PMF
Jewish Section - Rabbi Brandwein's Essays
Ramchal's - Daat Tevunot
Rav Avraham Brandwein, Dean
B"H
Part II
A creature can never ultimately grasp Elokut, because Elokut is
infinite, whereas a created entity is always finite and limited.
So that portion of Elokut - meaning, that aspect of Elokut that
the Neshamah does grasp - that aspect is considered a part. That
is, it is no longer a part of Elokut, but is now a separate
entity. This must be understood well...
The main principle is that there is never any change in Elokut,
as the prophet says, "Ani Havayah, Lo Shiniti - I am Hashem, I
do not change." All change is therefore from the point of view
of the created world, the mekablim, the receivers. When we say
that the Neshamah is a portion of Elokut, we do not mean that
Elokut can be divided into segments. Elokut cannot be divided,
because all movement, all change, is a result of a lack. Lack
stimulates movement, which is meant to compensate the lack. In
other words, why does a person get up in the morning? Why does
he go to work? Why does he feel a need to learn? Because he feels
an inner lack. The more active a person is, the greater his sense
of lack. Rest, the opposite of action, indicates less lack, fewer
needs, and therefore entails far less movement, far less action.
All changes, all divisions, derive from lack. Since Elokut does
not lack, it is characterized as being absolute Rest and
Tranquility. All change, when applied to Elokut, do not imply
that change is taking place in Elokut itself, only in relation
to the mekablim, the receivers. We will explain this with a
mashal.
Take a piece of colored glass. For instance, a glass colored red,
or blue, or green. Place this piece of glass in front of the sun.
The light that streams through this glass will now take on the
color of the glass, red, or blue, or green. Of course, these
"colored lights" are not intrinsic to the sunlight itself. The
sun does not change just because its light passes through such
colored glass. The change in the color of the light is solely a
result of passing through the colored glass, the mekabel, the
receiver. We may say that the light is red, or blue, or green,
but we do not mean that the source of the light has been effected
by this change. The change only exists from the point of view of
the mekablim. We therefore say that this is a portion of the
light of the sun.
In the same way, the Neshamah is made up of two things. First of
all, we have the Neshamah itself, the will to receive. But this
will to receive is not all there is to the Neshamah. For the
Neshamah is also a portion of Elokut on high. What then is this
Elokut that the Neshamah is a portion of? That very spiritual
light, that very Godly light that the Neshamah receives into
itself... Since the Neshamah is limited, and it cannot receive
the totality of Elokut into itself (because this is impossible
for a finite creature to fully experience the Infinite Creator...
It can never grasp more than its limitations as a creature allow
it to grasp...). So that very light that it is able to receive
into itself is called a chelek of Elokut.
This then is the meaning of chelek eloka mima'al. The intention
is not that Elokut can be divided into parts. Rather, when we
speak of change and movement, this is always from the point of
view of the mekablim.
To summarize: The Neshamah consists of vessel and light. The
vessel, is the will to receive, and this also has a light. Of
course, the light is limited and restricted to the level of the
vessel that contains it. So also the Elokut of the Neshamah. At
the same time that its Source is Infinite, when it is separated
so to speak and told to come down into the world, it is limited
to the capacity of the will to receive it... As it grows and
develops more, so this capacity grows and it resembles its Source
more and more. It transforms its will from the will to receive
into the will to give. By doing this it resembles its Creator...
Let us now return to our text: The Sechel says: Ana Panaich
Mu'adot? - What specific goal do you wish to attain? In other
words, What do you wish to know? Behold, there are thirteen
principles that are fundamental to the Torah. Which of these do
you wish to consider?
The Neshamah says: I have no trouble believing in all thirteen
principles without any reservations whatsoever. There are some,
however, that I believe and understand, while there are others
that I believe in, but which I have trouble understanding and
comprehending clearly.
That is, there are certain principles that I believe in and also
understand and comprehend, but there are others that, while I
admit that they are true, and accept the fact that I am commanded
to believe in them, I have trouble understanding them. The only
reason I believe that they are true is because I am commanded to
do so whether I understand them or not. But I really do not
understand.
