Q&A: Delighting in the Radiance of His Presence
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Delighting in the Radiance of His Presence
Question
The Ramchal says in Mesillat Yesharim that the purpose of a person's life is cleaving to God in the World to Come, and he explains that this cleaving is attained through cleaving to God in this world.
How does he know that by fulfilling the commandments one delights in God in the World to Come? How does he know that these actions and thoughts lead to that?
Answer
A good question. I have no idea. “Then you shall delight in the Lord.” There are sources from the Sages, but the question just gets passed on to them: how did they know? There are verses saying that the commandments bring us to life (“and you shall choose life”), but the meaning of that life—whether it is cleaving to God (what does cleaving to God even mean?)—I have no idea.