Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, Chapter 3 (Auto Translated)

Rambam, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah, Chapter 3 — The Spheres and the Heavenly Bodies

Introduction: Connection to the Previous Chapter

In the previous chapters, we learned about the Almighty. The Rambam called the Almighty “the Mover of the Sphere.” Now we are going to learn a bit about the sphere — the invisible, transparent, great wheel upon which all the heavenly bodies are placed.

The Rambam told us in the previous chapter that there are three categories of creations that the Almighty created. He told us earlier that the way to arrive at love and awe of God (ahavat Hashem v’yirato) is through contemplating (misbonen) the greatness of the Almighty’s creations.

So he said that there are three types of categories of creations:

– There is the lowest — which is us — which is matter (chomer) with form (tzurah) together, or others call it a body (guf) with a soul (neshamah) together. But besides that, they are perishable (miskhaleh) — they begin at some point, and ultimately they change at the very least, they undergo change (mishtaneh), they live, they die.

– Then there are forms only (tzurot bilvad) — such as angels (malakhim).

– And then, between the angels and humans, there are the spheres (galgalim) and the heavenly bodies (kokhvei hashamayim). They also have matter with form — they are not like angels which are form only — but they are a different kind of matter: their matter does not change, they exist forever, as it says “chok natan v’lo ya’avor” [Psalms 148:6 — “He established a decree that shall not pass”], they continue for very many long years.

And in this chapter, the Rambam is going to elaborate on this category. The previous chapter explained to us the ten types of angels, explained to us the category of those that are form only without matter. And now he is going to speak about the spheres and the heavenly bodies that are matter and form, but they do not change, they do not undergo transformation.

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Digression: Constancy and Perpetuity — The Moral Lesson of the Spheres

And before we begin learning, let us try not to make a mistake. It has been stated in the early works that this is what was done in the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) — the daily offering (korban tamid), every day, the candelabrum (menorah) — this corresponds to the seven stars, the seven spheres. This is what was done every day. “Tamid” (perpetually) is because a person must try to be like the heavenly forces (kokhot hashamayim) that do not change. Matter and form — he is a physical person, ultimately he does die, but he can, a little bit in his life — a physical being is made of matter and form, but in any case (af kol panim) there is constancy (kevi’ut). That is very good.

Regarding this, the Ramak (Rabbi Moshe Cordovero) writes that when a person has an improper thought (machshavah zarah), he should say “esh tamid tukad al hamizbe’ach” [Leviticus 6:6 — “A perpetual fire shall burn upon the altar”]. Perpetually! The heart should burn forever, should push us forward.

I saw this week that the Rebbe of Tsanz always used to say “esh tamid tukad al hamizbe’ach” — that the service of a Jew is that even after committing a great sin (aveirah), he should immediately go back to being — “esh tamid tukad al hamizbe’ach” — he should continue to begin doing repentance (teshuvah) and continue burning toward the Almighty. Wonderful.

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Halakhah 1: The Nine Spheres — **”V’hagalgalim hem hanikra’im shamayim v’rakia v’zevul v’aravot”**

Introduction: What Does “Galgalim” Mean in the Rambam

Back to the topic — spheres. Now we begin section 1: “V’hagalgalim” — “And the spheres.” That is, we learned that there are three things: the forms, and the spheres, and the things made from the elements that die. Now we are going to see about the spheres.

A Note About the Rambam’s Astronomical Model

And another important introduction that one needs to know. First, I brought a picture here — I won’t be able to show it on the screen the whole time — but this is approximately what the Rambam’s world looked like, what our world looked like as the Rambam understood it.

And it goes without saying that it is important to know that most contemporary scholars hold that all these things have been refuted, and they have a better understanding of how the heavens work.

The truth is that the Rambam himself in his work the Guide for the Perplexed (Moreh Nevukhim) goes at length to show that the entire order of the heavens that Aristotle taught — and not only Aristotle, both Aristotle and Ptolemy — Ptolemy was an Egyptian astronomer — and from these two together most of the astronomical knowledge that the Rambam knew was built. And the Rambam himself says there that we know that not everything is perfect, and there are still difficulties (kushyot), and we don’t understand. And we add — he says, the Rambam — that in our generation we understand better.

The Essence of the Rambam’s Point — Constancy, Not Specific Details

But even if that’s fine, the Rambam’s main point is not that it should look exactly like this, but rather to say that the movements (tenu’ot) are exact, eternal, and that it is not random — it’s not that one day it’s this way and one day that way — rather they are eternal in a certain cycle, and thus they do not change.

So there is no difference — even if one were to say that certain things have changed in our understanding — I think the basic understanding is that they are eternal in a certain course (mahalakh) and that there is no change (shinui) among them, and that is the main point the Rambam wants to make. I think that this remains fixed and enduring (kavu’a v’kayam). One can hold more of it if one wants; if one doesn’t want to, one doesn’t have to.

