Torah Spirituality

138 Openings of Wisdom

by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL")

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"The redemption will come about only through the study of the Torah. And the essential redemption depends upon the study of the Kabbalah"
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138 Openings of Wisdom makes available online the first English translation of KLaCh Pischey Chokhmah by the outstanding kabbalistic genius, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL", 1707-47). The translation is by Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum.

138 Openings of Wisdom was written by Ramchal as the final step on a ladder of initiation into the kabbalistic wisdom that starts with Derekh HaShem ("The Way of G-d") and Da'as Tevunos ("The Knowing Heart"). Those embarking on the study of Kabbalah are advised to study these works first.

138 OPENINGS OF WISDOM
Translated by Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum

Considered by leading scholars to be the classic exposition of the kabbalistic system, this work provides the student with all the concepts and understandings necessary in order to navigate and find meaning in the Zohar, the writings of the ARI and other kabbalistic literature.

Size: 23.5 x 17 cm. 512 pages. Handsome gold-stamped, tooled imitation-leather binding.

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138 Openings of Wisdom is considered by leading scholars to be the classic exposition of the kabbalistic system, providing the student with all the concepts and understandings necessary in order to navigate and find meaning in the Zohar, the writings of the ARI and other kabbalistic literature.

1. Oneness: God's existence, His will and control

2. His desire is only to bestow good. Even evil is a means through which He bestows good. In this way His oneness is clearly revealed.

3. The ultimate goal of creation is to bestow the ultimate good on God's creatures.

4. His desire to bestow good to perfection through the revelation of His oneness is the cause of the deficiencies in the world, which create the conditions for man's service. The revelation of His oneness is itself the reward.

THE SEFIROT

5. The Sefirot were an innovation in that they are visible lights, whereas Eyn Sof is not visible.

6. The Sefirot are what Eyn Sof wanted to reveal of His attributes.

7. How the Sefirot appear in the prophetic vision. The images seen by the prophets and what they represent.

8. The Sefirot may appear in opposite likenesses even simultaneously. Both are true representations.

9. The form in which the Sefirot appear is a spiritual form, yet even this form is not part of their intrinsic essence but only the form in which they appear when seen through the "looking glass" of Malchut.

10. How the Emanator operates through the Sefirot - through chains of cause and effect, and by clothing one power in another. How these appear in prophecy.

11. The images of prophecy derive from Malchut, and only through the lens of Malchut can we understand what is above it and what is below it.

12. Everything that exists and the way everything is governed is all a single order arranged in the underlying likeness of Adam. Adam Kadmon ("Primordial Adam") encompasses everything.

13. The underlying spiritual forms. The circular and straight or upright form: general and individual providence.

14. The government is structured to produce man possessing free will - and everything is laid down in Keter.

15. About Keter, the First Foundation, it is forbidden to ask. From Chochmah onwards it is a mitzvah to investigate.

16. Two kinds of direct and returning light: in the government of the worlds and in the developmental chain.

17. Sefirah and Partzuf: government - overall and individual.

LETTERS AND NAMES

18. The government of the worlds is implemented through the letters.

19. The 22 letters.

20. The letters are different combinations of Kindness, Judgment and Mercy -- lines and dots, signifying opening and closure.

21. The action of the letters is completed by the musical notes, vowel points and crowns.

22. The musical notes, vowel signs, crowns and letters are governed under the order of the ten Sefirot included in the Name of Havayah and its expansions.

23, The lights execute their functions through the holy names which make up the Torah.

THE TZIMTZUM

24. The act of Tzimtzum

25. The result of the Tzimtzum: the Sefirot became visible.

26. Details of the Residue that filled the Empty Space.

27. How the Line governs the Residue.

28. The Line divides into the Inner and Encompassing Light of the Sefirot.

29. The Line shines within the Sefirot though a garb.

30. The rule of good and evil and the rule of unity

ADAM KADMON

31. The entire government of the universe is ordered under the four letters of the Name of HaVaYaH

32. The radiance of Adam Kadmon

33. The branches of Adam Kadmon successively reveal the Likeness of Man

34. The connection between AV, SaG, MaH and BaN and their place of emergence from Adam Kadmon's sensory organs.

35. Absorbed within the lights that break forth from the branches of Adam Kadmon is the root of the Vessel.

THE WORLD OF NEKUDIM
The Breaking of the Vessels

36. The World of Nekudim

37. All the damage and repairs in the world are rooted in the breaking of the vessels and their repair.

38. The connection of Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah with Atzilut

39. The world of Nekudim is the material out of which all the details divide up.

40. The connection of Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah with Atzilut at their root in Nekudim

41. The connection of the Line with the Residue - soul and body - becomes complete only after the emergence of evil and its return to good.

42. The light joins with the vessels according to the degree of their repair, which will be completed in the future.

43. The root of actual evil lies in Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah

44. Why the specific root of the Other Side lies in the world of Nekudim

45. Evil was rooted at the end of the vessel, so that when the light reached there, the vessel broke.

46. The fall and breaking of the vessels - to produce evil

47. The repair of the vessels from evil, albeit incomplete

48. The repair of Malchut by man, through which everything is repaired completely

49. The production of evil and its future return to good. Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah became Atzilut-Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah but will later turn back into Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah.

50. The entry of the light into the vessels and its exit are the root of the governmental order of this world in a state of damage and repair.

51. The root of the creations is in the seven lower Sefirot, while the first three only direct them. When the vessels broke, the first three Sefirot did not break, but were flawed through their connection with the lower seven.

52. The intrinsic essence of Zeir Anpin (of the Primordial Kings) is stern judgment - divisiveness and limitation - out of which comes the Other Side. Zeir Anpin is rectified and sweetened by Imma through the arousal of the Nukva.

53. The order of the repair

54. What happened to the vessels when they were broken. The difference between the breaking and the repair.

55. AV is Arich Anpin, the root of AV, SaG, MaH and BaN - Abba and Imma, Zeir and Nukva.

56. The difference between the name AV contained in AV, SaG and MaH and that contained in BaN

57. The function of the overall AV - 288 sparks - is to prevent the destruction of the vessels and the world

58. MaH (Yesod) builds Nukvah (the deficient BaN), after which Zeir Anpin sends her a flow of blessing.

THE WORLD OF REPAIR

59. The root of the repair - the joining of MaH and BaN: interrelation and kinship between the Sefirot

60. BaN and MaH were bound up under Malchut and Yesod of Adam Kadmon, and then coupled together to bring about the repair.

61. The connections between MaH and BaN produce the "Tree" - Atzilut-Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah. The repair is completed through men's deeds.

62. The Sefirot of BaN are the root of defects and punishments, while facing them are the Sefirot of MaH, which repair them.

63. For every function and for each effect there are two generators through the coupling of male and female - Kindness and Judgment coming from MaH and BaN - and likewise in the soul and body.

64. The role of the Male and Female in the channeling and repair of MaH and BaN

65. Male and Female before the Nekudim. The Balance as the root of Male and Female thereafter.

66. Coupling, Pregnancy and Birth

67. The legs of Arich Anpin sustained the broken vessels; the folding of the legs repaired and elevated them.

68. All parts of the creation and its laws serve the general repair

69. Balance. Cooperation between all the lights brings the complete repair.

PARTZUFIM

136. When Zeir Anpin and Nukva are complete they are ready for Interior and Exterior coupling.

137. The Shechinah is complete when all the lower creations - the angels and the souls - are included within her.

138. The order of Coupling through the Male and Female Waters