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10.3.15

The Ramban [Nachmanides],

The Ram'ban [Moshe ben Nachman, Nachmanides].[When you say Ramban you stress the last syllable.]]
My learning partner thinks he is the best thing there is for understanding Torah. I think part of his reasoning is that the Ram'ban is a kind of interface between the mystical parts of Torah and the more rational aspects.

And the rational parts don't make much sense without the mystical parts and visa versa.
If you go with just the rational explanation of Torah of the 'Rambam (Maimonides) things get very awkward.
His Aristotelian explanations of Torah, just don't seem to fit.  [And to make the 'Rambam (Maimonides) make sense you have to go to the mystic Avraham Abulfia and his commentary on the Guide anyway.]
But when people go into the mystical aspects they tend to go off the deep end very quickly. They start getting involved in the ten sephotot and unifications and Adam Kadmon and not the Torah.
They think that by meditating on the ten sephirot or Adam Kadmon or something that they get somewhere. Which is clearly false. All they get from that is delusions.


Nachmanides, the Ram'ban, shows a middle path. And in his commentary on Torah he shows how things make sense.

I am not sure what to think about this. when it comes to mysticism I just go with the Ari straight. But I admit the Ram'ban might be a good interface.