Discussion: Is a Sphere a Tangible Object or a Force?

In any case, there is also the matter — as you say — they didn’t necessarily mean that this is all precisely literal, rather it was the best way one could predict and see how things would be.

Note: This Chapter as an Introduction to Hilkhot Kiddush HaChodesh

In any case, but what we are going to do is not… Also, perhaps it is worthwhile to mention that the Rambam teaches more astronomy in the Laws of Sanctification of the New Moon (Hilkhot Kiddush HaChodesh). Now he is only stating the basic outlook that they are very firmly fixed and enduring, that they do not change.

It is very important that this is also an introduction to Hilkhot Kiddush HaChodesh. We once learned a bit of Hilkhot Kiddush HaChodesh — for example, there is a commentary by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and others. They all begin first with this chapter, because these are the introductions, but many of the things he says here he has more details about the sun and the moon, more details than what is written here. So in a certain sense, this chapter is an introduction to Hilkhot Kiddush HaChodesh — yet another great reason why it is a mitzvah to learn it.

The Approach to Learning — What We Are Trying to Do

And anyway, but I’m just saying that we are not going to learn science from today’s science, asking the Rambam what is correct, whether today’s science teaches the same as the Rambam or not. We want to try first to learn the language of the Rambam, what he says, how he understood it, and how he connects it with the language of verses (pesukim) and sayings of the Sages (ma’amrei Chazal), and so forth. And try — as we did in the last two chapters — to say as briefly and simply as possible what is written, and anyone who wants to learn more in depth (b’omek), it goes without saying that the world is open, one can go and learn.

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The Rambam’s Words: **”V’hagalgalim hem hanikra’im shamayim v’rakia v’zevul v’aravot”**

So, “V’hagalgalim” — the Rambam says — “hem hanikra’im shamayim v’rakia v’zevul v’aravot” — “And the spheres are what are called heavens, firmament, habitation, and the highest heaven.”

But what is “v’hagalgalim”? It goes back to… We said that it goes back to the three things: “Kol mah shebara HaKadosh Barukh Hu b’olamo nekhlak lishloshah khalkim” — “Everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world is divided into three parts” — there is such a thing and such a thing and such a thing. “Mehen beriyot shehen mekhubarot migolam v’tzurah aval einan mishtanot, v’hen hagalgalim” — “Among them are creatures composed of matter and form but that do not change — and they are the spheres.” The spheres that were discussed, we are now going to elaborate on them.

“V’hagalgalim” — the Rambam says — this is what is called in the Torah or in the language of the Sages (leshon Chakhamim): shamayim (heavens), rakia (firmament), zevul (habitation), and aravot (the highest heaven). He brings here four terms, four ways that they are called in the Chumash, in the Bible (Tanakh). I don’t know where “zevul” appears… yes, zevul — wait, I’ll see where it appears in the Prophets (Navi) — it is a term for the heavens.

Insight: Different Names = Different Spheres (Parallel to Angels)

It is understood that from these terms, the Gemara (Talmud) says in Tractate Chagigah and other places that there is more than one heaven — there are seven heavens. The Rambam understood that the heavens, these are the spheres. This is an important first foundational principle that one needs to remember here — different from how we think — and the Gemara is even mentioned regarding this, a certain dispute (machloket) between the Sages of Israel (Chakhmei Yisrael) and the sages of the nations (chakhmei umot ha’olam).

In any case, the spheres means the heavens. That is, what we call “the sky” — it always appears to us that the sky is nothing, it’s just empty air where there are stars or space and so forth. They all understood, and the Rambam understood, that the sky is literally a sphere (galgal). As Rabbi Yoel already mentioned, it doesn’t mean that you can see it — it is transparent — but it is something, and upon it the stars rest. The stars don’t exist on their own, or the sun, or the sun and the stars — all these things rest upon a sphere, a ball, and these are the spheres.

Why Nine Separate Spheres?

Now, from this there is more than one. Why? Because one can see that many move in different directions. Yes, the sun does not move the same way as the moon, and so forth.

Therefore, the Rambam said that “v’hen tish’ah galgalim” — “and they are nine spheres” — there are nine of them, that is the number, there are nine.

And regarding this there are different names. He doesn’t explain here, he doesn’t give the names, but apparently what he means to say — that is why one is called shamayim, one is called rakia, one is called zevul. I remember that in the Moreh Nevukhim it says that aravot is the highest sphere. I don’t remember offhand. Yes, that is why the Almighty is called “rokhev shmei aravot” [Psalms 68:5 — “He Who rides upon the highest heavens”], because He stands upon the highest one.

