json/Jewish Thought/Acharonim/Essay on Fundamentals/English/merged.json

{
    "title": "Essay on Fundamentals",
    "language": "en",
    "versionTitle": "merged",
    "versionSource": "https://www.sefaria.org/Essay_on_Fundamentals",
    "text": [
        [
            "<b>Regarding the Creator, may He be Blessed</b>",
            "That which you need to know at the beginning of everything is that there is a first Being that is the Master of all beings; that He brought them into being when He wanted, preserves them so long as He wants and controls them completely. That is God, may His name be blessed. ",
            "This Being, may He be blessed, is perfect in all types of perfection. There is no lack in Him at all. He is not dependent on anything besides Himself and he is not affected by anything besides Himself at all. There is no beginning to His existence and no end [to it] at all. The explanation [of this] is that He did not become after He was absent, and He will never come to absence at all. Rather He always was and always will be. His absence is completely impossible. He is the cause of all that exists, but He has no cause. Rather His existence is necessitated by itself.",
            "It is also necessary for you to know that this Being, may His name be blessed, has no composition and no plurality in any way. Rather He is completely uncompounded; and no property having to do with bodies or events is relevant to Him. Moreover, He is devoid of any limit or boundaries or of any relationships or laws of nature. ",
            "And more than anything must you know that the truth of His properties and His existence, may He be blessed, is not comprehensible at all, and that they have no similarity to any of the properties of the created things or to any of the illustrations that we imagine with the imagination or construct with the intellect. And there are no words or descriptions that fit Him or that are truly correct about Him. Rather, in all that we will speak about Him, we will speak with words that are borrowed or brought over, in order that we may understand that which we need to understand about His properties, may He be blessed. For since we only have words that refer to natural properties that are limited by the limits of the creatures, it is impossible to speak without these words. Yet this is a major warning about all that we will teach and speak about His properties, may He be blessed: That these descriptions and words that relate to Him do not truly relate to Him, but rather only [metaphorically] and in no other way. And be very careful about this."
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding the Spiritual Beings</b>",
            "The Master, may His name be blessed - just as from His unlimited ability, He created the physical beings that our eyes see; so too did He want and create other beings besides these. They are more elevated; unfelt and unperceived by our senses. And just like He gave specific limits and laws to the physical beings, so too did He give other laws to these elevated beings, according to that which His wisdom determined would be correct for them in accordance with their properties. However that which is limited by the limits that are known amongst us, which are the natural limits that we feel from our senses, is called physical; and that which is devoid of these rules is called spiritual. And their limits and laws are according to what is appropriate for their properties, as we have mentioned.",
            "And you need to know that just like there are different species among the physical beings - and according to the various species are there laws specific to each one - so too, are there many species of spiritual beings which are all from the category of the spiritual, yet their laws will be according to their specific specie. However, the general rule for the entire category of the spiritual is that their properties and limits are not comprehended by us as they truly are. But we have known about their existence and some of their properties, according to that which was passed down to us from our prophets and the Sages, may their memory be blessed.",
            "And behold the species of this category are three: The first are called ethereal powers; the second, angels; and the third, souls. The ethereal powers are spiritual beings devoid of bodies. They are pure and very elevated. And they are the closest to God's presence, may He be blessed, such that He is always resting upon them. And they are called by names according to their level - wheels of the throne, or <i>ofanim</i> or that which is similar to this. The angels are spiritual beings that are created to do the tasks of the Creator, may He be blessed, in anything that He desires. And each of them is appointed for the matter that the Supernal Will passes on to it. And there are different levels, one below the other. And each one of the levels has laws and limits, as is correct for them according to the Divine Wisdom. The souls are spiritual beings that are destined to go into bodies and to connect with them and form a great bond with them. And they have specific laws according to their properties and according to their situation. The explanation [of this] is that there are indeed different situations for souls; as they exist outside of the body and they exist within the body. And their existence outside the body is of two types - one before they are inside the body, and the other is their existence outside of the body after they have already been in it. And they are limited by confines according to these different situations; and they are adapted to the different contingencies and vary according to what is appropriate for the situation they are in. The angels are all surely the servants of God, may He be blessed, the fulfillers of His word. And all matters of the world are done through them, whether for the good or for the bad. And from this perspective, they are divided into two groups - the group of the good and the group of the bad. The explanation [of this] is those appointed for good things are such whether for good physical things or good spiritual things; and those [for bad are] appointed for bad physical things and spiritual things. And those that are appointed for bad things are called destructive angels and damagers.",
