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Torah From Zion
How to Learn Talmud: General Introduction to Ramchal's Derech HaKodesh (Way of Torah)
April 23rd, 2024 / Nissan 16, 5784
By Rabbi Dovid Sackton
RAM of Diaspora Yeshiva
Translator of Derech HaKodesh
“The advantage of the Ramchal’s work is that he has the stature and depth to distill the vast system of Talmudic dialectical debate into a small number of basic principles. A lamdan defines his value judgments in terms of distinctions between different abstract concepts or boxes, and the greater the man, the greater is the value of his boxes. The Ramchal was able to organize the entire system of dialectical debate and pilpul, and present a comprehensive understanding of its logical categories or boxes.”
HaRav Mordechai Goldstein, ztz”l
Founder and Rosh HaYeshiva of Diaspora Yeshiva Toras Yisrael
Chief Rabbi of Mount Zion, Jerusalem and King David’s Tomb
From his approbation to the completed translation of Derech HaKodesh, published by Feldheim
Blessed be the Creator and praised, the Master of all creation, for He has made Man to fulfill so elevated a purpose: nothing less than to bring himself, and thereby the whole world, to a state of perfection through his Divine service. After creating the inanimate, and the plant and animal kingdoms, He placed Man above all the world (Tehillim 8:7), “and everything is spread out beneath his feet.” He breathed into his mouth an eternal living soul setting him apart from all the lower creations, “which is the power of speech in Man,” as Targum Onkolos explains (Bereishis 2:7). Together with this wondrous miracle — that G-d has given us the power of speech, there is an even greater wonder: that the Holy Torah that the Creator gave to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai in black fire upon white fire — this very Torah is itself clothed in finite human speech.
The wisdom of the Torah is infinite as is the wisdom of the Creator, blessed be He, who looked into the Torah and created the world, and the angels thought that this Torah is surely beyond human reach. There is indeed a riddle here, for how can this infinite wisdom be contained in a bounded and limited vessel, as the 79,976 words of the Written Law, or the 2,711 pages of the Oral Law? The only way to answer this riddle is to know the true value and meaning of this power of speech which makes Man unique in all the creation. When a person knows this wisdom of words, genuinely hearing them and effectively communicating through them, then, for him, there is truly life and depth of understanding in every sentence. The words of the Torah become a precious instrument in his hands, through which he comes to understand the wisdom of the Living G-d, may His Name be blessed.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto teaches us the wisdom of words — how words work. He defines this sublime quality of Man — the power of speech — in The Book of Logic, where he explains that there exists in Man’s soul three traits, which are the will, the intellect and the memory. The will and free choice are given to Man in order that he might subjugate himself to G-d’s rule, may He be blessed. The intellect is given that he might hear and understand the Holy Torah and love Him. Finally, with his memory, a man can gather up his knowledge, past and present, and make a reckoning of his deeds so that he comes to understand himself. Speech is related to each one of these traits.
We will learn in The Ways of Reason about ideas as they are formulated into statements, which help us gather together our knowledge. We will learn about the functions of the intellect and how abstract concepts are represented in speech when we turn to The Book of Logic. Lastly, we will learn about the ability of words to direct and influnece the will in The Book of Words. Once we are able to see the greater whole composed of these parts, then the Ramchal will have indeed given us the foundations of the power of speech in general, and the keys to the great wisdom that can be taken from the words of our Rabbis of blessed memory, in particular. Their special manner of speech, in all their exactness and depth, is now unlocked for us, just as it has been faithfully passed down from generation to generation.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto writes in his introduction to The Ways Reason, “The edifice of the Talmud is like a great, vast ocean, and through its mighty waves and strong currents, the Truth of Torah is clarified and distilled. So I have chosen to base my building on the Talmud, to ensure that my method will be successful and immutable — this is called the way of Kedushah.” This declaration gives the Ramchal’s Derech HaKodesh (The Way of Torah) its name, with the haskamah of Gedolei Torah. These three works together, The Ways of Reason, The Book of Logic and The Book of Words, collectively set our course through the great sea of the Talmud. The first volume, The Ways of Reason, begins with an analysis of the Talmudic text. It explains how the extremely concise language of the Rabbis can be expanded into a clear and oderly understanding. Its goal is reading and understanding to attain knowledge of all the various fields of Talmudic law. But this is only a beginning. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto continues The Way of Torah in his second work, The Book of Logic, investigating in a systematic way the process and appropriate procedure for handling concepts with the forms and structure provided by a system of Torah logic. The last book of The Way of Torah is The Book of Words, in which Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto uncovers the foundations of the language of our Chazal.