In any case, from what is written here, it is similar to what he said earlier regarding the angels — that there are different names because there are different angels. The same thing: when there are different names for the heavens, it is because there are different heavens, different spheres.

Discussion: Is a Sphere a Tangible Object or a Force?

Study partner: Perhaps it could be — it’s a bit hard for people to think of an invisible wheel. But one could think of it as a force that drives things, that everything in that area moves in a certain rotation (sivuv).

Lecturer: I disagree with you. I maintain that it’s easier to understand a wheel. If you say that our constellations are accustomed to carrying — that if the sense dictates that there should be a wheel there — now, anyone can see a wheel, things rest on the wheel, everyone understands that. To say that it’s a force — that is already abstract (mufshat), that is the opposite: today’s science is more abstract.

Okay, but I’m saying — we are trying to learn what is written.

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Enumerating the Nine Spheres

Now the Rambam is simply going to enumerate the nine spheres that exist — not wheels, right? Circles. A sphere (galgal) is a ball, a sphere, that exists, upon which each star rests.

1. The Sphere of the Moon (Galgal HaYare’ach — the Moon)

So it is: “Galgal hakarov mimenu hu galgal hayare’ach” — “The sphere closest to us is the sphere of the Moon.”

This is the sphere that we can see — the Moon’s sphere, the closest thing to us in the sky.

“Karov mimenu” — so, yes? The Rambam has perhaps seen this many times, and in our other shiurim I have seen it many times: the Rambam often uses the expression “mimenu” where we would use a lamed — “lanu” (to us). “Karov mimenu” means “from us” — the closest to us, or from us, and one begins from us and sees the closest.

So the sphere of the Moon — upon it rests the Moon. The Moon, you see it revolving — it doesn’t revolve on its own, there is a sphere that turns it.

Very good. Therefore, whoever has heard, the entire world is called “tachat galgal hayare’ach” — “beneath the sphere of the Moon.” Many times one sees in the early authorities (Rishonim) such an expression, or in English “sub-lunar” — beneath the Moon — because this is the lowest one. The lowest heaven is where the Moon rests. According to Kabbalah this also fits, but we are not learning Kabbalah.

2. The Sphere of Mercury (Galgal Kokhav — Mercury)

Second: “V’hasheni shel’ma’alah mimenu hu galgal shebo kokhav hanikra Kokhav” — “The second one above it is the sphere containing the star called Kokhav.”

This means in English, for those who know English, it is called Mercury. This is the second sphere, the second star. One can see it — it is a planet, yes, not a star but a planet.

Note: “Kokhvei Lekhet” — Planets

All of those discussed here are planets — they are called “kokhvei lekhet” (wandering stars / planets), because these are stars that one can see move very quickly. And they learned more about this in Kiddush HaChodesh.

Why Do They Have Their Own Spheres?

Because they move quickly, it is simply because their sphere is… no — they have their own sphere. They all have an extra sphere. Not smaller — they have their own sphere. Because one can see: every night, you go out to the sky, you see every night that the star Mercury is somewhere else, because its sphere — it doesn’t rotate the same as ours. Because if it rotated the same as ours, it would be in the same place all the time, or it doesn’t rotate at all. It doesn’t rotate the same as the Moon. One sees that the Moon is here one day, tomorrow the Moon is here and Mercury is there. You understand — they rotate on separate wheels. The relationship (yakhas) between them is different.

3. The Sphere of Venus (Galgal Nogah — Venus)

Higher than that, the third, there is a sphere in which there is a star called Nogah. Nogah means in English Venus.

4. The Sphere of the Sun (Galgal Chamah — the Sun)

And the fourth, there is a star called Chamah. Not Chamah — Kokhav Chamah, which is called…

[The shiur began mentioning the fourth sphere but did not complete it in this section]

Rambam, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah, Chapter 3 — The Nine Spheres (Continued)

The Seven Wandering Stars: Planets, Not Stars

This is the second sphere, the second star. One can see it. It is a planet, yes, not a star, but a planet. All of those we are discussing here are planets. They are called kokhvei lekhet (wandering stars/planets), because they are stars that one can see move very quickly. We learned more about this in Kiddush HaChodesh.

Discussion: Why Do the Planets Move Faster?

Speaker 2: That they move faster is simply because their sphere is smaller, because they are closer to us? Bigger?

Speaker 1: No, they have their own sphere. We will see. They all have an extra sphere, not smaller. They have their own sphere. Because one can see — every night you go out to the sky, you see, every night the star Mercury is somewhere else. Because its sphere, it doesn’t rotate the same as ours. Because if it rotated the same as ours, it would be in the same place all the time, right? We don’t rotate at all. It doesn’t rotate the same as the Moon. Because one sees that the Moon is here one day, and tomorrow the Moon is here and Mercury is there. You understand? They rotate on separate wheels. The relationship between them is different.

