Parashat Vayikra 5783 — 03/25/2023
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.
Vayikra 1:1-5:26
Rambam now turns his attention to perhaps the most cardinal sin in Jewish life – idolatry. He writes:
Know that if you consider the whole of the Torah and all the books of the prophets, you will find that the expressions wrath, anger, and jealousy, are exclusively used with reference to idolatry. You will also find that the expressions, enemy of Gd or adversary or hater, are exclusively used to designate an idolater. Thus Scripture says: [RAR: Rambam gives half a page of quotes to buttress his point] . … Now the books of the prophets only make this strong assertion because it concerns a false opinion attaching to Him, may He be exalted, I refer to idolatrous worship. For the deviation from truth of one who believes that Zayd is standing at a time when he is sitting, is not like the deviation of him who believes that fire is under the air or water under the earth or that the earth is flat [RAR: the Greeks knew the earth is round 2500 years ago – sorry flat-earthers] and other things of a similar kind. And this second deviation from truth is not like the deviation of him who believes that the sun consists of fire [RAR: It does consist of fire, sort of, but nuclear fire rather than chemical fire] or that the heavenly sphere forms a hemisphere and other things of a similar kind. Again this third deviation from truth is not like the deviation of him who believes that the angels eat and drink and other things of a similar kind. Finally this fourth deviation from truth is not like the deviation of him who believes that a thing other than Gd ought to be worshipped. For whenever ignorance and infidelity bear upon a great thing, I mean to say upon someone whose rank in what exists is well established, they are of greater consequence than if they bear upon someone who was of a lower rank. By infidelity, I mean belief about a thing that is different from what the thing really is. By ignorance, I mean ignorance of what it is possible to know. Accordingly the ignorance of him who does not know the measure of the cone of a cylinder or does not know that the sun is spherical is not like the ignorance of him who does not know whether a deity exists or whether there is no deity for the world. Nor is the infidelity of him who thinks that the cone of a cylinder is half a cylinder [RAR: it’s 1/3 – it’s a simple calculus problem, but of course calculus was still 500 years in the future in Rambam’s time, so there must be a geometrical proof] or that the sun is a circle like the infidelity of him who thinks that there are more deities than one.
Rambam here has established a hierarchy of beliefs and knowledge, from the gross to the subtle, and points out that ignorance or “infidelity” of belief on a subtle level is of greater consequence than ignorance or infidelity at a grosser level. This makes perfect sense. Subtler levels of creation are more powerful, and any deviation from that level is going to create more harm than a similar deviation from a grosser level. If you are shooting at a target a mile away, a deviation of 1° will lead to a miss of 92 feet. If you are shooting at a target 100 miles away, the same 1° deviation will lead to a miss of 9200 feet, or 1.75 miles. When we are discussing knowledge of Gd, Who is transcendent and infinite, any deviation can lead to a complete miss, with disastrous consequences, as we will see.
Maharishi used to use this analogy to emphasize the necessity of maintaining the purity of the teaching of TM. Again, since we are shooting for infinity, any small deviation will be disastrous. This is particularly evident in the misunderstandings of the nature of the transcendent and the effortlessness of the procedure to experience it. Since Pure Consciousness is the state of least excitation of consciousness, it should be obvious that any effort one puts into forcing the mind to settle down to experience Pure Consciousness would be taking us in exactly the opposite direction. It’s like trying to calm the waves on the ocean by pushing them down – they just pop up someplace else.
If it is so obvious, why did almost nobody believe it for hundreds of years, and instead put a lot of effort into trying to clear the mind? According to Maharishi, it’s because the technique was not taught in its purity. People began trying to have transcendental experience, and the more they tried, the more it escaped them. Pretty soon the whole idea of meditation got a bad name, because it was no longer effective for improving life. The research that has been done on the Maharishi Effect highlights how effective meditation can be, and how cruelly the world has suffered without it. Fortunately, Maharishi structured the teaching so that if we stick to the procedure, neither adding nor subtracting, it will be effective. In almost 50 years of teaching TM I have never seen anyone profit from deviating from Maharishi’s instructions.
