Parashat Pinchas 5782 — 07/23/2022
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.
Bamidbar 25:10-30:1
I’d like to conclude our consideration of the issues Rambam has raised in the current chapter (I:21) by focusing on Rambam’s treatment of mentions of voice and call in Scripture.
He writes:
If it is necessary to assume an omitted nomen regens, as is always done by Onqelos – for, in accord with the context, sometimes he takes I the omitted word to be glory, and sometimes he takes it to be Indwelling, and sometimes he takes it to be word – we, for our part too, take the nomen regens omitted here to be voice. The assumption accordingly would be that the verse should read: And the voice of the Lord passed by before him and called. We have already explained that the Hebrew language uses the word passage in a figurative sense with reference to voice. Thus: And they caused a voice lo pass throughout the camp. In the verse in question it would be the voice that called. You should not consider it as improbable that a call is ascribed to a voice, for it is in these very words that expression is given to the fact that Gd, may He be exalted, spoke to Moses. For it says: Then he heard the Voice speaking unto him. Just as in this latter verse speech is ascribed to the voice, a call is attributed to the voice in the verse we are discussing. Sometimes this, I mean the ascription of speech and of a call to a voice, occurs quite explicitly. Thus it says: A voice saith: Call. And he said: What shall I call? According to this assumption, the interpretation of our verse would thus be: a voice from Gd passed by in his presence and called: Lord, Lord. The repetition of the word Lord would be due to its being a call, for He, may He be exalted, would be the one who is called. It would be like saying: Moses, Moses; Abraham, Abraham. This too is a very fine interpretation.
We have already discussed that a voice or a call can be said to pass (e.g. through the camp) in almost a literal sense, of either a crier’s passing through the camp, or the physical vibrations of the air moving through space and time. That is, a sound wave carries energy and momentum, just like “things” such as rocks and stars do. Things that are more subtle than the gross, concrete level of reality, are just as real, even if that reality is sometimes a bit harder for us to get our heads around. I am speaking, of course, from the perspective of the physics that has developed since the 1800’s; I don’t know how Rambam would have analyzed the phenomenon of physical sound.
I’d like to look a little more closely at voice and word. Rabbi Sacks points out that a significant difference between Greek culture and Jewish culture, is that Greek culture is primarily visual, while Jewish culture is primarily aural. The Greek visual influence is found in our modern language in the expressions I see to indicate understanding, Vision to indicate an understanding of a goal one wants to reach, Insight to indicate perception of underlying causes and many other examples. In one essay he points out that it is only very recently that we have begun to express understanding of another’s point of view by saying I hear you.
In Jewish literature the operative root seems to be Sh-M-A which means hear, understand, obey, pay attention to, etc. Thus when the Talmud wants to bring a proof it says Ta Sh’ma, come and hear. If it wants to indicate disagreement, it might say lo shami’a leh, He did not agree with (lit. hear) him. And of course in Torah Moses is constantly adjuring the people to Sh’ma / listen to, pay attention to, obey Gd. Perhaps most important, the entire process of creation is the speech – that is, the voice – of Gd. And Gd said… and it was. How was Moses designated as the prophet who would lead the Jews to freedom and give them Torah? Gd called him and Moses heard the call. Aside from the burning bush, which was just unusual enough to attract Moses’ attention, this was not a visual phenomenon – it was an aural experience.
I’d like to take this observation a bit further. We humans are primarily visual creatures. Vision allows us to take in an entire scene “at a glance,” to identify food or threats. Hearing and speech, on the other hand, are more linear – the Talmud tells us trei kalei lo nishtama – “Two voices cannot be understood.” When we speak, we try to create a picture with a linear medium. When I taught physics, I often had the experience that I was breaking down a structure of knowledge into a sequence of ideas which I then had to convey in a linear fashion to the students and weave them back together in the students’ minds to transfer the structure to them. It could be a daunting task, and of course a lot of the work of re-integration of the ideas had to be done internally by the students. (I did use the blackboard to draw pictures, but my level of artistic skill is so rudimentary that I don’t know whether that helped or hurt the process.)