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The Seven Wandering Stars: Spheres 3 Through 7

Higher than that, the third, there is a sphere in which there is a star called Nogah. Nogah means in English Venus.

Fourth — there is a star called Chamah. Not Chamah — Kokhav Chamah, which is called Mercury. But Chamah, because it is the closest to the sun.

In any case, after that there is the sun, the fourth sphere, the middle one. If one considers that there are seven wandering stars, the middle one is the sun. That is where the sun is.

After that there is a fifth sphere, in which there is Ma’adim [Mars]. Ma’adim means Mars in English.

After that there is a sixth one called Kokhav Tzedek [Jupiter]. In English, Tzedek is called Jupiter.

And a seventh sphere, in which there is a star called Shabtai [Saturn], and in English one says Saturn, yes.

Digression: Shabtai, Shabbos, and Saturday

So, this is — yes, since you mentioned the days of the week, I can go further into this. Shabbos is Saturday. If you think about it, why is it called Saturday? Because Saturn is the same thing, yes. And Shabbos already has a straightforward meaning in the word Shabtai. We know “Shabbas Shabbason” (a Sabbath of complete rest), but it also has a meaning. Perhaps that’s why Shabtai is called Shabtai, or maybe it’s the other way around. I don’t know.

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The Eighth Sphere — The Sphere of the Fixed Stars

Anyway, now it’s like this — okay, these are the seven planets (kokhvei lekhet). Each one has its own sphere, which explains (masber) why it rotates differently.

After that you see that there are many more stars. You see that all the other stars, they also revolve. When a night passes and you look at all the stars, and you have the zodiac sphere (galgal mazalos), yes, the constellations, where it appears — you don’t see every night the same stars in the same place.

But the distinction (khiluk) is: all those stars revolve the same way. You don’t see that one day the North Star is closer to the Southern Star than today. Relative to each other they are the same, only relative to us, the whole thing revolves.

For this reason they said that there is an eighth sphere in which “shebo she’ar kol hakokhavim” (in which are all the remaining stars) — all the other stars are fixed (kavu’a) in the eighth sphere, all together, and therefore they revolve together.

They also revolve, as they learned that there are planets (kokhvei lekhet) and fixed stars (kokhvei sheves) — it doesn’t mean that the fixed stars don’t revolve, everyone acknowledged that they revolve. The point is that they revolve similarly to each other, they don’t change their positions relative to one another. That is what they understood. Today it is understood entirely differently — we are not learning what is taught today.

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The Ninth Sphere — “The Sphere That Revolves Every Day from East to West”

After that there is a ninth sphere. The ninth sphere — “hu hagalgal hakhozer b’khol yom mimizrakh l’ma’arav” (it is the sphere that revolves every day from east to west).

Explanation: What Causes Day and Night?

You need to remember a simple thing: in our learning, in our school (kheyder) we are taught that the earth revolves around the sun, and because of that tomorrow becomes “vayehi erev vayehi voker” (and there was evening and there was morning).

They held, as one can see the fact: the earth stands in the middle, and the sun revolves around the world. The sun revolves around the world, so it is no different from all the seven planets that revolve around the world.

But you look every day, and you see that the sun is a little different relative to the moon, a little further from the moon, a little further from the stars, and so on. That has nothing to do with the sun coming out every day. Because nobody thinks that the sun, the daily circle that one sees here, the circle of the sun — nobody thinks that it revolves around the entire world every day. That is not what makes day and night.

It’s not just that — everything revolves in a full day. That is, you look in the morning and see different stars than at night, and at night different stars than in the morning. This is not the same as the stars changing relative to the planets — this is a different cycle, this is a daily cycle that changes everything.

“It Encompasses Everything and Revolves Everything”

Therefore he said that above this, above… in the picture it’s not even there, but above this are the stars. Here you see the stars at the highest level. So there must be a ninth sphere that revolves the whole thing every day from east to west — the opposite of all the others that revolve from west to east. Therefore it goes in reverse.

But the ninth sphere is a sphere, however much it may be — “the sphere that revolves every day from east to west.” This is what makes day and night.

Discussion: Does Each Sphere Influence the One Below It?

Speaker 2: I want to understand — does each sphere influence (mashpi’a) the sphere below it, just as the angels influence the angels below them? Does it work in this system too?

Speaker 1: Somehow it works that way on the rest.

Speaker 2: But the others too, like the seventh influences the sixth?

