etzirah, and A-siyah, the four Kabbalistic supernal worlds or planes of existence (to be explained later), in descending order of significance and potency. Holy- A.B.Y.A. and defiled-A.B.Y.A. are thus two utterly antithetical parallel universes, with one (holy-A.B.Y.A.) being rooted in the willingness to bestow, and the other (defiled-A.B.Y.A.) in the willingness to accept. The two divisions are significant because...

God implanted the ratzon l’hashpia (the willingness to bestow) within the worlds of holy-A.B.Y.A., and withdrew the ratzon l’kabel from them. And He placed the ratzon l’kabel into the defiled-A.B.Y.A., which explains why they’re separate from God and all the holy realms.

The willingness to bestow is all-good and Godly, since God is all-good and benevolent (1:5), and because His sole intention upon creating the cosmos was to bestow pleasure upon His creatures (7:1). It's thus the antithesis of the ratzon l’kabel. It is extraordinarily significant, mostly because our aim is to aspire to bestowance and to undo the ratzon l’kabel in the process, as we'll learn later on.

3.

That's why the husks are referred to as “the dead” [1] and why wrongdoers are attracted to them, as our sages indicated when they said that wrongdoers are termed dead even in their lifetimes (Berachot 18B).

That means to say that the husks are as dead (i.e., as severed from God's presence) as their offshoot, wrongdoing, since they dwell in an un-Godly universe.

Because the ratzon l’kabel that has been implanted in them is diametrically opposite in tsurah to God, which thus separates them from the “the Life of all Lives” (i.e., God) and utterly severs them from Him. For He wants only to bestow rather than to accept, while the husks want only to accept for their own sake rather than to bestow, and there's no greater disparity than that. For as you already know, “distance” in the spiritual sense starts with some sort of disparity of tsurah and culminates in an utter disparity, which is the ultimate degree of “distance” (i.e., estrangement).

The only response Ashlag has to offer to the quandary of how defilement and the husks could emerge from God is that they comprise an utterly and radically separate system of reality created by God for His own purposes. And so it comes out that reality is comprised of not just matter and antimatter [2] as we’ve come to learn, but Holiness and anti-Holiness.

We’ll delve into just how (and) why He supports and sustains that system.

______________________________________________________________________
Notes:

[1] Ashlag cites the following verse to illustrate the concept from classic sources: “they ate the sacrifices of the dead” (Psalms 106:28).
[2] A hypothetical form of matter made up of subatomic antiparticles that correspond to known particles.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:50:00.000-04:00

Chapter Nine:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Hence, it’s a change of tsurah that “hews” (things apart) on a spiritual level the way an ax hews two material objects; and it’s the discrepancy in their tsurot that determines their “distance”.

From this we can see that when the aforementioned willingness to accept pleasure was implanted in our souls -- which doesn’t exist in the Creator, for after all, from whom can He receive? -- that very change of tsurah in our beings “hewed” us from God’s essence the way an ax hews a stone from a mountain. And that that change of tsurah consequently shifted our souls from the order of Creator into that of creations.

Rabbi Ashlag is thus saying (and quite clearly so) that were it not for the fact that our souls were granted the ratzon l'kabel, there'd be nothing to differentiate them from God! But make no mistake about it, that's not to say that you and I are actually God "except for this one small detail", if you will, because that's simply not true.

You and I, as we experience ourselves in and present ourselves to the world, are nothing other than manifestations of a unique conduit of the ratzon l'kabel. Our unfathomable essence in its pristine state on the other hand -- our soul -- was actually subsumed in God's Being before the ratzon l'kabel came into being and was thus at one with His indivisible Self. But the fact is that it experienced something utterly transformative which God's Being didn't experience, i.e., it became willing and able to accept rather than to only bestow, and that set our souls as apart from Him as any two things could be, and allowed one of the two to remain Creator and the other to be a separate created entity. Our souls would still be conjoined with Him had the ratzon l'kabel not come into being, but since it did (and purposefully so) we're no longer a part of the great Divine Mix.

2.

That notwithstanding, (it’s also true that) everything that our souls derived from God’s light is still-and-all culled directly from His Essence, and is (an instance of a derivation of) yesh from yesh.

This is a rather arcane point. First off, "light" itself represents anything bestowed on us from God. It's an expression of the idea of something or another endlessly and effortlessly issuing forth things from the core of its being the way the sun issues forth sunlight.

Next, the statement that something is bestowed upon us from "God's light" means to say that it comes only indirectly from Him (i.e., it comes from His light, rather than from Himself). Ashlag's ironic statement that it's "still-and-all culled directly from His Essence" means to say that though it's indeed thus coming to us through an intermediary, it's still from God Himself at bottom, much the way a recorded message from a friend is still a "direct" message from him.

As to the fact that everything that our souls derives from God’s light is an instance of yesh from yesh, that refers to the following.

Reality is comprised of instances of yesh ("somethingness”, or rank materiality) and of ayin (“nothingness”, or pure immaterial Godliness). We’re taught for example that the universe was created yesh from ayin -- “out of the blue” so to speak -- which is to say that the material universe en toto was a product of pure immaterial Godliness. Everything subsequent to that has merely been fashioned yesh from yesh -- from something material like itself rather than “out of the blue”, as when a child is born of parents rather than created anew.

As such, Ashlag is indicating that even though our “willingness to accept ... wasn’t a part of God’s essence before He placed it in our souls” and had to be created anew (7:1), its creation was still-and-all an instance of yesh from yesh simply because “everything that our souls derived from God’s light” is just that.

