Parshiyyot Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5786 – 04/25/2026
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.
Acharei Mot: Vayikra 16:1-18:30
Kedoshim: Vayikra 19:1-20:27
Before we go any deeper into medieval cosmology, I want to introduce you to a wonderful little volume called Haiku U, by David M. Bader. He summarizes great literary works in 17 syllables. Here is his summary of Copernicus’ great work De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium (On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres):
Guessus whatibus?
Earthus orbits the Sunnum
Ptolemy doofus.
Rambam turns his attention now to the actual structure of the spheres. He first turns his attention to Mercury and Venus. As a reminder, in the Copernican system (sun at the center of the solar system) Mercury and Venus are in orbits that are within (closer to the sun) than earth’s orbit, while the orbits of the other planets (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were not known until 1781, 1846 and 1930 respectively) are outside that of earth. Apparently the ancients recognized the distinction between the inner and outer planets as well, as we shall see from the ensuing discussion.
We have already made it clear to you that in Aristotle’s time the number of the spheres had not been accurately established and that those who in our time count nine spheres, only count as one a globe that includes several spheres, as is clear to whoever has studied the science of astronomy. For this reason, you also should not regard as blameworthy this dictum of some of the Sages, may their memory’ be blessed [Chagigah 12b] There are two firmaments; for it is said: [Deut 10:14] Behold, unto the Lord thy Gd belongeth the heaven, and the heaven of heavens. For he who says this counts the whole globe of the stars – I mean the spheres in which there are stars – as one globe, and again counts the globe of the all-encompassing sphere in which there is no star as the second globe. Consequently, he says: There are two firmaments.
Rambam is trying to establish the structure of the universe, which means the structure of the spheres. The first step is to ascertain the number of spheres and their placement. It appears that he wants to group all the celestial bodies into one sphere, which means there must be two spheres – one with the celestial objects and the other surrounding creation. These are the heavens and the highest heavens, where the celestial beings reside.
I’d like to digress a bit to talk about the idea of the heavens or celestial realms. We know from physics that creation is structure in layers – surface (macroscopic layer), molecules, atoms, subatomic particles, etc. We think of these layers as separate, but in truth they are not layers at all, just different levels of understanding of the one nature before us. My keyboard is made of plastic and metal – that is one way of understanding it. All those materials are made of molecules. This is another way of understanding the very same keyboard on which I am typing. It is a higher energy understanding – the keyboard can only be deconstructed into its molecules by means of chemical reactions, which take considerable energy. Similarly, the molecules are made of atoms. The molecules can be taken apart into atoms, but it takes more energy to do this. We can go on and on, to the most subtle and abstract level of physical creation – the Unified Field (which we assume exists, even if we haven’t fully elucidated its structure).
The point is that all these different levels actually interpenetrate. Even more accurately, the different levels are not different in substance – they are different ways of describing the exact same phenomena. My keyboard is nothing other than a complex pattern of vibration of the Unified Field, and we can talk about it in terms of atoms, or molecules, or any of these levels. But the levels are just a way of talking.
There are subtler levels of existence as well; these are not material, or much less material than the physical levels. They are transparent to our everyday vision, but as we grow in consciousness these levels become more apparent. And just like the layers of molecules and atoms and subatomic particles, these layers interpenetrate. The most refined level of creation is the celestial level, the heavenly level, and it is here on earth right now, available for anyone with refined enough consciousness and perception to enjoy it. Just to give one concrete, if speculative example. Our tradition tells us that the Third Temple will descend, fully built, from heaven when Mashiach comes. But if heaven is already here, so is the Third Temple, sitting where it needs to be on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. What do we see there? The Dome of the Rock, a mosque. Why? Either stress is distorting our vision, or perhaps stress is distorting the manifestation of the subtlest, celestial value of Third Temple into something else on the surface. Or perhaps both.
Returning to Rambam, he goes on to discuss Mercury and Venus:
Now I shall first set forth for your benefit a preface needed for the purpose that I have in view in this chapter. This preface is as follows. Know that regarding the spheres of Venus and Mercury there exists a difference of opinion among the early mathematicians about whether they are above the sun or below the sun.‘ For there is no demonstration proving to us what the position of these two spheres is. The doctrine of all the ancients was that the spheres of Venus and Mercury are above the sun. Know this and keep it entirely present in your mind. Then Ptolemy came and decided in favor of the opinion that they were both below the sun, saying that the greatest likeness to a natural order would be manifested in the sun’s being in the middle with three planets above and three below [RAR: i.e. the moon, Mercury and Venus].
Now in the Copernican system (“Planets orbit the Sunnum”) both Venus and Mercury have orbits that are smaller than the earth’s orbit. This means that from our perspective, there is a maximum angular separation between the inner planet and the sun. You can see this by drawing a dot for the sun, a big circle for the orbit of the earth, and a smaller, inner circle with a radius of about 0.4 (40%) of the earth’s orbit’s radius, for the orbit of Mercury. The maximum elongation of Mercury is then given when a line from the earth to Mercury is tangent to the orbit of Mercury. This forms a right triangle with an angle of arcsin( 0.4) = 24°. (The actual figure is about 28° due to the fact that Mercury’s orbit is quite eccentric.) The maximum elongation of Venus is about 47°.
