Parashat Yitro 5783 — 02/11/2023
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.
Shemot 18:1-20:23
I just want to reset the context we’ve been working in for the past several weeks. Rambam listed five reasons that “prevent the commencement of instruction with divine science,” viz.:
- The difficulty, subtlety and obscurity of the matter in itself.
- The insufficiency of the minds of all men at their beginnings.
- The length of the preliminaries
- The natural aptitudes (of different people)
- People are occupied with the necessities of their bodies (and those of their dependents)
For the past several weeks we have been considering #3 on our list, as that is the one that Rambam discusses at great length, and I hope to finish that discussion today. After that we will go on to the last two reasons. Incidentally, last year for parashat Yitro, we were discussing the same topic, but from a slightly different angle. I have linked it so you can check it out for another perspective on the preparation for perfect knowledge.
Rambam continues his discussion of the preliminaries to the study of divine science (point #3):
We find many people whose mind stops short at one of these sciences; and sometimes even if their mind does not miss the mark, they are cut off by death while engaged in some preliminary study. Accordingly if we never in any way acquired an opinion through following traditional authority and were not correctly conducted toward something by means of parables, but were obliged to achieve a perfect representation by means of essential definitions and by pronouncing true only that which is meant to be pronounced true in virtue of a demonstration-which would be impossible except after the above-mentioned lengthy preliminary studies – this state of affairs would lead to all people dying without having known whether there is a deity for the world, or whether there is not, much less whether a proposition should be affirmed with regard to Him or a defect denied. Nobody would ever be saved from this perdition except “one of a city or two of a family” (Jer 3:14). As for the few solitary individuals that are the “remnant whom the Lord calls” (Joel 3:5), the perfection, which constitutes the end to be aimed at, is realized for them only after the above-mentioned preliminary studies. Solomon has made it clear that the need for preliminary studies is a necessity and that it is impossible to attain true wisdom except after having been trained. For he says: “lf the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength; but even more preparation is needed for wisdom” ( Eccles. 10:10), and he also says: Hear counsel and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end” ( Prov 19:20).
Since the preliminaries to divine science are so long and acquiring them so arduous, many people may never get beyond them, or even all the way through them. In fact, since most people have to make a living, it is very unlikely that Joe Sixpack will ever get to the point where he has much conception of divine science, at least not via the intellectual path that Rambam has laid out.
Rambam’s alternative is to turn to Scripture. Until we have earned the right, by dint of long study and contemplation, to hold opinions as to Gd’s existence, qualities and activities, we need to get those opinions (or that knowledge) from an authoritative source, one that has presumably gone through the rigorous process of acquiring the preliminaries. Since Moshe Rabbeinu presumably was on a level where he could speak with authority, and obviously Gd, who is the source of all knowledge, can also be relied on when He communicates with us. So whether Moshe wrote Torah with divine insight, or it was cognized by him on the celestial level of creation, or Gd dictated it to Moshe Rabbeinu, Torah speaks with the authority that comes directly from that level of awareness where divine science resides.
Now the fact that Scripture is authoritative doesn’t mean that just reading it is going to enlighten us. We still have to work to understand it, and this too requires some preliminaries – at the very least, we must learn the language of Scripture, which for most of us is not our native language. Second, Scripture cannot be understood without a commentary to pick it apart and put it back together in a structure that we can comprehend – it is as if the great commentators of the past do some of the preliminaries for us, digesting Scripture and feeding us in small chunks that we can assimilate. I think this is what Rambam means by the traditional authorities’ creating parables to clothe the truth of Scripture in something more amenable to our level of perception.
Vedic Science sees a different role for Scripture. Maharishi has described an ideal Vedic education starting with young children of around age 4 memorizing Scripture. Scripture, to Maharishi, is a record of the experiences of growing consciousness and higher states of consciousness. This record is encoded in the actual sequence of sounds of the verses of the Veda, not so much in its intellectual meaning. Thus, in memorizing Scripture, two things are happening. First, the actual record of the experiences of higher states of consciousness is being impressed in the student’s brain, and second, as higher states of consciousness begin to develop, the verses of Scripture are there to verify and validate the experience. Incidentally, we see an echo of this in the Talmud, where one Sage will make a particularly sharp statement, and another Sage will “apply to him the verse <whatever verse>.”
