Parashat Shemini 5785 – 04/26/2025
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 9:1-11:47
Rambam continues with his description of the unity within the diversity of creation:
Know that, as has been made clear, the forces that come from heaven to this world are four: [1] the force that necessitates the mixture and composition – there is no doubt that this force suffices to engender the minerals; [2] the force that gives to every plant a vegetal soul; [3] the force that gives to every animal an animal soul; [4] the force that gives to every rational being a rational faculty. All this takes place through the intermediary of the illumination and the darkness [on earth] resulting from the light in heaven and from heaven’s motion round the earth [which is the cause of the succession of days and nights] And just as an individual would die and his motions and forces would be abolished if the heart were to come to rest even for an instant, so the death of the world as a whole and the abolition of everything within it would result if the heavens were to come to rest. And just as a living being lives as a whole in virtue of the motion of its heart, even if there subsist in it parts of the body that are at rest and not sentient-as for instance bones, cartilage, and others; so is this whole being one individual that lives in virtue of the movement of heaven, which has with regard to it the rank that the heart has with regard to the beings endowed with hearts-and this even though there are in the world many inanimate bodies that are at rest.
Accordingly it behooves you to represent to yourself in this fashion the whole of this sphere as one living individual in motion and possessing a soul. For this way of representing the matter to oneself is most necessary or most useful for the demonstration that the deity is one, as shall be made clear. By means of this representation it will also be made clear that the One has created one being. For just as it is impossible that the limbs of a man should exist separately while being truly the part of a man – I mean to say that the liver should exist separately or the heart should exist separately or the flesh should exist separately – so is it impossible that the parts of the world should exist, in this permanent existence with which our discourse is concerned, without one another in such a way that light would exist without the earth or the earth without the heavens or the heaven without the earth.
Rambam’s first assertion is somewhat different from our usual hierarchical conception of creation, that creation is structured in layers. He identified four forces, roughly corresponding the mineral, plant, animal and human existence, but he seems to put them in parallel, rather than in a layered structure. I may be reading into this something that is not there, as Rambam does list these 4 forces in “ascending order” of complexity and sophistication (i.e. minerals are the lowest reflectors of consciousness, followed by plants, then animals, then human beings).
I might point out that in recent decades the idea of life’s being hierarchically structured has gone somewhat out of favor in academia. I think this is part of the general trend of dethroning human beings from being considered the center of creation. In the middle ages we thought that the earth was at the center of the universe. The Copernican revolution put the sun at the center, with the earth being one of a number of planets. Then the solar system got demoted to the outer regions of the galaxy, which itself turns out to be a very run-of-the-mill galaxy in the universe in which there actually is no center. In the same way, the process of evolution has been seen less as a “great chain of being,” ascending linearly towards human beings, and more of a tree, spreading branches in all directions, according to local circumstances.
This difference in approach is also reflective of a subtle difference in approach to the process of evolution (see the work of Stephen J Gould on this topic). The “standard model” of Darwinian evolution is one where species become continually more adapted to their environment by the positive feedback experienced by mutations that lead to greater fecundity, and negative feedback to those that don’t. A more nuanced view takes into account contingent processes (for example, the ability to use flippers as legs does a fish little good if its gills have not previously morphed into an organ that can breathe air).
This view of the path of evolution being dependent on previous steps in the path (“contingent evolution”) is actually quite common. Take for example the development of a lightning bolt. We know that lightning bolts take a jagged path through the air from cloud to ground. The way it works is that the bolt travels some meters until it experiences some local resistance – perhaps a place in the atmosphere where there’s less water vapor. At that point it stops and sends out little “feelers” in all directions. Each “feeler” is a small thread of current that essentially test the conductivity of the atmosphere in its direction. Whenever a feeler can propagate with little resistance, the main channel follows it automatically, giving us the next leg of the bolt, and the process repeats. The entire lightning bolt moves 2-3 km like this in about 100 msec. The point is that each step of the way is defined by local conditions, and the locality that the bolt finds itself at is determined by the path that the bolt has taken up to that point. The future is contingent on the past.
I think this view of evolution is one we can all relate to. Where we are depends on our past. Sometimes we stop and wonder, “How did I get here?” But of course the more significant question is “Where am I headed?” The choices that we have, of course, are dependent on our past, and the situation in which we find ourselves. Our direction forward will be governed by the clarity of our conscious-ness. As long as our consciousness is not completely clear, we will be making some choices that don’t work out ideally, and others that are better. When we have released all the stress from our nervous system we can always find the ideal path forward. The jagged path of evolution becomes straight and smooth and maximally enjoyable.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Shemini
“Shemini” means “eighth.” In this parshah, we learn that Aaron completed his seven days after being initiated by Gd through Moses as High Priest of Israel; on the eighth, he performed his first service as High Priest:
“…And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.” Leviticus 9:23 (chabad.org).
Aaron made his own offerings (“korbanot”, drawing near) and also those of the people in the correct way and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.
This is the world we want today and always, a world in which all leaders and all people-all included, none left out–are properly prepared to draw near and to experience the glory of G-d and as they experience, the experience becomes available to all people, all souls.
Leviticus, 9:24.
“”And fire went forth from before the Lrd and consumed the burnt offering and the fats upon the altar, and all the people saw, sang praises, and fell upon their faces” (translation, chabad.org)
The symbolism of “eighth”, as chabad.org presents it, appeals to me: eight symbolizes Gd beyond the seven days of creation [if we include the seventh day of “rest”] and, therefore, knowable only by Gd, beyond comprehension by the creation.
On the eighth day, we would have Gd as Kaddish says about Gd: above and beyond any praise or blessing we can utter in the world.
After seven days of Aaron and his sons preparing to be installed as High Priest and priests, on the eighth they are installed.
Aaron is fulfilled and he and all the Children of Israel see the Glory of the Lord; also on this day, two of Aaron’s sons are consumed by the same Fire of Gd that consumed the offerings of Aaron and the people. Both events occur on the same day, indicating the inscrutuability of Gd. Torah says this was because they offered “strange fire” which Gd had not commanded; some rabbis say it was because they were drunk; other rabbis say it was because they were great and Gd sanctified the Tabernacle through them. We have diverse views, consistent with the symbolism of eight as Gd being beyond description or human understanding.
Bob Rabinoff adds that the bris occurs on the 8th day of a male baby’s physical existence. The foreskin is removed and the baby is considered to be a partner with Gd. Why the eighth day? Why the foreskin removal? Knowable only to Gd.
Consistent with this interpretation of Gd beyond understanding is the description in this parshah of dietary laws, particularly what animals, birds, fish, insects are clean and which are not to be eaten.
Discussions I have seen on this indicate that the reasons for the categorizing are not understandable simply from a human zoological view but they are known only to Gd and we must have faith in them and thus to be holy as Gd is Holy.
So it is up to us to live pure lives, to serve as High Priests within the Temple that is our own body and personality, to offer our lives to Gd, Totality beyond words to describe or understand, and to enjoy the unfoldment of Gd’s glory within us and around us, everywhere. Everywhere. For everyone. Offering our lives to Gd is not dissolving and disappearing from existence: it is being restored to the Full Awareness that we individual personalities are, were and always will be, roles that Gd plays within Gd. Gd is One without a Second and with our offering we dissolve the duality and are restored to Oneness.
Passover ended recently. It was a lovely time that helped us specially to do this. It was a good time to pass over limits, to let death and ignorance pass over us and to experience immortality in enlightenment and perfect health.
Baruch HaShem