For the outer planets (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) you can draw the same dot for the sun and two concentric circles, except now the orbit of the earth is the inner circle and that of the other planet is the outer circle. You can quickly convince yourself that the outer planets can have any angular relationship between the planet and the sun.
In the Ptolemaic system, where the earth is at the center and the sun, moon and planets revolve around the earth, any of the planets, inner or outer, can theoretically be opposite the sun completely. To see this, make a dot for the earth, a small circle for the sphere of Mercury and a larger circle for the sun’s “orbit.” You can see that the sun can be on one side of the earth’s dot and Mercury on the other or any angle in between.
Now people in the Mediterranean region have lots of very clear nights, with virtually no light pollution in antiquity, and they were keen observers of the heavens, even without any instruments. They certainly knew that Venus and Mercury were restricted to an angular interval – I would assume that this is the reason they are singled out for this question of where their spheres exist. However, it does not appear that Rambam will deal with this important data point. It appears that it would be difficult to fit this information into the Ptolemaic system.
Interestingly, it is a natural outgrowth of the Copernican system, while it’s a conundrum in the Ptolemaic system. This is the way science progresses. We have a paradigm – a way of looking at nature – and within that paradigm there are questions we can ask, and questions we can answer. When nature gives us a question that doesn’t fit into the paradigm, we generally try to twist and turn our understanding until we’ve completely twisted it out of shape. At that point there’s a phase transition to an entirely different way of looking at the whole of the system. This is called a paradigm shift , and there are many examples in the history of science. The latest paradigm shift was introduced by Maharishi, whose teaching has shifted our awareness from a boundary-based outlook to a unity-based outlook. And since unity is the basis of all reality and the source from which all creation flows, once that paradigm is firmly established in our consciousness, all questions will be resolved smoothly, easily and naturally.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parshiyyot Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
“Acharei Mot”means “after the death.” It refers to the death of Aaron’s two eldest sons: Nadab (“to give, volunteer, donate”) and AbIhu (“father is he”). After the death of Nadab and Abihu. Gd commands that only the High Priest may enter the Holy of Holies and he may only do that once a year, on Yom Kippur.
Our children symbolize our desires: when Nadab and Abihu offer “strange fire” and are destroyed, it means that Aaron offered his desires to give, volunteer, donate, act paternally from his individuality, not from the level of Wholeness that is Gd: only Gd knows Gd, only Gd can offer to Gd.
The “Holy of Holies” is the level of Creation that is finer than the finest,” subtler than individual perception can sense.
“Yom Kippur” literally means “Day of At-Onement”: only when we experience our individuality as expressions of Gd can we offer finer than the finest to Gd.
This raises the question: May only the High Priest experience the Full Presence of Gd? And may he only experience that once a year?
Compare this commandment with the commandment in the next parashah, Kedoshim, in which Gd says, “Be thou Holy, for I Am Holy.”
This commandment says that we, all of us, must always be Holy, not just the High Priest and not just once a year.
Looking at the commandment in Acharei Mot from this point of view, we can see that, although the Tabernacle and all its details, including the Holy of Holies and the actions of the priests and the High Priest, were specifically designed by Gd to assist us in being aware of His Presence, it is possible for us to be fully aware of His Presence wherever we are and whoever we are.
The 10 Commandments/Statements/Utterances give us very clear guidance for our behavior so that we can act and be Holy. Particularly, the commandment/ statement/utterance, “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy Gd, with all thy heart, all thy soul, and all thy might” and, very close to it, the commandment which appears in Parashat Kedoshim, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
To me and to probably all of our congregation the guidance to love Gd has resulted in our doing our best to live our life routinely and moment-to-moment in an innocent, non-straining way that allows our Nature, which is Joy and Love, to be more and more deeply experienced and more and more deeply expressed in every feeling, thought and action.
Living this way we are becoming increasingly aware of Gd-Totality – as all there is and therefore our love becomes more and more, Love, the same Love that Gd Is; and Joy, the same Joy that Gd is. Thus our love is naturally directed to Gd, without our having to think about it, no matter where our attention may be. Our love is not a mood, it is a natural experience of Gd as Love. Naturally we experience our individuality as a flow of Gd’s Love. Naturally we experience more and more of the Wholeness and Unite more fully with Gd. Naturally, we more and more fully remember, fully experience, that we are expressions of Gd – Gd is all there is. Naturally, our desires, actions are offerings, more and more acceptable.
The guidance to love our neighbor as our selves, naturally results in our doing our best to know our selves more and more fully as Self, the One Self and thus, to love our selves more and more fully, to increase in our love for every aspect of existence, every individual expression of Gd, flowing within Gd, including our neighbors – and as Jesus put it, also our enemies.
Although it will be nice, great, wonderful when the Temple is rebuilt and we have its assistance in being aware of Gd’s Presence, Kedoshim commands us all that we should be Holy, in and out of the Temple, whatever our status in the community.
Through our desires to love Gd, to love our neighbor, to be Holy and through the actions we take to fulfill these desires we in our community are becoming increasingly aware of Gd’s Presence as Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omni-Joyful, Omni-Loving and our behavior becomes increasingly naturally loving and Loving. Naturally our behavior sings as the angels sing: “Holy, Holy, Holy!” Naturally, we become, more and more completely united with Gd, One.
Naturally!
Baruch HaShem