We have a teaching in the Mishnah that the world stands on three pillars: on the Torah, on Divine service, and on deeds of kindness (Avos 1:2). The Ramchal, a giant among the greatest of our Sages, has bequeathed to us the fundamental laws and ways involved in each of the three pillars, and he has presented all these principles to us as on a set and well-ordered table. His best-known book, The Path of the Just, is recognized by all Torah scholars as the foremost guide to Torah law in the area of self-improvement and perfection of one’s character and deeds. This is the pillar of action, as taught in the Mishnah. The second pillar is thought; it is taught in The Way of G-d, in which the Ramchal wrote, “These are the principles of faith and Divine service explained in a clear-cut way.” The last is the pillar of speech, the pillar of Torah, and it is presented by the Ramchal in these three books: the Derech HaKodesh, or The Way of Torah. Here, the Ramchal explains the pathways through that great and vast ocean, the sea of the Talmud. Especially in our generation, we see the need for this orderly method and guidance, which the Ramchal has provided for us, and with his help we will travel the Derech HaKodesh of the Talmud as on the king’s highway, with ease and with no fear of stumbling.
In his introductions to The Ways of Reason and The Book of Logic, the Ramchal establishes the two essential foundations upon which a person can develop his own innate abilities regarding the power of speech, and in this way he can merit to learn and teach, guard, fulfill and uphold the Torah. The first foundation is the desire to know the truth, which drives a man all his days never to rest or be still until his thirst has been satisfied about any subject matter to which his mental gaze is directed. His only thought is to know the truth because it is the truth, and our Sages have taught us that this truth is the Torah, as it says, (Berachos 5b) “Acquire the truth and never sell it.”
The second foundation is the improvement of one’s basic mental functioning. It is well-known that every person has an inborn intellectual capacity and therefore, it is commonly held that the mind functions on its own and in a natural way produces thoughts that are sometimes sharper and more insightful and sometimes less so. It follows, then, that each and every person is essentially bound by his unique abilities, and if there is any possibility of mental improvement — even in a small measure — it is only needed by those whose minds are weaker by nature. This concept could not be further from the truth! It is certainly false in a general way regarding the improvement and perfection the entire creation, and no less so in the particular instance with regard to the human mind. We are actually counted as partners of HaShem in the Six Days of Creation, insofar as that creation was given into our hands to perfect. Therefore, on a personal level, it is our obligation to strive for our own improvement and to raise ourselves higher and higher, thereby bringing the creation to an ever-greater state of completeness. Consequently, when we apply ourselves to the task of Torah study, it is not enough for us to simply set our minds on a free course to function naturally, understanding and explaining things as they come. Rather, we must apply ourselves to the improvement and perfection of the mental process itself, by acquiring an understanding of all of its functions. If we address each of the particular mental functions, we will see that the fruits of our labors in Torah will be more beautiful, wholesome and complete. In the same way, the fruits of a cultivated tree in a secluded and protected garden are far superior to those of a wild tree in an uninhabited place, as the Ramchal himself explained in his introduction.
With these two stipulations: a healthy mind that wants to know truth, and the perfection of our innate mental abilities with which the Giver of All Wisdom has endowed us — with these, we are assured by the Ramchal that we will taste the sweet truth of Torah.
