Derech HaShem with Rabbi Aryeh Shulman
by Rabbi Aryeh Shulman
5 days ago

2.32: Derech Hashem B'Iyun Book 1 Chapter 4 Part 4

This dvar Torah develops a central Ramchal idea: Hashem embedded *גבולים* (definitions) and *סדרים* (relational structures) within the physical world so that human engagement with physical objects can become a vehicle for spiritual growth rather than distraction. When a person uses the world according to the object’s spiritual “design,” within the proper frameworks (time, combinations, procedure) and with proper *כוונה*, the physical act itself becomes an act of *שלמות*. The shiur then addresses a key tension: since death was decreed after Adam’s sin, purification cannot fully actualize in this world—but every mitzvah still strengthens the soul and purifies the body “in potential,” to be revealed later. A passage from Rav Chaim Volozhiner clarifies that at the moment of a mitzvah a person becomes “encircled in holiness,” and Olam HaBa is the permanence of that revelation.

Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/dh-biyun-1-4-4-20260423-193902-outline-20260423-193955.pdf