Parashat Ekev 5786 – 08/01/2026
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. The text we are working from is the two-volume translation by Prof. Shlomo Pines, University of Chicago Press, 1963.
Devarim 7:12-11:25
Dear readers,
There are a number of short weeks coming up for me. This week I will be heading to Winnipeg for the Bar Mitzvah of my oldest grandson! On 8/31 I will be traveling to Fairfield to bring someone to the last part of the digital TTC, and the week of 9/20 I will be picking him up (Monday of that week is also Yom Kippur). The week after that is Sukkot. What this means is that for the next weeks my entries will probably be a bit shorter than normal, which many may see as a positive development! If need be, we’ll dip into the archives for some oldies but goodies.
Bob
Back to Rambam!
Rambam moves on to a second opinion on the creation of the universe:
The second opinion is that of all the philosophers of whom we have heard reports and whose discourses we have seen. They say that it is absurd the Gd would bring a thing into existence out of nothing. Furthermore, according to them, it is likewise not possible that a thing should pass away into nothing; I mean to say that it is not possible that a certain being, endowed with matter and form, should be generated out of the absolute nonexistence of that matter, or that it should pass away into the absolute nonexistence of that matter. To predicate of Gd that He is able to do this is, according to them, like predicating of Him that He is able to bring together two contraries in one instant of time, or that He is able to create something that is like Himself, may He be exalted, or to make Himself corporeal, or to create a square whose diagonal is equal to its side, and similar impossibilities.
A basic assumption of Aristotelian logic is the “law of the excluded middle”: a proposition is either true or its opposite is true; there is no middle ground. Vedic Science, on the other hand, posits the “knowledge is different in different states of consciousness.” Let’s see how these approaches work with this question.
The philosophers have a binary approach to existence. Either something exists or it doesn’t, and apparently, they do not believe that there is a way to transition from one to the other. There is no middle way. For there to be creation in time, all the existents in the creation must move from non-existence to existence. To them, this is a logical impossibility, and therefore Gd can no more accomplish this feat than He can square the circle or create simultaneously an immovable object and an irresistible force. If this is the case, then even Gd cannot create something from nothing (creatio ex nihilo) because it is logically impossible to do so. Now this logical impossibility is based on human (waking-state) logic. We will return to this point presently.
One way around this problem of creatio ex nihilo is to posit the existence of some basic substance out of which everything is formed. This substance is called hyle from the Greek hulei, and Google says of it:
Hyle originates from the Ancient Greek word ὕλη (húlē), meaning “wood” or “matter,” and was later adopted into Latin as hyle. In general usage, it refers to matter or physical substance, particularly in its primordial, unorganized state, as opposed to form or essence. The term is typically used as a feminine noun in Latin and has synonyms such as materia (material) and substantia (substance).
In Aristotelian philosophy, hyle is the substratum that underlies all physical entities. Aristotle described it as that which receives form or determination from outside itself, meaning it exists in potentiality and becomes actualized only when combined with form. This concept is central to hylomorphism, the doctrine that every physical being is a compound of matter (hyle) and form (morphē). Hyle is not a “thing” in itself but the material basis from which things are made, including the four classical elements – fire, water, air, and earth – considered in combination with qualities like hot, cold, moist, and dry.
Now this introduction of an undifferentiated substance doesn’t really solve our problem. Was this substance created by Gd out of nothing at some point, or was it pre-existing eternally? If it was pre-existing, then “creation” really means “formation” of something from the pre-existing hyle. If Gd created it at some point then we’re back to the same question – how can Gd bring hyle into existence from complete non-existence?
I might point out here that in Hebrew the verb for “to create” (bara) and “to form” (yatzar) refer to two different creative processes. Bara refers specifically to creatio ex nihilo, and as far as I know is used only with respect to Gd’s creating out of nothing. The verb yatzar is used when some pre-existing substance is formed into some particular form. So, Genesis 1:1 says Bereishit bara Elokim… When Gd began to create… This is the creation of “heaven and earth” out of nothing. After going to the bathroom we wash our hands and bless Gd asher yatzar et ha-adam b’chochmah / Who formed humans with wisdom . And indeed, Gd is pictured gathering the dust of the earth, forming the first man, and blowing into his nostrils the breath of life. So as we saw last week, Jewish thought comes down on the side of creatio ex nihilo.