Speaker 1: Yes, but not directly. Not directly. They work somehow like that, but it’s complicated to learn how, because it doesn’t mean that it’s a gear that turns, because then they would all have to turn at the same speed, and so on. It’s complicated. Somehow… and also one must remember that the Almighty is the One who directs (manhig) the entire sphere.

Speaker 2: Does He go there?

Speaker 1: No.

Why Doesn’t the Rambam Go Into the Details?

In any case, let’s try. All these questions (kushyos) are good questions, but the Rambam has…

Speaker 2: Why did the Rambam agree about this? What is complicated?

Speaker 1: He specifically wanted to state the simple general principles (klalim) that one can review (khazern), that one can see.

Discussion: Love and Fear of God — In the Details or in the Greatness?

Speaker 2: So what the Rambam says, that one must contemplate (me’ayen zayn) this and it brings love and fear of God (ahavas Hashem v’yir’a) — presumably doesn’t mean in the details, but in the greatness of it. That one should arrive at the greatness of God (gadlus Hashem) who directs the entire sphere.

Speaker 1: Both, both. Every detail one learns, one sees better what is going on.

> [Insight: The lecturer says that both — the general principles and the details — bring one to love and fear of God. Every detail one learns, one sees better what is going on.]

Source for Further Study

Now, the ninth sphere, as he says here — “hu hamakif es hakol um’savev es hakol” (it encompasses everything and revolves everything). This is what the Rambam says, yes. First of all, because it encircles everything — that is simple, because it is the greatest, it is the highest, yes, it surrounds everything. And it also revolves everything.

Therefore the Rambam says, therefore it states in the Torah that the Almighty made day and night the first thing. Through making day and night, He makes everything else, because this revolves, and everything that revolves beneath it somehow comes from this. Exactly how is not for now.

If someone wants to learn — there is another place in the Rambam where he lays out the orders of the entire world, that is in the Guide for the Perplexed (Moreh Nevukhim), Part 1, Chapter 72, and I made a series of approximately twelve lectures on that, and not as simply as here. So anyway, whoever wants can look there, it’s in Hebrew (lashon hakodesh), and one can see.

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Halakha 2: Why Don’t We See Nine Separate Spheres?

“Know That You See All the Stars as If They Are in One Sphere”

The Rambam says an important thing: “da she’ata ro’eh kol hakokhavim k’ilu hen kulan b’galgal ekhad, v’af al pi sheyesh bahem zeh l’ma’ala mizeh” (know that you see all the stars as if they are all in one sphere, even though some are above others).

In practice, we look at the sky and we don’t see nine spheres. All these spheres are not practically something one can see. What do we see? We see all the stars as one — some appear smaller and larger, but it looks like everything is at the same height.

The Rambam says: What you see, that all the stars are as if in one sphere, as if at the same height — yes, we don’t see that one star is further from us than another, we only see bigger and smaller. “Even though some are above others” — in truth, one is higher than the other.

Answer: “Because the Spheres Are Pure and Clear Like Glass and Like Sapphire”

The answer is: “mipnei shehagalgalim tehorim v’zakim k’zkhukhis ukh’sapir” (because the spheres are pure and clear like glass and like sapphire).

This is certainly the Rambam’s interpretation, but what is written “k’etzem hashamayim latohar” (like the essence of the heavens in purity) (Exodus 24:10) and so the verses, the sphere is “k’ma’aseh livnas hasapir” (like the work of a sapphire brick) (Exodus 24:10). Yes, what this means is that beneath the Almighty, the heaven leads, which is “like the work of a sapphire brick.” There are explicit passages in the Rambam where he discusses this.

Explanation: What Does “Pure and Clear” Mean?

Because they are pure — “tehorim” doesn’t mean that they are holy, not pure like the purification of the red heifer (eifal tahara). Above there is — they are transparent, they don’t have material substance (khomer). “Zakim” — transparent. They do have a substance, but such a kind of substance that one can see through, like glass. A softer substance, a refined substance. Glass! Glass is a refined substance, something one can see through. As he says “like glass” — like glass, “like sapphire” — like a diamond, such a stone that one can see through.

Conclusion: “We See the Stars of the Eighth Sphere from Beneath the First Sphere”

Therefore, “ro’in anu kokhavim shebagalgal hashmini mitakhas galgal harishon” (we see the stars of the eighth sphere from beneath the first sphere). To us it appears that even the stars that are the highest, one before the highest, yes, the eighth sphere — they appear to us as if they are below the moon even. They don’t appear to be higher. Why? Because it is simply very clear, one sees it directly. And furthermore — because they are transparent, one can see what is happening in the higher spheres. Yes, it appears that the higher ones are lower, but they are not truly lower.

Digression: Correlation Between the Highest Sphere and the Highest Angel

Speaker 2: I believe there is a correlation between the fact that the highest angel and the highest sphere are like the angels of the Divine Presence (sarei panim)?