It thus follows that any Godly light that our souls accepted into its vessel -- that is, within our willingness to accept -- is itself indistinguishable from God’s very Essence, since our souls received it directly from His Essence as (an instance of) yesh from yesh.

"Light", as we said, represents anything bestowed on us from God, that we accept into our "vessel", i.e., our selves, which we’d earlier-on termed "manifestations of a unique conduit of the ratzon l'kabel". The point is that anything material that we accept is still-and-all directly from God, even though our having accepted it set us apart from Him.

3.

So, again, the only difference between our souls and God’s Essence is the fact that our souls are a “part” of it. For the light that our souls accepted into their vessels -- into their willingness to accept things -- is differentiated from God, since it came about by the change of tsurah known as the willingness to accept. And that then made it a “part” which is termed a “soul”. (Once more,) the only difference between them (i.e., our souls and God’s Essence) is that one is the “whole” and the other is a “part”, like a stone hewn from a mountain.

Ashlag is undoubtedly repeating himself because the point is so vital. For as he goes on to say…

Reflect upon (the ramifications of) this carefully, for it’s impossible to expand upon it (adequately in print since), it’s so sublime.

There’s a world of things to say about this but the thrust of the argument is that the only thing that sets us apart from achieving the rich and fecund Godliness in our being and from fully flowering in our essence is our being willing to only take-in. It’s the crux of our humanity and what defines it, but it’s also what keeps us human, and only merely so.

There’s no easy way to rid ourselves of it, as it can’t be partially undone, only completely so. After all, as it stands now, whenever we give-out we only do it to take-in. How many times have we heard people offer that they do good things in life because it gives them so much more in return than they ever give-out. No one is to be blamed for that, since few would be inclined to give in the first place if given nothing in return, but it’s off-putting nonetheless and argues against that noblest of human traits, altruism.

But know that our overarching willingness to only take-in isn’t merely a character fault: it’s a fundamental component of reality utterly removed from right and wrong. After all, in a very real sense, gravity is an expression of taking-in -- of drawing-in rather than imparting outward. And the innate and mystical human need to return to the source is fundamentally a need to be taken-over and drawn-in.

None of that is true of God. He persistently effulges outward, and has no source to luxuriate in. The point once again is that reality is indeed, and utterly so, the utter un-God.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:49:00.000-04:00

Chapter Eight:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

_______________________________________________

1.

So let’s now plumb the depths of the kabbalists’ viewpoint we cited in the third inquiry (2:4-5). We were struck by their statement (there) that our souls are a part of God much the way that a stone is a part of the mountain that it’s hewn from; the only difference between them being that one is a “piece” while the other is the “whole”.

What does the statement that "our souls are a ‘part’ of God" mean? God certainly can't be subdivided; because if we assumed that He could be, then we'd be forced to arrive at certain inanities like the idea that everyone is, say, a trillionth of God. But if that were so, then God would only be an aggregate of His parts, and as soon as one would be missing, He'd be that much less-than-perfect. But that's absurd since God is perfect and whole, "one, sheer, complete, total, unalloyed, and indivisible" (2:1). So while we’re indeed a “part of God”, we’d need to know what that means.

After all, it’s one thing to say that a stone can be hewn from a mountain by an ax made for that purpose -- but how could anyone say anything like that about God? And with what were our souls (“hewn” and) withdrawn from Him in order to become created entities?

That is, there's also the dilemma of what “tool” one could ever use to separate a "part” of God from the “rest” of Him. It would obviously have to be stronger than He, which is also absurd.

2.

But now we can begin to understand this for ourselves: for just as (something physical like) an ax can hew and separate physical things from each other, (something intangible like) a difference of tsurah can likewise separate two spiritual things from each other.

Let’s illustrate that. While we’d consider two people who love each other as being “attached” to each other and become a single entity (for all intents and purposes), and on the contrary we’d consider two people who hate each other as being as disparate (from each other) as east is from west.

This is a complex section with many points raised. Let's begin by defining terms. One's tsurah (tsurot in the plural) is his make-up and character, which is to say his physical, intellectual, and emotional selfness -- your impalpable "you", and my impalpable "me". And we'll add that a tsurah is termed "spiritual", even though it has nothing to do with one's soul in the above instances, because it refers to a person's intangible personal qualities.

Now, the Hebrew term for the idea of "attachment" expressed here, d'vekut, usually alludes to the sort of selfless and utterly amorphous adhesion onto the Divine that the righteous long for and sometimes achieve. It's taken to be the fulfillment of a great degree of adoration for God and is often depicted as swooning before the Divine Presence. The closest everyday experiences we have of it are great and whole camaraderies or instances of romantic love. But Ashlag will present us with an entirely different understanding of the term.

He contends that when one person's make-up and character (his tsurah) is aligned with another’s, the two are very compatible and thus either true friends or in love with one another, and are "attached" to each other emotionally. Contrarily, if their make-up and characters are incompatible, there's an intangible psychic breach between them that's just as real as the breach between two hewn stones. Hence, what attaches people to each other is the likeness of their tsurot: their essential likeness.

But it isn’t a question of their physical proximity so much as a compatibility of tsurot.

That’s to say that their physical proximity wouldn't have anything to do with their attachment, since they could be "close" to each other on an emotional, psychic level even if they were worlds apart if their tsurot were on par. After all, there'd be a high degree of affinity between them.

