[Avodah] The Most Profound and Far-Reaching Vision of the Future Ever Permitted a Mortal to Behold or to Utter

[Professor L. Levine]

In his commentary on Bereishis 9:25-27


25 He said: Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a servant of servants to his brothers.

26 And he said: Blessed be God, the God of Shem; may Canaan become their servant.

27 God will open [people’s] emotions to Yefes, but He will dwell in the
tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a servant to them.

RSRH provides deep insights into a number of important topics.  He writes

25–27 We have here what may be the most profound and far-reaching vision
of the future that God ever permitted a mortal to behold or to utter.
The entire history of mankind — past, present, and future — is contained
in these three verses.

and then later on

The spirit of Israel does not produce ecstatics who lose their grip on
reality and go mad. Judaism yearns for God’s closeness, but requires of
man clarity of thought, a composed and sober mind. Ecstatics who
“merge with the divine” lack freedom of choice; they imagine that they
themselves do nothing, but that God acts through them. This is not the
way to serve God. Our task is to make use of the intellect and the freedom
God has given us, in the earthly sphere which He has assigned to us; to
serve God faithfully, conscientiously, and with a clear mind. Only thus
will we attain the highest perfection a person can reach; only thus will our
actions be sanctified, and will we be worthy of God’s closeness.

IMO there is so much of import in his commentary on these verses that I have taken the trouble to post it at

https://web.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/profound_far_reaching_vision.pdf

If you take the time to read this,  you may well find insight into what we see going on in the world today as well as what has happened in the past and will happen in the future.

YL




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20181019/3b2baedd/attachment.htm>