I. Tikkunim Chadashim of the Ramchal
A few days ago I was having a conversation with a friend as to how to understand the Ramchal's worldview as a Kabbalist. I mentioned to him that I felt that as he had not studied some of the Ramchal's more intensely Kabbalistic works, he was not seeing the full gamut of the Ramchal's approach. That night I could not fall asleep, and I decided, after the conversation I had just had, to open a fairly intense work of the Ramchal's that had long sat unopened on my shelf. It is called Tikkunim Chadashim and is probably best described as a neuvo-Zohar work of the Ramchal. It was one of his books that got him in trouble with the establishment as they felt it was inappropriate to write using the Zohar's dialect.
I quickly saw something that really amazed me which I would like to share with you. After I present the original Aramaic, I will translate his words and then endeavor to explain what he means.
The Ramchal begins his work by explaining that there are a number of different types of Zohar, of Splendor or Shine, that are bestowed upon the world. In this paragraph he is focused on the second one. He explains that this is the Zohar upon which the joy of Torah study is dependent. It is referred to as the Wine of Torah, about which the verse in Koheleth says that wine brings joy to life. This is the realm of Chochma and Binah, and of the Kabbalists who operate in the paradigm of the Tree of Life. However, in the paradigm of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we are taught that one who has imbibed alcohol, may not issue a Halachic ruling. The Tree of Knowledge is the place of ruling one way or another, of discerning the law one way or another. Rule to the right, rule to the left. Discern to the right, discern to the left. That is where wine leads to inebriation and one must refrain. But within the paradigm of the Tree of Life wine brings joy to life, the joy of this Zohar.
The Ramachal is creating a dichotomy. On the one hand is Tree of Life, the home of the Kabbalists, to which wine brings joy, and on the other hand there is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the place of Halachic ruling, in which wine drinking will invalidate the procedures and lead to inebriation. What is the meaning of this distinction?
II. Quantum Halacha
Wine and Kabbalistc knowledge are intertwined. The Talmud teaches us that נכנס יין יצא סוד, that יין, wine, and סוד, Kabbalistic secrets, share the same Gematria. The result is that when one drinks wine he is in the realm where he can divine the secrets of Kabbalah, he is in the world of the Tree of Life. That is a realm in which אלו ואלו דברי אלוקים חיים is very much alive and present. It is a world in which the deepest secrets of spiritual existence are known and where simultaneously seemingly divergent opinions can happily co-exist, because it is a place where no lines need to be drawn and all truths can be clearly seen.
However, step into the world of the Tree of Knowledge, the paradigm of right and wrong, there can no longer be a divergence of opinion. Lines must be drawn, decisions must be made. Choices of right and wrong, good and evil must be made at all times. We are not in the world of wine which diffuses those lines, and inebriation can be the only result of imbibing.
As an aside, I will mention here my Theory of Quantum Halacha. Quantum physics teaches us that when photons are shot through a two-slit screen they will travel through the right slit, through the left slit, through both and through neither. All four of these statements are true simultaneously. Fascinatingly, this changes if there is an observer at the time the photon passes through the slit. When there is an observer, only one path can be taken. In a similar vein there is a state of Torah study in which all opinions, even those which seem to be contradictory, are true. This is, again, what Chazal refer to as אלו ואלו, this opinion and that opinion are both the words of the true God. This is akin to the state mentioned above of the Tree of Life, the state in which no lines need to be drawn.
However, practically speaking, in the way in which we live, ultimately a decision must be made. Halacha is meant to be lived and not just theoretical, and one path must be chosen. The posek who issues the Halachic ruling is akin to the observer, under whose observation there ends up being only one path on which to walk. (This is, perhaps, why God demurred to give the Torah to angels. The angels could engage with the Torah in the realm of the Tree of Life, but could never engage in the sharply drawn world of the Tree of Knowledge.)
III. Choice
I was left with one question. Adam was in Gan Eden and presented with the option of living in the paradigm of the Tree of Life or that of the Tree of Knowledge. He could live in a world where all was true, or one in which he would have to create distinctions and leave some things behind. Why did he choose to leave the one world and enter the other?
I would suggest (as others have before me) that in the world of wine, the world of the Tree of Life, there would be no place for him to exercise free will. It was an existence in which all options that could be created were all true and valid. Choice had no place.
But Adam wished to be Godlike, and God chose. God had chosen to create a Universe, and Adam wished to be a chooser as well. His only option was to partake of the Tree of Knowledge and enter into the realm of choice, so he could then emulate his Creator, as he was meant to do.