As you might expect, modern physics has something to say on this issue. In recent essays we’ve discussed the issue of form vs. substance, and I have tried to explain that in quantum field theory, the distinction between the two apparently dissolves. In Unified Field theories, there is just one field that vibrates in different patterns to give rise to the forms and phenomena that we see in creation. As the patterns shift and shimmer, different forms appear to come into existence, but this is only the surface reality. The underlying reality is that only the Unified Field really exists, and its patterns come and go in time. The question of a transition from non-existence to existence or vice versa doesn’t really arise. Where does your lap go when you stand up? Does it transition from existence to non-existence?
Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita (2:12): There never was a time when I was not, nor you, nor these rulers of men. Nor will there ever be a time when all of us shall cease to be. Maharishi comments:
Here the Lord [Krishna] presents to Arjuna the permanent nature of the inner man, the inner Reality of individual life. The nature of this spirit in man is imperishable. Despite the continual change of bodies in the past, present and future, it ever remains the same.
Krishna could have gone further and informed Arjuna that the innermost nature of everything in creation is the same as his own innermost nature, that everything is the expression of the Unified Field to itself, based on its non-linear, Self-referral nature.
This view of reality is valid from the point of view of Unity Consciousness. From waking state, we can question the difference between existence and non-existence. We have no knowledge of the eternity of Existence, let alone that this eternal Pure Existence is who we are. When we meditate regularly, experiencing Transcendental Consciousness, and this Transcendental Consciousness be-comes so infused into the nature of the mind that we know our own existence to be eternal. Existence is neither created nor destroyed, it just Is. Finally, when we rise to Unity Consciousness, we realize that Pure Existence is the only thing that there is, and that all perception is actually perception of the self-interaction of Pure Existence. Our bodies, minds, egos, are all Pure Existence, as are “all these rulers of men,” everyone they rule, and everything else in creation. The whole question of creatio ex nihilo does not even arise, because there is no creatio and no niihilo!
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Ekev
“Eikev” means “Because.” This parshah begins with Moses saying “..Because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform, them the Ld, your Gd, will keep for you the covenant that Gd swore to your forefathers”> chabad.org “
This includes Blessing, Loving, Protecting, Preventing illness, Providing manna in the wilderness so that all will know that ”…man does not live by bread alone, but rather by, whatever comes forth from the mouth of the Ld does man live.” (Deuteronomy, 8:3, chabad.org translation).
Since everything comes forth from the mouth of Gd – all the diversity and stages of Creation were and are continually created from Gd’s words – this statement needs interpretation.
A good way to look at this is that Gd wants us to humbly open ourselves to the Wholeness that is Gd and not to be lost in fragments like material bread.
This principle allows us to experience and act on all the commandments Gd has given in Torah – not just the Ten, but all 613.
Trying to obey them from the limited level of our individualities, would be hard and, at the moment, impossible since some of the commandments depend on the existence of the Temple. And yet Moses speaks Gd’s word to us in this parshah: obey and be blessed. disobey and be cursed.
Through humility, however, we open our heart to Wholeness, to all the streams, letters, words, stories, commandments that perpetually reside in Wholeness, Gd, One. We go beyond the limited interpretation of Gd’s Words and experience Gd within Them: we are not limited to the Bread of Gd’s Mouth but Experience the Wholeness within which each limited value of Gd Exists.
Moses says (Deuteronomy 11:22) “For if you keep all these Commandments which I command you, to do it, to love the Lord, your Gd, to walk in all Gd’s Ways, and to cleave to Gd…”
“…then all be well, the Ld will drive out the nations before you and the land shall be yours.”
Putting Gd first, loving Gd, we are guided by Gd’s Love to walk in Gd’s Ways and our life is a life in harmony with Gd.
This harmony grows when we humbly prepare ourselves each day with whatever of Torah we can, whether it is letter or spirit, and innocently do our best to live a good life, a holy life, being practical, but not letting our concept of practical be limited to our own material needs, rather letting it serve the purpose of loving Gd, loving Wholeness, not being lost in detail, being charmed by detail only to the point that it serves the growth of Love of Gd, of Wholeness, in our life, and spreads it to all lives.
In this way the appropriate commandments and the appropriate obedience occurs to us as they are needed in a joyful, effortless way so that our lives become a blessing and Gd’s Blessings come to us and through us to all around us.
We, in our congregation, do seem to be humble, joyful, loving, blessed so we seem to be substantially following Gd’s commandments as Moses presented them in time 3500 years ago and, as on the deep level of Wholeness, Moses is still presenting them to us, and Gd is still Blessing us and Giving us the simplicity to love, be Loved and to be restored to the Awareness that there is nothing but Wholeness, Gd, One, and we are This One, playing the game of hide-and-seek, playing the roles of our individualities and of all individualities, including each of the 613 Commandments, all nations, all souls.
Baruch HaShem