Parashat Vayetze 5786 – 11/29/2025
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.
Bereishit 28:10-32:3
Rambam’s discussion of his 25 premises continues:
7. Everything changeable is divisible. Hence everything movable is divisible and is necessarily a body. But everything that is indivisible is not movable; hence it will not be a body at all.
8. Everything that is moved owing to accident must of necessity come to rest, inasmuch as its motion is not in virtue of its essence. Hence it cannot be moved forever in that accidental motion.
9. Every body that moves another body moves the latter only through being itself in motion when moving the other body.
These principles have to do with defining a body, and how a body reacts to other bodies. Apparently, the idea behind showing what a body is, is to infer what is not a body at all. This, of course, will lead to the conclusion that Gd cannot be a body, because Gd is unchanging and unmoving. We have critiqued this entire line of development from the point of view of modern Unified Field physics by showing that in fact, nothing is a body – what we think are bodies are patterns of vibration of the Unified Field, and the properties of the bodies that we perceive are the various self-interactions within the Unified Field. From the point of view of Vedic Science this Unified Field is the field of Consciousness, which includes within its structure both subjective and objective aspects – Consciousness as Observer and Consciousness as Observed (object of observation). When Consciousness is limited, as it is when it is associated with an (unenlightened) human nervous system, it perceives itself in its partial values, at which point we can talk about bodies. From the point of view of enlightenment, there are no bodies, no motion (except virtual, within the structure of Consciousness), no parts. We don’t need to prove Gd’s existence, because we know Gd.
Just incidentally, it seems like Rambam’s premises are quite finely-tuned to lead to the results that he wants. He said in the beginning of this introduction that there are well-known proofs for each of these points. This structure is common in mathematics. Intermediate results, called lemmas, are proved, and provide the premises for the assertion we wish to prove. It’s like building a large, complex Lego structure by first constructing substructures, then putting the substructures together into the superstructure. I think this point is clear.
10. Everything that is said to be in a body is divided into two classes: either it subsists through in the body, as do the accidents, or the body subsists through it, as in the case of the natural form. Both classes are to be considered as a force in the body.
11. Some of the things that subsist through body are sometimes divided through the division of the body and hence are divisible according to accident, as for instance the colors and the other forces that are distributed through the whole of the body. In a like manner some of the things that constitute a body are not divisible in any way, as for instance the soul and the intellect.
12. Every force that is found distributed through a body is finite because the body is finite.
It appears that Rambam is taking issue here with the Mutakallimūn’s position that everything is made up of atoms, and that accidents (i.e. non-essential features) of objects apply to all the atoms of the object. Rather, it appears that Rambam is treating bodies as continuous substance, so that any accidents are linked to the entire substance of the body. I’m not sure why accidents can’t apply to parts of the system; perhaps the point is that any body in which one part has one accident (say, a blue wire) and another part has a different accident (red wire), can be considered as a composite body with the parts having one accident. In any event, it appears that Rambam is focusing on the properties of bodies, because he wants to contrast it with the “properties” of Gd.
13. It is impossible that one of the species of motion be continuous, except local motion, and of this only that which is circular.
14. Local motion is the primary and the first by nature among all motions; for generation and corruption are preceded by alteration, and alteration is preceded by the approach of that which alters to that which is to be altered; and there is no growth and diminution except when they are preceded by generation and corruption.
Having talked of bodies, Rambam now turns to changes, specifically motion. Now Newton saw things moving and came up with laws of motion. The default state of motion is straight-line motion at a constant speed. Even in General Relativity, motion in a gravitational field is actually the analogy of straight-line motion on a curved surface. The medieval philosophers took the default type of motion to be circular motion, which was, apparently, was the motion of the celestial bodies around the earth. Since circles were the perfect form, they held that the natural state of motion was circular motion at constant speed. As we have discussed, more accurate measurements required the addition of circles (epicycles) on top of the original circles, in order to match observations with theory, but nonetheless, the basic structure was based on this one simple type of motion.
In any event, we now have principles that deal with bodies and with motion. This corresponds to space and time. We get our conception of space from the relationship between objects, bodies. I’m sitting 18 inches in front of my computer screen – too close, I know. The relationship between my head and the screen delineates this section of space. All time is defined by motion – the earth goes around the sun in one year, the earth spins on its axis in one day, “ windshield wipers slappin’ time …” (extra credit for identifying the source of the quote). Even our digital timepieces have a chip that vibrates at a steady rate, and the ultra-precise “atomic clock” likewise measures the vibration of a specific atom. Space and time – bodies and their motion – are the basic constituents of classical physics. Some Unified Field theories aim to derive space and time from prior principles, but we will have to see how those work out. For our understanding of Rambam, we’ll have to restrict ourselves to the descriptions of the world in which he worked. Gd willing we will return to these points as Rambam elaborates his theses.
