"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 6

"In Search of Spiritual Excellence"

-- A Reworking of Classical Mussar Texts

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org
__________________________________________________

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 6

We can usually tell when you're in love with someone else -- but how can anyone tell when you're truly in love with G-d? There are ways. You'd be known to truly love G-d, to begin with, if you're always caught "renouncing things ... that distract you from (Him)".

You'd also be known to love Him when "the look of fear and dread of G–d is on your face" all the time, we're told. But don't get thrown by that, though, and ask how "fearing" or "dreading" G-d would indicate that you love Him, because there are two sorts of fear when it comes to G-d: "the fear of punishment and tribulation", which is a rather low and primitive one, and then there's "revering His glory, exaltedness and might", and it's the highest level one could ever attain to, as well as "the most profound form of longing for Him" there is. It's the latter that's closely tied-in with truly adoring G-d (see the introduction to this gate).

There are many other signs of such love. One is "it being one and the same to you whether people praise or insult you for fulfilling G–d's will"; another is your willingness to sacrifice everything in order to fulfill His wishes; another is "your having the name of G–d on your lips in praise, gratitude, and exultation all the time"; another "is your making everything you do or say ... contingent upon G-d's will"; another "is your guiding and instructing others in how to serve G–d", which is so important because "if you only improve your own soul, your merits will be small, but if you improve your soul and the soul of others as well" you'd have done something momentous; another sign "is the fact that your (only) source of happiness and joy is the merits you'd have accrued" and the closeness to G-d that would result; and another "is your prostrating yourself at night in deep devotional prayer", for after all, isn't nighttime an occasion for "lovers to devote themselves to the one they love"?.

And, finally, a clear sign of your loving G-d "is your joy and glee in G–d Himself, in the knowledge of Him, in the longing to please Him, in your delight in His Torah, and in your affinity with all (others) who worship Him".

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(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"

R' Ashlag Ch. 33 (sect. 1)

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), our sages said that all the upper worlds as well as this corporeal world were created for man’s sake alone. But isn’t that strange? After all, why would G-d bother to create all that for man, who’s 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. And besides, why would man need (for there to be) such august and hallowed worlds?"

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

"The Way of G-d" Part 4, Ch.7, Paragraph 6

[Note: I haven't been including this series here for a while because I was sending out things to Torah.org that had already been sent and were only being resent to keep things in chronological order. This completes Ch. 7; we're drawing near to the end of "The way of G-d".
And yes -- I finally got how to do links. Have mercy on the simple minded ...]

RAMCHAL

-- A Reworking of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "The Way of G-d"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

__________________________________________________

"The Way of G-d" Part 4, Ch.7, Paragraph 6

A distinct and unique cast of light shines upon each Holy Day that sets it apart from the others on a spiritual level; and each Holy Day likewise commemorates an important event that sets it apart historically too, as we'd seen (see 4:7:6). We're thus enjoined to read-out special selections from the Torah each Holy Day that touch upon all that -- aside from the regular Torah readings we do on Shabbat and on certain weekdays.

For we're to read-out from the Torah on a regular basis because it was granted to us to be studied both publicly and privately, and to thus be made an integral part of our lives; and we also read it out so as to be nourished by its great light (see 4:2:2). So we recite the relevant readings on the Holy Days to bolster our connection to the Torah, to bask in the light that irradiates from the words, and to recapture the spirit of the days involved.

And so on Passover we read about the events surrounding the redemption, on Shavuot we recount the granting of the Torah, on Sukkot we retell how we'd lived in booths on the way to the Land of Israel, and the like.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(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"

'The Great Redemption" (26)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

"The Gates of Repentance"

I've begun offering the second gate of "The Gates of Repentance" (Shaarei Teshuvah) at
Der Alter

R' Ashlag Ch. 32

... has been completed and can be found at ...

Toras Rav Ashlag

R' Ashlag Ch. 32 (sect. 1)

[Once again, I'll transfer the whole thing over to ravashlag.blogspot.com once its finished.]

