Klach Pitchei Chochma -- Petach 1 (Part 2)

Klach Pitchei Chochma -- 138 Openings to Wisdom

By Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto

As adapted by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Petach 1 (Part 2)

2.

Ramchal then goes on to address the place of Kabbalah in all this. He asserts that Kabbalah “is first and foremost meant to exhibit the truth of the [Jewish] faith”. His point is that what Kabbalah does so well is to explain why we believe what we do, and by implication, why we do what we do.

He adds that “it (also) comes to illustrate how all … (of creation) materialized out of the Supreme Will” rather than out of sheer nothingness and at random. It likewise “demonstrates how everything is governed as it should be” rather than haphazardly, and “by G-d” alone; it provides us with “in depth understandings of all the rules and processes of Divine governance”; and it comes to illustrate the fact that what G-d wants most of all is “to bring the entire cycle of creation to perfection in the end.” This last point will be discussed later on [2].

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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Notes:

[2] Elsewhere Ramchal explains that the Kabbalistic system serves three purposes, all of which are spoke of in this section: to illustrate how the various names and depictions of G-d’s “traits” apply (which he terms its most “superficial” role); to demonstrate the fact that G-d will eventually exhibit His abiding beneficence which will then lead to the undoing of wrong and the ultimate reward of the righteous; and (it’s most significant role, he makes clear) to reveal G-d’s Yichud and ever-presence, and to indicate how everything will eventually return to its Source (see end of Iggrot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at). This last, decidedly recondite point is the “the truth of the [Jewish] faith” cited above that Kabbalah is meant to reveal.

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