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The Ramchal’s method in its entirety rests on three foundations, which are the three functions of the mind. As the Ramchal describes them, each one has a unique and distinct character. The first mental function is the gathering of facts and understanding them. This is a relatively passive process of absorbing and taking note of whatever happens — in our thoughts and through our senses — and ordering those things according to rules and definitions that are already established and correct in our eyes. The second function is a creative one — it is a fuller and more intuitive understanding of how one thing leads to another. This process can lead to the creation of new ideas as an outgrowth of what was already accepted as a known fact. It can go even further to create entirely new rules and new definitions, replacing the old ideas that were formerly fixed in our minds. The character of this function is more active, for it involves putting things together that were never joined or associated before. New ideas arise out of novel or unanticipated interrelationships between concepts.
These two functions are radically different and even antagonistic at their root. The excitement of new ideas can sometimes interfere with straightforward understanding, as if there are two people talking, and one of them is so enraptured with his own thoughts that he does not really hear the words spoken to him. In the same way, the creative function can emotionally overpower the function of understanding, which is generally more cautious and balanced. The opposite can also be true: the process of assimilation and understanding is based on proven and accepted principles or definitions; it is, by nature, conservative, and therefore opposed to creativity, which is always seeking out new relationships and different perspectives that may even contradict our original way of thinking.
The third function of the mind is judgment and decision-making. Just as there is a part of the mind for the assimilation of ideas and understanding, and another part for creating new ideas, so there is a third independent part devoted to decision-making. Here, we use a delicate balance to weigh precisely what we are prepared to believe and accept against what we are inclined to reject and disbelieve. However, this activity of evaluating and forming opinions often works in a light and hasty manner. It has elements of ego and emotional drives mixed into it, and it is also the starting point for all action. We can readily see how the balance of our judgment is easily swayed, tilted widly in every direction by different weights, large and small, that are placed upon its scales. Lack of knowledge or understanding does not restrain us from forming opinions even for a moment, nor is this function immune to the seduction of strong feelings and emotions.
In short, these three functions of the mind make up the sum total of all our thinking, and in all its waking moments, the mind is continually active by its nature — alternating constantly between the understanding of facts and concepts, the creation of new ideas, and the acceptance or rejection of opinions.
Furthermore, as we have already explained, in each of these functions there is always the possibility of improvement. Shlomo HaMelech [King Solomon], peace be upon him, has testified to this fact — that even the most foolish person can learn to regain his mental balance and become subtly clever and circumspect in judgment. Likewise, impetuous youth can acquire an ear to hear and absorb wisdom and knowledge by means of persistent correction. And even a man of wisdom can deepen his understanding with the penetrating insight of creating new connections between things, like a person who newly acquires a new friend. This is what is written: (Mishlei 1:4-5) “To give subtlety to the foolish, knowledge and initiative to the youth. The wise will hear and increase what they have, and those who understand will attain the ways of understanding.” See the commentary of the Gaon, Rabbi Eliyahu, of blessed memory, there.
Up until this point, we have discussed the functions of the mind in a general way. Now, we will see how these functions change under different circumstances and in different fields of study. Our Sages, of blessed memory, have established in the Talmud that there are two branches of Torah study. The first is mastery of the text (girsa) and the second is mastery of conceptual analysis (se’vora). There is an additional area of expertise, where what we learn is brought into the realm of action through an exposition that will give life and substance to all that we have learned for ourselves and for others. Accordingly, the Ramchal has divided his works in this way: The Ways of Reason focuses on the study of the Torah laws, and The Book of Words continues from conceptual analysis towards the broader purpose of “to learn, to teach, to uphold and to do.” For generations, this has been the pattern of study in the great yeshivos — one session of the day is devoted to deep conceptual analysis, and another session to Talmudic expertise, with shorter periods devoted to Halachah and Mussar.