The Sechel asks: Which do you hold through belief alone, and
which through reason as well?
The Neshamah answers: [I believe and understand:]
All of these I believe and understand, and I require no further
explanation concerning them. The final four principles, however,
I do not understand. They are:
Ten: Divine Providence.
I surely believe in these as articles of faith, but I would like
to acquire a rational understanding of them that would be
intellectually satisfying.
We see here two things. The Neshamah finds no trouble believing
and even understanding that Hashem exists and that His Unity is
Absolute and All-encompassing. She understands that Hashem
brought the world into existence from nothing and that He gave
the Torah to Moshe. She does not understanding, however,
Hashgachah, how Hashem runs the world, how He rewards and
punishes... Thus, although she believes, meaning, she believes
that Hashem is good and does good, that everything He does is for
our best, she does not understand through her own experience, or
her own experience seems to contradict this...
This is the meaning of believing that Hashem is mashgiach
(oversees and supervises) everything. Because, to the best of our
understanding, Hashem Yitbarach is the Ultimate Good, and His
desire is to bestow the Ultimate Good on us, which, as Ramchal
explains in Derech Hashem, is the reward of being able to attach
ourselves to Him based on our own efforts. Therefore, even those
things that happen to us that do not seem to be for our benefit,
still, we are commanded to believe that these things also come
from Him.
The problem is, and this is what bothers the Neshamah, besides
believing in this, she wants to understand.
So the Sechel asks: What exactly is difficult for you to
understand about this?
The Neshamah now articulates her problem: [I am bothered by]
certain powerful events that take place in the world [and which
cause great changes in the world], which seem at first sight to
indicate the opposite of (or a complete absence of) Hashgachah
(Divine Providence), God forbid. [The problem is that] it is
almost impossible to logically understand such events because we
cannot see where they lead to. [The total concealment that
characterizes these events prevents us from understanding] what
Hashem wants from His creations. To what end is He directing
things? What will the final unfolding be? For Hashem's actions
are so vast that the human mind cannot comprehend them. I would
therefore like you to teach me and guide me on a straight path,
to see the rightness of these things, without deviating to the
right or left.
First of all it is important to be aware of a very important
principle. The questions that the Neshamah asks are not questions
of curiosity, or academic or philosophical questions. Concerning
questions like these, the Mishnah in Chapter Two of Chagigah has
already taught us: Whoever contemplates the following things -
it would have been better had he not been born: What is above,
what is below, what was before, and what will be after.
This refers to a person who wants to probe what reality was like
before Hashem created the world, or what will be in the end of
days, the final generations, what will happen then... These are
not practical questions. The Neshamah, on the other hand, wants
to know about those things that have a bearing on her, so that
she will be able to serve Hashem better. This is consistent with
what we saw at the beginning, "Know today and bring [this
knowledge] into your heart that Havayah is the Supreme Being."
It is for this reason that the Neshamah does not ask about
Hashem's Unity, His Eternity. Rather, she asks about things that
human beings have trouble understanding about their own lives,
namely, the things that seem to indicate the opposite of
Hashgachah, the absence of Hashgachah.
What is the opposite of Hashgachah? It is known that when we
speak about Hashem, we understand that He is utterly Good and
wishes to make that Goodness accessible to us. And this is how
we should conceive of Him, that He is HaTov VeHaMetiv, utterly
Good and Giving. Still, there are certain experiences that seem
to contradict this. For instance, as we shall see, the problem
of the suffering of the righteous, and the success of the wicked.
Each and every individual is bothered by and grapples with these
things in one way or another. Sometimes we feel that Hashem is
with us, allowing us to transcend our circumstances. At other
times, all seems so dark. Hashem's Presence is greatly concealed.
In other words, sometimes we experience aliyot (ascents) and at
other times, yeridot (descents).
