Parashat Shoftim 5784 – 09/07/2024
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.
Devarim 16:18-21:9
Before leaving the topic of the two Tablets and their writing, Rambam discusses Onqelos’ translation of the “finger of Gd.”
As for Onqelos, with reference to this matter he puts forward a strange interpretation, for he translates: written with a finger belonging to the Lord. For he makes out that finger is a certain thing related to Gd and interprets the finger of the Lord in an analogous way to the mountain of the Lord, the rod of the Lord. He intends to signify that the finger is a created instrument that has cut into the tables through the will of Gd. I do not know what has led him to make this interpretation. For it would have been more plausible to translate written by the word of the Lord, just as the Scripture says: By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. Do you think that the existence of writing on the tables is any stranger than the existence of stars in the spheres? For just as the stars came into being through the First Will and not through an instrument, so this inscribed writing came into being through the First Will and not through an instrument. You already know the text of the Mishnah [Avot V:6] about ten things created in the twilight, among which were the writing and the inscription. This proves that there was a general consensus among the multitude that the writing on the tables was like all the other work in the beginning, as we have made clear in the Commentary on the Mishnah.
Onqelos, as we have noted, was a convert, a member of the Roman nobility. He flourished at the time of the Sages of the Mishnah and was well-regarded by them. So, his translations are considered quite authoritative, and it is a bit unusual for Rambam to criticize his translation.
Now the issue seems to be that Onqelos treats Gd’s finger as some kind of “created instrument,” much like “the rod of Gd” or “Gd’s Chariot” or the like – that is something “external,” as it were, to Gd. This is a bit strange, as we would expect that Gd’s finger would be part of Gd, just like our fingers are part of our body. Of course, when we’re speaking about Gd, the idea that Gd could have parts, or any form whatsoever, is anathema. Nevertheless, the choice of metaphor can tell us whether the instrument Gd is “using” to produce some effect is something created / “external” or an uncreated “part” of Gd’s essence. And the more intimate the part of Gd, perhaps that indicates something “closer” to Gd’s essence.
When it comes down to it, what difference does it make whether Gd created the instrument with which the Tablets were written, or wrote them by His Word or Will? Perhaps it says more about the content of the Tablets than about the mechanism by which they were created. Reviewing our discussion of what Torah is, we found that the “Supernal Torah” is something that is eternal, as “Gd looked into the Torah and created.” That is, Torah is the blueprint of creation, and as such, it must transcend creation. We analyzed that the Supernal Torah was a sequence of vibrations at the junction point between the transcendent and the created world; and that these vibrations were actually virtual dynamics within the nature of the transcendent. So when Gd “looked into Torah” in order to create, in effect He was actually looking inside Himself!
Now the Torah that Gd was going to give to Moshe Rabbeinu to pass on to the world, was a projection of this Supernal Torah onto the physical plane. There is a Midrash that the angels didn’t want Gd to give the Torah to human beings. Gd tells Moshe to answer them. Moshe asks, “Does Torah say, ‘Honor your father and your mother’? Do you [angels] have fathers or mothers that you have to honor them?” In other words, all the laws and all the advice in Torah is strictly for human beings to use to create ideal individuals and an ideal society on the earth, in the created, material world.
Thus, the Tablets are a kind of bridge between the transcendent and creation. Their basis is the Supernal Torah but in actuality they are an earthly projection of that Supernal Torah. They are partly Divine and partly made by humans – that is why the first set of tablets could not endure the imperfect nature of creation, and Moshe Rabbeinu had to smash them when that imperfection became painfully obvious as he descended the mountain. The second set of tablets, on the other hand, with their earthly, human input, were better able to bridge those two poles, especially via the Oral Torah, which is flexible enough to take into account the changing, evolving nature of creation.
What about Gd’s finger? Picture the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo pictures Gd as extending his finger to Adam, with a spark emanating from Gd’s finger and animating Adam. Gd’s finger is certainly part of Gd, but it is a part that can reach out to the creation and connect it to the creation, even though it is not created. Now the most intimate connection between the transcendent and creation is Torah, the internal, virtual vibrations of the transcendent that ramify and appear to us as creation. When Scripture says that the tablets were written by Gd’s finger, perhaps what it is saying is that this Torah that Gd gave us is exactly the way to connect ourselves back to Gd.