For when their tsurot are so identical that each one loves what the other loves and hates what the other hates, then they in fact love one another and are “attached” to one another. But if they have disparate tsurot -- meaning that one of them loves something that the other hates (and vice versa) -- then the more disparate they are, the farther from each other they are, and the less attached are they to each other.

As such, if they're comprised of (totally) opposite tsurot and each one loves what the other hates and vice versa, then they're as distant from each other as east is from west, which is to say, utterly so.

So what is it that attaches us onto God? It must be the things we have "in common" with Him. Apparently, then, when we're at variance with Him we're distant from Him. Recall, though, that God is everywhere; so in fact the only way anyone could ever be said to be "distant" from Him would be in his make-up and character (which is exactly what Ashlag is driving at).

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:47:00.000-04:00

Chapter Seven:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now that we know that, we can begin to fully and clearly explain our second inquiry.

That is, now we can finally understand what it is that wasn’t found in God originally but was created by Him out of sheer nothingness.

For we’d determined that there’s in fact a phenomenon that’s clearly not a part of God’s essence which can thus be said to have been created utterly anew rather than out of anything else.

That’s to say that since God doesn't need anything it follows that the need to derive pleasure is clearly something extrinsic to Him and is thus utterly original. So it must play a unique and purposeful role in the cosmos. And besides...

Now that we know for certain that God’s intention when He created the world was to bestow pleasure upon His creatures, it’s clear that He necessarily had to have created a willingness to accept all the pleasure and goodness He’d planned for them. Thus it’s the willingness to accept (anything) that wasn’t a part of God’s essence. After all, from whom could He receive, and what could He be lacking? So He did indeed create something anew that wasn’t part of His Being.

... which thus answers our second inquiry.

2.

In light of His intent when He created the world we can now understand that there was no need to create anything other than the willingness to accept (things). For it’s all He needed to (create in order to) fulfill His intent to create the world, which was to bestow us with favors.

We've only alluded to it till this point but we'll now expand upon our willingness to accept things, since it's a major theme in Ashlag's system. It's termed the ratzon l’kabel in Hebrew and it can be translated as our willingness, wish, or intent to only accept, receive, or take things. At bottom it comes down to our tendency to catch rather than throw, eat rather than cook.

It is what defines us and sets us apart from all else. And it’s thus central to our being.

But don't make the mistake of thinking that it's fully and exclusively a symptom of our spoiled or self-centered nature, for it goes far deeper. In fact, sometimes it's a rather healthy need at that.

Consider inhalation and exhalation. I just naturally will, wish, and intend to accept, receive, or take in oxygen all the time; and I only "give it back" when I exhale in order to be able to inhale again -- or so it seems. But as every schoolchild knows, when I exhale I proffer carbon dioxide into the air which in fact feeds things. And besides, if I didn't inhale, I'd die. I likewise ingest food for seemingly selfish reasons, but I'd also die if I didn't (and it’s also important to point out that we also produce waste matter by eating, which is useful too, of course). The list goes on and on.

Still and all, though, our wish to take-in rather than give-out is selfish and self-serving for the most part. For as we all know, immaturity and crudeness are marked by selfishness (by an utter exploitation of the ratzon l’kabel), while maturity and refinement are marked by selflessness. And thus we're called upon to transcend the ratzon l’kabel in ways we'll discuss later on.

In fact, it's the ratzon l’kabel that sets us apart from God, who needs nothing and grants everything (as we pointed out), and thus it’s surely a detriment to our spiritual growth. That having been said, though, it's still true that God purposefully created the ratzon l’kabel, so it must fulfill a role in His plans. And in fact it does, and a supremely high one at that as we learned: it serves as the medium through which God's intention to bestow us with favors plays itself out. After all, if I didn't want to take, then my Benefactor couldn't effectively give (see 6:2).

3.

Nonetheless, the fulfillment of His intentions for the world to grant us all the good He had in mind for us, originated in His essence; so He didn’t need to create it.

That is, you might think that something else was created out of sheer nothingness: our actually getting all the good that God had in mind for us. But that’s not so. Since that sat idle in God’s Being from the first, waiting to come to fruition, and in fact …

It comes to fruition from the willingness to take-in that’s within us.

So it isn’t original.

Ashlag’s point here is that since all we tend to do (with exception) is take-in, and all God does indeed is give-out, it necessarily follows that our urge to take-in is the only thing God created outright, out of the blue, which is apart from Himself. Everything else comes directly from Him and is a manifestation of His will to give-out.

Thus it becomes absolutely clear that all of creation, from start to finish, is nothing other than (the creation of) the ratzon l’kabel.

It follows then that the creation of the ratzon l’kabel was the establishment of The Other: of the not-God, the mundane. For up to then only God existed, and the not-God had to be tugged out of a realm exterior to and wholly other than His Being. And with it came reality as we know it, which is hence characterized as the realm of only being willing to take-in.

The idea of the Other will come up again with Ashlag’s explanation of how wrong and injustice came about with the creation of The Other Side (see Ch. 12).

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:45:00.000-04:00

Chapter Six:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Now, our sages have already taught us that the only reason God created the world was to grant pleasure to His creations (Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar HaKlallim, Ch. 1). Hence, that’s what we should be focusing all of our attention and our thoughts upon, since it’s the ultimate aim and function of creation.

