Parashat Acharei Mot 5782 — 04/30/2022
Beginning with Bereishit 5781 (17 October 2020) we embarked on a new format. We will be considering Rambam’s (Maimonides’) great philosophical work Moreh Nevukim (Guide for the Perplexed) in the light of the knowledge of Vedic Science as expounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The individual essays will therefore not necessarily have anything to do with the weekly Torah portion, although certainly there will be plenty of references to the Torah, the rest of the Bible, and to the Rabbinic literature. For Bereishit we described the project. The next four parshiyyot, Noach through Chayei Sarah, laid out a foundational understanding of Vedic Science, to the degree I am capable of doing so. Beginning with Toledot we started examining Moreh Nevukim.
Vayikra 16:1-18:30
In a short chapter 12, Rambam considers the word rising [qimah]. Here is the chapter in its entirety:
Rising [qimah] is an equivocal term. One of its meanings is to get up, which is the opposite of sitting. Thus; He did not rise nor move for him. It also has a meaning denoting the stability and validity of a matter. Thus: The Lord will let His promise rise; The field of Ephron arose…; The house that is in the [walled] city shall arise. And the kingdom of Israel shall arise in thy hand. All mention of rising applied to Gd, may He be exalted, has this meaning. Thus: Now will I rise, saith the Lord. What He intends to say by this is: Now will I carry out My decree, My promise, and My menace. Thus also: Thou wilt arise and have compassion upon Zion; that is, Thou wilt carry out what Thou hast promised as to having mercy upon her.
As one who decides to do something marks his impulse to do it by rising, so whoever has revolted over some matter is said to rise up. Thus: That my son hath made my servant rise up against me. And the word taken in this sense is used figuratively to denote the execution of Gd‘s decree against a people who have deserved punishment entailing their destruction. Thus: And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam. But he will rise against the house of the evil-doers. His words, “Now will I rise”, may likewise have this meaning; and similarly the words: [Thou] will arise and have compassion upon Zion; he means: Thou wilt arise against her enemies. Many biblical texts conform to this meaning, for there is not to be found in them a rising-up and a sitting-down of Gd, may He be exalted. Accordingly [the Sages], peace be on them, have said: In the upper world there is neither sitting nor standing; for standing sometimes occurs in the sense of rising.
The basic meaning of the root Q-V-M is to stand or to stand up. There is another word for standing, based on the root Ayin-mem-dalet (think of the Amidah = standing prayer). As best I can figure out the latter root has more of a connotation of stasis: a pillar is an amud and angels are called ‘omdim = “standers” because they cannot ascend spiritually. The former seems to have a more vigorous connotation, especially in its secondary meaning of “to stand up/arise.” Thus, David Melech Yisrael chai v’kayam / David, King of Israel, lives and endures. Gd is described as Melech chai v’kayam as well. Of course, Gd’s endurance is a lot more enduring than King David’s, at least the flesh-and-blood King David.
I think that related to this first idea are Rambam’s examples of (1) the field of Ephron’s “arising” (after Avraham had bought it), and (2) houses in walled cities arising (and becoming the property of their new owners in perpetuity, with no possibility of redemption any more) indicate a permanent change in status, and are a kind of subset of the first, plain meaning of the root.
The second meaning of the root Q-V-M is to stand up, get up, arise. Thus, we have Vayehi binso’a haAron vayomer Moshe: kumah H” vayafutzu oyvecha… / And when the Ark began to travel Moses would say: Arise Hashem and may your enemies be scattered. Rambam gives similar examples:
Thus: Now will I rise, saith the Lord. What He intends to say by this is: Now will I carry out My decree, My promise, and My menace. Thus also: Thou wilt arise and have compassion upon Zion; that is, Thou wilt carry out what Thou hast promised as to having mercy upon her.
It appears that these cases all indicate that Gd is preparing or beginning to take some action in the world. In fact, Rambam appears to say just that in the next sentence: As one who decides to do something marks his impulse to do it by rising, so whoever has revolted over some matter is said to rise up. Now of course Gd does not “rise up” any more than He “sits down” or does anything else physical. We know, however, from our own experience, that the beginning of a physical action is not in the physical realm at all – it is in the realm of intention, the realm of thought. I think and the action springs from the thought. The thought, on the other hand, springs from Consciousness. The faintest stirrings of Consciousness within itself are the faint impulses of thought and feeling from which action spring.