As usual, I emphasize that these speculations are mine, and I make no representation that this discussion is what Rambam “really meant” in this passage.
**********************************************************************************************************************
Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Shoftim
Parashat Shoftim has the theme of “Justice,” and illustrates through this the discussion of appointment and behavior of judges and kings, the need for witnesses to prevent violations of Torah law and witnesses to attest that a crime has been committed.
In discussing Gd’s Judgment given on Rosh HaShanah, Rebbetzin Tiporah Gottlieb said something very lovely, in a recent jewishworkshop.com webinar: “Gd Judges us to see what we need” – judgment is not a matter of punishment or reward: it is a matter of determining (so to speak – Gd always knows, no need to make a special point of determining on a particular occasion) on Rosh HaShanah, the Head of the Year, what we need. Gd gives us Justice, what we need.
“Justice” means that which will bring us to Full Attunement with Gd: only in perfect attunement can we act completely justly – but good intentions and good actions from innocent hearts can move us in the right direction.
“Shoftim” means “judges” and this parshah speaks about judges, kings and prophets, people who might be sufficiently attuned to Gd that they can properly fill those roles. To help know what we need and to guide us to act more and more justly until our hearts are completely pure, our souls are just and we are “Holy, as Gd is Holy.”
In this parshah, Moses tells us that in Horeb, Mt Sinai (Exodus says “Sinai”, Deuteronomy says “Horeb”) our ancestors heard Gd’s voice and bid Moses to go on the mountain and speak with Gd, lest they die. Gd tells Moses they have said well: an intermediary is needed.
And Moses speaks of judges, kings and prophets who will be appointed and will arise: intermediaries who will guide us when we are still not pure enough to be completely at ease in Gd’s Presence, to “love Gd with all our heart, all our soul and might” which includes perceiving Gd everywhere and so “loving our neighbor as ourselves” – which requires us to know our self as Self, One, and to Love our neighbors as expressions of our Self, within our Self.
Fortunately, there can be a situation and come a time when we do not need intermediaries, when we know Gd directly:
In Jeremiah 31:33-34, Gd says we will all know Him: no intermediary is necessary.
““And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying `Know Gd,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31:33)! (translation from “Modern Times”, by Jacob Immanuel Shochet, posted on chabad.org ).
Joy is rising in our world, though the headlines may not seem to show it. Soon we will be pure enough, our world will be pure enough, open enough to Gd, to Love, so that the fear of Gd’s voice which existed at Sinai/Hebron will no longer rise.
“Justice” seems a bit of an austere word: Think of it as “Love,” as in “Love Gd above all else” and “Love Thy neighbor as thy self {[Self]” and it feels better. Where there is Love, there is no blemish, no violation – there is Perfect Attunement, Justice.
“Shoftim” means “judges” and the commandment to establish judges indicates that people are not able to act completely in harmony with Gd’s Will, so there will be disagreements.
The appointment of judges also suggests that there are some people, the judges, who are able to act at least to a good degree in accord with Gd’s Will – promising help to those a bit out of tune to get into tune and participate in a harmonious society.
Judges will be appointed in every generation and they will administer justice without bias and they will teach Torah law and people must follow, not deviating. Teaching Torah law means not just teaching the 10 utterances, the 613 commandments, for people to memorize and follow: it means teaching harmony with Torah, which is harmony with Gd, teshuvah, return to Oneness. It means teaching people to realize they are impulses of Gd, characters in a story Gd, One, tells within Himself/Herself/The Self.
At this time, we don’t seem to have judges at the level Gd intends. But, fortunately, we are growing in the ability to spontaneously Love and to create the world so pure that judges will be prophets, as will we all; rabbinical courts will be temples for Torah recitation, singing, dancing in the Joy of Oneness – no disagreements to resolve, no needs to diagnose and prescribe paths to satisfaction.
Shoftim repeats the law against idolatry and adds a law against sorcery: both involve putting trust in a partial value not in the Wholeness that is Gd. Our synagogue community is growing in Wholeness, as we can see in the Joy shining in us so that we are guiding our life more and more within Wholeness, in Fulfillment, so there is less chance we will get drawn into fragments of Life.
