Parashat VaEtchanan 5783 — 07/29/2023
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.
Devarim 3:23 – 7:11
Chapter 45 is the last chapter that deals with the meanings of specific words or word roots. Rambam takes up the root “to hear/listen/understand/obey.”
To hear [shamo’a] is an equivocal word. It is used sometimes as having the meaning, to hear, and sometimes as having the meaning, to accept. As for the meaning, to hear, it is found in the verses: Neither let it be heard out of thy mouth (Ex 23:13 – Artscroll: Neither shall your mouth cause it to be heard – this is regarding speaking the names of various idols that were worshiped); And the report thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house (Gen 45:16 – after Yoseph reveals himself to his brothers). This use is frequent.
This meaning of the word is the superficial meaning, and relates to physical sound and physical ears. If it is applied to Gd, it obviously does not mean that Gd has physical ears or hears physical sound, but rather that Gd apprehends directly what is going on, because, as we discussed when we talked about the sense of sight, everything that happens goes on inside Gd’s nature, and therefore, as Rambam points out, Gd’s knowledge is not like our knowledge – our knowledge is of things outside ourselves, while Gd’s knowledge is inextricable from Gd’s nature.
It is interesting that Rambam discusses the word for “hearing” when discussing that sense, but chooses to start with “eye” when discussing sight. Perhaps this has to do with the additional meaning of “well” that is attached to “eye,” although in Hebrew (and English) “ear” can also mean a handle (“little pitchers have big ears”). At Mt. Sinai Torah tells us that the people “saw the voices (or “sounds”).” Now they also heard the sounds and the thunder, but it doesn’t say that they “heard the lightning” or any other visual aspect of the experience. This trans-sensual experience is called synesthesia, and is estimated to be found in about 4% of the population. The different senses are projections of our consciousness into the outside world. Reversing the direction, all the senses converge in Pure Consciousness, the basis of our awareness. Perhaps we can understand synesthesia as perception very close to Pure Consciousness, where the strands of the senses are close enough for crossover perception to happen. This could have certainly been the case at Mt. Sinai where the entire people reached a very high level of prophecy. I hasten to add that this is my speculation.
Rambam continues:
Of a like frequency is use of to hear with the meaning, to accept. Thus: And they heard not Moses (Ex 6:9 – Artscroll: they did not heed Moses – this is the Israelites after the “bricks without straw” incident); If they hear and serve (Job 36:11 – Artscroll: listen and serve); Shall we then hear you? (Neh 13:27 – Artscroll: listen to you); And shall not hear thy words (Josh 1:18 – Artscroll: will not listen to your words).
Accept can also mean obey, and it can mean understand, and in fact those are common uses of “to hear” even in English: (Angry mother): DO YOU HEAR ME! (Are you going to obey me?); I hear you after listening to a logical argument or a presentation of a case (“I understand what you’re saying“). About 8 years ago I observed my daughter talking to her then three-year-old son. He kept saying, “I can’t hear you.” He was right next to her and there was nothing wrong with his hearing, so she was getting annoyed. The two meanings of “to hear” in Hebrew flashed on me, so I reminded her that lishmo’a can mean “to hear” or “to understand.” So, she asked if he meant, “I don’t understand you” and he nodded yes. Peace restored.
Rambam now makes an interesting point, again using terms that we would interpret differently:
The word is also used in the sense of science and knowledge. Thus; A nation whose tongue thou shalt not hear (Deut 28:49 – Artscroll: whose language you will not understand); the interpretation being, whose speech you shall not know.
Nowadays, when we speak of science, we mean objective science where we verify statements by repeatable experiments. Knowledge is only considered knowledge when it passes this test. This approach is only one possible approach. While all cultures need to interact with the outside world in a stable and predictable way, and therefore must observe nature carefully and arrange their activities accordingly, modern science, in the sense of measuring phenomena and connecting the measured numbers by mathematical constructs did not begin to arise until about 500 years ago in Europe, quite a while after Rambam flourished. So, he is presumably referring to something else when he says “science and knowledge.”
Actually, the word “science” just means “knowledge.” In modern parlance, as we just discussed, it means knowledge that is gained objectively and verified by experiment, but I believe Rambam had a much broader understanding of “science” as including subjective knowledge. In his case, this knowledge was gained generally through the intellect and through logical reasoning. It is interesting that Rambam associates this with language – “hearing” is of course associated with speech and language, and here Rambam equates it with knowledge. This is not totally surprising of course, as the way we humans store and develop knowledge is through speech.