            "There is one other type of creature that exists, which is a specie between the physical and the spiritual. That means that it has some of the limits of the physical and its properties, but it is [also] devoid of some of them. And the name of this specie is spirits (<i>sheidim</i>). They possess some physicality, but not like our physicality. And they [also] possess some spiritual properties, but not completely like those of the spiritual beings. And they also have many different levels; and according to their levels are their laws and limits.",
            "There is nothing in the lower world - neither essential nor contingent - that does not correspond in some way to something above among the ethereal beings. And likewise is there nothing below that does not have angels appointed over it, which lead it and establish properties and events for it, according to that which is decreed by the Master, blessed be He. And that which the lofty beings are effecting upon the physical beings is called impact (<i>hashpaah</i>).",
            "All of the impact that comes from the lofty beings for the sake of the lower beings passes through the stars. And it comes out that the stars that impact the most are closest to the lower beings; however their impact is only from what they draw from above.",
            "The Master, blessed be He, gave permission to all of these spiritual beings to effect the lower beings in an unnatural way when the lower beings stimulate them through given means that are prepared and devised for this. However none of [the spiritual beings] have the power to do everything that it wants. Rather each one is limited by the confines set for it, such that it can only effect those actions that were given to it to act within those limits. And there are among these things [that impact upon the higher beings], things that are permissible to us and things that are forbidden to us. And this is [like] the Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzirah) [on the one hand] and acts of sorcery [on the other]."
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding the Torah and the Commandments:</b>",
            "The essence of all creation is that the Creator, may He be blessed, wanted to create man, such that he would cling to Him, may He be blessed, and enjoy the true good. And this would be by there being two paths before him - the path of good and the path of evil - and that he would have the ability to choose which one of them he wants. And when, from his intellect and from his will, he would choose good and reject evil, he would then receive the true eternal good. However all the other creatures were only created because the Supernal Wisdom saw the need for them in order for the world to be complete, such that man be found in it in the manner that we have stated and he be able to serve God, may He be blessed, to receive the true good through it. Nevertheless the need for the world of all of the creatures is not known to us. Yet we have had it transmitted to us from the Sages, may their memory be blessed, that man is the essence of all, that all the other creatures were created for him and that the essence of man's creation is that he merit the true good. However, the Supernal Wisdom saw fit that in order for them to attain this true good, it would be fit at first for them to be tested and to overcome the test. And behold for this reason, He created a world for him in which there would be room for him to be tested. This means that there would the existence of good and the existence of evil in [the world], such that he could reject evil and choose good. ",
            "However the truth of the existence of good and evil is that the Master, blessed be He, placed holiness and impurity into the world. The explanation of holiness is the existence of closeness to Him, may He be blessed; and that of impurity is the existence of distance from Him, may He be blessed. Holiness is the impact that the Master, blessed be He, effects upon someone who is fitting for it and the influence that descends upon him. And impurity is the distancing that the Holy One, blessed be He, distances Himself, and the absence that He [so] produces. However the truth is that the Master, blessed be He, created various spiritual powers for this purpose. And darkness and pollution are effected by them, such that in every place that you find this pollution, He will remove His holiness from there and remove His light from there, may He be blessed. And these are called the powers of impurity (<i>kochot hatumah</i>).",
            "In any case, the Master, blessed be He, planted power in the actions of man to stimulate the higher roots. And that is that [these actions] should draw the light of the impact of His holiness, may He be blessed, and the light of His goodness; or draw the pollution and that impurity. So behold He designated actions through which holiness would be drawn down and He commanded [man] to do them constantly, and these are the totality of the commandments. And He [also] designated actions through which pollution would be drawn down and He commanded him to refrain from them, and these are the totality of the prohibitions.",