The preeminent Kabbalist and Jewish mystic Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572), whose work Rabbi Ashlag cites as his source, revealed that we were created to enjoy life. Now, while everyone intuits that should be so and would like it to be, reality seems to quash the notion. For as every mature soul knows only too well, there's a lot of agony and anguish in the world (see 1:5). Yet the human heart somehow retains the idea that life, a gift outright at bottom, should be good; and Luria affirms that.

Just understand, though, that while some people are happy traveling and exploring, others are only happy when they're left alone to eat and play board-games. And realize too that a truly sweet and transcendent moment for someone mortally ill might be one in which he's pain-free and not ravaged by mortal fears; or when his body is still, and he's simply able to breathe in, out, and again. So while Ashlag is indeed declaring outright that we were meant to be happy and well-pleased with life, he'll soon-enough depict the sort of true happiness he's referring to.

But don't think he's about to tell us that true happiness can only be found in dark, dry bread and tepid water because he won't. What Ashlag will indeed come to do in the end, though, is reveal what true bliss and satisfaction is all about.

Now, since pleasure and delight is the point of it all at bottom, it follows then that that's what our attention should be focused on. Indeed it is, the truth be known; and many are fully aware of that and act on it. Yet others of a more ascetic nature deny it and claim that the only way to be satisfied and full is to be hungry and empty. Just understand, though, that even the latter want to be satisfied. It's just that their systems function other ways; and only subtler -- though still-and-all material -- things please them.

Don't think that Ashlag is advocating hedonism either, because he certainly isn't. As we'll see, he'll be advising us to enjoy life indeed, but with a particular end in mind that's deep-rooted in fostering and maintaining an abiding relationship with God.

2.

So we'll now reflect upon the following. Since God’s intention upon creating the universe was to grant His creatures pleasure, it only stands to reason that He created us with a great desire to accept what He wanted to grant us, inasmuch as the amount of pleasure and delight (a person can derive) depends on how much he wants it. As the greater the willingness to accept (something), the greater the pleasure (derived from it); while the less the willingness, the less the pleasure.

An example Ashlag brings elsewhere is the different ways we drink water. He points out that we gulp it down when we're thirsty, and sip at it or want very little to do with it when we're not. So it's the wanting that makes all the difference. It then follows that we'd have to want what God would like us to have if we're to enjoy it; and since enjoying life is the goal, it's clear that He who made that the goal would also have implanted a desire for enjoyment and pleasure in us.

It's also clear that since the greatest pleasure we could derive comes from drawing close to God and adhering onto Him (as we'll see), there must be a great natural longing to do just that -- but we're getting ahead of ourselves. In any event it still follows that if God wanted us to be radiantly healthy for example (which He does), that He'd have instilled a longing for that in us (which He clearly has), as well as other longings.

3.

It follows then that the intention behind creation itself would have seen to it that a vast enough amount of willingness to accept (things) would be implanted in us to accommodate the vast amount of pleasure that God Almighty meant to bestow upon us, since great delight and a great willingness to accept (it) go hand in hand.

The point is that God has not only granted us noble and uplifting desires; He has granted us a colossal array of desires of all stripes. For if He had only accorded us a limited number of desires, that fact would have restricted our capacity to enjoy, which would then have stymied His goal for us.

In any event we’ve thus hit upon a vital principle, as we’ll see.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:43:00.000-04:00

Chapter Five:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

So logic would seem to indicate that we assume the very opposite of what appears (to be true) and declare that we’re truly good and noble creatures (at bottom), and of inestimable worth -- as worthy as one would expect our Producer to have made.

How radical a theology this is: that at bottom mankind is just-so, and purposefully so! And that our having been created by God Almighty is proof of that! But what about all the manifest wrong and fraudulence out there, all the treachery and moral rot? The answer lies in the fact that...

2.

And that whatever faults you may find in our bodies (i.e., our selves)…

… rather than in our moral choices …

… can only be attributed to God’s will no matter how you (may otherwise try to) explain it, since it’s He who created us as we are. It’s also clear that it’s He alone who created us, not we. And that He also knows all the consequences of our natures and of the “wrongful” attributes He implanted within us.

God is perfectly aware of all the wrong, having set it all in motion; and He's clearly mindful of the ramifications of our having been created the way we were. Our apprehension about all this, though, lies in our human provincialism, if you will (which God granted us, too, of course, and which thus also serves its purpose -- but we'll get to that later).

3.

So as we said (4:1), we’d do best to look at the culmination of events (rather than to peer midcourse), for only then will we be able to understand it all. As the expression goes, "Don’t show a fool a project that’s only half done".

The mortals that we are, we miss the end of the story, and thus overlook the big picture. So we misread (and underestimate) the characters involved and can't imagine how well things will turn out in the end. That's not to deny our experience of evil and wrong, though, for there's a teeming world of it. It's just to trip-off the realization that while there will be chaos and ugliness as the work progresses, the painting itself will be effulgent and luminous in the end.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:39:00.000-04:00

Chapter Four:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

The device we'll use to answer all these questions and inquiries is to look at the culmination of things, which is to say, at the ultimate goal of creation. For we can only really understand things once they're finished, not while they're in process.

First off, only someone as boldly aware of the Divinity of his sources as Ashlag could ever claim to cite "the ultimate goal of creation". More importantly for our purposes, though, is the fact that we'd all do well to know that goal, since nothing gnaws more rancorously at our being than the dread thought that we -- and life itself -- are meaningless. Thus knowing the goal and meaning of life would be a great antidote for a lot of what ails us, and we'd be fortunate to know it.