******************************************************
Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Vayetze
“Vayetze” is translated as “and he left.” We can look at this as “and he transcended”: left the limited world of conflict and duality, moving toward Peace and Unity. After obtaining Esau’s birthright, the physical birthright of the first-born son, Jacob leaves Gerar (“circle”) for Charan, (possibly meaning “parched” but possibly meaning “purified” something which can happen through exposure to heat.) Charan is the land of his uncle Laban , “white.” His purpose is to flee Esau’s anger and to find a wife. On his way he dreams of a ladder in which angels ascend and descend.
“Circle” symbolizes “Wholeness”; “white” symbolizes “purity,” so a purified place would be a good place for someone who has been residing in Wholeness to live. Of course, Laban behaves in ways that do not seem very pure but the spirit of the land helps Jacob make the best of this.
On his way, Jacob rests and dreams of a ladder in which angels ascend and descend and dreams of Gd, beyond the ladder, telling him He will Bless him, Make him a great nation, Be with him.
Jacob names the place ”Beth El,” Gd’s House. Since Gd’s Home is Everywhere, this particular place is a door to Gd, to Wholeness, and is a taste of the land of Wholeness Jacob just left but seems never to leave.
Chabad.org quotes Maimonides as saying that the place where Jacob dreamed of the ladder and of Gd speaking to him is the same place where the Altar of the Holy Temple stood, where David and Solomon built an altar, where Abraham bound Isaac, where Noah built an altar, where Cain and Abel made offerings, where Adam made offerings and from whose earth Adam was fashioned.
This is obviously a very special place but it is not just a physical place in a particular spot on Earth: it is a place in our heart, in our soul. As Torah says, “Be still and know that I am Gd.”
We have the ability to experience Gd not only at the place of Jacob’s dream but also within our Stillness and to build the Altar of the Holy Temple within this Stillness, becoming aware of Gd, Gd’s Altar of Holiness, of Liveliness, of Blessing, of Love.
Our congregation seeks to do this. Let us continue more and more sweetly, easily, lovingly and experience the Altar in our Still, Lively, Loving, Blessed Consciousness – which is within us and everywhere.
Audio reading of Parashat Vayetze:
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/3481592/jewish/Vayeitzei-Audio-Recording.htm
The trope in the reading, ascending and descending tones, give the joyous feeling of ascending and descending Jacob’s ladder – the Ladder, our Ladder.
A common Kabbalistic view of the ladder is that it represents prayer, which enables us to ascend from our material world to increasingly spiritual worlds, and eventually to intimacy with Gd. This view derives particularly from the Zohar, one of the foundational texts of Kabbalah. The Zohar’s view is that the ladder represents the four worlds (Atzilut, , Beriyah, Yetzira, Asiyah) ranging from the most unmanifest, most heavenly, to the most manifest, most physical.
Prayer is the means through which we ascend to come close to Gd, to join with Gd, Who stands above the worlds, Who is One, within which all multiplicity exists as expressions. These four worlds – and a fifth, Adam Kadmon, more subtle still, are mentioned in Isaiah, 43:7, and are considered to exist within the Ein Sof (The Endless), Gd beyond description.
Asiyah is the physical world, the world of action, our familiar world.
Higher and subtler than this is Yetzirah, the world of formation, then Beriyah, the world of creation.
Still higher is Atzilut, the world of intimacy.
• Lurianic Kabbalah precedes Atzilut with Adam Kadmon, (The Primordial), which includes all potential creation in latent form.
How is prayer the means to ascend this ladder and to go beyond the veils with which Ein Sof pretends to hide itself? One fundamental kabbalistic view of prayer, according to livingwisdom.kabbalah.com , is given in Genesis when Gd gives Adam the power to name all beasts and fowls and thus to become master of the power of words and master of the world the words describe.
The prayers in our siddur, the prayers of our services, are primarily praises of Gd, expressions of gratitude through which we use words to increasingly appreciate Gd in subtler and subtler, more and more complete ways and thus ascend the ladder to be One with Gd, “standing above.”
We can use these prayers today and every day, and also our own innocent, heartfelt prayers to climb the Ladder and return to Oneness.
Let’s continue doing this.
Baruch HaShem