            "Indeed, the true good is nothing but attachment (<i>deveikut</i>) to Him, may He be blessed. And we have already explained that the commandments are what draw down the impact of His holiness, may He be blessed, and the light of His goodness. Hence they are the means through which the true good is attained. For one who sanctifies himself greatly with the impact of His holiness, may He be blessed, is worthy of attachment to Him, and to enjoy the true good. But one who sullies himself greatly with the pollution that we mentioned will be unworthy of attachment to Him, and will be pushed off from Him. However there are many levels in all of these things - whether in the impact of holiness or of the pollution that we mentioned - and likewise with the good that is acquired by good actions and the rejection through which a man is pushed away from it by bad actions. And this is the distinction between a man and his fellow in true rank, as we will still explain with the help of the Heavens.",
            "And you need to know that just like it is given to man that he may draw down holiness or pollution to himself; so too is it given to him that with the power of his actions, he brings down holiness or pollution to the whole entire creation. Then it comes out that the entire creation is refined or corrupted through man. And this is considered a merit for the righteous that [thus] improve creation; and a liability for the evildoers that [thus] corrupt it, as we have explained further on.",
            "However the method through which the actions of man draw down this impact is through the power of the correspondence between the lower forms of existence and the higher powers that we mentioned above; such that when one of those that exist below moves, it stimulates the corresponding power above. And then through this power, the result is caused by what is caused by the drawing down of impact. For behold if this action be from the ones that are commanded, it will stimulate the power above it and strengthen it, such that the power of holiness will be drawn down from Him, may He be blessed, corresponding to the nature of the stimulation that was aroused. But if the action was from those that are disallowed, it will cause a defect in the higher power according to the nature of that evil action, such that His light, may He be blessed, correspondingly be made absent and He distance Himself. And in its place, one of the powers of impurity - which is the opposite of the holy impact that is absent - is aroused, and impurity is drawn down from it corresponding to the stimulation that is aroused. And in this manner, repentance removes the defect, such that there will no longer be any power to the powers of impurity [here] to act. So the impact of holiness will be brought down as is fit."
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding Repayment</b>",
            "Behold the human specie was selected from all other species in that it was given free choice and the power of its actions to draw down the flows that we mentioned. And from this angle, there is a property in it that is not found in any other species. That is that [man's] actions are repaid measure for measure. This repayment is divided into two sections - one in this world and the other in the world to come.",
            "Repayment in the world to come is that according to one's actions that he did in this world is established his level of the true good - which is attachment to Him, may He be blessed. And he enjoys this forever and ever. But this too is divided into two sections - in the world of the souls; and in the world of resurrection, which will still be explained further on with the help of the Heavens. The repayment in this world is that success or troubles of whatever kind are determined for one according to his actions.  ",
            "And you need to know that the essence of true repayment is the true good that the righteous merit in the future to come. Likewise the greatest punishment is the loss of this good completely. Nevertheless there are commandments that according to the righteous [divine] trait of justice are fit to be repaid in the world to come and also in this world - with success in this world and with its benefits. And likewise are there sins that according to the righteous trait of justice are fit to be repaid in this world and in the world to come. There are [also] commandments that justice requires that they be repaid in the next world, but not in this world; and sins that justice requires that one be punished for them in the next world, but not in this world. And then there are commandments wherein justice for them is that they be repaid in this world and that nothing remain for their doers in the world to come; and sins wherein justice for them is in this world and that their doers not be punished at all in the world to come. And the righteous Judge judges everything perfectly, in such a way that everything is done fairly, without any perversion [of justice] at all whatsoever. ",
            "And behold just like the body and the soul do the actions - both for the good and for the bad - together, so too must they be repaid together. However with the sin of the first man (Adam), death was decreed upon the entire human specie, such that one may not reach the true good without dying. And the concept is that, behold, pollution was absorbed into the body that [makes it] impossible for it to attain attachment to the Supernal One so long as this pollution is absorbed in it. And it does not leave [the body] until [the body] dies and returns to the dust; then it becomes cleansed of [the pollution] and returns to be built in purity, without any pollution at all. Then the soul returns to it and lives; and together, they shine with the light of life forever and enjoy the true good according to the actions that they did in their first life. And this is the concept of resurrection that is well-known amongst all of Israel.",
            "Nevertheless, the whole time that the body is in the dirt - continually decomposing from its original form - the soul is stationed in a place of rest, if it merits it. And this is the world of the souls. And there it attains something similar to that which it will attain in the future to come, after the resurrection - according to the actions that it did while living."