Chapter Thirty-Two:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

32.

1.

"The third stage (encompasses the period of time in which) we serve G-d by (observing His) Torah and mitzvot with the intent to bestow rather than be rewarded. Doing that purifies our selfish ratzon l’kabel and transforms it into a ratzon l’hashpia -- a willingness to bestow. And the more we purify our ratzon l’kabel, the more worthy and ready will we be to receive the five parts of the soul termed N. R. N. C. Y. (in their entirety)."
-- N. R. N. C. Y. stands for Nephesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida, the five parts of the soul in ascending order. Though Rabbi Ashlag often explains them in another context, in general terms the Nephesh is that part of the soul that's most proximate to the body and is what keeps it alive at bottom. The Ruach is where our sense of self lies, and it's associated most especially with the emotions. The Neshama is the root of the above and their source, and it's tied-in most especially with the mind. The Chaya is the root and source of the Neshama and is out of our experience; it binds "heaven" to "earth" in that it's the intermediary between Nephesh-Ruach-Neshama and the utterly G-dly Yechida. And the Yechida is the point at which all the elements of the soul and G-d's presence join together ("b'yachad").
-- While we've all been granted a Nephesh and Ruach from the first, not everyone has a Neshama, Chaya, and/or Yechida. In addition, we'd need to merit an "inner" Nephesh and Ruach aside from the "outer" ones we're all born with if we're to succeed. All that depends on how we fulfill the mitzvah-system in this life and to what degree we're selfless about it.

"For those five levels are only applicable to the willingness to bestow and they can’t be attired in our body as long as the ratzon l’kabel in it holds sway. For it’s different from it and indeed its opposite. For the notions of being attired (in something) and having affinity with it go hand in hand."
-- When some one thing is "attired" in another one, the two are intimate with each other as a consequence and thus share an affinity. If you recall, we spoke of affinities above (see Ch. 8). In short it comes to this: when two entities are so identical that each loves what the other loves and hates what the other hates, they in fact love and are “attached” to one another, and thus share an affinity. Rabbi Ashlag's point is that once we earn a willingness to bestow, our conjoined body and soul come to love and hate the same things and are in synch, and we're able to earn a full N. R. N. C. Y. as a consequence.

"So, when you achieve a complete willingness to bestow without the need for anything for yourself (in return), you’ll have attained an affinity with your sublime N. R. N. C. Y., which extend from their roots in the Infinite in the first era, then extend through the Holy A.B.Y.A. to then become attired in your being by degrees."
-- See Ch's 10, 12, 14, and 15 most especially for an explanation of this.

(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 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".

"The Great Redemption" (25)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

On This Crisp, Early Elul Morning ...

An early crisp Elul morning like this one moves me to teshuva. But not teshuva for things done wrong, though they're there; and not for insensitivities, though they're there, too; but rather for my overarching error of always forgotting the point of it all, my tachlis. For as I'd word it in the spirit of the anonymous sefer B'levavi Mishkan Eboneh, "Tachlis d'chayi, deveikus b'Bori" -- My whole raison d'etre is to adhere onto and fully sense G-d's Presence.

So I present this translation of Rabbeinu Yonah's prayer for teshuvah in that vein.

"G-d Almighty, I’ve been sinning accidentally, deliberately and rebelliously from the day I was born to today. But my heart has now propelled me upward, and my spirit has persuaded me to return to You honestly, with the best of intentions and completely; with all my heart, soul and might. In order to 'admit and let go', to cast off all my acts of defiance; and to restore heart and soul, and be earnest in my devotion to You.

"G-d Almighty, You who open Your arms to accept tshuvah and help those who come to cleanse themselves: Please open Your arms to accept my full tshuvah. Help me be firm in my devotion to You, to resist the Antagonist who confronts me cunningly and wants to kill me, and to defy his command over me. Keep him from the whole of me, fling him into the depths of the sea, and order him never to set himself against me to antagonize me. See to it that I go in Your ways by replacing my stone heart with one of flesh.