The skills of Talmudic expertise and the study of the Talmudic text begin from a correct analysis of the words of the Gemara, or the words of our Sages. In The Ways of Reason, all the questions which we need to ask in order to grasp what is written are set out according to the three mental functions. Regarding the first mental function of understanding things as they are presented before us, we must strive to know the true and precise intention of the speaker’s statement. Regardless of whether the text at hand is a Mishnah, the statement of an Amora in the Gemara, or the words of the earlier or later Rabbis, we must always determine in a simple, straightforward way what it is that the author is speaking about, and also, what he wants to tell us about that topic. In truth, it is impossible to “hear” any statement without defining clearly what it is about and what it has to say.
Regarding the second mental function of creativity, we are interested in knowing the consequences or ramifications of the various statements in a particular sug’ya of the Talmud, taking into consideration their juxtiposition and relationship to other statements, either from the same sug’ya or from some other one. The creation of a new conclusion born from joining two given statements is called a syllogism. This deductive structure allows us to forge an unbroken chain of reasoning in Talmudic debate. In this way, the creative part of the mind functions to transform the isolated single statements of the Talmud into a smooth flowing fabric of ideas.
The third aspect of mastering the Talmudic text involves the third function of the mind – making judgments. Its purpose, in this context, is to decide and determine the final conclusions of any particular sug’ya of the Talmud. Whether the opinions found there should be accepted or rejected, depends on the proofs that are adduced either for or against, in this sug’ya itself, or alternatively, in some other sug’ya of the Talmud. Our job is to evaluate the substance of these proofs, weighing them one against the other. Briefly, these are the basic tools employed in studying the Talmudic text, as they are explained in The Ways of Reason.
The methods of learning in the second branch of Torah study, involving conceptual analysis and se’vora, are also based on the same three mental functions, as the Ramchal explains in The Book of Logic. However, the questions regarding them are different. Firstly, when we consider the mental function of basic understanding, we now want to know what the relevant concepts in the entire sug’ya are and how they should best be defined according to the principles of conceptual thinking. The second mental function of conceptual analysis is deeper involvement in statements than what was explained ealier. In the world of conceptual analysis, we want to go beyond what the statement says to know what novel thoughts the speaker is proposing, and what distinctions or special aspects he saw in his subject matter that led him to say what he did. In other words, we are looking for the logical connection between the two independent concepts that comprise the subject and the predicate of his proposition. The third mental function of decision-making also has a place in the branch of conceptual analysis. Its purpose is to judge the logical necessity and establish the underlying rationale of any proposition or statement. Here also, there is a different emphasis than what we saw previously regarding the study of the Talmudic text itself. In the application of abstract thinking, we are engaged in an open inquiry as to whether it is justified to accept or reject a given proposition, and on what basis. That is, we make use of the language structure of a syllogism to help us find within the proposition itself some indication hinting at the premises or assumptions on which it is based. All these methods are addressed in The Book of Logic.
If we were creations of pure intellect like the higher beings, then the mastery of these two skills, i.e., textual and conceptual analysis, would be sufficient for us to arrive at the truth in our Torah learning. But, in fact, we are a composite creation and our spiritual powers are a combination of both intellect and will, as was explained earlier. Therefore, our Sages of blessed memory have set out for us the ethical wisdom by which we become aware of the true character of the heart. In this way, we can strive to make the relationship between our intellect and our will straight and honest. In The Book of Words, the Ramchal has given us a method of learning in this field as well, and it is an absolutely essential one if we are to use our textual understanding and conceptual analysis in the service of truth.
It is a commonly held assumption that the study of words, called rhetoric, is the exclusive province of liars and charlatans, having nothing to do with truth. Absolutely any idea, no matter how low, can be presented in an appealing and persuasive manner that will entice the listener and draw his thinking closer to the designs of the speaker. However, the Ramchal views the study of words in a new way, different from this approach as east is distant from west, for the real purpose of words is to enable the truth to penetrate the heart and soul of the listener. Ultimately, the final goal of words is to make true ideas crystal clear in the listener’s mind, reaching to the full depth of his sensitivity and understanding, until his will is motivated and arroused to action. The Ramchal writes explicitly at the beginning of The Book of Words that the study of words starts from an established proposition, which has already been finalized in terms of the text and in terms of abstract conceptual analysis. At this point, where the originator of the proposition desires to express his thoughts and convey them effectively and persuasively — at this point he must have a mastery of words in addition to his mastery of the text and the conceptual analysis of the Talmud.
