Parashat B’Ha’alot’cha 5783 — 06/10/2023
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.
Bamidbar 8:1-12:16
Rambam concludes his discussion of ru’ach with one last understanding of the word:
It is also a term denoting purpose and will. Thus: A fool uttereth all his air (Prov 29:11 – Artscroll: The fool vents all his anger) , his purpose and will. Similarly in the verse: And the air [Artscroll: spirit] of Egypt shall be made empty within it, and I will make void the counsel thereof (Isa 19:3) ; it says that [Egypt’s] purposes will be divided and its governance will be hidden. Similarly also in the verse: Who hath comprehended the air of the Lord (Artscroll: Who can appraise the spirit of Hashem), or who is familiar with His counsel that he may tell us? (Isa 40:13). Scripture says that he who knows the ordering of His will or apprehends His governance of that which exists as it really is, should teach us about it – as we shall explain in the chapters that will deal with His governance. In all cases in which the term air is applied to Gd, it is used in the fifth sense; in some of them also in the last sense, which is that of will, as we have explained. Thus, the term should be interpreted in every passage according to what is indicated in the context.
To recap, Rambam enumerates several uses of the word ru’ach, which we almost always translate “spirit”:
1. Physical air
2. Blowing wind
3. Animal spirit
4. A level of the human soul that outlives the body
5. Divine intellectual overflow from Gd to a prophet ( ru’ach hakodesh = Holy spirit)
6. Purpose and will
The last one on the list is the subject of the passage above. “Purpose and will,” may be related to the use of the word ru’ach meaning “direction,” as in kol haru’chot / in every direction. This is also related to the use of ru’ach as wind, translating kol haru’chot colloquially as “to the 4 winds.” Both Hebrew and English refer to ru’ach kadim / East wind, etc.
Rambam asserts that only number 5 and 6 are used when speaking of Gd, which is a bit strange, because at the beginning of the chapter, in discussing physical air, he refers to ru’ach Elokim, “the spirit of Gd.”
In any event, the word ru’ach, which is the word used to describe one of the levels of the soul (the next-to-lowest level), comes from the idea of air that is flowing in a particular direction. This of course relates to the breath, which is air that has both inward and outward directions and gives us life and energy, and it refers to the spirit, which also gives us life and energy, just on a subtler level than breath.
When we apply the word to Gd, we have to be careful with the ideas of flow and direction. Since Gd transcends all space, time and objects, the idea of flow or direction cannot possibly apply. However, as we have discussed on many occasions, Gd, being conscious, can come into a Knower-Known relationship with Himself. This is a kind of virtual polarity, and once there is a polarity, there can be a flow back and forth between the poles. Now, at least in a virtual sense, we can indeed have the concepts of flow and direction.
I think we can understand uses #5 and #6 in terms of the virtual flow within the Knower-Known dynamic. For example, perhaps we can understand prophecy in this way: to Gd, creation is in the realm of the Known. When a person of sufficiently refined mind and perception receives (some of) this flow from Gd the Knower to the creature, the Known, we have prophecy, at whatever level that particular prophet is able to receive it. In other words, when Gd reveals (some of) Himself to human beings through prophecy, it is the human being picking up the flow between Knower and Known.
When it comes to Purpose and Will, we go to an even deeper level. We have argued by analogy with physics that the entire creation is actually nothing other than fluctuations of the Unified Field. Similarly, it is the infinite flow within the virtual polarity within the transcendental basis of creation that is creation. All directionality, all evolution, all the change that we see, is actually the virtual, inner dynamics within that transcendental basis of creation. Thus, the real ru’ach Elokim / spirit of Gd, is the fundamental flow between the two poles of Knower and Known, which are both inseparable from Gd’s nature. The Will of Gd, the direction that Gd wants the creation to flow, the spirit of Gd, are all one with Gd. Our purpose as human beings is to become Gd’s partners in creation by aligning our individual wills with Gd’s cosmic Will – to experience ru’ach Elokim.
Next week Gd willing we will move on to another word for soul: nefesh.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat BeHaalotcha
Gd commands Moses to tell Aaron, the High Priest, when he lights the seven lamps (of the menorah) he should light them turning toward the face, the middle lamp.
Symbolism of Light: It’s easy to see that this light of the menorah symbolizes the Light of Gd, which is not separate from Gd, but Gd’s Nature. The lamps symbolize not only the Light of Gd but also all the other uncountable and inseparable attributes of Gd; for example, Love, Joy, Compassion, Justice, Purity, Totality, Perfection.
Lighting the lamps in the Temple symbolizes lighting the lights inside our own temple – our own personality and physiology
Symbolism of seven lamps: This can be the seven more concrete qualities given to the Sephirot, qualities of Gd; can be the qualities of the seven traditional planets; can be seven days of Creation, many sevens.
Can also be, in essence, revealing the Many within the One: though Gd is One, Gd has detail, infinite detail, and seven just gives a sense of the Infinity that is Gd. And of the seventh, the Day of Rest, the Light of Rest, that contains all the others within it and integrates them
Symbolism of lighting toward the face of the menorah: Rashi comments that this is the middle lamp, the central lamp, not on a branch of the menorah but part of the central column. The symbolism can be that we always need to turn diversity toward the Center that Unifies.
Symbolism of raising the lights: The literal translation of “Behaalotecha” is not just “light” or “kindle” but “when you step up, cause to ascend”. In one sense, the High Priest had to step up to light the menorah – so, too, we need to rise to light our awareness so we can perceive the Menorah that is One with Gd, within us and everywhere. In another sense, for the High Priest and for us, when we rise we just warm the wick enough so it rises by itself. Symbolically, we move with devotion toward Love of Gd, Love of our neighbor, Love of our Self, and just a small move brings a large result – the Light of Gd, of One, Lights us up.
Symbolism of single piece: The Menorah was made of a single piece of gold symbolizing that All is One, though it appears as many.
Symbolism of gold: Gold symbolizes purity.
May we all experience today and always the Light of Gd, of One, fully lit within ourself, fully lit within our neighbors and all creation!
We are the Light and the Love!
Baruch HaShem