Speaker 1: There is a great relationship, but the holy Rambam, what he says — I’m also not going to tell you, I don’t know, the other words I don’t know. Because he says “and it encompasses everything” — it also applies to the highest heaven, the highest angel. That’s certain, but… because the angel carries out the mission (shlikhus). Yes, there is about the heaven. Yes, one needs to understand it. Wonderful.

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Halakha 3: Spheres Within Spheres — “Like the Layers of an Onion”

“Each and Every Sphere… Is Divided Into Many Spheres”

Now the Rambam says in section 3 — but for me it’s section 3, I simply made different section letters because it’s simply much longer.

The Rambam says: “da shekhol hagalgalim she’amarnu shehem tish’a” (know that all the spheres we mentioned that are nine) — this is the question, how many are there? Nine. So it stands here in the versions of the Torah.

So if that’s the case, I ask you a question: are there really only nine?

The answer is: no, there are many more. “kol galgal v’galgal mishmones hagalgalim sheyesh bahem kokhavim” (each and every one of the eight spheres that have stars in them) — the eight that have stars, yes, the ninth is after all an empty one, the ninth simply revolves everything — “nekhlak l’galgalim harbeh zeh l’ma’ala mizeh k’gildei betzalim” (is divided into many spheres one above the other like the layers of an onion).

The Onion Analogy

Just as you once opened an onion — what do you call an onion in Yiddish? A tzvibel. Sorry. A big onion — that is the type of the entire world. Layers of an onion — an onion is composed of multiple layers, each layer is a complete ball, right? It encompasses the whole thing.

There are very many ideas, I only brought eight — that is in general terms. In truth, in specific terms one can go into more.

Different Directions of Rotation

“And from them” — and from this there are also different types. “mehem galgalim sovevim mima’arav l’mizrakh” (some of them are spheres revolving from west to east) — some revolve the normal way from west to east, like other spheres. “umehem sovevim mimizrakh l’ma’arav” (and some revolve from east to west) — there are some that revolve in reverse, from east to west, “k’mo hagalgal hakhozer” (like the revolving sphere) — just like the revolving sphere, which is the…

Digression: “Galgal Hakhozer” as an Expression

Boys, we once learned the expression (melitza) “galgal hakhozer,” which is used today for things that go around. But “galgal hakhozer” originally comes from the fact that the ninth sphere turns back and goes in the opposite direction from all the others. But it doesn’t mean that inside — there I saw the picture of how it was. This is also the reason why it’s called an epicycle in English. There are two types of epicycles, but that’s not our topic now.

Retrograde — Why Did They Think There Are Spheres Within Spheres?

The point is: why did they think this? Because if you look into the sky, you see that there are many times when it appears that a star goes backwards. In English it’s called retrograde. That means, sometimes you see that for example Mars for a whole year goes properly around the sun, around the world. You can imagine that it rides on some ball that moves it. Then you see one day, between Tishrei and Cheshvan, I don’t know when, in the middle it goes backwards. You say: “One minute, what happened with my ball?” The answer is that within that ball there is another smaller ball, and that ball revolves differently, making it appear that it goes back. It doesn’t really go back, but it looks like it goes back. That is the explanation in general terms of the matter.

Principle: “A Sphere Within a Sphere, a Wheel Within a Wheel”

And the principle is: the nine spheres are the nine main spheres, but within the nine there are more small cycles, within the sphere they go yet another way. A sphere, as it states in the Rambam — “galgal b’tokh galgal, ofan b’tokh ofan” (a sphere within a sphere, a wheel within a wheel). There are spheres within the spheres.

Speaker 2: As you described, it’s already very vast, there are very many things that revolve.

Speaker 1: A very complicated concept, the world is…

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“There Is No Empty Space Between Them” — There Is No Void

One novel thing you should know: “v’khulam ein beineihen makom panui” (and between all of them there is no empty space). This is also an important foundational principle (yesod) of the Rambam, that in the world there is no empty space. Between the spheres also not, and the world is nowhere empty. There is no emptiness — it is full of air, it is full of something.

So, each sphere touches the next sphere — that is the point (nekuda). It is called in the Talmud (Gemara) “ovi haraki’a” (the thickness of the firmament). It doesn’t mean that there is a sky —

Rambam, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, Chapter 3 — The Nature of the Spheres, the Number of Spheres, the Wisdom of the Seasons, and the Twelve Constellations

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The Nature of the Spheres — Physical Properties

Right after the sky, something else begins, another sky or sphere and so on. Another important thing. Now we are going to learn what the spheres are.

All the spheres — all the spheres — are neither light nor heavy. They have no weight, they don’t weigh anything. And they have neither taste nor smell — they have no taste and they have no smell. And they have no color nor any other qualities — “ayin” means a color.