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding the Garden of Eden and Gehinnom</b>",
            "And now behold that places were prepared for the souls when they leave the body: One is to rest there until the time of the resurrection, if [a soul] merited it; the other is to purge it with punishments, if it carries sins that prevent it from resting. And so the place of rest is called the Garden of Eden, and it has different levels. There exists an upper Garden of Eden and a lower Garden of Eden. In the lower one, the souls exist with the appearance of the body in which they resided, and they enjoy various types of spiritual enjoyments there - this place was prepared with these types of enjoyments that were designed to exist there. And in the higher one, the souls exist in the manner of actual souls; and they enjoy greater and more sublime spiritual enjoyments than the enjoyments on the lower one. And there exists passage of time there and different seasons, for the varying different enjoyments. And there are [also] different levels for those that enjoy them.",
            "And Gehinnom is the place for souls that are fit to be punished. And there they receive anguish and pains, corresponding to that which is appropriate for them, in accordance with their properties. And there are different levels of anguish, just as there are different levels of delight. So through this anguish, the sinners are absolved of their iniquity. And if they are fit for reward afterwards, they are purified from their sins and go to [the place of] rest. But if not, they are punished until they are destroyed. And this thing almost never happens amongst Israel."
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding Providence</b>",
            "See now that the Master, blessed be He, constantly supervises all of His creatures, preserves them and directs them, according to the purpose for which He created them. ",
            "However since the human specie was set aside to have reward and punishment according to its deeds - as we wrote above - its providence was also made different from that of the other species. And that is because the providence over the other species is [only] for the preservation of that specie according to the laws and limits that He wanted, may His name be blessed. So behold, He supervises the details of each and every specie regarding what results from them for the whole entire spiece, but not regarding them as individuals. For see that their purpose is only for the perfection of the aggregate specie. In contrast, [with] the human specie - besides what results from each and every individual for the entire specie, he is supervised individually regarding what he is in himself. So he is judged on all of his actions as an individual; and decrees are made upon him as an individual - according to his specific circumstances.",
            "And you need to know that the actions of man are divided into two types: The first is that which is a merit or a liability for him - meaning that he does a commandment or a sin. And the second is that which is neither this nor that, such that there is no commandment nor sin involved with it. And see that anything that has to do with a commandment or a sin - in any manner that it may be - is completely given over to the hands of man; there is no one that will coerce him about it at all. And the Supernal Judge observes them all, to judge them according to what they are, and to decree the fitting repayment corresponding to them. But regarding that which is not composed of a commandment or a sin, the properties of man are like the properties of the other species in their contingencies. They are indeed brought upon them from the Highest Power, who brings it to them either for the preservation of the laws of its specie or for him to receive reward or punishment, according to what is fitting for him.",
            "And behold the Master, blessed be He, supervises everything, judges everything and makes all of the decrees. And the angels are His servants, each one appointed for its role - to move that which is within its limits, or to supply each person with that which is according to his [choices], regarding repayment, as we said above.",
            "And you need to know that even though the Master, blessed be He, truly knows everything, and nothing is hidden from Him and there is never any new knowledge for Him - He nevertheless did not establish the administration of His world and His statutes according to this. Rather he [established it] according to the order of statutes that He wanted, which resembles the practices of the worldly kingdom. So He judges the things in courts of law with angels; with witnesses that testify on the matters, prosecutors that make the claim and defendants that plead the defense. And all of them are angels, the tasks of of which are what we mentioned - some to testify about what happened, others to prosecute and still others to defend. And the final judgement is according to correct and righteous justice. "
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding Prophecy and the Prophecy of Moses</b>",
            "The Master, blessed be He, willed and prepared a type of revelation in which He would be revealed to people while they are still alive in this world, such that He would reveal to them certain content of His wanting from His mysteries and secrets, and about His providence and what He would bring to His creatures. And this is called prophecy.",
            "Note that this revelation happens in specific ways that His Wisdom, may He be blessed, saw fit to be appropriate for this. And there are many different levels to it. However that which is common to all of them is that it becomes clear to the prophet with complete certainty that the One revealing Himself to him is God's Glory, may He be blessed; that he understands what is being revealed to him; and that he has no doubt about his prophecy at all.",