Now, murder mysteries become more understandable when you read the end at the beginning, for example; and it's always easier to solve a maze by starting it at its conclusion. For knowing how things come out from the first helps explain their objective and allows you to avoid pitfalls. Ashlag's point is that we can only truly understand life and existence once we know the end from the beginning, too; and that not knowing it is what has us stumble.

He goes on to depict the course of all things by stating what God had in mind when He created the cosmos. After all, He had to have had plans or an agenda, if you will, when He created and set everything in order, since ...

2.

It’s clear that no one other than a madman does anything without a particular goal in mind.

... that is, since utter extemporaneousness and abandon is either a product of a person of unsound mind or of an entity devoid of free will, and God is neither.

(Now, some might argue that art is a product of abandon and non-rationality. But the truth of the matter is that while the artistic process is impulsive and "mindless" or non-rational, the preparations and actual outcomes are anything but. For, as any artist knows, a lot of thought goes into each moment of magic and quick genius.)

That having been said, Ashlag goes on to explain God's ways in the world.

3.

Now, I know that there are some skeptical Jewish thinkers who acknowledge that God indeed created the universe but who also claim that He then left it to its own devices. After all, they reason, His creations are so worthless that it wouldn't befit so exalted a Creator to keep watch over those such as they with their trivial, sordid ways.

Two points are being made here. First, that some do indeed acknowledge a Creator, yet they deny His ongoing engagement with the world as Lord. (They're known as "Deists". The school of thought wasn't initiated by Jewish thinkers by any means; Ashlag particularized it to that context because he was addressing a Jewish readership.) Such individuals accept the notion of a physical, chemical, and mathematical "First Cause" but they deny a purposeful God.

The second point is that if they'd somehow be persuaded to believe in God in theory they'd still-and-all think it absurd to believe we could engage with Him since (they'd argue) it would be beneath one such as He to interact with anyone such as we.

4.

But the truth of the matter is that they don’t know what they’re talking about. For it’s absurd to argue that we’re base and worthless without then arguing that we made ourselves that way.

In other words, if God indeed created us but then left us on our own as the people above cited first thought, then we obviously came to be who we are despite Him and on our own, not thanks to Him.

5.

But when we argue (instead) that an utterly perfect Creator was responsible for having created and designed us -- and that He made us with both good and bad inclinations -- (then we’re forced to admit that such) a perfect Producer wouldn't produce a shoddy and inferior product. After all, a product always reflects its producer, so an inferior garment couldn't be blamed for being so if it had been made by a second-rate tailor.

Not only is God purposeful as we'd said, He's also utterly perfect by definition. Those two points underlie all of Ashlag's assumptions in this work, and all else follows from them.

Now, since God is perfect it follows that everything He does is done perfectly, just-so -- and with His purpose in mind. It likewise follows that we, His creations, must be just-so, too. (We couldn't say we're perfect, because we're not; though we could say that we're prepared and even primed to be "perfect" when God's purpose is realized -- but that's far beyond the subject at hand.)

In any event, anything about us that appears to be off and unbefitting a product of a perfect Creator must actually not be off, but just-so and in-process, instead (the way sculptured works are, before they're finished). It follows then that our "bad" inclinations must be purposeful, too, and that we really can't be blamed for them (though we can be blamed for not improving and perfecting ourselves as we're able and bidden to).

Ashlag now goes on to present a parable to that effect from the Talmud. He tells us to ...

6.

See for example the Talmudic sages' story of Rabbi Eliezer who came upon a very ugly man and said “How ugly you are!” to which the other replied, “Just go and tell the Craftsman who made me how ugly the vessel He made is!” (Ta’anit 20).

The Talmud reports there that Rabbi Eliezer called the ugly man a reika (from the term reik, empty) which would thus either be translated as "dunderhead" or "good-for-nothing". But it has been explained that the man was ugly both inside and out -- that he was coarse and vulgar (see Maharsha's comments), and that's why he was called reika, or "flawed", in this instance. Thus Ashlag's point is again that our failings are there by Divine will; so "just go and tell the Craftsman who formed me how ugly the vessel He made is!" if you think we're anything other than just-so.

7.

Thus those thinkers who claim that God abandoned us (after having created us) because it’s beneath Him to keep watch over such worthless and base creatures (as we) only divulge their own ignorance (with that claim).

After all, could anyone ever imagine coming across someone purposefully setting out to create beings who'd be as tormented and tried their whole lives as we are, who'd then utterly abandon them and not even bother to look after them or help them besides? How loathsome and despicable a person he'd be! So how could we ever imagine such a thing of God?

The truth be known, we can imagine someone setting out to do just that! -- some fiendish, crazed scientist, perhaps. So Ashlag’s argument seems invalid. For that reason it would serve us better to freely translate the expression thusly: “would anyone dare imagine coming across someone purposefully setting out to create beings who'd be as tormented and tried their whole lives as we are ... without being dumbstruck by the very idea.“ That's presumably how Ashlag himself would have put it had he written it today, when we can indeed imagine such a thing.

But why didn’t he word it that way originally? It comes to this. Each generation is to be judged by its presumptions about what’s good and right, as well as by what it can’t even imagine, because it’s so far removed from those presumptions. After all, could any one of us actually imagine sacrificing children to a god, enslaving a people, submitting whole populations to political oppression and the like? Of course not, because no one presumes any of that's good or right; those sorts of things are too unimaginably evil in our eyes, and for good reason.