On the cosmic level, creation begins when Consciousness becomes aware of itself. As Maharishi put it, “When Existence becomes conscious, Intelligence becomes intelligent.” The first sprouting of creation takes place virtually within the silence of Pure Consciousness, when Pure Consciousness becomes aware of itself. Once this happens, Consciousness flows in the direction most conducive to evolution, all within its own Self-referral nature. When we think of Gd’s arising, I think Scripture is giving us a glimpse into the mechanics of creation within Gd’s own nature. And since Rambam left his remarks on the subject brief, I think I will too!
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Acharei Mot
“Acharei Mot”means “after the death.” It refers to the death of Aaron’s two eldest sons: Nadab (“to give, volunteer, donate”) and Abihu (“father is he”). After the death of Nadab and Abihu. Gd commands that only the High Priest may enter the Holy of Holies and he may only do that once a year, on Yom Kippur. Our children symbolize our desires: when Nadab and Abihu offer “strange fire” and are destroyed, it means that Aaron offered his desires to give, volunteer, donate, act paternally from his individuality, not from the level of Wholeness that is Gd: only Gd knows Gd, only Gd can offer to Gd.
The “Holy of Holies” is the level of Creation that is finer than the finest”, subtler than individual perception can sense.
“Yom Kippur” literally means “Day of At-Onement”: only when we experience our individualities as expressions of Gd can we offer finer than the finest to Gd.
This raises the question: May only the High Priest experience the Full Presence of Gd? And may he only experience that once a year?
Compare this commandment with the commandment in the next parashah, Kedoshim, in which Gd says, “Be thou Holy, for I Am Holy.”
This commandment says that we, all of us, must always be Holy, not just the High Priest and not just once a year.
Looking at the commandment in Acharei Mot from this point of view, we can see that, although the Tabernacle and all its details, including the Holy of Holies and the actions of the priests and the High Priest, were specifically designed by Gd to assist us in being aware of His Presence, it is possible for us to be fully aware of His Presence wherever we are and whoever we are.
The 10 Commandments/Statements/Utterances give us very clear guidance for our behavior so that we can act and be Holy. Particularly, the commandment/ statement/utterance, “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy Gd, with all thy heart, all thy soul, and all thy might” and, very close to it, the commandment which appears in Parashat Kedoshim, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
To me and to probably all of our congregation the guidance to love Gd has resulted in our doing our best to live our life routinely and moment-to-moment in an innocent, non-straining way that allows our Nature, which is Joy and Love, to be more and more deeply experienced and more and more deeply expressed in every feeling, thought and action.
Living this way, we are becoming increasingly aware of Gd – Totality – as all there is and therefore our love becomes more and more, Love, the same Love that Gd Is; and Joy, the same Joy that Gd is. Thus, our love is naturally directed to Gd, without our having to think about it, no matter where our attention may be. Our love is not a mood, it is a natural experience of Gd as Love. Naturally we experience our individuality as a flow of Gd’s Love. Naturally we experience more and more of the Wholeness and Unite more fully with Gd. Naturally, we more and more fully remember, fully experience, that we are expressions of Gd — Gd is all there is.
Naturally, our desires, actions are offerings, more and more acceptable. The guidance to love our neighbor as ourselves, naturally results in our doing our best to know our selves more and more fully as Self, the One Self and thus, to love our selves more and more fully, to increase in our love for every aspect of existence, every individual expression of Gd, flowing within Gd, including our neighbors – and as Jesus put it, also our enemies.
Although it will be nice, great, wonderful when the Temple is rebuilt and we have its assistance in being aware of Gd’s Presence, Kedoshim commands us all that we should be Holy, in and out of the Temple, whatever our status in the community.
Through our desires to love Gd, to love our neighbor, to be Holy and through the actions we take to fulfill these desires we in our community are becoming increasingly aware of Gd’s Presence as Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omni-Joyful, Omni-Loving and our behavior becomes increasingly naturally loving and Loving. Naturally our behavior sings as the angels sing: “Holy, Holy, Holy!”. Naturally, we become, more and more completely united with Gd, One.
Naturally!
Baruch HaShem