Adir BaMurom — Chapter 18: The Ma'amar of the Straight Path (Orach Yashar) — Rosh and Sofa; Adam's Sin; Free Choice

All the rectifications that human beings must make — all of which go toward eliminating the secret of Tohu and Vohu — all depend upon THIS RUACH. For: "the spirit of G-d hovered upon the face of the waters" — even in the hour when there was Tohu and Vohu, the Ruach of Mashiach never ceased hovering upon the face of the waters. Therefore it can afterward strengthen and become the light. And: even in exile, which is the aspect of Tohu and Vohu, this Ruach hovers. But at the time of redemption when it is revealed: "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light" — as in: "and a spirit passed and cleared them" [Job 37:21].

And the great principle: EVERYTHING THAT WILL BE DONE IN THE DAYS OF KING MASHIACH — ADAM HARISHON COULD HAVE DONE IT ON THE DAY HE WAS CREATED. The sin of Adam only lengthened the time. For the tikkun that needed to be done was destined to happen in any case — he only prolonged it with his sin. And: the Ruach of Mashiach flows through Ze'ir Anpin and stirs all his sefiros — "to where the spirit was to go, they went" [Ezekiel 1:12] — and through it the ZIVUG is made. And this Zivug gazes upon all matters of all created things and oversees them appropriately. And this entire path goes according to the secret of the TREE OF LIFE — for the path of the Zivug is the reinforcing of the GOOD, with no evil whatsoever.

And the SECRET OF FREE CHOICE: The blessed Emitter is the ultimate good, and His will is only to do good to the utmost. And from the utmost good — EVEN EVIL SHALL RETURN TO GOOD. For had He compelled the return of evil to good — that would not be called a return but a compulsion, and the good would not be complete [for the receivers would be as one who eats bread that is not his own and is ashamed to look at the face of the one who feeds him — Yerushalmi]. Therefore the JUDGMENT according to free choice was necessary — for through it the things return to this tikkun by their own path, and what was in potential becomes actual.

And: the ultimate end is not more than what was already in potential from the beginning — it only shows HOW things were already thus from the first, since the beginning and the end are the same. For the Ayn Sof is equally the same in His complete equality, and no change reaches Him whatsoever — whether it is the power of the ROSH [head/beginning] spreading in its unity, or in the end — the SOFA's work. And this is: "I am first and I am last" [Isaiah 44:6], and: "see now that I, I am He" [Deuteronomy 32:39].

And the TZIMTZUM was made AT THE CENTER OF ALL THE INFINITE LIGHT — for the Tzimtzum is like the center of a circle, toward which all the rays of the infinite converge. Only there is there an opposite [a "bad"] to the infinite good — and when it is ultimately revealed that this "opposite" is none other than the Holy One Himself [for when the evil returns to good, it is revealed that it was never truly other] — then His Unity is clarified completely. And we understand why the holy Name SHEM [HVYH] is mentioned alongside KINUY [ELOHIM]: for the kinuy is the concealment, the garment of the Shem — and all evil is only a kinuy, a concealment, that hides the inner Name. When the concealment is removed, the good shines through everywhere. And this is: "and the glory of G-d shall be revealed and all flesh shall see together" [Isaiah 40:5] — the flesh that experienced "breaking" from the aspect of Elokim will recognize that it was really the word of HVYH throughout.

And: the SEVENTH MILLENNIUM = the revelation of SOFA, the rest that comes after the toil. But there is still a higher revelation needed — the EQUALIZATION of Rosh and Sofa, recognizing that they are one — and this is the difference between the seventh and eighth millennia: in the seventh the Rosh reaches the Sofa and joins with it; in the eighth all together stand in one equalization as from the very beginning. And this is the complete Unity: "Hashem is One and His Name is One."

And the CREATION OF ADAM: Before Adam was below to worship, the pairings [zivugim] above were only in the aspect of ascending in desire [selik bi-reuta] — for the complete zivug below had not yet occurred. And: "there was no man to work the ground" — for the rain [= the pairing-flow from above] had not yet begun, because heaven and earth had not yet fully separated. The grasses were waiting at the door of the earth, as our sages said, until Adam came and prayed and they emerged [Chullin 60b]. And when Adam was created and stood to work — ROSH withdrew and SOFA remained, and only then was the complete form of ZU"N established, and the grasses emerged from the ground.

