Parashat Vayera 5785 – 11/16/2024
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.
Bereshit 18:1-22:24
Rambam continues his discussion of the different types of causes we find in creation, and how they all lead back to the First Cause, which is Gd.
I shall accordingly say: It has been made clear in natural science that for every one of the four kinds of causes one also needs to seek a cause. Accordingly, with reference to every generated thing, there are to be found four causes proximate to it, and there are to be found causes for these causes and causes for the causes of the latter until one arrives at the first causes. For instance this effected thing has a certain N as its efficient cause, and this efficient cause in its turn has an efficient cause; and this continues until the first mover is attained, who is in true reality the efficient cause of all these intermediaries. For if the letter Alif [aleph] is moved by the letter Ba [bet], and the latter is moved by the letter Jim [gimel], which is moved by the Dal [dalet], moved in its turn by the letter Ha [heh], this process cannot go on endlessly. Thus we have to stop for instance at the letter Ha. And there is accordingly no doubt that the letter Ha is the mover of Alif, of Ba, of Jim, and of Dal. And it is truly said with reference to the motion of Alif that it is due to an action of Ha. In this way every action that occurs in Being is referred to Gd, as we shall make clear, even if it is worked by one of the proximate efficient causes; Gd, considered as efficient cause, is then the remotest one. [RAR: Rambam uses the first few Arabic letters in his example; I have indicated the cognate Hebrew letters in brackets after them.]
Rambam’s point here seems to be that causes are daisy-chained together, becoming more and more remote from the initial phenomenon of interest, but always connected to it. Now Rambam asserts that “this process cannot go on endlessly.” I think Georg Cantor would disagree (see the link). It is clear that there are sets that are infinite, and can be generated in this same daisy-chain kind of manner. For instance, the set of natural numbers can be constructed from the empty set in a systematic way, where each number becomes, as it were, the efficient cause of the next number. And this process most definitely has no end to it. The natural numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, ….) go on to infinity. Actually, upon reflecting on this, it seems that if we consider any particular number, it is generated by the number preceding it, which is generated by the number preceding it, all the way back to the empty set (0). In this sense, we would say that the first cause of all the numbers is the empty set / zero.
When we generate the numbers from the empty set (I discussed the mechanics in the entry for Tazria-Metzora 5783) there is the concept of the empty set, which is the first cause in one way, but then there is the mathematical procedure by which each number generates its successor, and which is applied repeatedly to generate the different numbers. This procedure is like a law of nature (it’s a law that governs the mathematic structure, which is in our consciousness, rather than a physical law). In the case of mathematics, the empty set itself and the procedure are different. One is an (abstract) “thing,” while the other is a “law” or an action, or, in physics terms, an “operator” which takes one thing and transforms it into another. In this sense, the procedure or law of nature would be the efficient cause, the actor that effects the transformation, while the numbers would be the material cause, albeit this material is quite abstract, as we have noted.
A physical analogy might be the difference between “matter fields,” and “force fields.” The former are acted upon by the latter. On the level of the Unified Field however, there is no difference between the two – both are just different modes of vibration of the one Unified Field. There is no difference between material cause and efficient cause at this level. Similarly, Gd is the ultimate efficient cause, and the ultimate material cause as well, of everything in the universe, because the universe exists within Gd’s essence.
Rambam goes on to describe how Gd is the ultimate form for all that exists. Every form is “inevitably preceded by another form that gives that particular matter the disposition required for the reception of that particular form; that second form is in its turn preceded by another form until we finally come to the ultimate form that is necessary for the existence of the intermediate forms, while the latter are the cause of the proximate form. This ultimate form for all that exists is Gd, may He be exalted.” Gd is both matter and its form, or structure, just as the Unified Field is both matter and its structure, in that the structure of matter is just a pattern of vibration of the Unified Field.
Finally, Gd is the ultimate end of all creation. Rambam writes that “… when a thing has an end you should seek the end of that end.” For “end” we can read “purpose.” The purpose of a throne is for a king to sit on it, and the purpose of the king’s sitting on his throne is to elevate him above the people, and this is so they should be in awe of him, etc. “This should be done with regard to every end occurring in time until one finally arrives at His mere will, may He be exalted – according to a certain opinion … so that ultimately the answer will be: Gd willed it so…” Rambam concludes:
Thus … the order of all ends is ultimately due to His will and wisdom, as to which it has been made clear, according to our opinion, that they are identical with His essence: His will and His volition of His wisdom not being things extraneous to His essence. I mean to say that they are not something other than His essence. Consequently He, may He be exalted, is the ultimate end of everything; and the end of the universe is similarly a seeking to be like unto His perfection as far as is in its capacity.