            "However when this matter occurs to him, behold that it is preceded by great trembling; and all of the limbs of his body shake and his senses are numbed, such that he becomes like a man that is sleeping. And within this trance of his, visions are then shown to his eyes; and from what is shown to him, he grasps the revelation of His Glory upon him and knows that which it is the Supernal Will that he know. And see that besides the knowledge that the prophet gains through the revelation of prophecy; in that which he has reached in becoming a prophet, it is necessary that he had attached himself with great attachment to God, may He be blessed, to the point that he merited this revelation. And from the angle of this attachment, he is indeed on a very high level, such that he has reached [the ability] to do miracles and wonders corresponding to the level of attachment that he has attained.",
            "However you need to know that fully all the levels of the prophets are all lower than the prophecy of our teacher, Moses, peace be upon him, and are greatly different from it. For any man can reach all of them, if he merits it; but the prophecy of our teacher Moses, peace be upon him, was on a unique level designated for him. It is completely impossible for another person to reach it.",
            "And see that below the level of prophecy is the level that is called, holy spirit (<i>ruach hakodesh</i>). [Its] content is that a flow from God, may He be blessed, impacts the intellect of a person. When it reaches him, knowledge of a certain matter comes to him, without a doubt or a mistake. And he will know the thing completely with its causes and effects - every matter according to its level.",
            "However it is possible that through this flow, he will comprehend things that can [also] be understood by the limitations of the natural human intellect. Nevertheless, the advantage of this way over one who comprehends them in the [natural] human way is that in this way, he comprehends them without toil and without error, such that there is no doubt left about them; which is not the case when they are comprehended in the human way. But it is also possible for him to grasp content which is not within the limits of the human intellect to grasp. Among them are hidden things and the future.",
            "But note that this holy spirit is felt by those that attain it, such that one who receives it recognizes without a doubt that it is a flow that is impacting upon him. However it also sometimes occurs that a flow impacts upon the heart of a person and makes him understand certain content, yet he does not feel that he is impacted. Rather [he thinks] that it came to him like one for whom a thought comes to his mind. And by way of expansion and without precision, this is [also] called, holy spirit."
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding Salvation</b>",
            "Behold, Israel is the choicest of the human specie and the people that is destined for attachment to Him, may He be blessed. So it is fitting for them to be crowned with the crowns of great holiness that His Divine Presence dwell upon them and attach Itself to them, such that they can perfect themselves through It until they merit the true good.",
            "And you need to know that even though the true good is acquired by each and every person individually according to his deeds, the entirety of creation is nevertheless not perfected until the chosen nation is arranged properly as a whole, it is perfected with all of its crowns and the Divine Presence attaches itself to it. Afterwards the world will reach its perfect state, and each and every individual will merit that which they have merited according to their specific deeds. ",
            "But from the beginning of creation until now, this matter has still not been perfected. For as soon as he was created, Adam sinned. And afterwards when the forefathers began, and their children were drawn after them, to become the treasured nation - nevertheless due to several sins that turned them backwards from the complete rectification, the matter was never properly perfected. And it comes out that regardless, we must reach this - that the nation be perfected with all of the conditions that are required for it. Then the entire creation will receive its perfection; and then the world will be fixed in its rectified state in which the righteous will be permanently set up for steady enjoyment. And the enjoyment of each one of them will be according to their [specific] deeds.",
            "And note that the Supernal Wisdom limited the service of people and their efforts towards perfection to six thousand years. And afterwards, the world will be renewed in a different fashion that is fit for that which will happen in it afterwards - meaning the eternal pleasure for those that merit it. But before these six thousand end, there is surely a need for the chosen nation to raise itself up to the state of its perfection, such that things can proceed from there afterwards, to eternity. And this is that which we have been promised will occur regardless. And the vehicle for this will be someone from the descendants of David, whom the Master, blessed be He, will choose for this and help succeed in it. And this is the messianic king. And behold in his time, and through him, Israel will experience a great rectification; and after them, all of the creation. Good will increase in all aspects and evil will completely depart - whether in that which regards the soul or in that which regards the body. That is to say that the heart of stone will turn into a heart of flesh [Ezekiel 36:26] - meaning that the inclination to good will expand among people in such a way that they will not be drawn towards the physical at all, but rather always be inclined towards [divine] service and Torah [study], so they will be strengthened through it. And corresponding to this will tranquility and relief increase, and there will be no damages or losses at all. And this is what the prophets have promised (Isaiah 11:9) \"In all of My sacred mount, nothing evil or vile shall be done, etc.\" And there will be no foolishness in the world, but rather all hearts will be full of wisdom; and holy spirit will be poured out in such a way that everyone will merit it without any difficulty at all. And this is what the prophet said (Joel 3:6), \"I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, etc.\" And behold they will rejoice and be gladdened from the great goodness, and they will attach themselves to the Creator, may He be blessed, and serve him with perfect service. And through this, they will continuously raise themselves until they reach that to which they are supposed to reach in order to leave [this condition and get] to the permanent condition of the renewed world.",
