Parashat Ki Tavo 5786 – 08/29/2026
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 26:1-29:8
Dear readers,
There are a number of short weeks coming up for me. 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
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Rambam now goes on to consider the status of Aristotle’s opinion that the universe is finite and created in time.
My purpose in this chapter [Chapter II:15] is to make it clear that Aristotle possesses no demonstration for the world being eternal, as he understands this. Moreover he is not mistaken with regard to this. I mean to say that he himself knows that he possesses no demonstration with regard to this point, and that the arguments and the proofs that he sets forth are merely such as occur to the mind and to which the soul inclines.
When Rambam says that Aristotle does not have a firm demonstration of the eternity of the universe, we must remember on what basis a firm demonstration is founded. The rules of logic that are universally agreed upon, at least in the West, govern the relationship between predicates and consequences. If A is true, then B will follow. The question is whether or not A is true. In other words, any demonstration depends on the predicates that underlie it.
A couple of weeks ago Rambam enumerated the premises on which Aristotle’s arguments are based (in a passage we did not quote at the time):
He thus stated several propositions in an absolute manner and explained them. These propositions are:
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- Everything that is subject to generation is subject to passing-away.
- Everything that is subject to passing-away is subject to generation.
- Everything that has not been generated will not pass away.
- Everything that will not pass away has not been generated.
Aristotle divides the world into things that are transient (first two points) and things that are eternal (last two points). The demonstration then proceeds as follows. Everything under the spheres (the “sub-lunar” world) is subject to generation and decay, and everything that is generated is generated from something else that is also subject to generation and decay. If the world of generation and decay were created at a specific time it would, according to these premises, have to come from something that would have to have existed earlier – prior to the specific time of creation we had posited. This is a contradiction. Therefore, concludes Aristotle, the universe must be eternal, and the infinite regress is no longer a problem, as we have infinite time, unconstrained by a moment of Creation.
This separation between finite-time objects and eternal things is, in my opinion, equivalent to the idea that there is no such thing as creatio ex nihilo. Creatio ex nihilo means the creation of something from nothing. In the case where there are eternal things, those are neither created nor destroyed. The finite objects are created by other finite objects, and the argument we made against creation in time was that creation from pre-existing creations requires either an infinite regress, and therefore no creation in time, or a temporal starting point for creation, which is equivalent to creation from nothing. Of course, Aristotle opts for the former, while Rambam, bound by “In the beginning Gd created,” opts for the latter.
It appears that the argument is circular. We want to prove that the universe is eternal. To do this we have to assume that finite objects can only come from other finite objects. But that is equivalent to saying that finite objects cannot be created out of nothing. It appears that our assumptions contain, or are equivalent to, that which we wish to prove. In any event, we probably need a different approach.
We actually have discussed a different approach from Vedic Science. Vedic Science posits that there is a transcendent level of life that is beyond all finite objects. We have analogized this level with the Unified Field. In physics, the Unified Field is all that there is, and everything that we perceive – all the particles and all the interactions between particles – are simply the internal vibrations of the Unified Field, the Unified Field interacting with itself. Now this is just an analogy of course, but perhaps it helps us understand how Gd creates from within Himself. We’re told that Gd spoke, and it was. I think what this means is that Gd’s inner nature vibrates, and it is this inner vibration that actually is creation. So, does creation come out of nothing? It may come out of no-thing, because Gd’s existence is not a thing, not anything finite, and most importantly, not anything objective. Gd is pure subjectivity, and it is this subjectivity, reflecting back onto itself, that gives rise to creation. This is not exactly creatio ex nihilo, but something far beyond that (and for which I don’t know the Latin…). It is creation of the finite from within the infinite, made up of the infinite.
Thus, the question we should be asking ourselves is not whether something is created out of nothing, but rather, whether the something we’re so sure exists, is really something objectively real, or is it just a twist in the infinite?
We’ll continue this next week, Gd willing.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Ki Tavo (When you come in)
All the Parshiot (parts) of Torah have levels: At the deepest level, they are vibrations of Gd, Gd’s Name, The Liveliness of Gd. Listening to these vibrations helps us to attune to Gd, Totality, to gain teshuvah, restoration to the Primordial Oneness.
But they also have meaning, stories, commandments that give us principles, values, rules for living life in the everyday way and attuning us to Gd through our sacred behavior, our religious behavior.