And: "the L-rd G-d planted a GAN in Eden" — Gan Eden was in fact created before the world, but it is mentioned after the creation of Adam because only now does it become actual [not merely potential]. And: the TZIMTZUM [plants] of Gan Eden are the 613 commandments; the EDEN-NAHAR [river of Eden] is the ongoing flow of sustenance according to the commandments; and the four rivers that spread = four directions, reaching even the camps of the SA — for even there the sustenance flows, each according to its side. And it was in the Garden that the two great TREES were given — either to work with the TREE OF LIFE [= the power of the Rosh spreading in its unity against the single comprehensive obstacle] or to work with the TREE OF KNOWLEDGE [= the way of the Sofa, repairing each evil particularily and returning it to good]. These are the two choices that stood before Adam — and either one leads to the same ultimate point: the revelation of the Divine Unity in the fullness of good. Only through the Tree of Life it would have been immediate; through the Tree of Knowledge it requires the long process of exile, tikkun, and redemption.

Chapter 7 of Adir BaMurom is the longest and most profound chapter in the entire work — the Ramchal's masterpiece: a complete systematic exposition of the second half of the Idra Rabba, from the continuation of the Eye of Arikh Anpin through the final closing of the Idra. It spans pages 116–488 of the printed text (373 pages) and covers seven major thematic arcs:

I. THE EYE OF ARIKH ANPIN (§§1–11b, pp. 116–340). The five senses as breaking-through points of light; the Reshimu as vessel and the Kav as light; the three white hues [chivorin]; how ZA's eye has no illumination except from AA's; the Mikveh's three aspects [40 Se'ah / 9 Kabin / 3 Lugin] as the sweetening of the Eye's Gevuros; wine becoming water; chachlili einayim mi-yayin; the double bonding of ZA with AA drawing Imma's milk to wash ZA's eyes; the third white hue sending illumination downward to all six extremities; tov ayin hu yivorach — the blessing going out from the goodly eye; yiras ha-romemus vs. yiras ha-onesh; hineh lo yanum ve-lo yishan shomer Yisroel — 60 letters of Birkas Kohanim as the protection of the All.

II. THE NAME OF ATIK AND THE GREAT TEACHING ON CREATION (§§12–12b, pp. 341–397). The Name of Atik Yomin is hidden throughout Torah except at the Akeidah, where bi nishba'ti ne'um Hashem reveals that Atik IS the inner secret of HVYH itself; the complete teaching on the Tzimtzum and the Kav; Torah preceded the world by 2000 years [= the YH before the VH]; the world first created with Din then with Rachamim; BEREISHIS = Torah; the Patriarchs as cosmic forces [Avraham = Kav = 248 = Chesed; Yitzchak = Reshimu rectified; Yaakov = lights breaking through]; Esav and Yishmael; Moshe = Shem MaH; the 70 nations from the Nikkudos; Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben Dovid; NACHASH = MASHIACH in gematria — Mashiach binds the klippos as head controls tail; the Nose of Arikh Anpin as Malchus of the head-tikkunim; the two breaths: one for ZA now, one reserved for Mashiach; the four lights of the Nose flaring into the Great Sea [Dikna]; the Four Kingdoms of Daniel [Bavel/Paras-Madai/Yavan/Edom]; Atik Yomin sitting on the Dikna of Arikh — "when Atik sits upon it, it is subdued; the one who rides controls."

III. THE RUACH OF MASHIACH, FREE CHOICE, AND THE SIN OF ADAM (§13, pp. 398–440). The Ruach of Mashiach was created before the world and all human tikkunim depend on it; everything Mashiach will do — Adam HaRishon could have done on the day he was created; his sin only lengthened the time; the two trees = two paths to the same ultimate point; the Tree of Life = immediate direct path; the Tree of Knowledge = the long path of exile and tikkun; the secret of Free Choice — G-d is the ultimate good and even evil must return to good; judgment by free choice enables this without coercion [= the shame of "bread not one's own"]; ROSH and SOFA [beginning and end] — the Unity of the Emitter is equally present in both; 7th millennium = revelation of Sofa; 8th millennium = equalization of Rosh and Sofa = "Hashem Echad u-Shemo Echad"; the Tzimtzum at the center of all infinite light — when its opposite [evil] is revealed as identical to the Blessed One, His unity is clarified completely; SHEM and KINUY: ELOHIM is the cognomen concealing HVYH — all evil is only a concealment that hides the inner good; nine Heichalos; the Pargod between Keter and Chochma; Gan Eden's plants = 613 commandments.

