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From Adam Kadmon through Attik to Atzilut and Downward
Petach 97 then makes a straightforward-enough point which is nevertheless profound. It contrasts the eternal realm which is situated in the world of Adam Kadmon with the lower worlds of Atzilut, Briah, and Assiyah, which comprise the realm that allows for our service to God and for Tikkun. He then underscores the fact that there’s nonetheless a bridge between the two realms: the Partzuf of Attik (which, if you’ll recall, has been our subject for the longest time).
The Petach states that from the world of Atzilut downwards to the worlds of Briah, Yetzirah and Assiyah everything follows the present world’s governing order, i.e., everything is subsumed to the factors of reward and punishment, right and wrong, free will and Divine determination, and the like. Things follow a specific cycle there until they eventually achieve perfect benevolence, i.e., until they achieve the utter perfection that will result in the full expression of Divine benevolence we’d spoken of as being the pinnacle of all of creation.
But from Attik upward which encompasses the most subtle realms, everything is and already functions as it will in eternity from the seventh millennium onward [1].
Attik itself is the central byway between the two systems of governance, i.e., between reward and punishment and the like, and utter unalloyed Divine benevolence. Accordingly, it allows for things done here and now to affect eternity, Ramchal adds in his comments here.
But the world of Adam Kadmon, which sits atop both Atzilut and Attik and is of a whole other order, is comprised of the whole of existence and of all times. It has bearing on the names of MaH and BaN already spoken of and referred to in the next Petach.
Footnotes:
[1] See Clallim Rishonim 9 and Clallei Chochmat HaEmet 10 for the chronology.
(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
So in short this Petach is making the point that …
The Petach ends as follows: For this is the way that the names MaH and BaN were established under them, i.e., under Adam Kadmon‘s Yesod and Malchut [1]. That is done by means of the balance-scale [2], Ramchal adds in his comments, which is how all of the Partzufim experience Tikkun. In fact, this particular combination of MaH and BaN is the essential order of governance needed to ultimately bring about complete perfection.
So in short this Petach is making the point that the Partzuf of Attik supports the Partzuf of Erich by means of the balance-scale which is rooted in it (and is the mystical notion of the conjunction of MaH and BaN). This phenomenon is the gist of the Tikkunim of all of the Partzufim since is governs all of the world of Atzilut.
It’s just that when this occurs, Atzilut stands under Adam Kadmon‘s Sephirot of Yesod and Malchut, since that’s where this Tikkun takes place. But since the conjunction of MaH and BaN is the playing out of the Tikkun of all damages, it follows that the balance-scale’s governance is the main form of governance, so Erich Anpin must stand under it.
Footnotes:
[1] See 5:5 above for an explanation of the names MaH and BaN.
[2] See Section 11.
(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
———————————————–
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
… which thus feeds into the next world below, Atzilut.
In this respect, Ramchal adds, Erich Anpin is governed by the Partzuf above it, which is Adam Kadmon, through Adam Kadmon‘s lowest Sephirot, Yesod and Malchut, which are Male and Female which thus feeds into the next world below, Atzilut.
(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
———————————————–
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
In order to set up the entire Male-Female system
And Attik is in fact engarbed in Erich Anpin by means of the balance [1], which is rooted in Radlah, and which is needed in order to set up the entire Male-Female system so as to govern and to grant a Tikkun to the world of Atzilut.
Footnote:
[1] See Section 11 above for a discussion of the balance and note 5 there for its source in the Zohar and more.
(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
———————————————–
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
Like a puppeteer lodging himself in the puppet so as to control it and animate it.
Petach 96 begins with the statement that the exalted Partzuf of Attik Yomin (which is the same as the Attik we’ve been discussing until now) is engarbed in (i.e., is sequestered within) all of the Sephirot of the next lower Partzuf of Erich Anpin. Why is that so? In order to govern it, Ramchal says in his comments here, and to strengthen all of Erich’s Sephirot [1]. That’s to say, to connect those Sephirot to their supernal root, Radlah, he offers as well.
The phenomenon of a higher Partzuf or Sephira being engarbed in a lower one is analogous to that of the hand of the puppeteer lodging himself in the puppet so as to control it and animate it.
Footnote:
[1] See Petach 74.
(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
———————————————–
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
Section 17
Section 17 is entitled “The Connection between (the world of) Atzilut and (the world of) Adam Kadmon through (the Partzufim of) Attik and Erich Anpin“, and it encompasses Petachim 96-100.
Let’s get our bearings again. As Ramchal points out in Sefer HaIlan (7), the Partzuf of Attik is above the other Partzufim. It’s actually the Malchut — i.e., it’s the lowest rung — of the high world of Adam Kadmon. Attik‘s own upper division is a separate entity, Radlah (“the Unfathomable Beginning”) which we discussed above, and it’s lower is engarbed in and thus permeates and thus influences the Partzuf below Adam Kadmon, Atzilut.