"G-d Almighty, hear out Your servant’s prayers and pleas, and accept my tshuvah. Don’t let any of my accidental or deliberate sins obstruct my tshuvah or prayer. And allow a sincere Advocate to offer my prayers to You, at Your place of honor. But if because of the number and seriousness of my sins I haven’t a sincere Advocate, then dig down from beneath Your place of honor Yourself and accept my tshuvah. See to it that I never return wanting from before You, Who hears out prayers."

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

R' Ashlag Ch. 31

... has been completed and can be found at ...

Toras Rav Ashlag

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 5

"In Search of Spiritual Excellence"

-- A Reworking of Classical Mussar Texts

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org
__________________________________________________

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 5

"Very many things prevent us from loving G–d" we're warned," including -- though not limited to -- our not meeting the requirements for it we'd cited before.

For there's something else that foils the dream of loving G-d "so very mightily and powerfully that (your) soul so affixes itself to the love of Him that (you're) as absorbed in Him and (are) as love-sick (for Him) as someone who ... couldn't stop thinking of a woman (he was) in love with" (Maimonides, Hilchot Teshuvah 10:3).

What ultimately prevents us from loving Him so are any aversions we might have "to those who (themselves) love Him" and any respect we'd have "for those who hate Him", as Ibn Pakudah describes it. That's to say that if we either admire wrongdoers for whatever reason, or somehow or another are repelled by people who serve Him well and love Him truly, then we're unlikely to love G-d Himself, who's displeased with wrong and loves righteousness.

But don't minimize how real those feelings are. For as the sensitive soul knows only too well, there are times when something deep in the untoward part of our beings is somehow bothered by good people for one small reason or another and all but enamored with bad ones. Those who want nothing better than to love G-d would root that out of their systems and realize that -- despite any minor failings -- those who love G-d should be our heroes, and that we should deplore those who "hate" (better said, dismiss or ignore) Him.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(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".

"The Great Redemption" (24)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

"The Great Redemption" (23)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

"The Great Redemption" (22)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

“The Point of It All”

To my mind, one of the more pithy and fecund statements of our raison d’etre is Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto’s following remark.

“The root of Divine service lies in your constantly engaging yourself with your Creator” he says, “and comprehending that you were created to attach yourself onto G-d, and were placed in this world to prevail over your yetzer harah, subjugate yourself to G-d through reason, overturn your physical cravings and inclinations, and to apply all your activities to this end without ever wavering from it” ("The Way of G-d" 1:4:6).

I maintain that it’s worthwhile reading this Jewish “mission statement” again and again, and to use it as a gauge for our being on or off the mark in our life. So I thought I’d offer these insights into just what we’re being told here in the hope that we’ll indeed draw from it regularly and grow accordingly.

“The root of Divine service lies in your constantly engaging yourself with your Creator...” Something very, very deep in the human soul somehow finds great satisfaction in *serving* -- in being subordinate to something or someone, in fulfilling another’s wishes, and in being relieved of authority. Something else very, very deep in the human soul, though, is only happy in fact when it seizes authority. Ironically, though, the part of the soul that seeks power is often *over*-powered by the part that runs from it. And the whole of our beings is best satisfied (both in Heaven and on earth) when the need to serve holds sway.

The struggle between those two forces, though, is real. And it goes to the very core of every ambivalent feeling anyone has ever had. The greatest resolution of all human ambivalence thus lies in our *allowing* our power-hungry side to acquiesce to our need to serve. And the greatest Entity we could ever subordinate our beings to is G-d. The realization of that leads to the sort of “Divine service” spoken of here.

As it’s said, that service “lies in your constantly engaging yourself with your Creator“. How stunning a revelation! We’re to “engage”, i.e., experience, interact with, and subject ourselves to G-d Almighty. This, too, is a very deep and latent human dream hardly spoken of in our day and age. Few among us dream of engaging with G-d in our day-to-day life; and fewer yet are those who have dreamt that since they were young, and thus tally their successes and failures in life on that basis.

