R' Ashlag Ch. 30 (sect.1)

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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30.


1.

"The second stage (of our Divine service) extends from age 13 and onward, and it’s when the point in the heart -- which is the hindmost part of our holy soul and garbed in the native ratzon l’kabel -- is fortified. It only begins to come into play, though, after (we reach) age 13, and it begins to enter the realm of the system of the holy worlds, though only 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 G-d, 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.
-- R’ Ashlag is emphasizing the idea here that we only begin to grow aware and to be sensitive from age 13 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.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

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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" (16)

"The Great Redemption" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto

-- A Discourse on The End of the Exile and the Beginning of the Great Redemption

Translated by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
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16.

Now, you need to know that all these lights and things will be illuminated internally and won’t be detected from the outside. That’s why only the Jewish Nation will experience stirrings and rectifications; and not the ministering angels, guardian angels, and all other angels. For as it’s known, the Jewish Nation emanates from the “inside” while the angels emanate from the “outside”. That’s why it’s said. “ ... and my insides yearned for him” (Song of Songs 5:4).

Know, too, that when these lights radiate with such longing and desire, they bestow great and mighty light upon each and every individual of the Jewish Nation, though it can't be detected. Their souls will take in this illumination and they’ll be moved to return to G-d their L-rd and to seek Him. Thus it's written, “When you are in distress and all these things come upon you in the end of days, you will return to G-d your L-rd” (Deuteronomy 4:30); and it’s said, “I arose to open to my Beloved” (Song of Songs 5:5).

Understand that the aforementioned “arising” (see Ch. 11) is a great secret. (It refers to this:) as long as the Jewish Nation dwelt in the dust -- which alludes to the husk -- the holy union couldn’t come about. It first had to arise, and (only) then unite with its Beloved. That’s (the import of) “I arose to open to my Beloved” (Song of Songs 5:5).

(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 Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 1

"In Search of Spiritual Excellence"

-- A Reworking of Classical Mussar Texts

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org
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"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Ten, Ch. 1

We're said to love G-d when we long for His presence and want nothing better than to cling to Him. But, how could any one of us ever come to that, seeing how very human we are? After all, aren't we just naturally and routinely drawn to the earth, despite the loftiness of our souls (which would explain our pull to G-d)? So let's spend a little time addressing the relationship between our body and our soul.

Understand first off that it's our soul that reigns ultimately, despite the fact that it's impalpable and invisible in a very tactile and visible world, and thus seems to not really be in control. (This irony alone helps to explain a lot about our spiritual struggles, by the way.) Understand as well that the soul loves the body, its mate. Nonetheless, we often give the body more leeway and actually encourage a rift between it and the soul. The secret for success, then, is to allow the soul to hold sway after all.

Now on to the dynamic between the body and soul. When the soul "senses the presence of something that would benefit and improve the body's lot", we're told, "it focuses its attention on that thing and longs for it" on some level, since it will be such a help to the body. But when, conversely, the soul senses the presence of something that could augment *itself*, it "focuses its attention on it" on a whole other level, in that it "clings to it in thought, dwells on it, and desires and yearn for it" -- i.e., it comes to love it.

But the body is so demanding and needy that the soul can't help but pay a lot of attention to it (both because of the body's requirements, and because of the soul's love for it), so the soul is very often more occupied with the body's needs than with its own more ethereal and eternal needs.

There comes a time, though, when the soul draws upon pure reason and comes to be rather fed up with the body's mundane demands, and it starts to lean toward its own (and *our* own) needs. Its "eyes" suddenly "open, and it sees clearly rather than through a cloud of ignorance of G–d and of His Torah, and ... many aspects of our Creator ... become clear to it", as Ibn Pakudah puts it rather arcanely.

And that's when it begins to happen -- when the soul first starts to revere G-d, and then to finally fall in love with Him. For the soul "begins to perceive G–d's abilities and His essential supremacy, and it comes to surrender itself ... to Him in *reverence, dread, and terror* in the face of G-d's Essence and greatness". But there then comes a point in this phenomenal moment when G-d Himself comes to reassure the soul of His own love for it and to allay its fears. The soul then "longs to drink from the cup of the love of G–d, to dedicate (itself) to Him alone, to love Him, trust Him and yearn for Him". And it then begins to occupy itself "with nothing but the service of G–d, (and with) nothing but thoughts of Him".

The soul suddenly comes to care little for this world, and it becomes oblivious to all the pain and pleasure we experience in life on some obscure, ethereal level. And it then tries to inspire the whole of our being to follow in its ways. We'll listen to it if we're wise; for that's what those who love G-d would do.

(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".