Therefore, in order to really come to the clear Knowledge of
Havayah Hu HaElokim, we have to know that Havayah, Hashem's
Compassion, His Goodness also determines everything that happens
in our lives, that Havayah Hu HaElokim. Even Elokim, and Elokim
alludes to the powers of Nature, and in Nature we see that things
do not always seem to fit our concept of Hashem's running the
world for our benefit... Even Elokim.
It is about this that the Neshamah asks. Why? Because her whole
ability to serve Hashem depends on her making peace with these
things. These are therefore not only philosophical or theoretical
questions, but questions of practical concern. Therefore the
whole difference between true Torah and philosophical speculation
is that Torah concerns itself with the service of the heart. We
thus see that the answers that were given by the Prophets and all
the great Leaders of Israel, were not answers of what seemed most
correct, but answers that they had already lived through and
with, meaning to say, they grasped them in actuality, as the
verse itself tells us, "And bring this knowledge into your
heart." Therefore, they did not just give us good guesses or nice
theories, or what seemed right to them.
This is therefore the question of the Neshamah: How does Hashem
run the world?
We can now add another important point. The truth is, that in
order to come to the truth, to understand it, a person must first
of all believe. Meaning, there are two levels of Emunah, of
believing.
The first level is to believe because we were thus commanded,
even if we don't understand, meaning, that our minds and our
feelings cannot see that a particular experience was for our
benefit. Nevertheless, we are commanded to believe that Kol Mah
deAvid Rachmana LeTav Avid (everything that the Compassionate One
does is for the good). That everything is from heaven, that
nothing happens below without something first happening above,
as our chachamim said, "A person does not even receive a knock
on his finger without it having been decreed first above." That
everything is for the Good even if we do not see it.
After this, there is a higher level, when a person comes to the
level of understanding. When he sees the end results of a thing,
he grasps how it could only have come about after a prior hester
(a divine concealment) or an evil occurrence. He understands now
that these things only appeared to contradict the principle of
Kol Mah deAvid Rachmana LeTav Avid because, when they were
happening, he couldn't possibly have seen what would result from
them.
This is similar to a man who does not understand how to make a
piece of clothing. If he happens to see a tailor cutting cloth
for a suit, he will think that the tailor is ruining a perfectly
good piece of material. The truth is, however, that this
destructive act is really a tikkun (a fixing, something that is
for an ultimate good).
This is similar to what we see concerning the laws of Shabbat.
The Halachah is that only one who destroys something for the sake
of fixing it has done an actual melachah on Shabbat. Whereas if
someone just destroys something, this is not considered a
melachah.
Another example is if someone who knows nothing about agriculture
will see a farmer planting seeds in the ground, he will imagine
that that is the end of that seed.
He could also taste a fruit which is bitter because it is still
unripe, and think that it will never be fit for consumption.
In all of these cases, however, if a person could see ahead a few
steps, he would understand that the present is merely part of a
process that leads to something ultimately very good.(5) Being
part of a process that leads to good makes even the part that is
not good into something good and beneficial. When it is seen
alone, out of context, as an isolated event, it is considered
bad. But when it is seen as part of a purposeful process of
Ultimate Good, it is no longer considered evil, but good. This
is the second level of Daat, of knowing and understanding, that
the Neshamah wishes to acquire, "a rational understanding that
would be intellectually satisfying."
Now, what about Emunah? The Mitzvah of Emunah (Believing in
Hashem's Existence) is the first commandment of the Aseret
HaDibrot (Ten Commandments). As the verse says, "Anochi Hashem
Elokecha." But the truth is that a person who has reached this
level of Emunah which includes Daat (Knowledge and Understanding)
has reached a higher level of Emunah. This is the true Emunah,
the Emunah that is desired of us.
For example, imagine a ruler or a king of a country whose
subjects believe in him without question. They know him, they are
familiar with his great wisdom, his great righteousness. They
recognize that everything he does it for their good. Without a
doubt, they will obey whatever he commands. If he raises the tax,
they will pay it willingly, and won't ask questions. Why? Because
they know that everything he does is for their benefit. They
therefore do not ask questions, Why? Why do you demand this? Why
do you act thus? Because they know and are certain. Knowing the
ruler's reasons will not add to their faith in him. They rely on
his judgment completely.
