Parashat Lech L’cha 5787 – 10/24/2026
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.
Bereshit 12:1-17:27
Rambam now goes into his own discussion of the nature of creation, “by means of arguments that come close to being a demonstration.” In other words, he is not offering absolute proof, but arguments that he asserts will be much more convincing than their opposite. He asserts that:
… what exists indicates to us of necessity that it exists in virtue of the purpose of One who purposed; and to do this without having to take upon myself what the Mutakallimūn have undertaken – to abolish the nature of that which exists and to adopt atomism, the opinion according to which accidents are perpetually being created, and all their principles, which I have explained to you and which they only wished to use as an introduction in order to establish the method of particularization.
We have already discussed the views of the Mutakallimūn (followers of the theology known as Kalām), and in particular their view that the universe is created anew by Gd at every moment – effectively deny causality and science. Rambam, of course, was a physician, and although there was no such thing as science as we know it today, people were keen observers of the world around them, and were aware of cause and effect, especially when people’s lives depended on such knowledge. It is not surprising, then, that Rambam rejects this premise of the Mutakallimūn.
Now the Mutakallimūn were quite aware of the regularities in nature – they too had to plant and plow in season in order to have crops. They would answer that it was Gd’s Will to create the world so that it appears to have this regularity, and in truth, there is no way to distinguish this approach from the scientific approach. Whatever chain of causality science discovers, even one in which random fluctuation play a role (as they do in nearly every case of evolution, physical and biological), one can easily just say that Gd created it that way. Of course invoking Gd acting by fiat has very little explanatory power – without some notion of causality it is hard to take the patterns we know and extrapolate to predict new patterns we can verify (or falsify) through observation.
Rambam now tackles the problem of “particularization.” By this he apparently means differentiation, because if the ultimate reality is Unity – Gd is One, Unified, without parts – then there must be some process of differentiation out of which the entire variegated creation emerges. This is obviously the same issue we face in Vedic Science, as we say that Consciousness is one and unified, yet it gives rise to creation. Here’s what Rambam says:
I shall explain this method after first setting forth this premise: In every case in which things differing in any way from one another possess a common matter, there must of necessity be a cause other than, and different from, the common matter – a cause that rendered it necessary that some of the things have a certain attribute, whereas some others have a different one. Or there may be several causes according to the number of the things differing from one another. This premise is unanimously agreed to both by those who believe in the eternity of the world and by those who believe in its having come into being in time.
I think this can be clarified by a simple example. There are red apples (Honeycrisp!) and green apples (Granny Smith!). Both are round, have similar looking seeds and stem, are tart, etc. They differ in their color (and probably some other characteristics, but we’re just going to focus on the color). Why? There must be some cause, separate from all the things that make these two apples the same, that differentiates between them. In this case it’s the fact that some chemical in the Honeycrisp peel preferentially reflects red light (longer wavelength), while the chemical in the Granny Smith preferentially reflects green light (shorter wavelength). What those chemicals might be, I don’t know, but the point is, the two types of apples might be identical except for this one cause that makes the colors different.
In reality, of course, even within one type there are many differences – some Honeycrisp apples are darker red than others, and few of them are even uniformly red. In fact, no two individuals of any species are exactly the same, until you get down to the level of elementary particles, which are completely identical – because they are not particles but states of excitation of an underlying field. But certainly, on the surface level it is clear that there is a whole spectrum of differences within each species (big dogs, small dogs, tabby cats and Siamese cats), and it would be impossible to list a separate cause for each difference. Rather, there is a gradation along a spectrum of traits that may be controlled by several factors, and may even be contingent on the histories of the individual members of the group.
We’ll begin Rambam’s “dialog” with Aristotle on these topics next week, Gd willing.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Lech Lecha
Genesis 12:1-17:27
Audio-recording of Lech Lecha:
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/3481585/jewish/Lech-Lecha-Audio-Recording.htm
Genesis 17,1:
“And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and Gd appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am the Almighty Gd; walk before Me and be perfect”.
Torah tells us that Noah walked with Gd, was righteous and perfect but Torah doesn’t tell us how this came about; with Abram we can see what he did after Gd’s command and we can draw some tips about how we may also walk before Gd and be perfect. The deepest activity is the literal meaning of the name of the Parshah: “Lech Lecha” means “Go to yourself.” It’s not usually translated that way but the Lubavitcher Rebbe writes this:
Lech Lecha: Go To Yourself
This is usually translated as “Get thee out (from your country and your birthplace and your father’s house….)” But it literally means, “Go to yourself.” “Going” has the connotation in Torah of moving towards one’s ultimate purpose – of service towards one’s Creator. And this is strongly hinted at by the phrase, “Go to yourself” – meaning, towards your soul’s essence and your ultimate purpose, that for which you were created.” chabad.org (Source: Likkutei Sichot, Vol. V pp. 57-67)
his view of the Lubavitcher Rebbe resonates beautifully to most, perhaps all, of our Beth Shalom Congregation. “Go to your Self,” your universal, unbounded, Self is the first step in acting so that we walk before Gd.
What does it mean to “walk before Gd”? The primary commentator on Torah is Rashi, and Rashi says it means “serve Me, cleave to My service.” The Rebbe looks at it the same way so we can be very confident in this guidance.