There may be a deeper level on which we can understand this, and again, I am not suggesting that this is Rambam’s intent, only that it is a consistent reading of the passage. In Vedic Science we learn that the Unified Field of Pure Consciousness lies at the basis of all phenomena, and everything in creation is simply a pattern of vibration of Pure Consciousness within itself. On the most fundamental level of creation, there are certain basic patterns of vibration that form the basis of the more complex patterns we see on the surface as, for example, material creation. The rishis of Rg Veda were able to cognize/see/hear these sounds as the sounds of human speech, and the rules of their interactions as the grammar and semantics of human speech of Vedic Sanskrit. The Vedas are the record of these cognitions. The Zohar records a very similar understanding of Torah (at least the “Supernal Torah” of which the Torah we have – the Torah of Moses – is a projection into our material world) and Biblical Hebrew.
Needless to say, cognition of the very finest structures of creation is available on the level of Pure Consciousness itself, and we can partake of it when our individual awareness is stationed at the level of Pure Consciousness, so that we see the entire creation as nothing but vibrating consciousness on all its levels. At that level our “hearing” is perfect and our knowledge is perfect, and, according to Maharishi, when we speak, the universe obeys.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Va’etchanan
“Va’etchanan” means “And I pleaded.” Moses says he pleaded with Gd to let him enter the Promised Land but Gd said, “No. You can only view it from the mountain.”
To be in the Promised Land is to Be, to Be Fully Restored to the Awareness that our individualities are Gd in disguise, to Be fully restored to the Awareness that we are All-in-All and that our individuality is one cherished role of the Infinite roles we play.
The surface level of this parshah doesn’t tell us this; it tells us the story of Moses only from the individual level and we have to perceive that Moses was only speaking about his physical body entering the physical Promised Land: his soul was already in real Promised Land, Oneness with Gd – Gd Spoke through Moses.
“Play nice; don’t fight.” Momma may have said this to us and our playmates when we were children.
Moses reviews the events since leaving Egypt, including the Ten Commandments/Statements/Utterances, which tell us in detail that we should play nice with Gd, not fight Gd; we should not fight our parents; we should not fight truth; we should play nice with our spouses, with everyone. In many different ways Gd declares in the 10 Commandments that we should cherish Gd above all and we should cherish every aspect of life as an expression of Gd, respect all and live in honor and in peace. When we play nice in this way, we stay together, we live as members of a community, of a nation, moving together along a sacred path.
When we play nice, Gd appears to us and leads us so that trouble does not approach us but we are guided into the good land, the Good Land, the land of our soul in which we directly experience that Gd is Gd, there is no other and the physical land wherever we are is Holy, the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a holy people to the Lrd, your Gd; the Lrd, your Gd, has chosen you to be His treasured people, out of all the peoples upon the face of the Earth.” (translation, chabad.org)
What qualities do we as the Jewish people have that make us holy that Gd loves us particularly and protects us?
The answer to this may lie with the qualities that Moses had, the qualities that enabled him to be in Gd’s Presence a though our other ancestors were afraid they would die if they even heard one word more of Gd’s Voice than they heard when Gd gave the 10 Statements/Utterances/Commandments at Mt Sinai (some say Mt. Horeb).
What qualities were those? Do we as Jews have them specially? Are we Jewish if we don’t have them? Is anyone who has them holy and treasured by Gd whether they are Jewish or not? How can we get these qualities of holiness if we don’t have them? Increase them if we do?
Torah tells us that Moses was the humblest man there was: and humility means he was completely open to Gd; though Gd preserved Moses’ personality, Moses used it entirely to serve Gd, even though this sometimes meant challenging Gd. It also meant that he was aware that everything he did, every thought he had, was Gd acting through him, thinking within him.
This openness and awareness meant Moses could be in Gd’s Presence without fear.
This openness meant he was open to the Holiness that is Gd and therefore, he experienced himself as holy, treasured, special.
This quality our ancestors also had some of, enough to be special enough to deserve special attention.
Would we say today that the mere fact of being born Jewish, raised Jewish, converted to Judaism makes us holy, treasured, special? Some would, I don’t.
In our world we have people of many religions, and many who are not much observant of the details of their religion but most people in the world seem to be friendly though the mass media seem to favor reporting hostility and corruption “Love thy neighbor as thyself, thy Self” seems to be the most common nature of the human heart. Perhaps from Gd’s point of view, we Jews are a little more loving, a little more friendly, humble, open than others but my perception is not fine enough to say this is so or not so.
I do feel that our religion is a good source of guidance to grow in holiness, friendliness, Love of Gd above all, Love of our neighbor as our Self.
We can continue to grow in these qualities by doing our best to follow the guidance of Torah, the Rabbis, and the Righteous, the Tzaddikim; our parents, our family, our elders; our teachers, our friends: as we grow in respect and humility, in Love and in the desire to serve Gd and our neighbors we grow in Awareness of Gd’s Presence. Through these good desires and actions we lose any fear that might cause us to put obstacles between us and Gd’s Presence and we lose any fear that would cause us to put distance between ourselves and our neighbors; we become open so Gd Reveals Gd’s Oneness within us; we play nice: we don’t fight.
Life becomes Lovely! Let us keep acting this way, growing this way, and experience Fulfillment, Holiness we can live and share with everyone.
Baruch HaShem