The methods of study in The Book of Words are relevant both to mastery of the text and to mastery of conceptual analysis, for they are, in fact, the stage of completeness for both of them. On the one hand, we enter into the inner workings of the speaker’s mind to understand the significance and wisdom of the words that are chosen in the text before us. On the other hand, the rules governing the usage of words take us from conceptual understanding to the formulation of fully enunciated ideas. All of this is essential when someone who learns a Talmudic sug’ya in depth desires to crystallize his own thoughts or convey them to others.
The rules of speech in The Book of Words are based on the same three mental functions, which we encountered in The Ways of Reason and The Book of Logic, only here they have a different application. In The Book of Words, with regard to the first mental function of understanding things as they are presented to us, we will investigate the characteristics of words themselves regarding their aspects of quantity, quality, and order, as well as evaluating their appropriateness to the subject matter of the speaker. In connection with the second mental function, which involves creating new relationships and joining together separate elements — we will seek a complete picture of the concepts under discussion by finding just the right way to express them through a creative combination and choice of words according to the various rules of communication. Finally, the third mental function of accepting and rejecting ideas is used in The Book of Words to understand that aspect in a statement that favorably inclines the listener towards the stated assertion. The Ramchal explains all the devices which are at the speaker’s disposal to influence and sway the will of his listeners both intellectually and emotionally, and these, in turn, make the listener consciously aware of his own thoughts as well.
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The Ramchal’s method, as a complete system, requires both careful study and insight, as he wrote explicitly in his introduction to The Ways of Reason: “… [The reader] must not minimize the task or take these things lightly. Read my words carefully and master every concept, for I have not been lax in choosing my words with exactness in order to express each point in the clearest possible way. My intention throughout has been to arrange and explain all the methods of thinking and analysis in a style that is brief, yet sufficient, so that one may ultimately recognize and embrace the truth and reveal falsehood and avoid it.” The Ramchal explains further, at the end of The Ways of Reason, how the enunciation of his method is thorough and complete on a practical level; he writes, “In the theoretical branch of knowledge, you must know its parts according to their levels from simple to complex. By contrast, in any practical field of study the correct order is to present first the overall purpose which is the goal of that practical skill, followed by the various means through which that purpose can be achieved.” We can say definitively that the Ramchal’s method is treated in all his books as a practical skill.
If the Ramchal’s intention was to make a purely theoretical presentation, then the logical order of the various principles of language would be to proceed from the simpler to the more complex. That is, the five fundamental topics that the Ramchal explains would be in this order: words, concepts, statements, syllogisms and proofs. The first three of these topics (words, concepts and statements) belong to the domain of exposition (The Book of Words), while the middle three (concepts, statements, and syllogisms) belong to the domain of conceptual analysis (The Book of Logic), and the last three (statements, syllogisms and proofs) to the domain of the Talmudic text (The Ways of Reason). However, the actual order in which the Ramchal wrote and presented all these topics is not like this — The Ways of Reason comes first, followed by The Book of Logic and The Book of Words. The Ramchal’s order of presentation shows clearly that his method is to be treated as a completely practical system. Thus, the starting point is an explanation of our ultimate goal in learning the Gemara as the Ramchal defines it in the opening chapter of The Ways of Reason: it is the mastery of proper value judgment, weighing the sides of our Rabbis’ decisions according to the proofs set out in the Talmud.
