Ramchal on Geulah - Part one

In the back of Feldheim's version of Derech Hashem, the Ramchal's "mamar ha'ikarim" is brought. There he has a piece on Geulah which I am reading now in my Daily Kabbalah Lesson. I thought it would be nice to write it up and put it up on the blog, so here it is.

The crown of humanity is the Jewish people, who are destined to experience the ultimate attachment and closeness to Hashem. To achieve this, they are to be crowned in holiness, and the Shechina will reside upon them, thus completing them, until they merit the true Good.

It's important to understand that although each person will receive his due reward for all of the positive actions he has done as an individual, everyone must first wait until the world reaches its completion, which does not occur until the chosen nation first is in its proper order, completed with all its crowns and attached to the Shechina. Only then does the world reach its state of completion and each individual receives the reward he has earned through his actions.

This is something that until this day has not been completed, because as soon as Man was created, he sinned. When our forefathers began, and their sons continued in their ways to become the chosen nation, this idea was still not completed, and there were a number of setbacks that prevented this completion from taking place. This is still something that needs to occur, where the Jewish nation will be completed and the whole world will in turn reach its completion, so the righteous can receive their eternal enjoyment, each according to his deeds.

In His great wisdom, Hashem set six thousand years for Man to work at reaching his perfection, after which the world would be transformed to a state where the eternal reward would be able to be given. Before the six thousand years are up, the Chosen Nation needs to stand up and reach its completed state to prepare to move into the state it will enter for all eternity. This is something that was promised to occur in any event.

The means to reach this end will be someone from the progeny of Dovid, who will be chosen by Hashem for this purpose, and Hashem will help him and give him success. He will be called the king Moshiach. In his times, and through him, the Jewish people will be rectified greatly, followed by the entire creation as well.

Good will be apparent from every direction, and evil will be completely removed, both in the spiritual and physical dimensions. Man's 'heart of stone' will be replaced with a 'heart of flesh.' This means that man will naturally be inclined to do good, in such a way that he will not be drawn at all after the physical. Instead, Man will only be drawn to serve Hashem and to the Torah, and this desire will be strengthened within him. Serenity and wealth will also increase, and there will be no damages nor losses at all, as the navi promises (Yeshaya 11:9), "There will be no evil nor destruction on all My holy mountain."

There will be no foolishness in the world, rather all the hearts will be filled with wisdom, and Divine Inspiration will be poured out upon all flesh, in such a way that all will easily merit it as the navi says (Yoel 3:1), "I will pour My spirit on all flesh." There will be great joy from all the good, and all will be attached to the Creator, serving Him completely. This way, they will rise higher and higher, until they reach the appropriate level, to be able to pass into the state of eternity that will exist when the world is renewed.

To be continued...