Knowledge is the basis of action, and action is the basis of achievement and fulfillment. Rambam goes on to discuss what happens when we have faulty knowledge:
Now you know that whoever performs idolatrous worship does not do it on the assumption that there is no deity except the idol. In fact, no human being of the past has ever imagined on any day, and no human being of the future will ever imagine, that the form that he fashions either from cast metal or from stone and wood has created and governs the heavens and the earth. Rather is it worshipped in respect of its being an image of a thing that is an intermediary between ourselves and Gd. Scripture makes this clear, saying: Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations, and so on [Jer 10:7]. It also says: And in every place incense is offered unto My name, and so on [Mal 1:11], whereby Scripture refers to what they [RAR: I believe “they” is the Greek philosophers] regard as the First Cause. We have made this clear in our great compilation [Mishneh Torah, Hil. Avodah Zarah I]. No one among the people of our Law disputes this. However, in spite of the fact that those infidels [lit. “deniers” = those who deny Gd’s existence or His uniqueness] believe in the existence of the deity, their idolatrous worship entails their deserving destruction; for the reason that their infidelity bears upon a prerogative reserved to Gd alone, may He be exalted – I mean the prerogative of being worshipped and magnified – just as Scripture says: And ye shall serve the Lord, and so on [Ex 23:25]. This is so ordained in order that Gd’s existence may be firmly established in the belief of the multitude. Now the idolaters thought that this prerogative belonged to that which was other than Gd; and this led to the disappearance of the belief in His existence, may He be exalted, from among the multitude. For the multitude grasp only the actions of worship, not their meanings or the true reality of the Being worshipped through them. Consequently the idolatrous worship of the infidels entails their deserving destruction, just as the text has it: Thou shall not save alive a soul [Deut 20:16]. And it explains the reason for this, which is to put an end to this false opinion so that others should not be corrupted through it. As Scripture says: That they teach you not to do, and so on [Deut 20:18]. And it calls them enemies, haters, and adversaries, and says that he who does this provokes [Gd’s] jealousy, anger, and wrath.
Rambam here references his well-known explanation of the rise of idolatry. According to Rambam, it was perfectly obvious to the first few generations of humans (beginning with Adam and Eve) that there was one Gd and that Gd created the entire universe. This was their lived reality. However, at some point people got the idea that giving honor to Gd’s “ministers” – the sun, moon and stars for example – is giving honor to Gd. Furthermore, Gd’s ministers are much more approachable – they are part of the created world, just as we are, not in the transcendent. Eventually, as knowledge and experience began to deteriorate, people began actually offering worship to the ministers directly, ascribing ultimate power and authority to them.
We have here an interaction between belief and action. Incorrect beliefs about Gd and Creation and their relationship lead to incorrect actions – namely idolatrous worship – and idolatrous worship fixes in the minds of the multitudes, and perhaps also even the elites, that Gd needs partners to run the world, and that each one is supreme in its own area. If Gd is dethroned, chaos results. Chaos is the result of the violation of natural law / Gd’s Will, and such violation can only occur if people see themselves as separate from Gd. Idolatry is a focus on the partial values of creation, while worship of Gd is the natural result of the growth of wholeness of life in the awareness. The small deviation at the dawn of (Biblical) history has grown to tragic proportions today.
I plan to finish this consideration next week, then take a break from Rambam for Pesach, then after Pesach Rambam will return to consideration of various words used equivocally in Torah.
*********************************************************************************************************************************
Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Vayikra
“Vayikra” means “and He Called.” Gd called to Moses to describe to him the Five Offerings – “Offerings” in Hebrew is “korbanot” which means “draw near.” Through our open hearts, sharing our love and our resources we limited beings draw near to Gd, the Unlimited.
The Five Offerings (Korbanot):
- Ascending Fire: to atone.
- Meal: a gift from one whose life is dedicated to generosity.
- Peace: made when making peace with others by dedicating one’s life to Gd.
- Trespass: to compensate for unintentional infringement on others’ rights.
- Sin: pay in full the debt of one’s unintentional failures and weaknesses, failures of one’s personality.
“Atonement” means “at-Onement” – restoring our awareness so we remember that we are a fascinating role that Gd is Playing within Gd. What we really offered when we offered the physical offerings in the days of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and of the First and Second Temple was ourselves: we offered the limits of ourselves to Gd to dissolve them in the Fire of Love so as to restore us to Wholeness, Oneness, Fulfillment.
This is what we do today when we use prayers instead of physical offerings: we offer our limits to Gd to Dissolve them in the Fire of Love and to Restore us to Wholeness, Oneness, Fulfillment.
And this is what we do today, whether formally praying or in the midst of the rest of the activities of our life: Through our right actions in any way, we draw near: we draw near with our innocence, our naturalness, our kindness, our gratitude. We draw near with our simple, easy life that seeks to be in attunement with Gd and Gd’s Will, seeks to easily (but quickly!) return to Primordial Oneness, beyond the duality of Gd and soul, the Oneness within which all multiplicity exists as expressions.
Ahhh! Little by little: and suddenly! Home free! Home!
Baruch HaShem.