            "And behold that among the nations of the world, a great selection will happen among those that will be found at that time: Those who according to Supernal Justice will be fit for extinction will be destroyed by war and pestilence and by all types of punishments; and those that will be fitting to be saved will be saved. And they will remain and recognize the truth, leave their idols and subjugate themselves to Israel. Then serving and servicing Israel will be glorious for them, in that they will recognize and know that surely through this will they attain the holiness and light of the Lord that is possible for them to receive. And see that the whole world will be drawn after the service of the Creator, may He be blessed; and there will be no idolatry in the world at all. And this is [the meaning of] that which the prophet stated (Zephaniah 3:9), \"For then I will make the peoples pure of speech\"; and [that which] is written (Zechariah 14:9), \"and on that day, the Lord will be one and His name will be one.\"",
            "Nevertheless all of the living need to die and return to the dust - at least for a short time - before the resurrection. And afterwards those fitting to rise [from the dead] will live again through the resurrection. ",
            "And behold that the righteous and the evil will arise during the resurrection. Then the evildoers that sinned, but their punishment that was fitting for them was not completed, will be punished as is fitting. And after the resurrection will truly be the great day of judgement, when the Creator, may He be blessed, will judge everyone and determine those fitting to remain forever and those fitting to destroy. Those fitting to be destroyed will be punished according to that which is fitting for them and, in the end, completely destroyed. And those fitting to remain will remain at the level that they need to reach, according to the statute of the renewed world.",
            "And see that after those that are fitting to remain forever - everyone according to his level - are [thus] readied, this world will return to emptiness and void; meaning it will lose its form. And the water will return to water, as at the beginning of the creation. And between this and that, the Holy One, blessed be he, will raise up the righteous ones that have been called to eternality with His word like ministering angels, such that they will not need this world. However they will have not yet attained the true good that is fitting for them. Rather, after He will hold the world in emptiness and void the amount of time that the Supernal Wisdom decreed, He will renew the world in a new form that is appropriate for that which is fitting to exist eternally. And the righteous ones will return to it and exist in it forever, enjoying the true good - everyone according to his level. "
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding Miracles</b>",
            "Behold all of the creations all exist because His Will, may He be blessed, decreed it. And likewise all of their laws and limits are only implanted in them because that is what His Wisdom decreed would be the most appropriate for them. However just like He implanted all of these laws with His will, so too may He suspend them and change them according to His will at any instant and time that He wants. And the matters that He, may His name be blessed, changes in the world, which are not according to the way of the law that he implanted in nature are that which are called miracles. Note that, in general, the Master, blessed be He, wants nature to exist according to its rules. As since He chose them and made them the way they are, He certainly knew that this was the choicest way. Nevertheless, that does not prevent Him from changing them when He wants, at times known to Him.",
            "It is indeed possible that He do a miracle to show confirmation of His providence and His power; and it is possible that He do it because it is appropriate for that deed (there is a need for a specific outcome). And [when it is for] confirmation, it is possible that the thing be grasped and revealed according to the simple understanding of the deed and for its content to be famous; and it is possible that it be according to that which is hidden in the matter and the hidden providence that is in it. And it is also possible that [a miracle] be for many other reasons that we do not grasp at all. ",
            "And it has [also] already happened that the Holy One, blessed be He, will do miracles through His servants that are close to Him, in order to show the love He has for them and the power that He gives over to them, such that they should have control over the creation. According to their level of closeness to Him, may He be blessed, is their power to have miracles and wonders done through them.",
            "And included in this matter is that the Master, blessed be He, surely wanted to be called by various names, according to the hidden ways of impact that He has flow into His world and the direction that He directs. So He wanted and implanted within the power of His holy names that their mention would also bring about great wonders in the world. However He distributed and ordered the things with amazing wisdom and placed a mystical property in each and every name - as His Wisdom decreed - to draw from its mention, a certain impact through which these wonders are brought about."
