Parashat Vayera 5787 – 10/31/2026
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 18:1-22:24
Rambam begins his “dialog” about differentiation:
We put a question to Aristotle, saying to him: You have demonstrated to us that the matter of everything that is beneath the sphere of the moon is one and common to everything. What then is the cause of the differences between the individuals of ever species? [RAR: I think the common matter is the hyle, which we have discussed in an earlier post.]
Then he gives us an answer to this, saying: The cause of the differences lies in the changes in the mixture of the compounds composed of this matter. For this common matter has in the first place received four forms, two qualities being consequent to each of these forms. In virtue of these four qualities, matter was transformed into elements for that which is composed of it. For these elements were first mixed through the action of the motion of the sphere and then they combined. Consequently, the differences in the compounds representing a mixture of the elements came about through the differing measures of the warm, the cold, the humid, and the dry. For in virtue of these various combinations, various dispositions to receive various forms come about in the compounds. Again through these forms, the compounds become disposed to receive other forms. And this continues constantly in this manner. Again the matter of the specific form, which is one, has great latitude with regard to quantity and quality, and the individuals of the species differ in a way corresponding to this latitude, as has been elucidated in the natural science. All this is correct and clear to whoever treats his own soul equitably and does not deceive it.
Aristotle’s answer (as curated by Rambam) is to posit four different qualities of the common substance that underlies all forms and phenomena. It seems to me that this is simply reframing the question. Instead of asking where the diversity in things comes from, we now have to ask where the diversity in qualities comes from. If there is only one kind of matter, how does some matter take on the quality of warmth, or cold, or humid, or dry? What differentiates between warm hyle and cold hyle? Once you have one kind of differentiation, it’s possible to ramify that differentiation into many others by combining the differentiated pieces in various ways, as Aristotle describes.
Now there is a concept in modern physics that can shed some light on this issue. It is called “spontaneous symmetry breaking” and the best analogy I have come across is a roulette wheel. A roulette wheel has 38 slots, numbered 1-36 plus 0 and 00, and a pole in the middle with a slight depression on the top that holds a ball. Assuming everything is on the up-and-up, when the wheel is spun, small irregularities in the setup make the center pole wiggle a little bit, causing the ball to fall into the spinning wheel. The barriers separating each of the 38 slots are very small, and while the wheel is spinning quickly the ball has enough energy to bounce from one slot to the other. As the wheel slows down the ball’s energy decreases until it can no longer overcome the barriers between the slots, and it falls into one of the slots and doesn’t bounce out any more. The symmetry of the wheel has been broken. The ball could have landed in any of the slots with the same probability: 1 in 38 chances for each of the slots. (If you bet on the correct slot, the casino pays you 36 to 1 – so you can see how the casino is guaranteed to make money over the long haul. Of course, some casinos have ways of enhancing their odds. See the movie The Sting with Robert Redford and Paul Newman.)
What has happened here is that a symmetrical system at high energy breaks down into an asymmetrical one at lower energies, where the barriers between states become impassible. It is thought that this was a process that occurred in the early universe, shortly after the Big Bang. In the first moments after the Big Bang, when the universe was still incredibly dense and hot the differences between the masses of all the particles was extremely small compared to their kinetic energy. Since all the different fields are actually interconnected modes of one underlying field, the energy can freely pass from one manifestation to another. As the universe expands and cools, the energy level of the fields falls below the masses of the particles, and the universe “freezes” into a particular state – basically the one it was in when a critical level of cooling is reached. This requires, by the way, that the Unified Field is non-linear, or self-interacting, so that energy can pass back and forth between its various manifestations.
We find a similar phenomenon in Vedic Science. Vedic Science posits that Consciousness, unbroken, completely symmetric, unified, is the basic constituent of all of creation. In fact, creation is a manifestation of Consciousness; it exists within Consciousness and is no different from Consciousness. So if Consciousness is One, how does it become Many? Consciousness has the quality of awareness, and since Consciousness is all that exists, it can only be aware of itself. This means that Consciousness spontaneously assumes two aspects – it is at once the Observer and the Observed. Because the nature of Consciousness is that it is eternal, and eternally awake within itself, its symmetry is constantly broken and constantly intact. The entire Vedic literature is a discussion and demonstration of how this primordial duality ramifies into all the variegated forms and phenomena we see around us. Physics is a beautiful subset of this literature, using a different language, and approaching the matter from the side of, well, matter. The result in any case will eventually be the full knowledge of life, and how to live it in fulfillment.
We will continue the dialog, Gd willing, next week.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Vayeira
Vayeira” means “He appeared.”
Genesis Chapter 18.
Now the Lrd appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day.
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 Parashat 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 had the Experience.
Different translations present the opening in different ways but one way (chabad.org ) says, “Now the Lord 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 Abram had 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 one test and will be blessed (“varaich”) but we do not know if this is a Total Blessing, Total Return.
In the next parshah, Parshah, 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 Oneness and to share the return with everyone.
Baruch HaShem