An understanding about the true goal of all Torah learning is also suggested in the beginning of Rashi’s commentary on the Chumash where he wrote that his only intention is to explain the straightforward understanding of the Torah verses (Bereishis 3:24). Even though there are seventy faces to the Torah, which our Sages, of blessed memory, refer to as a garden (PARDES — an acronym for peshat, remez, drush and sod, i.e., straight explanation, hints, homiletics, and secret wisdom), Rashi placed peshat in a position of primary importance. This also applies to the Talmud; the main challenge is to arrive at the straightforward, simple peshat, and all the great commentators, both earlier and later authorities, form their lines of battle to fight over the peshat of the Gemara text. Their value judgments and their determinations of Halachah are at stake. In truth, the peshat is nothing less than the foundation of Torah learning — a grand debate open to all, for its essential nature is to be reasonable and pleasing to the mind. In this arena, the voices of the beis hamidrash rise up and fall back in powerful currents, back and forth without end. The Ramchal has made his unique contribution to this grand enterprise by organizing for us all the essential principles of words and concepts, statements, syllogisms and proofs, that are the practical tools with which to find the true peshat. The totality of these principles is called the “Derech HaKodesh” by which our Sages navigate the sea of the Talmud. With the Ramchal’s help, we are able to uncover the secrets that are hidden within the spoken words, and make clear the logical structures that allow us entry into the inner chambers of the peshat in any sug’ya of the Talmud.
The first level of understanding the peshat is the subject matter of The Ways of Reason, that is, what proofs are decisive in reaching the Gemara’s final ruling. As was explained above, a practical system must have a stated goal and then an explanation of the means to this end. In The Ways of Reason, the means that are required are the understanding of statements and creation of syllogisms. In the realm of conceptual thinking, we can probe more deeply into the value judgments of our Rabbis, of blessed memory, by examining their underlying premises and syllogisms. We can say that the ultimate purpose in The Book of Logic is to grasp the reasonable underlying “logic” behind the sug’ya, and the means to this end are understanding concepts themselves and the statements formed from them. Even after dealing with Talmudic proofs and their underlying syllogisms, we have not yet reached a complete understanding of the peshat or come to a true Torah value judgment. We must look deeply into the complete picture of the propositions and assertions of the Chazal. The live, vibrant communication of truth must be seen and felt, perceived accurately by the mind, and embraced by the will. Such an assertion — which communicates to our intellect and affects our hearts, engaging our whole being — is the goal of The Book of Words, and the means to achieve this end are the understanding of words themselves and the full expression of concepts in language.
In conclusion, it is important to note that The Book of Logic is not only the middle volume of the trilogy, but also its place is central in the Ramchal’s method because of its basic topics — concepts, statements, and syllogisms. These three basic language structures define the power of speech. The central one is called a “statement”, and it appears in all three of the Ramchal’s books. There is the understanding of statements in The Ways of Reason, and the innovative combination of subject and predicate concepts to form a proposition in The Book of Logic, and finally there is the statement as a clear and persuasive assertion in The Book of Words. The second structure is a “syllogism”, which is used in two different ways. One is a deduction, which follows from the premise statements, as this structure is used in The Ways of Reason, and the second way is the investigation of the stated conclusion of a “syllogism” in order to find the underlying premises behind it, as the Ramchal does in The Book of Logic. The last structure of language is the “name” given to each individual idea or concept. At the beginning of The Book of Logic, the Ramchal explains the definitions and categories of concepts and The Book of Words provides a fuller understanding of concepts based on the wise choice of words that communicate a complete picture and help us to crystallize our understanding of any intended concept.
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In each volume of The Way of Torah, the Ramchal introduces novel ideas that are momentous and far-reaching. They are, in truth, solid principles and clear signposts guiding us in every aspect of learning. It is sometimes asked whether these principles of the Ramchal’s method are taken from earlier sources, as the Ramchal suggests in his introduction to The Book of Logic. However, deeper inspection will show that, in fact, the Ramchal has only borrowed from classic sources a technical vocabulary taken from Latin or Italian foreign terms that appear in all three books. This is only a superficial aspect, but the principle elements of his whole system are tremendous innovations that the Ramchal has brought to light to give us a true Torah logic. We should also note what the Ramchal wrote in the introduction to The Ways of Reason, that his system is based solely on the Talmud itself (and not on anything that he took from external sources). “Seeing this great and vast ocean spread out before us, the sea of the Talmud, I have chosen to base my entire building on this foundation in order to ensure its success, knowing that what is founded in the Talmud itself can never be shaken.” For this reason, the Ramchal’s method as a whole, with all its principles and many innovations, is rightly called The Way of Torah.