A few days ago I was having a conversation with a friend as to how to understand the Ramchal's worldview as a Kabbalist. I mentioned to him that I felt that as he had not studied some of the Ramchal's more intensely Kabbalistic works, he was not seeing the full gamut of the Ramchal's approach. That night I could not fall asleep, and I decided, after the conversation I had just had, to open a fairly intense work of the Ramchal's that had long sat unopened on my shelf. It is called Tikkunim Chadashim and is probably best described as a neuvo-Zohar work of the Ramchal. It was one of his books that got him in trouble with the establishment as they felt it was inappropriate to write using the Zohar's dialect.
I quickly saw something that really amazed me which I would like to share with you. After I present the original Aramaic, I will translate his words and then endeavor to explain what he means.
זהר תנינא, דא זהר דבה תליא חדותא דאורייתא. ודא אקרי חמרא דארייתא, דביה ויין ישמח חיים מסטרא דכחמה ובינה. ואילין מארי קבלה מסטרא דעץ החיים. אבל מסטרא דעץ הדעת טוב ורע אתמר בה: שתוי יין אל יורה דעץ הדעת תמן יורה יורה ידין ידין יורה לימינא יורה לשמאלא, ידין לימינא ידין לשמאלא, ותמן יין המשכר דאצטריך לאסתמרא מנה. אבל מסטרא דעץ החיים, יין ישמח חיים, חדותא דזהר דא
The Ramchal begins his work by explaining that there are a number of different types of Zohar, of Splendor or Shine, that are bestowed upon the world. In this paragraph he is focused on the second one. He explains that this is the Zohar upon which the joy of Torah study is dependent. It is referred to as the Wine of Torah, about which the verse in Koheleth says that wine brings joy to life. This is the realm of Chochma and Binah, and of the Kabbalists who operate in the paradigm of the Tree of Life. However, in the paradigm of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we are taught that one who has imbibed alcohol, may not issue a Halachic ruling. The Tree of Knowledge is the place of ruling one way or another, of discerning the law one way or another. Rule to the right, rule to the left. Discern to the right, discern to the left. That is where wine leads to inebriation and one must refrain. But within the paradigm of the Tree of Life wine brings joy to life, the joy of this Zohar.The Ramachal is creating a dichotomy. On the one hand is Tree of Life, the home of the Kabbalists, to which wine brings joy, and on the other hand there is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the place of Halachic ruling, in which wine drinking will invalidate the procedures and lead to inebriation. What is the meaning of this distinction?
II. Quantum Halacha
Wine and Kabbalistc knowledge are intertwined. The Talmud teaches us that נכנס יין יצא סוד, that יין, wine, and סוד, Kabbalistic secrets, share the same Gematria. The result is that when one drinks wine he is in the realm where he can divine the secrets of Kabbalah, he is in the world of the Tree of Life. That is a realm in which אלו ואלו דברי אלוקים חיים is very much alive and present. It is a world in which the deepest secrets of spiritual existence are known and where simultaneously seemingly divergent opinions can happily co-exist, because it is a place where no lines need to be drawn and all truths can be clearly seen.
However, step into the world of the Tree of Knowledge, the paradigm of right and wrong, there can no longer be a divergence of opinion. Lines must be drawn, decisions must be made. Choices of right and wrong, good and evil must be made at all times. We are not in the world of wine which diffuses those lines, and inebriation can be the only result of imbibing.
As an aside, I will mention here my Theory of Quantum Halacha. Quantum physics teaches us that when photons are shot through a two-slit screen they will travel through the right slit, through the left slit, through both and through neither. All four of these statements are true simultaneously. Fascinatingly, this changes if there is an observer at the time the photon passes through the slit. When there is an observer, only one path can be taken. In a similar vein there is a state of Torah study in which all opinions, even those which seem to be contradictory, are true. This is, again, what Chazal refer to as אלו ואלו, this opinion and that opinion are both the words of the true God. This is akin to the state mentioned above of the Tree of Life, the state in which no lines need to be drawn.
However, practically speaking, in the way in which we live, ultimately a decision must be made. Halacha is meant to be lived and not just theoretical, and one path must be chosen. The posek who issues the Halachic ruling is akin to the observer, under whose observation there ends up being only one path on which to walk. (This is, perhaps, why God demurred to give the Torah to angels. The angels could engage with the Torah in the realm of the Tree of Life, but could never engage in the sharply drawn world of the Tree of Knowledge.)
III. Choice
I was left with one question. Adam was in Gan Eden and presented with the option of living in the paradigm of the Tree of Life or that of the Tree of Knowledge. He could live in a world where all was true, or one in which he would have to create distinctions and leave some things behind. Why did he choose to leave the one world and enter the other?
I would suggest (as others have before me) that in the world of wine, the world of the Tree of Life, there would be no place for him to exercise free will. It was an existence in which all options that could be created were all true and valid. Choice had no place.
But Adam wished to be Godlike, and God chose. God had chosen to create a Universe, and Adam wished to be a chooser as well. His only option was to partake of the Tree of Knowledge and enter into the realm of choice, so he could then emulate his Creator, as he was meant to do.
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