Another difference between vision and hearing is that we generally use vision to project the mind outward – to contact the material world. We see much better than we hear. On the other hand, most people think in language, that is, speech. And in the TM technique it is speech, sound, that is used to transcend. We close the eyes so that the mind is not projected outward, and we think a meaningless sound so that we are not directing the mind in any direction at all. This allows the mind to go inward in a natural and effortless way, as we experience when we do TM. Although it is certainly possible to transcend on any of the 5 senses, the sense of hearing appears to be the easiest, and it doesn’t require the use of anything external (e.g. a yantra). Our thoughts can get very quiet, very quickly, but something external, that we see, just is what it is. It isn’t as easy to internalize the thought of a visual object and let that thought fade out, as it is to take a meaningless sound.
Interestingly, the rishis of the Vedic tradition are called “seers” = “see-ers,” because they saw the reality of wholeness of life behind the surface, partial values. Nonetheless, their cognition of the Vedas was in the form of speech, specifically speech in the Sanskrit language. What they cognized were the vibrations of Pure Consciousness within itself at the very subtlest level, a level beyond any distinction between the different senses. People have reported experiencing this subtlest of vibrations during TM practice as either a hum (sound) or a golden glow (light). On the level of Unity, the distinctions between the different cultures that R. Sacks has identified, become harmonized and unified. The vibrations of Pure Consciousness within itself is the Voice of Gd speaking to Himself, which Moses heard on his own (see Rashi to Num. 7:89), and it is also the numinous effulgence of Gd expressing itself in creation.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Pinchas
Pinchas was a bit slow in this parashah – it wasn’t until a plague was caused due to many Israelites being beguiled by prostitutes that Pinchas acted to slay an Israelite princess who was acting like a harlot, thus ending the plague.
Gd is All: Pinchas the oracle, Balaam, the prophet-for-hire and Moses, the servant of Gd, are all roles Gd plays. Gd plays the roles of the Children of Israel of ancient times and now – all beings, including us. Playing the roles of limited beings, God plays Hide and Seek while remaining Gd. As Gd, Gd Reveals.
Gd’s Ways are known only to Gd and hidden from us limited beings. But Gd guides our seeking, Gives us clues. Torah on the levels of story, symbol and sound. Guides us to right action that dissolves our limits and makes us fully open to Gd.
In this parashah, hardly a moment after Balaam recognizes Israel’s virtue by saying, “How goodly are thy tents, Oh Jacob, thy dwelling places, Oh Isrrael”, Balaam (Gd in disguise) arranges for beautiful harlots to tempt the Israelite males; many are entranced and fall for their mesmerizing beauty.
Why did Gd, as Balaam, do this? We cannot know but one guess is that Gd wanted Israel not to become complacent and vain due to the blessing but wanted them to remain humble and alert, aware that they were still dependent on Gd and needed always to keep their hearts pure.
Although this parashah is named after Pinchas who stopped a plague by slaying a prince and a prostitute who openly violated the laws against fornication, the central event in this parashah is Gd fulfilling Moses’ request to appoint someone to lead B’nei Israel into the Promised Land. Gd tells Moses to lay his hands on Joshua so that some of Moses’ spirit will enter Joshua and Joshua will be able to lead the people into the physical Promised Land. According to the Gemara the elders of the generation called this a “great embarrassment”, that Joshua was like the moon whereas Moses was like the sun.
If the Gemara is correct then the question arises, “Why did Gd appoint a leader who was less than Moses? who had only part of Moses’ spirit?”
Perhaps Moses did not need to enter the Promised Land to experience Teshuvah – he already had it, being soaked in Gd’s Presence as he was.
The Children of Israel, however, including Joshua did need to enter the Promised Land in order to be fully aware of Gd’s Presence. If all of Moses’ spirit were given to Joshua, then he also would have no need to enter the Promised Land and the people would have no leader.
What can this mean in our lives?
The Promised Land is within us even when we are acting in the (relative) desert that is the ordinary life of human beings. The qualities of our awareness that are less than full – our thoughts, our feelings, our sensory awareness – lead us to the Wholeness, the Promised Land that transcends them and pervades them.
These thoughts, feelings, sensory awarenesses are like Joshua – they allow us, through use, through practice, to experience more and more refined levels of them and eventually (Dear Gd, Please! Now!) to experience the Promised Land, the Wholeness, the Oneness in which Torah and Gd and all we experience as our own Self, One.
Now, please, Now!
Baruch HaShem.