It will be helpful to point out some of these broad universal generalizations. In The Ways of Reason, the Ramchal posits that in every instance, without exception, the give-and-take of the Talmudic dialogue is made up exclusively of only seven elements, which must follow one after the other like beads on a string. Even though these steps are already familiar, there is an important addition here: there cannot be any more or less than these seven, and there cannot be a single statement in any Talmudic sug’ya that is not definitely categorized as one of these seven elements of dialogue. Using these seven elements, the sug’ya is a linear progression of statements, which moves inexorably from start to conclusion with no regard for differences of opinion and in spite of any setback or detour. The unbroken flow of Talmudic reasoning takes shape when we identify each statement as one of these elements. The Ramchal writes at the end of The Ways of Reason (Chapter 10): “After you have made the statement into a straightforward formulation according to its parts, identify and determine the purpose of each single statement. Ask yourself, is it opening a new topic by informing us of what may be said about a certain subject (statement) or asking whether something may be said about that subject (question)? Or, is it connected or related to a prior statement, and its purpose is to offer an explanation, or to bring a proof or disproof, or to present a difficulty or a resolution to a problem, or to give an answer to a question? Once you have discovered the intended purpose, the next thing is to ascertain whether that purpose is actually served by the statement in question. That is, exactly how does this statement explain the first one? Does the supposed proof really establish what it set out to prove? Does the statement in question successfully bring to light a difficulty in the earlier statement, or is the proposed resolution a good solution to the problem? Does the answer actually answer the question, and so on?” There is tremendous benefit in this sort of investigation — namely that the organization of the Talmudic debate is not the result of fortunate guesswork, but rather of a correct analysis of the purpose of each statement, using the seven elements of Talmudic dialogue.
In the Book of Logic, the Ramchal introduces yet another fundamental principle that is of the utmost importance in understanding the basic propositions that stand on either side of a Talmudic debate. He posits that there are in total twenty-one key words that define all possible logical relationships between concepts, without exception. The Ramchal writes in The Book of Logic (Chapter 23): “These twenty-one key logical terms include everything that can be affirmed or denied in any subject whatsover, and from them all propositions are constructed.” He adds further, “There is no syllogism in the world demonstrating the truth or falsity of any proposition which is not based on one of these key words of logic.” The Ramchal selected twenty-one aspects of things (such as cause, attribute, category, part, opposite, and the like) to be the foundation of his logic, and he informs us that there is no proposition, argument, or exegetical derivation in the entire Talmud whose conceptual understanding is not based on one of these aspects. Thus, in the study and mastery of conceptual analysis, we can apply from the outset the principles that lead to the creation of propositions or syllogisms, which must always have their point of origin in one of these twenty-one key words.
Finally, in The Book of Words, the Ramchal opens the way for us to understand the core of man’s soul and inner being through the wisdom of words and speech. He discussses the relationship between intellect and will — the head and the heart — and states there (Chapter 4) that, in total, four factors can possibly prevent us from arriving at the truth and internalizing it. However, for each of these four factors, there are successful strategies, which we can use to bring about a full and complete picture that is at once detailed and clear, having a powerful impact, and eliciting the appropriate emotional response and motivation in ourselves and in our listeners.
By absorbing and following the principles explained in these three books of the Ramchal’s Way of Torah, we are assured, with the help of HaShem, that the effort invested by every student of the Ramchal’s method will be richly rewarded with bountiful fruits in his study of our Holy Torah.
Learning and applying Ramchal’s Derech HaKodesh is a central part of Diaspora Yeshiva’s new Growing Deeper Program, providing ba’alei teshuvah with the guidance in Torah learning essential to becoming Talmidei Chachamim.
From contents originally published in The Way of Torah published by Feldheim Publishers.
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