Yet we can apparently still stomach the thought of someone insane “setting out to create beings who'd be as tormented and tried their whole lives as we are, and who'd utterly abandon them and not even bother to look after them or help them besides”. Why? because we’re no longer “dumbstruck by the very idea” any more. Assumedly because the notion isn't all that far removed from our presumptions about good and right any more, sad to say.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:32:00.000-04:00

Chapter Three:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

Fourth, since the chariot of the other side and the husks are utterly and completely removed from God’s holiness -- then how could they ever have been culled from and created by Him, let alone allowed to go on?

This calls for more extensive explanation since it assumes that we're aware of some fairly abstruse Kabbalistic and otherwise Jewish concepts which we may not be. So we'll do what we can to spell them out.

The term "chariot" is obviously as old as the item itself, and it's cited over 150 times in the Jewish Bible. On one level it simply stands for a chariot per se, or any other vehicle. But on another level a chariot stands for the point at which a human being controls -- or is controlled by -- an animal in transit. Thus a chariot often represents the center of the lifelong struggle between body (the chariot's horse) and soul (its driver).

In the present instance, though, it stands for something else again -- the matrix, environment, or ground of the "other side" and "husks". And they stand for the same thing overall: the "side" of reality that's "other" than Godly, and the hard "shell" of materiality over covering the Godly fruit that one would like to get to.

Ashlag depicts that unholy universe as being "utterly and completely removed from God's holiness" which is to say completely opposite to Him.
Now, if that's so, then "how could it ever have been culled from and created by Him" since that's more or less analogous to a woman giving birth to a stone? And secondly, why would God accommodate something that seems to run counter to His whole Being and intentions?

2.

Fifth, touching upon the Resurrection of the Dead: since the human body is so base that it's doomed to die and be buried from the outset, and since the Zohar says that the soul can't ascend to its place in the Garden of Eden until the body decomposes and disintegrates, then why would the body need to be resurrected anyway? Couldn't the Creator have delighted our souls without (our having to go through) resurrection?

Some more definitions. Inherent to classical Jewish Thought is the belief in a Messianic Era that will be initiated by a righteous leader who will bring on many radical alterations to reality. That will culminate in the Resurrection of the Dead and the dawning of the supernatural World to Come (the state of being which the universe will unfold into after all of the above). It’s also important to know that the "Garden of Eden" spoken of here isn't the one cited at the beginning of Genesis where Adam and Eve dwelt, but rather the numinous environment in which the soul alone dwells (and reaps its reward) after death and before the resurrection.

Ashlag's point is that it seems odd that the human body -- which is so seemingly un-Godly and earthly that it's doomed to be buried and to decompose in the ground rather than go elsewhere to reap its reward (as the soul does) -- would be resurrected along with the soul later on, rather than be utterly forgotten and brushed aside. After all, the soul could just as easily delight in its place in the World to Come on its own!

3.

Even more baffling is our sages’ statement that the dead are destined to be resurrected with all of their defects (in place) in order not to be mistaken for anyone else, and that all those defects will be cured afterwards. For why would God care enough to first bring back someone’s defects and then cure him simply because he’d be mistaken for someone else?

That's to say that we'd expect the body to enjoy a new supernatural status once it comes back to life, yet we're taught that it will come back "warts and all" instead, and that only later will those "warts" be undone and the body elevated. Why? We're told it's so that everyone will know exactly whom they're seeing come back to life. But why would that matter?

4.

And sixth, our sages say that man is the focal point of reality, that all the upper worlds as well as this corporeal one along with everything in it were created for him alone (Zohar, Tazriah 40), and they even obliged us to believe that the world was created for our sake (Sanhedrin 37A). But, isn’t that strange? After all, why would God bother to create all that for man, who’s so insignificant and only occupies a hair’s-breadth worth of space in the universe -- to say nothing of (his insignificance when it comes to) the upper worlds, whose reaches are immeasurable! Why would God have troubled Himself to create all that for man’s sake? And besides -- what would man need all that for?

Ashlag's last inquiry here focuses on our own centrality for a good reason. For if God Almighty could be said to be not only the Creator of all of reality but its "leading character" as well, then man is its sole supporting character (while everything else serves as stage-props and incidentals).

But in fact, considering how minute we are within the vast reaches of things, we seem on one level to be as awesomely consequential but overlookable as a sudden chink in a vast stopped dam; while on another to be as superfluous as a chink in a tumbler. So why fill the "stage" with so much else?

Notice, by the way, that Ashlag cites mankind's minuteness much the way others do, but that while they use it to point out our essential insignificance, he uses it to ironically underscore our splendid potency.

(See Ch’s 34-39 below for the explanation.)

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

Chapter Two:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

1.

1.

We’d first have to explore a few things before we can solve all that, though we certainly won’t explore anything we’re not allowed to, like God’s very Essence, Heaven forfend! For “no thought can grasp His Essence whatsoever” (Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction), so we dare not think about or reflect upon that. But we will delve into the things we’re commanded to explore, like God’s actions. After all, the Torah charges each one of us to “know your father's God and serve Him” (1 Chronicles 28:9); and as it’s said, “we know You from Your actions” (Shir HaYichud).

Ashlag now begins to answer his questions by stepping back a bit and laying out certain Kabbalistic principles beforehand.