Nonetheless you and I were “created to attach ... onto G-d“ at bottom. And to thus enjoy the sort of familiarity just alluded to -- and then some. For being *attached* to G-d doesn’t just come to “encountering”, “interacting” with, and “subjecting” yourself to Him in the sort of ways we indicated. It also involves being His confidant, if you will; and accepting Him alone as your confidant (which goes even deeper yet).

Our quote then goes on to say that it’s important to realize in light of the fact that your deepest aspirations actually hinge upon such a degree of intimacy with the Creator that “you were placed in this world” specifically, with all its noise and clutter, in order “to prevail over your yetzer harah“. That calls for explanation.

What characterizes our lives in this world is one struggle after another followed by one more-or-less-of a resolution after another. We’re taught, though, that that’s not only true of the *outer* world, which is to say, life “out there”. It’s also true of our *inner* world, where we experience other sorts of struggles and quasi resolutions. That inner struggle-resolution paradigm is coined the battle between one’s “yetzer harah” and “yetzer hatov”.

Our “yetzer harah” is usually taken to be our untoward, feral impulses; while our “yetzer hatov” is usually taken to be our G-dly, devout impulses. But in the context of our quote, our yetzer harah is our above-mentioned need to take control, and our yetzer hatov is our need to acquiesce. And while the need to acquiesce (our yetzer hatov) often overpowers the need to take control (our yetzer harah) on its own, as we said above, it’s up to us to set out to *consciously* “prevail” over that need to take control. We were thus “placed in this world” of discord and conflict (control and acquiescence) to do just that. For by doing that we manage to “subjugate (ourselves) to G-d” rather than try to have Him subjugate Himself to *us*, if you will, as we all do.

We’re then told that we’re to do that “through reason“ rather than through brute determination and resolve. For “reason” doesn’t only entail conscious thoughts and conclusions. It also includes solid and heartfelt realizations of what’s holy and what’s not; what serves one’s ultimate aim in life, and what thwarts it. Thus Luzzatto’s point is that we’re to strive for such realizations and act on them.

He then goes on to say that we only manage to do *that* by “overturn(ing our) physical cravings and inclinations“ and replacing them with G-dly, holy ones. That again suggests that we’re to consciously prevail over our need to take control, as spoken of before. But his point now is that not only are we to do that consciously within our beings. We’re also to do it on a practical level, in the world. By teaching ourselves to yearn to succeed at G-dly things just as much as we now yearn to succeed at unG-dly ones.

And the only way to do *that*, we’re then taught, is to “apply all (our) activities to this end” alone “without ever wavering“. Which is to say, to make holiness our aim and greatest dream. May G-d grant us the capacity to do just that -- and may we take Him up on the offer!

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 4

"In Search of Spiritual Excellence"

-- A Reworking of Classical Mussar Texts

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org
__________________________________________________

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 4

"But is it actually humanly possible to love G–d?" Ibn Pakudah asks at this point, despite the instructions he'd given us in the last chapter. The question is certainly legitimate. After all, we and He are utterly disparate; and while it's said that "opposites attract", it doesn't seem true of such utter opposites as ourselves and G-d Almighty. Yet Ibn Pakudah affirms that it's indeed plausible for us to say that we can love Him -- as much as is humanly possible.

He posits that there are actually three degrees to which we humans can fully love G-d to the best of our abilities: with what we own, with what we're comprised of, or with what we are. For we can dedicate everything we own to His service, we can imperil our health and well-being for His name's sake, or we can be willing to relinquish our very lives if that's somehow appropriate (though it's vitally important to recall that that's only very rarely called for by our faith; and any willingness to go so far is more a gauge of one's love rather than a requirement of it).