IV. THE PARGOD, THE NINE HEICHALOS, AND THE 42 PAIRINGS (§13b, pp. 441–460). The Pargod [brain membrane] is born from Chochma's pursuit of Keter — it is the root of all screens between all levels; its shape = the letter Aleph [two Yuds facing a Resh]; nine Heichalos as root of Atzilus; three illumination levels [Keter = sealed Kamatz; Chochma = Patzach = opened; Bina = the Mouth/Peh]; mati ve-lo mati — in the reaching aspect things are known; in the not-reaching aspect all gathers in Unity; the 42 pairings through the seven Heichalos of BIY"A; the Korbanos ascending from below, connecting Kavod to Atzilus and Atzilus to Ayn Sof.

V. THE EIGHT EDOMITE KINGS (§13b cont., pp. 460–488). Each of the eight Malchin Kadma'in [primordial kings] in Bereishis 36 corresponds to a stage in the world's governance: BELA = the sealed mouth of Bina / chesron ha-da'as / reward and punishment; YOVAV = the trembling voices [ro'esh] / Shevarim-Teruah / all worldly hardship; CHUSHAM = the senses / 2000 years of Tohu / materialist blindness to Providence; HADAD = Tiferes breaking / the domain of SA's unchecked power / ultimately destroyed; SAMLAH from MASREKAH = the nations as fallen garments of Jewish souls / Mashiach as the folding Vav completing for the later generations / Chirik→Shuruk→Cholam at redemption; SHAUL from RECHOVOS HA-NAHAR = Yesod / Torah-joy through revelation to others / David inheriting and completing this; BAAL-CHANAN = times of expansiveness vs. sealing of lights / the tzaddik-mouse and the evil-mouse; HADAR = the general tikkun of all the Breaking / ZU"N united / TZEDEK + YaK = HADAR / Ruach HaKodesh from Malchus — the final governance.

VI. SOULS, GARMENTS, AND MASHIACH'S FOLDING (§§13b–14). Before Adam's sin, all souls were to be Israel and the nations only their outer garments; after the sin the garments fell; Mashiach stands at the "fold" between the earlier and later generations, completing for those who could not complete for themselves; the Tzaddik = Yesod = the giver to the Nukva; Torah-joy = the flaming of the 231 gates when Torah is revealed to others; Yerushalayim = City of Tzedek; Tzedek + YaK = Hadar = the final king = the final tikkun.

VII. THE METAPHYSICS OF THE EMITTER (§§13–13b). Woven throughout the chapter's final arc: the Keter is the first emanation and may not be investigated [only from Chochma downward]; the sefirot are the Emitter's attributes as they relate to those below; there are nine upper Heichalos and seven lower Heichalos; the ultimate reward of souls is endless new comprehension of the Infinite; the blessed Emitter desired that even the evil of exile shall be revealed as good — so that in the end not merely "the illness passed" but the illness itself is transformed into the healing.

1 The Pargod as the membrane of the brain: see Zohar Bereishis 15a; and see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Tzimtzum.

2 On the nine Heichalos as root of Atzilus: see Zohar Pekudei 259b; and Kla"ch Petach 136.

3 On Mati ve-lo mati: see Kla"ch Pataich 93–94; Pischei Chochma ve-Da'as §9 (Sha'arei Ramchal p. 144).

4 On the 42 Zivugim = the seven Names in the Heichalos with 42 letters: see Kitzur ha-Kavanos p. 162; and Sha'ar ha-Zivugim.

5 On Bereishis = Bra Shis: Zohar Bereishis 3b. On the seven Voices: Zohar 2:25b (parashas Va'era).

6 On the Eight Edomite Kings = eight stages of Breaking and Tikkun: see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Shvirah; and Maamar Sod ha-Yichud (Ginzei Ramchal p. 270).

7 On the Vavs = garments of AK contracting to threads: see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Klalim §3; and Kla"ch Petach 29 (p. 87).

8 On Mashiach as the folding Vav: see Da'as Tevunos Part 2 (Ginzei Ramchal p. 48); Maamar Sod Demut ha-Adam (Ginzei Ramchal p. 263).

9 On the Simchas Torah = flaming of the 231 gates: see Tamid 32b; and Kla"ch Petach 52.

10 On Tzedek + YaK = Hadar: Sha'arei Ramchal p. 386. And see Kla"ch Petach 58 on Malchus as Yesod.