Let it be said from the outset that underlying Ashlag’s statements here is the supposition that we’re to speak of God knowing that there are two ways to depict Him overall: God unto Himself, and God as He presents Himself in the world. Make no mistake about it, though: that's not to say that there are different aspects of the one, sheer, complete, total, unalloyed, and indivisible God. Just that when we speak of Him we’re to take into account how He is unto Himself and how He's experienced by us now that the world has been created. This point won’t be expanded on after this, however; it’s just a caveat.

The point is that God doesn't present Himself -- appear -- in the world as He is per se since the world couldn't endure that. He appears here on a more subdued, we might even say “suppressed” level (the way geniuses present themselves when they interact with more ordinary people).

And while we're indeed encouraged and charged to know Him as He presents Himself in the world, which we can deduce from what He does here (the way we can deduce anyone's character by his or her actions), we're still-and-all barred from inquiring into Him Himself, i.e., His ultimate thoughts and motivations. For “no thought can” -- is able or allowed to -- “grasp His Essence whatsoever”.

So we'll explore God's ways in the world, from the moment it occurred to Him to create it and onward, but not before that.

2.

So, our first inquiry will touch on this: How could anyone imagine a completely original creation -- something utterly new-sprung that hadn’t already been incorporated in God's Being from the first -- when it’s obvious to any thinking person that everything was originally incorporated in His Being (since it’s clear that whoever means to give something can only give it if he himself already has it)?

Ashlag will now address a series of sub-questions. They aren't reiterations of the five underlying questions we'd just presented but rather new conundrums we'd need to solve before we could go back to the original ones. Just know that this is heady and deeply abstract stuff, so be patient and allow yourself to luxuriate in it.

At the time it occurred to God to create the cosmos (which is our time-frame, don't forget) all that existed was God Himself and His idea to create it (other thoughts existed, too, but they're also out of our framework).

It follows then that the entirety that did eventually come about had to have been an utterly new and original phenomenon, rather than a derivation of or a variation on something else ongoing. It had to have "popped up" somehow "out of the blue", as we'd put it, unlike anything else (which means to say, unlike God Himself).

But, how can there be anything outside of or separate from God? That is, how could anything appear out of the blue in fact? For as Ashlag enunciates it, isn’t it clear that a giver can only give what he himself already has? So, how could anything other than He ever come about?

3.

Second, if you contend that He’s omnipotent so He could certainly have created something out of sheer nothingness, which is to say, something that didn’t already exist in His Being -- then what is this “thing” that we’d determine wasn’t found in Him originally but was created out of sheer nothingness?

That is, if in fact the cosmos did come about out of sheer nothingness, as it could very well have, since God can do anything including just that -- then what does that say about the nature and makeup of the cosmos? It must be nearly as sublime and utterly inexplicable as God Himself in its perplexity and marvel.

The truth of that should strike us, by the way. After all, the "everything" that has come into being is utterly original and fresh; everything that we know of, as well as everything that we don't, can't, and won't know of is a thing (and non-thing) hatched anew from God's mind, while every "thing" else is either God Himself or still in His mind.

We've raised questions up to now about our essential natures, about God, and about the cosmos at large. Now onto our souls (which we said aren't our essential natures, if you recall). Did they pop-up out of the blue, too? What are they comprised of? Rabbi Ashlag begins exploring that by first citing a fundamental Kabbalistic portrayal of the soul.

(This will be the first question answered, see Ch. 7.)

4.

Third, the kabbalists say that the human soul is a “part of God”, the only difference between them being that God is the "whole" while the soul is a "part". And they equate the two to a rock hewn from a mountain, with the only difference between them being that one is the "whole" and the other is a "piece".

That's to say that the reason the human soul is the numinous, very otherwise, singular, and peculiar phenomenon that it is, is because it's a "part of God".

First off, understand that we're not talking about the "battery-cell" that keeps the body alive when we refer to the soul; or about the human heart which is admittedly profoundly occult, forestial, and awash with mystery, but not the soul; or about the nearly equally numinous human mind either. Instead, we're referring to the immortal utterly non-physical "kernel" that lays both deep within and near-and-far outside our beings.

Each soul, we're told, is a particular detail in the perfect total makeup of God Himself.

Now, that's not to say that at bottom God is the sum-total of all souls, since He Himself can't be defined or limited in any way (as we said). What it means to say is that once God decided to create the cosmos, He allowed for the appearance of our souls as well. And they're each a part of Him, much the way each segment of a hologram is an independent element of the entire hologram.

But this point itself raises other questions.

5.

Only now we’d need to explore the following. A stone that’s hewn from a mountain had to have been hewn by an axe made for the express purpose of separating the "piece" from the "whole". But could anyone ever imagine hewing a separate “part” of God, i.e., a soul, which would then be considered a part of His very Essence?

That is, how could God Almighty be divided into parts -- and what in the world could ever have actually done that?

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

2005-08-22T09:11:00.000-04:00

Chapter One:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
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1.

What I want to do in this work is clarify certain ostensibly simple things that everyone contends with and which a lot of ink has been spilt over trying to explain, that still-and-all haven’t been spelled out clearly or adequately enough.

Notice that Ashlag is claiming that he’ll be clearing up some seemingly “simple things”. That’s a fairly humble way for him to put it, since he’ll set out here to solve things that have bothered thinking people for millennia -- like the meaning of life, our role in the universe, our relationship to God, and the like!

He apparently terms the things he’ll first touch on as "ostensibly simple" because we tend to think we know the answers already, but his point is that we really don’t. And he implies that he has an entirely different approach to all of it ... because he does.