The Blue Color of the Sky

It appears blue to us — we look at the sky, it appears blue to us. “And what we see them as the color of blue, is only to the appearance of the eye” — it only looks that way — “because of the height of the air.” I don’t know what that means, “the height of the air.” Something, for some reasons — because the sky is high, because the air is high, the air makes it appear that way. I don’t know. Because of the distance, the way one sees the light, how the light, how the brightness enters the eyes from the distance. The Muslim didn’t think of that. I don’t know. “Because of the height of the air” — whatever that means.

Why They Have No Taste or Smell

“And similarly they have neither taste nor smell” — “taste” means it doesn’t taste, it doesn’t taste, so to speak, it doesn’t taste at all, and it doesn’t smell. Why? “Because these phenomena only occur in bodies that are below them.” They do have a body, but they don’t have the kind of body that can have a sense like taste. And they do have some kind of material substance, but material that is exempt from all these things.

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The Shape of the Spheres and the Earth’s Position

The Rambam says: “And all these spheres” — all the spheres that surround the world — “are round like a ball” — they are all round like a complete ball — “and the earth hangs in the middle” — the earth hangs in the center.

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Small Spheres (Epicycles)

“And some of the stars have small spheres in which they are fixed, and those spheres do not encircle the earth.”

That means, all the spheres we discussed that go around the entire world — including the sphere of the twelve constellations, they encompass the entire world. The sphere of the twelve constellations also has more than nine actual ones, as we discussed, and that also encompasses the entire world.

Besides that, there are small spheres. Some of the stars — a portion of the stars — this is actually what I said earlier about them, that in the pictures there will be the small ones — exactly, this is what I said earlier, that there are additional orbits, additional movements that need to move. But not that. This is the — what do you call it — some of the stars, a portion of the stars. “Stars” means the planets, have small spheres on which they rest. “And those spheres do not encircle the earth” — and those don’t revolve around the earth at all.

That means, there are like small cycles that are extra on their own, and somewhere there lies some ball. “But rather a small sphere that does not encircle is fixed within a large sphere that does encircle” — they are not part of the system of spheres that encompasses the world.

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The Number of Spheres

How many are there? So the Rambam gives a total here.

> [Insight:] Interestingly, in another place he says this is only uncertain, and actually there could be more. There must be at least this many, says the Rambam in the Moreh Nevuchim [Guide for the Perplexed]. The Rambam says eighteen is the minimum. Yes, eighteen is a minimum number. But there could be more. He said earlier that besides the nine there are “more.” “More” means there could be more. Which is seemingly the additional ones beyond those nine? But actually, I’m saying — I’m saying this before the foundations — actually there are already more.

“The total number of all the spheres that encircle the entire world” — is eighteen.

Speaker 2: Read in the Glyonei HaShas, you changed twice today.

Speaker 1: Yes.

“And the number of all the small spheres that do not encircle” — is eight.

There is a reason why — I don’t remember right now why which ones have that.

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The Wisdom of Calculating Seasons and Constellations — How We Know About the Spheres

“And from the movement of the stars” — how the stars revolve — “and knowing the measure of their orbit each day and each hour” — to learn the order of the stars and how long they revolve each day, each hour, precisely. “And their inclination toward the north and their inclination toward the south” — how far they are, meaning what angle they are in the sky, to the north or to the south. From east to west they travel all the time, but they can also be to the east and to the south, to the north and to the south.

“And their height above the earth and their proximity” — it could be what angle relative to the earth, sometimes it’s higher and sometimes lower. You look at a star, sometimes it’s higher and sometimes it’s lower.

So from this, when one observes the stars — “from this one can know the number of all these spheres and the form of their movement and the path of their orbit.”

The Foundation of the Method

> [Insight:] That means, the spheres themselves cannot be seen, but one can see — the stars are visible, one can see them. And by seeing the stars, they know that they travel according to the path of the spheres on which they are fixed. This is all built on the foundation that a star doesn’t travel on its own — it travels because it’s on something. Consequently, however well you can calculate, you can simply look with a telescope — there were no telescopes back then — but you can look with your eyes and see how the stars move, and from that you can calculate how many spheres there are.

“Your Wisdom and Understanding in the Eyes of the Nations”

“And this is the wisdom of calculating seasons and constellations” — this is the chochma of cheshbon tekufos u’mazalos [the wisdom of calculating seasons and constellations] which will be relevant for kiddush hachodesh [sanctification of the new month] and other matters.

What else is it relevant for? He says — he apparently means that this wisdom is mentioned in the Gemara [Talmud]: “For it is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations” [Deuteronomy 4:6].