        ],
        [
            "<b>Regarding the Oral Torah and the Talmud</b>",
            "Behold the Master, blessed be He, did not want to write the Torah with sufficient clarity, such that it would not need explanation. Just the opposite, He wrote many things in it that are very unclear, such that it would not have been possible for anyone in the world to understand their true intention without His giving over the explantation through the tradition that came from Him, may He be blessed - the author of the [Torah's written] words. By way of example, the commandment of tefillin, mezuzah and that which is similar to them - the command came about them [more generally], but their properties are not clarified in that which is written. However the truth is that it was with specific intent that the Master, blessed be He, hid the true intention of His words, for reasons known to Him. Nevertheless, what He hid in the written Torah, He surely gave over orally to our teacher, Moses, peace be upon him. And the tradition continued from him to the sages, generation after generation.",
            "And see that the true intention of Scripture is clarified through this tradition. So the true performance of the commandments as the Master, blessed be He, wanted them is known to us.",
            "Note that the correspondence of the words of the written Torah to the traditional explanation is divided into three sections:",
            "The first section is the group of things that are found in their generalizations in Scripture - but without their specifics - and their specifics are clarified in the tradition.",
            "The second section is the group of written passages in which the understanding is unclear - in that they can bear different explanations - and its clarification is determined by the tradition.  ",
            "The third section is the group of written passages in which - according to the words - it would truly have one intention, but the tradition clarifies that the desired [understanding] is quite different from that which appears. And about this, [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 16a), \"The law (halakha) circumvents Scripture.\" However there are not many items in this group. Moreover, if you exert yourself and deepen the matter, you will find that the simple reading does not totally contradict the law and that it is not counter to it. Rather, it can be understood from a certain perspective and within certain limits.",
            "And among that which we have received in the the tradition is that the Author of the Torah, may His name be blessed, surely wrote it in specific ways and with particular rules. And if we want to understand the intention of the Author of the words, we must indeed follow these rules and these ways. Without this - even if it may already have been possible to give an explanation of the words that fit the words well, that explanation would nevertheless not have been the true one for these words. For the Author of the words had a different intention than this. And so these rules and ways are the aggregate of the 13 principles through which the Torah is expounded, along with all of their details.",
            "And you must also know that the essence of all the laws involved in the positive commandments and the negative commandments were all received by our teacher, Moses, peace be upon Him. Nevertheless, [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, received from the tradition that the words of the [oral] tradition were hinted to in the written Torah through certain hints, according to the ways of hinting that were known to them. And it was known to all of them that it was good in God's eyes that we should labor in this area as well - meaning, to know the placement of the hints to the oral law in the written Torah. Hence each and every one of them exerted himself to seek these hints, according to what appeared most correct to him. And this is what you will frequently find in the Talmud - give and take to find proofs about a certain law; and there will already be disagreement about the proofs. Yet you will find that the proofs themselves are not very adequate according to the simple understanding [of the verses]. But the matter is that which I have told you. For the law was surely [known] to them from the tradition. But they were exerting themselves to seek a hint to it in the written Torah, according to the root principle we mentioned above. And see that they did not mean that these explanations are the intention of that verse in context. Rather, they meant that the Author of the Torah intended this to hint - in the ways of hinting - to this in the properties of this verse, beyond that which He wanted to clarify according to the ways of simple reading. And they sometimes called this an <i>asmakhta</i>. And note that everything that I am saying now is regarding the area of commandments and laws. However regarding the area of homily, there are still other principles which I have explained to you elsewhere on their own.",