Whenever Abram was commanded by Gd, he did what Gd commanded. To Abram, Gd appeared in visions: Abram must have been very close to walking with Gd in order to trust Gd’s command. Leave his home and “go to a place which I will show you.” I personally don’t feel that confident that I can trust visions or voices and so I am left with cleaving to Gd’s service by doing the ordinary things that good people everywhere do: honor my religion, do my best to be healthy, happy and to share my happiness with others through work with organizations I respect so I can attune myself to Gd through service to people I feel are wiser, more experienced than I and at least one of whom who I feel may be walking with Gd.
What did Abram do to be perfect? Prior to this command of Gd to leave his homeland, Abram had already come to the conclusion that all creation was made by One Creator, Gd, and he and Sarai spread the word and brought many to share this belief – and perhaps a taste of the experience.
Parshat Lech Lecha tells us that, after leaving his homeland to go to an unknown place, Abram continued to spread the word of monotheism and to build altars to Gd. From this we learn the very important message that we should share what we know, especially what we know by experience, and that Gd, as it says in Kaddish, is “beyond any words to describe” so simple acts of reverence, such as offering prayers, building altars, and temples are ways to grow in our ability to walk before Gd and with Gd and to be perfect.
When a famine caused him and Sarai to leave Canaan (the land where Gd promised him he would make him a great nation) and go to Egypt, this may have seemed like an exile but the Rebbe comments that it was an exile with a purpose: it gave Abram an opportunity to serve Gd by spreading the word of One Gd to a people who worshiped only partial values of Gd.
While in Egypt, Abram told Sarai to say that she was his sister, not his wife. He did this because he thought otherwise, he would be killed.
Few of us are likely to be in such an extreme situation but we may take it that a lie to save our life, if we are otherwise innocent of any crime, is a way of serving Gd and being perfect.
In Egypt, Abram and his nephew, Lot, acquired many possessions, including cattle, which they took to Canaan. In Canaan their herdsmen quarreled. Abram and Lot decided to separate. Though physically separate, Abram and Lot were close emotionally: Love kept them together as we can feel even though separate physically from family and friends with whom we share love and Love.
From this we can learn, that if we have no other way to create harmony, separation is a valid way to create harmony, which is the essence of serving Gd. In a deeper sense.
Lot moved to plains near Sodom, an evil kingdom. Why did he move so close to an evil kingdom? A good question for further research and intuition. Sodom was attacked and Lot was captured when the city was captured: Abram took his trained men, though they were only few, and pursued the army holding Lot, defeated them, restored Lot’s possessions to him and restored four kingdoms, including Sodom, to their kings. Why did he restore evil kingdoms to their kings instead of taking them over and guiding them to righteousness? A deep mystery! But we can learn from Abram’s victory that we should be concerned with following right action as a way of serving Gd and not be afraid that our resources are too small: Gd protects those who serve Him.
Abram refused to accept any recompense from the King of Sodom for restoring his possessions to him. His reason: he did not want the King of Sodom to be able to claim he had made Abram rich. A traditional explanation of Abram’s reasoning is that he wanted it to be clear to everyone that any accomplishment of his was through Gd: it was not Abram who defeated the armies, it was Gd; it could not be through evil hands such as those of the King of Sodom that he would acquire possessions but only through the Hand of Gd. Certainly we can be kind to even those who are evil – our kindness will give them a softening of heart and they will become less evil. We certainly should refuse to accept any compensation from them – there is a saying “The gifts of the evil do not bring blessings.” Certainly we can recognize that any accomplishments of ours are Gd’s Gift to us.
Abram is blessed by Melchizedek, who was a king but also a priest of the Most High – this means Melchizedek was not only a monotheist in belief but also in experience. Enough experience of Gd to serve as Gd’s priest, and to be referred to more as a priest than as a king. We too, can put One first and material possessions second so that we are protected by our sense of proportion and serve Gd first.
And we can read Torah, listen to Torah, read from the Siddur, attend services at the Synagogue, as ways to raise ourselves up to direct experience and to priestly service, whatever our actual roles are in life.
Abram tells Gd, when Gd says his reward for this action will be great: Of what use is this to me since I have no son to inherit? And Gd responds: you will have a son and be a mighty nation, more than the stars. From this we learn that service to Gd can include asking Gd to redress a situation we feel is amiss: we can pray for help, we can ask simply and Gd responds. To Abram, He responded clearly; to us, perhaps not so clearly but we need to be alert to the response.
Abram’s son, Ishmael, is born with Hagar, Sarai’s maidservant, later, Isaac is born, with Sarah.
From this we learn that when we serve Gd, we raise ourselves up, and what Gd promises, Gd delivers. Trusting Gd is very important and when we are not able to experience Gd directly, trusting our Traditions, especially Torah, is very important.
Gd tells Abram to circumcise his son and that all males of the community shall be circumcised as a Covenant with Gd. From the Babylonian Talmud we learn that through circumcision Abram became sanctified. He became not merely a physical person fathering physical children but a spiritual person fathering spiritual children, protecting Gd’s Spiritual Wisdom and spreading it in its purity.
We can treat circumcision not merely as something physical for males, but something everyone, males and females, can do: cut off anything that binds us only to the physical and thus rise to be spiritual: to walk before Gd and become perfect as Abram did, and Sarai did: Abram became become Abraham, father not only of Isaac and Ishmael but of nations and Sarai became Sarah: princess not only of Abram but of all souls.
Baruch HaShem!