What we see is that the verses of the Veda, being records of higher states of consciousness, can project that structure into the physiology of the seeker, and then serve as a template for interpreting the person’s growing experience. Scripture is therefore not primarily to be understood intellectually, but as an experiential learning tool. I believe that, in its essence, Torah works the same way, but since the Torah we have is not the Supernal Torah that exists on the celestial (finest Relative) level, but rather a projection down to our level, it may not have quite the same effect as the verses of the Veda, and is, in fact, understood more on the intellectual level. If meditation were included in the Jewish curriculum, the full value of Torah would be restored as more and more Jewish children grow into enlightened Jewish adults.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Yitro
Yitro, the name of Moses’ father-in-law, means “abundance, plenty.” Supremely Abundant and Plentiful is Gd so this parshah’s name suggests that even as human beings we can rise to the level of Oneness with Gd, the level of Oneness in which the duality between Gd and us exists as a play, some fun in which our individualities learn to play better and better with the Gd, the Supreme Player.
Yitro was priest of the Midianites – Midian was a son of Abraham and Keturah and his name is commonly translated as “strife, contention.” What kind parents would give their son such a name? Just as “Yisroel” (Israel) is usually translated as “wrestled with Gd” or “prevailed over Gd” and yet it is better to translate it as “embraced Gd,” “united with Gd” so it is better to translate “Midian” as “evaluate, judge, play.”
This meaning is especially apt because in this parshah Yitro, hearing the news of Gd’s triumph over Egypt (Mitzraim, “Restrictions”) evaluates this victory, declares that the Gd of Israel is Supreme, and begins to worship Gd and also apt because, using his evaluating ability, he recommends to Moses that he not act as judge in all cases brought to him but that he appoint a hierarchy of judges who can evaluate the less complicated cases and only those which require the full attention of Moses’ Consciousness, need be brought to him. Then Moses, when a case is brought to him can fully “make known Gd’s statutes and teachings.”
This sets up the central portion of Torah, the Divine Situation in which Gd Himself makes known His Primary Teachings and not only Moses but all our ancestors get a view of Gd and hear His Voice.
This Blessing is something Gd has prepared Moses for but the other Children of Israel Gd has not yet fully prepared and so they are frightened and say to Moses (paraphrasing) “You listen to Gd and tell us what Gd says; if we hear Gd directly, we will die.”
They say this after Gd appears to them as Fire, and they hear His Voice as He gives out the fundamental principles of our faith (actually, of any moral life) what are commonly called the “Ten Commandments” but which literally mean “the ten words” or “the ten sayings.” And, though they are guides to Holy Living, they are most importantly descriptions of qualities of Fully Enlightened people.
Moses responds, “Fear not for Gd has come to exalt you in order that His Awe shall be on your faces and you shall not sin.”
Nonetheless, the people remain away from the mountain, as Gd commanded, while Moses approaches Gd and Gd tell Moses what further to say to His people.
Since the purpose of life is to return to the Primordial Oneness in which the separation between individual and Gd does not exist, we must find some way that we can experience Gd without being afraid and then to dissolve the separation – to not stand in the way when Gd dissolves the separation – between us.
The Ten Sayings can be looked at as descriptions of how we live when we are in harmony with Gd and when Oneness dominates in our awareness; they can also be looked at as guides to behavior so that we rise to the level in which the Harmony is Full and the separation dissolves, both from our side and from Gd’s.
This is the level when all our behavior is fully an expression of Oneness and even though we appear to each other’s senses as limited individuals, with limited physiologies, in reality we are Totality, All-in-All, Oneness behaving as finite individuals while remaining All.
Just our simple, innocent, decent lives raise us in this direction, return us little by little and in a way, a lot by a lot, to Love, Joy, Wholeness, Oneness.
Our prayer books (siddurs), Torah, words of the wise (Kabbalah), weekly services, special holidays all add extra delight, comfort and speed to this Restoration.
Let’s continue!
Baruch HaShem