HH
About 15 years ago this book was called something else (Ramchal and his Generation - I think), less organized and presentable, and not available, In order to read it you had to borrow it from someone, and that's what I did (a guy in Lakewood, he died a few years ago). Today B"H the Machon (institution of) Ramchal (located in Har Nof, Jerusalem) publishes "Igros Ramchal" - Letters of Ramchal, and it is very presentable and readily available (although I don't think they are willing yet to make it free on Hebrewbooks, unlike the predecessor of the publication of the Ramchal, Yosef Spinner, who amazingly, may HY bless him, gave all this material for free download!).
Yesterday I finished rereading this amazing book, which is on the top of the most must read books. This book is a source of strength and encouragement to help one through the tribulations of life. Here are some of my thoughts that I quickly jotted down, to ease the rage and to leave some memory of the torrents of passion which coursed through me from this reading.
HH
True genius often
has a facade of simplicity. The most complex equations are often just
a few characters. Once I saw a little girl swing across monkey bars
with such liquid agility that made it look like it was a simple
exercise anyone can do with ease. The Ramchal's writings have such a
genius and clarity. The Ramchal himself showed how huge problems and
contradictions fall away and are clarified with the few precise words
that he set down.
Rabbainu Na Nach
Nachma Nachman MeUman reveals in Likutay Moharan that the sicker a
person is the greater the doctor he needs, and so too in
comprehension and cognizant consciousness, the lower and more murky
one's wit, the greater the tzadik he needs to reach true realization
of G-d reality. Here to the Ramchal's writings shine out, for even
though some of the greatest scholars of his time felt, erroneously,
that some of his writings were just drawn from previous works, they
failed to grasp the utter genius and power of presentation, which can
very well be gauged by the far lower aptitude needed to get a strong
comprehension of the matters presented by the Ramchal as opposed to
reading the early writings.
A nice analogy to this is the awesome impact of the book "Shumati" - I heard (originally one small volume, which I read, and reread as a very thick volume, and is now 4 very large ones which I have only seen from a distance), this book is very powerful, but it seems that this is only so for some people who are more comfortable with the writings, who find it to be almost worthy of Breslov. Yet your average Jew, who survives from day to day principally on Breslov, does not appreciate Shumati whatsoever.
In hind sight it is
certainly a clear travesty that most of the leading Rabbis didn't
have enough sense to appreciate these and other points. Even Rabbis
that somewhat defended the Ramchal, seem oblivious to the awesome
magnitude of genius not to mention Divine Revelation that was at
stake.
In the letters
exchanged regarding the banning of the Ramchal's writings, a good
percentage start with a full paragraph of adulation for the
recipient, sometimes much much more, and rabbis excuse themselves due
to their great communal responsibilities that keep them tied up, and
how busy they are teaching their students. So they are quick to look
for anything that passuls (makes no good and forbidden) the Ramchal,
and close him off. Even when they see that the leading prosecution
against the Ramchal from the city of Vinitzia is fraught with
corruption: they present false witnesses and testimony – even
presenting it 5 years later, their rabbis are known power mongers and
known to be incompetent, and they openly disparage luminaries of the
generation. None of this was sufficient for the arbitrating Rabbi's
to put even a halt in their mission to scrap the Ramchal. Even more
amazing the lies and animosity of these rabbis were readily believed
and accepted by other Rabbis throughout Europe. Even R' Yaakov Emden,
readily added his name to the trumped up witch hunt crusade.
Almost every great
Rabbi that truly wanted HY, and went personally to the Ramchal to see
for themselves maybe there was a chance that they could learn the
secrets of HY, were rewarded. The Ramchal's father-in-law – R'
Dovid Pintchi - the Rabbi of Manitoba, and the Pachad Yizchok, and R'
Avi-ad Sar Shalom, all very top Torah scholars went to see the
Ramchal, and merited to learn from his. They testified to the
veracity of his teachings and his righteousness (even here it is
strange that they didn't go to greater means to defend the Ramchal
from the hatred and vitriol against him).
In the letters
another strong point is brought out, that against the book Shaagas
Aryeh which blasphemes against the sanctity and veracity of the Zohar
and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the Rabbis did very little and barely
came out against it.
The Ramchal himself
writes that it appears to him that there are no true tzaddikim in his
generation.
Also the Ramchal
says (Letter 99) that he was sent for by a high (French) noblewoman
in Geneva, with great supplication, to authenticate the Kabbala. The
Ramchal attests that this lady truthfully was proficient in all the
writings of the Arizal, to the extent that he was amazed to hear her.
It is interesting
that in the last letter we have from the Ramchal to his students he
concludes by warning them not to be lazy and not to succumb to the
travail of the times, but to remember that this world is just an
antechamber before the palace.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!
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