Here are the “simple” conundrums he’ll be solving for us:
What are we essentially? What role do we play in the great course of events in the cosmos? Why were we created as imperfect as we are -- after all, shouldn’t a perfect Creator's products be perfect themselves? Why did God create so many people who suffer and are tried their whole lives long? And, how could finite, mortal, and ephemeral creatures like us ever derive from an Infinite Being like God as we’re said to?

We’d clearly need to first dissect the questions before we can begin to answer them, but let’s go on though to present the questions. There are five in all. They’re the work’s most basic, underlying questions. There’ll be others, too, but they will be secondary (and tertiary) to these.

2.

First of all, what are we essentially?

There’s no question asked more often than this one, on one level or another, both by each one of us about ourselves and by society at large.

We all know what we are basically. We’re this body, this mind; with these feelings, these opinions, this sense of truth, these experiences, etc. But those aren’t us, our selves. They can be termed our “outright self” -- the combination of this and that with which we greet others, and which we take into consideration when we think about ourselves. But they’re not what we are essentially.

Don’t assume, though, that Ashlag is going to say that our souls are our essential self, as so many do. He’ll contend that we’re defined by some other phenomenon; and that while we do indeed have souls, we’re to know that they too are part of the “outright self” (albeit a deeper, more abstruse and subliminal, immortal aspect of it, as we’ll illustrate in Ch’s 9 and 20 below).
But now let's turn to the rest of Ashlag’s underlying questions, which touch on our place in the grand scheme of things, our stature, God’s intentions for the universe, the place of pain and suffering, and our relationship to God.

3.

Second, what role do we play in the great course of events which we’re such minor players in?

We’d only be expected to wonder where we fit in, once we know who we are at bottom, which was the gist of the first question. After all, given that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, purposeful, and well-intentioned too (as we’ll soon determine), it follows that everything and everyone created by Him must play some role or another in His creation. So, which one do we humans play?

Is it a major or a minor role? We’d imagine we’d only be expected to play a minor one, seeing how thick in the midst of so much matter and so many events and phenomena far more colossal and portentous than us we seem to be.

4.

Third, when we consider ourselves closely we find ourselves to be as tainted and lowly as can be, and yet (conversely) when we look at our Creator we can’t help but praise Him for how utterly exalted He is! But wouldn’t a perfect Creator's creations be expected to be perfect?

That's to say, we seem to be so base and garish at bottom, while God Almighty our Creator is so grand and sublime -- which then raises the question of why one such as He would create us as we are. (See Ch. 17 below.)

5.

Fourth, logic would suggest that God is all-good and utterly benevolent. So, how could He have purposefully created so many people who suffer and are tried their whole lives long? Wouldn’t an all-good Creator be expected to be benevolent -- if not at least less malevolent?

God has no needs. After all, He's perfect, utterly self sufficient, independent of everything, and fully contained. Thus everything He does is for "the other". And since a being who does things only for the other is benevolent (by definition, since there’d be no need for him to harm the other, which is only a self-serving need), then why does God indeed allow so many of us to suffer? It seems so “out of character” for Him.

Understand the ramifications of this question, if you will.

For indeed nothing lies deeper beneath the surface of human consciousness than the fact of suffering and the distinct possibility of sudden, virulent woe at that. After all, who hasn’t heard of quick car accidents out of the blue that maimed their victims? Or of sudden gunshots rushing through windows and mangling chance targets?

There are two broad reactions to that fear overall, though. The first is based on a deep and primal conviction that no Divine Entity would ever allow such a thing to happen, so when it does, that proves that there’s no God. But the second reaction is based on the equally deep and primal conviction that nothing is as it appears to be (which is confirmed every day), and that while God’s ways are largely inexplicable, He still-and-all has our best interests in mind. Those who believe that draw comfort from the idea that when we suffer, we do so for some good reason.

Yet they’re still thrown by their pain and misery, and left in an emotional -- if not a philosophical -- quandary.

So we’d need to understand the underpinnings of suffering in fact if we’re to be steadfast in our faith.

6.

And fifth, how could finite, mortal, and ephemeral creatures (like us) ever derive from an Infinite Being who is without beginning or end?

In other words, how did we manage to be products of an Almighty Creator who’s so unlike us, as we indicated (See Ch. 18 below)?

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

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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). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
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2005-08-22T09:06:00.000-04:00

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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First off let it be said that R' Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar" is an arcane and tightly bound work that's sometimes difficult to comprehend and chock full of allusions to his other works (which are far more fleshed out). So we'll present the text bit by bit here and comment on it based on our reading of those other works, as well as of other Torah sources.

Secondly, this work actually has very little to do with the Zohar per se, though of course it touches on ideas expressed or implied there. So "Introduction to the Zohar" is a misnomer. It's more like an introduction to R' Ashlag's thoughts. It's only given the title it has because it comes at the beginning of R' Ashlag's major work on the Zohar (“Peirush HaSulam”) and because there's other introductory material there. So this work would best be termed "One of Several Introductions to the Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag’s Edition of the Zohar", but that wouldn't do.

The work is comprised of 70 short, pithy chapters; we've taken the liberty of breaking them down into parts to make it easier to take hold of.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

2005-08-22T08:54:00.000-04:00

Welcome. I'll be transferring my work on Rav Ashlag's Torah from my main blog, www.acrispelumorning.blogspot.com, to here -- little by little. Stay tuned.

All the best, Rabbi Yaakov Feldman