Parashat Miketz 5782 — 12/4/2021
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.
Bereshit 41:1-44:17
In Part I, Chapter 1, Rambam dives right into his analysis of the language of Scripture with a consideration of one of the most problematic phrases in Genesis – Gd created man in His image and in His likeness. Here is what Prof. Ivry has to say:
Chapters 1-30 – with the exception of chapter 2, and chapters 37-45 of Part 1 of the Guide are given over to reframing the anthropomorphic depictions of Gd that abound in the Bible. Maimonides’ first target is scriptural references to the body of Gd, His eyes and ears, hands, feet, and face. These cannot be understood literally, Maimonides insists, for his Gd, by a definition he has yet to spell out here, is incorporeal.
Gd, therefore, can neither see nor be seen, neither hear nor be heard, i.e., speak, at least not physically, not as these terms are used in a literal sense. They are to be understood as metaphors denoting Gd’s apprehending presence and His providential regard. A similar meaning is to be attached to all scriptural images that capture Gd in any particular state of being, whether sitting, standing, rising, coming, or going. Motion of any sort – as well as rest from motion – is foreign to Gd’s nature for Maimonides, in that it can occur only to a body that has magnitude.
Paradoxically, Maimonides believes the Bible’s dynamic depictions of the deity are meant to convey the image of an unchanging, stable, and permanent state of being. This is a function of Gd’s incorporeal and perfect nature, where perfection is measured by a totally uncaused and unaffected singularity of being. The providence Gd shows the world, like His apprehension of it, is not, therefore, for Maimonides an ad hoc response to particular individuals or circumstances. Rather, providence is expressed by the presence of permanent species that ultimately owe their being to Gd.
Scripture is full of anthropomorphisms: “Gd redeemed us with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.” “Gd heard the voice of the lad from where he was.” “With the breath of His nostrils He piled up the sea.” Rambam, who holds that Gd is a singular Unity, not composed of parts (see his second principle of faith), cannot accept such a description literally. Gd, after all, is transcendental to Creation (this must be the case, else Gd would have created Himself, which would be a neat trick even for Gd), and is therefore essentially detached from all the activity of Creation. Yet we see in Scripture that Gd does act, and, due to the limitations of our minds and our language, we are forced to describe these actions in human terms. Clearly this anthropomorphic language cannot be understood literally, and Rambam dives right in to reinterpret:
Image (tzelem) and likeness (demut). People have thought that in the Hebrew language “image” denotes the shape and configuration of a thing. This supposition led them to the pure doctrine of the corporeality of Gd, on account of His saying: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Gen 1:26). For they thought that Gd has a man’s form, I mean his shape and configuration. The pure doctrine of the corporeality of Gd was a necessary consequence to be accepted by them. They accordingly believed in it and deemed that if they abandoned this belief, they would give the lie to the biblical text; that they would even make the deity to be nothing at all unless they thought that Gd was a body provided with a face and a hand, like them in shape and configuration.
If we want to argue that Gd is neither corporeal nor composite, then the first thing we need to deal with is the idea that humans are made in the image of Gd. In thinking about this, I realized that I had been subtly reversing the idea – I had been thinking about Gd’s being in the image of human beings! I wonder how common this is. After all, the Bible pictures Gd as having human limbs and organs and doing human things, only perfectly! This is where we get the image of Gd as an old man with a long, white beard. I might point out that even some of the most esoteric prophecies (Ezekiel for example) picture Gd sitting on a throne like a (mortal) king, with all the accoutrements of a king’s court around Him.
Rambam therefore goes into the actual definition of the words tzelem and demut, to clarify the meaning of Scripture.
Now I say that in the Hebrew language the proper term designating the form that is well known among the multitude, namely that form which is the shape and configuration of a thing, is to’ar. Thus Scripture says: beautiful in form [to’ar] and beautiful in appearance [mar’eh] (Gen 39:6); … This term is also applied to an artificial form; thus: He marketh its form [yeta’arehu] with a line, and he marketh its form [yeta’arehu] with a compass (Isa 44:13). These terms are never applied to the deity, may He be exalted; far and remote may this though be from us.
The word to’ar then is used for the kind of “likeness” that we normally think about when we use the word “image” or “likeness” – similarity of physical form. This implies that tzelem and demut must have other, presumably deeper meanings – we will continue with our discussion of these meanings next week Gd willing.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Miketz
We have two sayings that help inform this parshah:
“Gd is in the details”;
“The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts”
In this parshah, Joseph, an unwilling representative to Egypt-Mitzraim, the Land of Restrictions, from Canaan, the Land of Synchronicity, of Harmony, successfully interprets two dreams of Mitzraim’s ruler, Pharoah, and is given de facto control of Mitzraim.
This is Harmony bringing the parts together so they can make a Whole.
Joseph correctly interpreted Pharoah’s dreams of seven fat cows devoured by seven lean cows and of seven healthy stalks of wheat devoured by seven lean stalks to mean that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of famine and therefore, Mitzrayim should store up during the fat years so it would have enough to last through the lean years.
Joseph’s Harmony was so great that Pharoah recognized the validity of Joseph’s interpretation and Joseph’s integrity was so great that Pharoah gave him control of organizing the stocking up, organizing which gave him de facto control of the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Harmony in Canaan had already been disturbed by Jacob’s failure to raise his children so that all felt equally loved – even though each might have different skills, some might be wiser, some more skilled in battle, some more skilled in leadership, in peace….
Jacob has failed to completely attend to detail and to reveal Gd in the details of everyday life and relationships in Canaan: Canaan was only partially Canaan, only partially and superficially, The Land of Synchronicity.
And the Harmony was broken further by the sons not learning to flow with Jacob’s behavior and to give love from their side to raise themselves and him to the level where they could feel Full Love, no matter what the surface appearance.
This resulted in betrayal of Jacob’s trust, selling Joseph into slavery, lying to their father, and, eventually famine in Canaan – a solid breakdown of the Plenty that exists when Canaan is Whole, functioning to bring all details into synchronicity, into harmony, and to Reveal Gd as the Wholeness, the Totality, Who Is Complete Synchronicity, The Wholeness that is Oneness, of which all the details are Expressions.
With the famine in Canaan, in Synchronicity, Jacob’s sons had to go to Mitzraim, raised by Gd through Joseph, to a land of Synchronicity, Fullness.
And they will abandon the land Canaan to settle in Raised Up Mitzraim, until eventually Wholeness breaks down there and several hundred years later, they need to escape restrictions, return to Canaan within themselves and to the physical land of Canaan. Of this we will learn more in the next Parshah.
This Parshah teaches us, that even in the midst of the ups and downs of life, we can maintain our purity, our Joyful and Reverent Daily Routine, so that we can Love Gd with all our Heart and Soul, Love our Neighbor as Our Self, and fill the details, with Harmony; fill limits with Unlimited..
Of course, there are deeper levels of interpretation: All is Gd’s Plan as Joseph later tells his brothers. There are no mistakes in Torah, no villains, no heroes, only Gd telling stories to teach us how to restore ourselves to Wholeness – and at the deepest level, Torah is Gd Humming Torah within Himself, within The Self, our Self, the Only Self.
To this we in our community are rising: Joy and Love, which we have, radiate and share are signs of the return to Wholeness, Teshuvah. Gd, the Self, Is Joy, Is Love.
Baruch HaShem