Parashat BeChukotai 5784 — 06/01/2024
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 26:3-27:34
Once again, we have a pair of parshiyyot that are normally read together, but this year are read separately: Behar last week and BeChukotai this week.
Rambam now turns to the issue of the various Names of Gd that we find in both Scripture and in the Rabbinic literature, and in the liturgy. He begins by pointing out that all Gd’s names refer to Gd’s activities, except the “explicit Name”: Y-K-V-K. (The “K” substitutes for “H” so that if even this hint is erased, we are not actually erasing a Name of Gd, which is forbidden Biblically. That is why even when writing in English I leave the “o” out of Gd’s Name, and other people use a dash in place of the “o.”)
All the names of Gd, may He be exalted, that are to be found in any of the books derive from actions. There is nothing secret in this matter. The only exception is one name: namely, Yod, Ke, Vav, Ke. This is the name of Gd, may He be exalted, that has been originated without any derivation, and for this reason it is called the “articulated name” [RAR: Shem ham’furash = “explicit name”]. This means that this name gives a clear unequivocal indication of His essence, may He be exalted. On the other hand, all the other great names give their indication in an equivocal way, being derived from terms signifying actions the like of which, as we have made clear, exist as our own actions. Even the name that is uttered instead of Yod, Ke, Vav, Ke, is derived from a term signifying lordship: The man, the lord [’adoni] of the land, spoke .[Gen 42:30] The difference between your saying ’Adoni – with an “ee” vocalization of the nun – and your saying [’Adonai – with] an “Aye” vocalization of the nun – is analogous to the difference between your saying Sarri, which means my chief, and your saying Sarai, the wife of Abram [RAR: Before Gd changed their names] . For these words [those having a termination “ai”] are emphatic and of a general character applicable also to other beings. Thus it has been said to an angel: ’Adonai [my lord], pass not away, I pray thee.
Note that I have changed the phonetic spellings of the word endings to emphasize the sound by using English letter-groupings rather than the more internationally correct symbols the translator actually used. Also, it is traditional, when writing the Name to replace the Heh’s with K, to avoid erasing the actual Name (e.g. when you read what I’m writing and then close the screen, all those instances are “erased”). In the actual quotes I have left it as Rambam and the translator wrote it (with “H”), but in my discussion I change the Name to YKVK.
Again, Rambam is making a distinction between Gd’s essence, denoted by the explicit name YKVK, which we do not even pronounce, and Gd’s action, which is denoted by other names we give Gd, such as the Merciful One (i.e. He acts in a way that we interpret as merciful), etc. It seems to me that this is a parallel to Rambam’s consideration of the possibility of there being positive attributes associated with Gd. To say that Gd is Merciful is of course a positive attribute. To say that this really means that “Gd acts in a way that we humans interpret as Merciful’ doesn’t really change the point – in fact it also brings in the question of how an unchanging Gd can act at all.
We may ask further, what does it mean that the Tetragrammaton [YKVK] “gives a clear unequivocal indication of His essence, may He be exalted”? Don’t all names define (“make finite”) whatever it is that they pertain to? The Name YKVK is sometimes called the “Shem Havayah” or “Name signifying Being,” as it comes from the root HVH which is “to be.” Perhaps the name denotes pure Being, purely abstract existence which one reaches after negating every positive attribute of anything that exists. It may also model the process of negation, as it were, as it contains 4 “weak” letters that tend to disappear within other words. I should point out that the Torah explicitly forbids erasing (any of) Gd’s Name(s), so we shouldn’t take this abstraction process too literally!
Rambam continues discussing this Name of Gd:
I have explained this to you especially with regard to Adonai [which is uttered instead of Y.K.V.K.] because it is the most particularized of the commonly known names of [Gd], may He be exalted; for in the case of all the others, such as the Judge, the Just, the Gracious, the Merciful, and Elokim, it is manifest that they are used in a general way as well as that they are derived. As for the name that, if pronounced, is composed of Yod, He, Vav, and He, no commonly accepted derivation of it is known and none other than He has a part in it. There can be no doubt about the fact that this great name, which as you know is not pronounced except in the Sanctuary by the sanctified Priests of the Lord and only in the benediction of the Priests and by the High Priest upon the day the fast [RAR: i.e. Yom Kippur], is indicative of a notion with reference to which there is no association between Gd, may He be exalted, and what is other than He. Perhaps it indicates the notion of a necessary existence, according to the [Hebrew] language, of which we today know only a very scant portion and also with regard to its pronunciation. Generally speaking, the greatness of this name and the prohibition against pronouncing it are due to its being indicative of the essence of Him, may He be exalted, in such a way that none of the created things is associated with Him in this indication. As the Sages, may their memory be blessed, have said of it: My name that is peculiar to Me.
What does it mean that the YKVK has “no commonly accepted derivation”? I think it has to do with the fact that Gd is a “necessary existent.” In other words, Gd’s existence is the basis of the existence of everything that exists, but Gd’s existence doesn’t depend on anything else (because there is nothing else). In the words of theologian Paul Tillich, Gd is “the ground of all being.” All beings grow out of this ground, Gd being the sun and the rain as well of course. Our existence is a “part of Gd on High”; just as a plant is made out of the soil and the water and the energy from the sun, so we are made are of the Being that is Gd. Incidentally, this fits well with our analogy of the Unified Field – we are all nothing other than a pattern of vibration of the Unified Field, at least in our physical nature.
Rambam will go on to consider other names of Gd next, and Gd willing, so will we!
Chazak! Chazak! V’Nitchazeik!
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat BeChukotai
“Bechukotai” means “By My Decrees.”
Gd declares that if we read His Torah and do the mitzvahs – the right actions – commanded in It, we will be blessed wonderfully; if not, we will be cursed, and the curses will get worse until we listen. But nonetheless, Gd will not abandon us.
Our congregation seems to doing mitzvot because every time we congregate, I experience that each of us and all us radiates great joy, love, friendliness.
Our world, not just our congregations, seems to be doing better and better: Steven Pinker researched the incidence of violence and crime and finds that it has been decreasing. since 1400 CE.
As inspiring as this is, do people globally feel happy — a contemporary word that seems to mean what “blessed” means, in religious terms.
The World Happiness Report for 2022 shows that Americans are getting happier:
World Happiness Report reveals the US has gotten happier in 2022 Finland took the top spot again this year, for the fifth year in a row.
Global Happiness also seem to be increasing:
https://nypost.com/2022/03/22/world-happiness-report-reveals-the-us-has-gotten-happier-in-2022/
The pursuit^of^happiness.org mentions a number of different scientific questionnaires that seek to measure happiness and notes that wording and emphasis vary.
Their own quiz seems to focus on the common core to all the questionnaires; it considers such measures as: sharing, kindness, fulfillment in using one’s abilities to a greater purpose than simply personal achievement, participating in a spiritual group.
These actions are definitely the central focus of our religion, definitely seem to be very alive in our congregation, seem to be the core of all religions. and they seem to be the taken-for-granted behaviors of everyday life-a reality that is deeper and more lasting than the news we see in mass media.
Our world seems to be getting better, even good, at “loving the Lord, thy Gd, with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy might” and “loving thy neighbor as thyself [thy Self].
Whether we know anything about Torah or not, our hearts seem to be listening to Gd.
A very great blessing!
A very great blessing.
Baruch HaShem