But if a there was a ruler or a king about whom there was a doubt
about his actions, his wisdom. Then, everything he would command,
every decree, every order, immediately, all kinds of doubts and
questions would arise. Why does he act thus? Why does he oppress
us with such taxes? And the burden of the ruler's decrees needn't
be that heavy. The smallest tax will arouse questions. Why?
Because it is human nature that the moment we don't understand
what we are being asked to do, we will balk. Every new decree
will cause us difficulties.
We see this, for example, when a simple person asks someone else
to bring him something, even from a distance of a couple of feet.
He will question why. Why do I have do serve you? Can't you do
it yourself? On the other hand, if this was an important
personage asking him to do this, he wouldn't think twice. He
would even run a great distance willingly. He would find no
difficulty whatsoever. Why? Because the basic difficulty of doing
anything arises from the doubt a person has, his inability to
believe, that what he is being commanded is right.
Therefore, when a person reaches this higher level of Emunah
together with Daat, and he sees the greatness of Hashem's ways,
he now does everything out of the purest Emunah. On the contrary,
Emunah is for him even greater than the reasons that he
understands. Because he understands that any reason he could
possibly understand is limited and could never exhaust the real
reasons behind Hashem's actions. He understands that human
comprehension is limited, while Hashem's commamdments are
extremely sublime. As David HaMelech said, "LeChol Tichla Ra'iti
Ketz - To every purpose I have seen an end, Rechava Mitzvotecha
Meod - but Your commandments are extremely vast," that is,
without end, infinite. On the other hand, any reason we could
understand would be limited in its scope, limited to how we
perceive things. Therefore, having reached the level where he
intuits Hashem's greatness, that He is Melech Malchei HaMelachim,
and he truly grasps the implications of this, he, on the
contrary, prefers pure Emunah, Emunah that transcends Daat.
We therefore have two types of Emunah. The first level of Emunah
is lower than a person's Daat, and it is also an Emunah that a
person feels he must believe, but does not understand why he must
believe. He believes because he is commanded to believe. This is
not the highest level of Emunah. It is important, but not the
highest level. It is important as a beginning, as we see at Mount
Sinai, "Hashem lifted the mountain up over them and told them:
If you receive this Torah, fine. If you do not, then this will
be your burial plot." In response, we said "Naaseh VeNishma - We
will do and we will hear." What is Naaseh? It is the initial
level of Emunah, the level at which we do not yet understand, but
we do anyway. Nishma is already a higher level of understanding.
And beyond this is, after having understand to a certain extent,
there is the level of Emunah that transcends understanding. This
is the highest level...
Now we understand why the main function of Emumah is when things
are concealed, during a time of Hester Panim, the hiding of
Hashem's Hashgachah. When we do not see clearly from our limited
point of view that what is happening is coming from the Tov
HaMetiv, the One who is Good and who does only Good. At times
like these, we need the highest level of Emunah.
This also involves the matter of the Tachlit, the Purpose of
things. The Neshamah says here: "What does Hashem want from His
creations? To what end is He directing things? What will the
final unfolding be?" In order to understand the concept of
Tachlit, Purpose, we can take the following mashal.
Imagine a person who receives only good, if there was such a
thing. For example, he is served a drink, and the drink is very
good, sweet and pleasing. Once he determines that the drink is
good, he drinks and asks no questions. This is what pleases him,
gives him benefit and pleasure, so he drinks.
If, however, he would be served or commanded or forced to drink
something bitter, he would immediately ask Why? For what purpose?
Wny should I drink this? This teaches us that the questions about
Tachlit usually come up when there is a question of something
that seems bad. This is where our Avodah (our service) becomes
operative; when a person asks: Why is the world like this? Why
is there evil in the world? This is one of the things that spurs
a person...
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