And indeed some rare souls were willing to do all of that if they had to, to mark how much they loved G-d. In fact, our forefather Abraham demonstrated as much, as well as others of his stature. So we see that it *is* humanly possible to truly love G-d. But it calls for G-d's direct and outright intercedance, since it's normally beyond human capacity and all but unnatural, so few of us have what it takes.

Hence it's clear that loving G-d isn't simply yearning for Him or venerating Him affectionately as we might imagine (though that's certainly laudible). It's far more comprehensive than that. But most of us can express a great degree of love for G-d by being generous with our means and by extending our spiritual reach, as well as by taking advantage of the following.

For as Ibn Pakudah informs us, "even if we express a love for G–d ... in the expectation of getting something in return for it, or because we fear (retribution) in this world or the world to come (if we don't) ... but we (still and all) try to fulfill mitzvot all the time, then G-d will strengthen us and help us arrive at true love."

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(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".

"The Great Redemption" (21)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

R' Ashlag 31 (sect. 1)

[Note: I'll transfer the whole chapter over to Ravashlag.blogspot.com once it's completed. This is only section 1 of two sections.]

__________________________________________________

Chapter Thirty-One:

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

31.

1.

-- Rabbi 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 written in Tikkunei Zohar regarding the verse, 'The leech has two daughters (named) Give (and) Give’ (Proverbs 30:15), that 'the leech stands for Gehennom where all the wrongdoers stranded there cry out Give! Give! like dogs; Give us all the riches of this world and The World to Come!' (Tikkunim Chadashim 97B)".
-- That’s to say, since our sages argue that it’s greedy, lowly, and wrongful to want to be fulfilled on both a worldly and otherworldly 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 actually 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 taught here that while we've indeed been created selfish and self-serving, 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 *G-dly purposes*. And so we'd do well to set aside the fine foods we crave for Shabbat, when we serve G-d 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 (literally, 'not for its name’s sake'), since by doing that we (eventually) come to observe it for altruistic reasons (literally, '*for* its name’s sake') (Pesachim 50B)."
-- Our 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: 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 Rabbi 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 G-d’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 13 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).

(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 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".

"The Great Redemption" (20)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

Elul and "The Gates of Repentance"

Please follow my postings of part of Rabbeinu Yonah's Shaarei Tshuvah.

Der Alter

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 3

"In Search of Spiritual Excellence"

-- A Reworking of Classical Mussar Texts

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org
__________________________________________________

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 3

But, honestly now -- how do we ever come to love G–d sincerely and altruistically on a day-to-day level?

There are a number of prerequisites, we're taught (each one of which is a virtual career onto itself, the truth be known). We'd first need to acknowledge G-d's existence in our lives in a heartfelt way, dedicate everything we do to Him, serve Him for His name's sake alone, and to surrender ourselves to Him as well as to those who know and worship Him.

We'd then have to be introspective about our obligations to G–d and about how often He conceals our iniquities from sight, and about how patient and forgiving He is; and we'd then need to delve into the books of the prophets and the ancients to see how they came to love Him, then to reflect upon G-d's wonders in the world.

Once we'd done all that, we're told, "as well as having abstained from the pleasures and desires of the world; having fathomed the Creator's greatness, essence, veracity and exaltedness; having reflected upon our own relative worthlessness, insignificance ... in the face of G-d's abounding goodness and great kindness" –– we'll come to love Him "wholeheartedly and with genuine purity of soul, and to long for Him vigorously and ardently".

One sure and more practical way to arrive at so exalted a level, we're told, is to foster a sense of awe of Him in our daily lives, and to constantly remind ourselves that He oversees everything we do from the inside out, guides us mercifully, and draws near to us in love.

Do that, we're assured, and "you couldn't help but turn to Him in your heart and mind genuinely, and in perfect faith", and "you'll never desert G–d in your thoughts". Do *that*, "and He'll never depart from your eyes. He'll be with you when you're alone, and dwell with you" wherever you are. "A room full of people would seem empty to you" since you'd be facing G-d, "and an empty room would seem not to be" because you wouldn't be alone at all.
(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

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

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