Shoftim talks about kings: they are like judges in their power and Gd commands them to be humble, not to think themselves better than others, and each king is commanded to write a copy of the Torah Scroll for himself, to keep it with him or her!] always. [Greatness comes from humility, because humility is the awareness that the individual is only great through connection to Wholeness, Gd, the Self.] What is commanded for a king can certainly be useful for anyone. Learning to create our own Torah scroll in the way that the trained sofers, Torah scribes, do would be a wonderful experience in attuning ourselves to Torah on the level of meaning, language, words, but also on the level of letters, the level of the way body, mind, feeling, ink, pen and parchment interact to produce letters, words, spaces, words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, all of Torah in written form. This delightful action can help reveal to us the Torah that is not words on paper but the Liveliness of Gd, One with Gd.
To become a Torah scribe requires considerable training and Torah scrolls created by them are quite expensive so for most of us, we will probably have to substitute reading the Torah, reciting Torah, and keeping a printed copy of Torah by our bedside or some other place that is convenient. But, now and again, we can copy the words by hand, the best we can and rise through this Joy.
Torah is on the Internet in many places and so anytime we are near a computer, we can take a few minutes now and again to dip into Torah and return to our other activity with some fine refreshment.
In a deeper sense, “writing our own Torah” means experiencing Torah as fundamental vibrations of Consciousness, of Gd – experiencing this within our own consciousness. Writing and reading Torah in our everyday world can help this experience to grow. To make a real Torah scroll would take long training but we can write with regular pens and regular paper, a paragraph, a page a day, whatever we have time for. Even one word or one letter has Gd’s Wholeness within it.
Shoftim describes the creating of cities of refuge: Here we see justice in another form – places where someone who accidentally killed will be safe from retribution. Better to rise in purity so that our world rises with us and there are no accidents, much less accidental killings, and no need for cities of refuge.
Symbolically, “cities of refuge” are places within our own awareness where stressful thoughts, memories, anticipations do not arise – A Transcendental realm within our awareness.
Unblemished offerings:
These symbolize the purity that justice is – unblemished. Since the real offering is not the physical offering, or even the prayers that we offer today as a substitute for the physical offerings: the real offering is our self. So we offer ourselves to Gd as the Mi Shebeirach prayer says: “Give us the courage to make our lives a blessing.”
Witnesses:
As an example of standards of evidence, two adults witnessing someone about to break Torah law were required to warn him. In a world, where all live in Canaan, the Promised Land, fully realized Synchronicity/Integration, this might not even be necessary for small children. But even when it is, in a world where everyone experiences “The World is My Family” anyone seeing any child in danger of breaking a law would certainly unhesitatingly, lovingly warn the child. Symbolically, two adults mean both our waking state self and our Transcendental Self. A child is a thought rising that wants to blossom into action.
Rules of war:
Peace terms are to be offered before attacking a city. In a world where everyone is in harmony with Gd, with One, wars will not arise. Similarly, wars will not arise within our mind regarding different choices, interpretations.
No Wanton Destruction:
For example, no cutting down a fruit tree that is bearing fruit in order to use its wood to build a house. A harmonious world shows us exactly the appropriate materials and tools at exactly the right time. A harmonious mind bears fruit for action and the action leads to not merely a wooden house, but to The Home of Fulfillment.
Action
When a dead body is found without witnesses to the murder: the whole community is held responsible; it is the community’s lack of attunement to Torah, to Gd, that led to the crime. With each of us becoming more and more attuned, the community becomes attuned, murder does not occur. Similarly, no useless thoughts, dead thoughts, arise in our mind: we think from the Source of Thought and every thought that arises is Live.
These specific examples of justice depend on our attunement to Wholeness, to Oneness, and this depends greatly on the justice, the purity, of our daily routine. When our daily routine is healthy, we see things as they are, act appropriately in a spontaneous way.
Shoftim is an aspect of Torah that gives specific examples of the qualities of judges and specific examples of ways to ensure that justice is done. Through our reading, reciting, hearing, writing this passage we can move to the Universal Justice that is Love, Joy, Harmony, Oneness, Wholeness, Gd, Self.
How nice!
Baruch HaShem