The first Petach of the section, Petach 96, is concerned with the connection between the exalted world of Adam Kadmon and the one just beneath it, Atzilut, and how that connection affects Divine governance.
We’ll be discussing that, Ramchal says in his comments here, since we’d already discussed in Section 16 above the two ways that the Partzuf of Erich Anpin functions — as itself, and as it relates to the Partzuf of Zeir Anpin below it — which is analogous to what we’ll be discussing here. But we’d first need to discuss the Partzuf of Attik Yomin that governs the Partzuf of Erich Anpin.
In truth, Petach 96 is a rather technical one that might distract us, but it serves to clear up an apparent contradiction in two statements in Eitz Chaim. We’ll proceed from it, of course, to the Petachim that follow which speak to the greater theme of the interactions of the various worlds, Partzufim and intentions for the universe under discussion.
(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
———————————————–
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
Petach 100
In each instance, the differences in a case of a higher Partzuf being engarbed within a lower one shows whether its actions i.e. the actions of the one that’s engarbed, are large or small. And it, i.e., the degree of its action, is always proportional to how its parts are divided.
Whether the engarbment is large in one instance or small shows whether the action taking place in one place is greater than in the other in proportion to the extent of each part of the engarbed.
The reason for the proportion of engarbment is rooted in what the all-embracing intention of all-encompassing benevolence requires. And various reasons could be found for the particular degree in each case, because it has many facets.
חילוקי ההתלבשות ככל מקום שהוא – מורה פעולתו אם רב ואם מעט. הערך נשמר תמיד לפי שיעור התחלקו.
מקום שמתלבש חלק גדול,ומקום שמתלבש חלק קטן – מורה שהפעולה במקום אחד גדולה מהפעולה במקום השני, באותו הערך שיש בין חלק לחלק המתלבש.
אך טעם הערך הוא – כי זהו מצטרך לפי הכוונה הכללית. וכמה טעמים נוכל למצוא בערך ההוא, כי לכמה פינות הוא פונה:
(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
———————————————–
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
Petach 99
Radlah, which is the mystical notion of the conjunction of MaH and BaN above, is the source of all governance. The seven lower Sephirot of Attik, which are engarbed in Erich Anpin, govern it according to the makeup of Radlah above them.
Da’at of Attik, which is engarbed between Erich Anpin‘s “Crown” and “Brain”, is prepared to accept the deeds of humankind in accordance with the mystical notion of the present form of governance, and to transfer them through Radlah to all of the levels above to be fixed for eternity.
רדל”א הוא סוד חיבורי מ”ה וב”ן למעלה. מקור לכל ההנהגה. ז’ תחתומת דעתיק, המתלבשים בא”א, הם המנהגים אותו לפי ענין הרישא שלמעלה.
דעת דעתיק, המתלבשת בין כתרא ומוחא דא”א, עומד לקבל ענין מעשה בני האדם בסוד ההנהגה של עתה, ומעביר אותם על ידי רדל”א אל שלמעלה, להיות נקבעים לנצחיות:
(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
———————————————–
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
Petach 98
Until MaH and BaN came about everything proceeded in a state of Tikkun and nothing needed to be withheld. But there came to be a form of damage in BaN and its Tikkun lie in MaH. And they had to be given a realm in which to do what they had to, until they’d return to the state that’s beyond that of the worlds of Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzira, and Assiyah — when the lower beings will ascend higher and higher according to the mystical notion of the offshoots of Adam Kadmon until the ultimate ascent.
So Attik — which is the mystical notion of the conjunction of MaH and Ban — is ready to transfer things from the current order of governance to that of eternity. For every deed performed by those below has an effect on the conjunction of MaH and BaN and goes on to be fixed in eternity. Then when all the work of the lower beings will have been completed, everything needed for the conjunction of MaH and BaN will be complete, and what’s necessary will be fixed for all eternity in accordance with humankind’s deeds. Thus everything is in the merit of humankind and in accordance with its deeds.
ענין מ”ה וב”ן היה הולך הכל בתיקון, ושם לא הוצרך שום עיכוב. אך בב”ן היה הקלקול, ובמ”ה תיקונו. והוצרך לתת להם מקום לעשות את שלהם, עד שיחזרו אל ענין מה שלמעלה מהעולמות, ומציאות התחתונים מתעלה בסוד ענפי א”ק ממעלה למעלה, עד סוף כל העליות.
על כן עתיק העומד בסוד חיבור מ”ה וב”ן, הוא העומד להעביר הדברים מהנהגה זאת של עתה להנהגת הנצחיות. כי כל מעשה התחתונים עושה פעולה בענין חיבור מ”ה וב”ן, והולך ונקבע לנצחיות. ובהשתלם כל מעשה התחתונים, יהיה נשלם כל הצריך בחיבור מ”ה וב”ן. ונקבע מה שצריך לכל הנצחיות, להיות לפי מעשה שעשו בני האדם. ונמצא הכל בזכותו של האדם התחתון, ולפי מעשיו:
(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
———————————————–
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.
Ramchal 