In this parshah, as in all of the Book of Devarim, (Deuteronomy), Gd, through Moses, is preparing the Children of Israel to enter the Promised Land. Torah is for everyone, for all times, so he is preparing us, too, to enter the Promised Land – not only the physical Land of Canaan, but more importantly, the Real Promised Land – dwelling in Gd, Totality.
1.The first words are encouraging : Ki Tavo means “when you come in,” not when you go in. The encouragement is that Gd is inviting the Children of Israel to come in – to join Gd in the Promised Land, not just sending us out from the familiar land into an unknown one where we will have to fend for ourselves.
2. Encouragement is also given by the part of the parshah in which Moses says, (paraphrase) “You have selected the Lrd this day, and the Lrd has selected you.” This means whenever we move toward Wholeness-Gd – Gd moves toward us. A little love on our part brings Infinite Love from Gd.
3 . Encouragement is given by the last words of the parshah: “And you shall observe the words of this covenant and fulfill them, in order that you will succeed in all that you do.” Moses tells us we will observe and fulfill, not that we must, but we will.
4 . Encouragement also comes from the fact that our ancestors claimed Torah for everyone, not just for the Levites – the teachers and priests. Moses rejoiced over this, “…until this day, the Lord has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear.” But today you have chosen Torah, chosen Gd, and you have become a people – a community, not just a collection of individuals.
Fortunately, for us, Gd has given our hearts enough Knowingness that we choose Gd ; enough eyes and ears that we can appreciate the beauty of Gd’s Creation, the Impulses of Gd,, Flows of Gd that are our primary food, shelter, clothing, that are the Joy of Being Alive and Together.
And, fortunately, Gd Is, as Gd told Moses earlier, Beyond Time, “I Was, I Am, and I Will Be” so Gd is All, always guiding us to open our hearts to Gd – to our Self, to One.
And, also fortunately, we have examples, in our Jewish tradition, of Tzaddikim, the righteous, people whose hearts, eyes and ears were open enough to follow Torah well and to pass on traditions of openness. These examples confirm for us that the Goal is near, not far. (paraphrasing, “It is within to us to achieve”)
· Examples of Tzaddikim are the Baal Shem Tov and Schneur Zalman.
The Baal Shem Tov we honor for bringing Direct Experience of Gd back into Judaism and bringing also the emphasis on Joy and Love in the services.
Schneur Zalman we honor for being the founder of Chabad: “Ch” for “Chochmah,” Wisdom, “B” for “Binah,” Understanding, and “D” for “Da’at,” Knowledge, the Personal Aspect of Gd as Totality. He is author of “Tanya,” a kabbalistic explanation of Torah that seeks to add the intellectual element to the Baal Shem Tov’s highly experience and feeling-based approach.
5. We can gain encouragement from the command to offer the first fruits – symbolically, the first fruits of any of our actions – to Gd: it means fruits will be there and we will have hearts open enough to express gratitude by offering them.
6. Similarly, the command to tithe to Levites, stranger, orphan and widow gives us the chance to keep our heart open and to share what we have earned in the awareness that our earnings are gifts from Gd to be shared. We are encouraged because Gd only commands us to do what we are able to do and so this commandment assures us that we will not be living bare-bones lives with not a penny to spare but we will have enough to share.
7. Through Moses, Gd commanded our ancestors to set up huge stones plastered with lime on which “you will write the Torah.” For us, hardbound copies or Torah on our computer or the Internet will serve. But in reality, it is our good actions that lead us to be aware of Torah in our hearts, Torah as the Liveliness of Gd, One with Gd. And it is our good actions that make Torah in our hearts, tablets of Joy and Love, not of stone.
8. Fortunately, even the curses that will be spoken from Mt. Ebal (as proclaimed in Parashat Re’eh) will have a quality of blessing in them because they will be proclaimed from the mountain on which Gd has put Gd’s Name and an altar has been built and because they issue from the Mouth of Gd and are intended to restore us to act with Gd’s Will and no longer to praise ourselves as if we were the Author of our accomplishments.
So this parshah gives us encouragement today that by reading Torah, listening to Torah, following Torah we can attune ourselves to Gd and enter the Promised Land, Oneness with Gd, full restoration of our awareness.
Baruch HaShem!