            "But there are also other matters - which are ordinances of the Sages, may their memory be blessed - to which they nevertheless found very forced hints in Scripture; and these are also called <i>asmakhta</i>. However they are an <i>asmakhta</i> of a much more superficial type than the first one that we mentioned, since their intention [in devising them] was to remember the matter (to use it as a memory device). But they did not refrain from also intending even here that it was hinted to in the Torah, even if the hint was very forced. And that is from the angle of foreseeing the future, since everything is revealed in front of Him, may He be blessed, so that everything is hinted to. But its hint is in a forced manner, since the matter is not part of the explanation of [a Torah commandment] at all. Indeed, there are [also] other details of the laws that they did not receive, but rather brought out by the ways of logic or through the principles [of expounding]. And it is possible that they disagreed about them. But according to the conclusion of the disagreement, so is the obligation upon us to observe and to do - without the disagreement that they had being a weakness to the decision at all. For this is in fact what He, may His name be blessed, commanded us: When there is a disagreement about the laws of the Torah, the matter is decided in the court. And the decision that comes out must be upheld to the full power of the law. ",
            "And also from that which we have received is that the intention of the commandment, \"you must not deviate from the thing that they say to you to the right or to the left\" (Deuteronomy 17:11), intended by the Master - blessed be He and may His name be blessed - regarding this commandment is that there would be the power in the hands of the courts of Israel to make decrees and ordinances, that we all be obligated to heed them and that we not transgress their words at all. And we know that all of these ordinances that they ordained were [to strengthen] the observance of the Torah's commandments and to do His Will in front of Him, may He be blessed. Hence He, may His name be blessed, assents that they should be upheld properly like all the laws of the Torah itself. And not only that, this is how we received the commandment - to make fences around the Torah. Although it was already fitting that He, may His name be blessed, would command [these rabbinic laws] in the Torah itself, it was His will that the matter come from our side, such that we establish [these] commandments according to His Torah, within the laws and limits that He made for the matter. And note that there is no difference between our obligation towards commandments made clear in the Torah and our obligation towards the ordinances of the Sages, may their memory be blessed, and their decrees. For so is the Will in front of Him - that we observe those made clear in the Torah, in the same way we observe these. Hence one rebels against His word if he transgresses those made clear in the Torah, in the same way as if he transgresses these. And the only difference between them is that which [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, differentiated. That is that in a doubt about a Torah law, we judge stringently; but in a doubt about a rabbinic law, we judge leniently. And behold that this is like that which you will say that the sexual prohibitions are [punished] by excision or a death sentence of the court, whereas wearing forbidden mixtures (<i>shatnez</i>) is only a [simple] negative commandment (with a lesser punishment); that milk and meat [cooked together] are forbidden in benefit, whereas forbidden fat is permissible. As all of these are only [defining] the limits of His will, may He be blessed. However regarding the obligation of the commandment within its limits, there is no difference between one and the other at all. And it follows from this that they would give and take so much about the many ordinances and decrees, which are truthfully only rabbinic - and that they would invest them with so much detail and argumentation. All of this is because these things were equal in their eyes - as far as the obligation - to all the other commandments of the Torah. It was just that it was His Will, may He be blessed, that they come in this way - meaning that they come from us. So see that the matter is the same whether He commanded us to place <i>totafot</i> (tefillin) between our eyes or whether He commanded us to make decrees upon ourselves to protect His Torah. The one is a commandment that He commanded us in this fashion, and the other is a commandment that He commanded us in that fashion. But their core is one, which is the doing of His will and His decrees, may He be blessed.",
            "And among that which the Sages, may their memory be blessed, received about the explanation of this commandment is that the court has the power to suspend something from the Torah when it is for the purpose of preserving the Torah itself, limited to [the suspension] being passive and not active. And from this principle, they decreed that which they decreed, about [not performing the commandments of] shofar and lulav on Shabbat, as is explained in the Mishnah and in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 29a; Sukkah 52a) - according to this tradition that was in their hands. Finished and completed - praise to God, Creator of the world."
        ]
    ],
    "versions": [
        [
            "Sefaria Community Translation",
            "https://www.sefaria.org"
        ]
    ],
    "heTitle": "מאמר העיקרים",
    "categories": [
        "Jewish Thought",
        "Acharonim"
    ],
    "sectionNames": [
        "Chapter",
        "Paragraph"
    ]
}