The great story of creation is its inception in unity, its diversification and individuation, and the reintegration of the unity and the diversity together into a greater unity. On this level, we find that the diversification was really only a virtual diversification taking place within the unity, and nonetheless, the unity is richer for it. We see this story as the saga of exile and redemption taking place in time. In reality, the story takes place constantly in the realm of eternity.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Vayeira
Vayeira” means “and appeared.”
Genesis Chapter 18.
1. Now the Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent while the day was hot.
2. And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and ran toward them from the entrance of the tent and he prostrated himself to the ground.
When Gd appears to us, as He does for some in our congregation, how will Gd appear? With a Form, or as The Formless, The Unbounded, All-Pervading, Omnipresent, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, All Loving, All Joyful? Or as a Mixture of Formless and Form?
Gd appears to Abram (not yet Abraham) as Abram sits in the doorway of his home; how does Gd Appear? As the Formless, or with Form?
The Parshah does not tell us nor does it tell us that Gd spoke to Abram nor does it tell Abram’s reaction to Gd appearing: immediately after we are told that Gd appeared, we are told that Abram looked and saw three men.
The men turn out to be angels, messengers of Gd, Expressions of Gd, so I read between the lines and take it that Gd Appeared first as the Formless and instantly! Gd Appeared with Form, as the three angels.
When Abram was sitting at the entrance to his tent, he was the link between the inside – the Formless Unity – and the outside, the Formed Diversity. This is definitely a taste of Teshuvah, return to Primordial Oneness.
Through the sound and the meaning of Torah, we too can have a taste of Teshuvah:
Although the meaning of Torah and its guidance for us in English translation may not be so easy to grasp, the sound of Torah can give us something of the feeling of the Torah as Gd, Totality, Oneness, vibrating within Gd.
Here is a recording of Parshah Va’eira read by Rabbi Michael Slavin, the regular reader at Chabad’s central Brooklyn synagogue, the one at which the Lubavitcher Rebbe, known for many cognitions, presided: http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/3481587/jewish/Vayeira-Audio-Recording.htm
In listening to this recording, I felt delight and joy, flowing sweetly, an inspiration to master Torah tropes and Hebrew so I, too, can read, feel, recite Torah and share the delight and joy of Torah with others.
I hope we will all have the opportunities to fulfill this wish.
Vayeira and Teshuvah
We are looking at Torah as a means to Teshuvah, return to the original state, the Primordial Oneness, Gd. From this standpoint, the series of stories of individuals and of the Jewish nation illustrate progress to Oneness and also actual experiences of Oneness Noah, “who walked with Gd” and “Was perfect in his generations” seems to have the Experience.
“Vayeira” means “and appeared.”
Different translations present the opening in different ways but one way (chabad.org) says, “Now the Lrd appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent when the day was hot.
And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he prostrated himself to the ground.”
Perhaps Gd’s purpose in appearing was to alert him to his three visitors; perhaps Gd continued to appear to him as he ran to greet his visitors. Perhaps this means that Abraham has fulfilled the command Gd gave him in the last parshah, “to walk before Me and be perfect”? This would mean he is permanently restored to Oneness.
Alas! This is not so. It seems to indicate that he is making progress but not yet restored because later in the parshah, Gd says to Gd “Shall I reveal My purpose, to destroy Sodom?”, and thus Abraham does not yet experience total knowledge, which he would have had he experienced Full Awareness.
But Gd does reveal His purpose and provides an occasion for Abraham to show his kindness, his love for his fellow human, as he pleads with Gd to save Sodom, in which his nephew Lot is dwelling, for the sake of even ten righteous men (people).
Later Gd tests Abraham, speaking to him and telling him to bring his son as a burnt offering. Abraham does this and Gd, through an angel, stays his hand and tells him he will be blessed because of the purity of his faith, his descendants will be blessed and greatly numerous, and will inherit the lands of his enemies.
For Abraham to trust that the command comes from Gd and not from some demonic force, means that Abraham has enough experience of Gd to trust that following the command will be good for Isaac, How great it will be when we have such deep experience.
Abraham has passed a test and will be blessed (“varaich”) but we do not know if this is a Total Blessing, Total Return.
In the next parshah, Parashat Chayei Sarah, we do see some sign that Total Blessing is given and that Abraham has become perfect. Not only Abraham but also Sarah and Isaac, their son.
But let us not wait until next week to become perfect ourselves, to restore our self to Oneness.
Today is always the best day to be kind, innocent, simple, to serve Gd, to return to One and to share the return with everyone.
Baruch HaShem