“And many books were composed about it by the sages of Greece” — perhaps because of this, the wisdom was associated with Greece. It is — when Jews understand it, it is “your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations.”

Yes, that’s a problem. In any case, what he means to say is that for us — it says in the Gemara directly mentioned the wisdom of calculating seasons, it means this. Understanding this.

It’s very much worth knowing, it’s very much worth knowing — granted, the discussion of the spheres, we are here, and how the spheres travel, etc., etc., etc. — we are here, this is a great wisdom, this is what he says. Greek wisdom — people were engaged in this. I don’t know why he wants to defend himself here about Greek wisdom — perhaps because of what the Gemara says that there are certain things the nations also know, perhaps that’s the meaning of the Gemara. I don’t know, I don’t know.

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The Ninth Sphere and the Twelve Constellations

Overview: What We Have Learned So Far

Until now we have learned, he says, we have learned about the nine spheres: we have seven planets (kochvei leches), and the eighth sphere has all the stars — meaning the fixed stars (kochavim kevuim), yes? — and the ninth sphere which is the uppermost sphere (galgal ha’elyon).

Now he’s going to talk about — what goes on in the eighth sphere.

Discussion: Which Sphere Are We Talking About Now?

Speaker 2: Really? I thought we were going to talk about the ninth.

Speaker 1: Either way.

Speaker 2: I thought we said the eighth is above nature?

Speaker 1: Yes.

Speaker 2: Saturn, the seventh is nature, and the eighth is what?

Speaker 1: Above nature, yes. The eighth sphere.

Speaker 2: What does he say about the ninth sphere?

Speaker 1: He’s talking here about the one that encompasses and surrounds — right, right. The eighth sphere is where the stars are, right. And then with the ninth star — he says, he’s going to explain it clearly here.

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The Division of the Ninth Sphere into Twelve Parts

Now we’re going to talk about what happens, how the stars work in the ninth sphere.

Let’s take it like this: “The ninth sphere, which encompasses everything” — this is the highest sphere. In other words, if someone wants to talk about the entire sky, yes? The total, everything, not just one small lower part — the ancient sages, apparently he doesn’t mean specifically Jewish sages here, he’s talking about the ancient sages, the astronomers, divided it into twelve parts, the twelve parts.

What they did was very simple, very simple. They took the sky, they said the sky is 360 degrees, so they said each twelfth is thirty degrees, yes? Simply a twelfth of it — that’s one part.

“And each and every part they called by a name” — they gave it a name — “based on the shape that appears in it from the stars below it that are aligned beneath it.”

That means, the names, says the Rambam — an interesting thing — the names of the parts of the sky, the names are based on the stars below them. The stars are in the eighth sphere.

> [Insight:] Now, but what is being divided is not the eighth sphere, because the eighth sphere is not as large, the eighth sphere is a bit smaller. What is being divided is actually the ninth sphere, the totality of everything. But they named it based on what stars one sees one level down, so to speak.

Speaker 2: Yes.

The Twelve Constellations

These are the well-known constellations that everyone knows, which are twelve, and they…

Speaker 2: The Rambam doesn’t say anything about the sphere, he only says why the stars are arranged — one corresponds to the other, yes? The arrangement of the stars in the sphere.

Speaker 1: That’s why they’re called that. I’m going to say shortly why they’re called that.

The constellations are called as follows:

1. Taleh [Aries]

2. Shor [Taurus]

3. Te’omim [Gemini]

4. Sartan [Cancer]

5. Aryeh [Leo]

6. Besulah [Virgo]

7. Moznayim [Libra]

8. Akrav [Scorpio]

9. Keshes [Sagittarius]

10. Gedi [Capricorn]

11. Deli [Aquarius]

12. Dagim [Pisces]

Yes, Tav-Shin-Tav, Samech-Aleph-Beis, Mem-Ayin-Kuf, Gimmel-Daled-Daled — one can remember this through the mnemonic acronym (roshei teivos).

Speaker 2: Yes, now, the month of Adar is known as the mazal of Dagim [Pisces].

Speaker 1: Yes, these are the acronyms that Rashi brings. And the twelfth part of this…

Speaker 2: Yes.

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Discussion: Constellations and Months — An Important Distinction

> [Insight:] The interesting thing is that this has nothing to do with months (chodoshim), because the months are — that’s the moon (levana). This is from the sun, not even from the sun, this is from the constellations. The constellations have nothing to do with the moon. The fact that there are exactly twelve months which roughly correspond to the twelve constellations — but not exactly — because constellations are a division of the world that the Rambam teaches here. It happens that the sun enters that constellation approximately in that month, which is why it’s called that, yes, true. But there’s a whole body of Torah and research about, for example, what do you do when there’s a leap year (ibbur shana), but the whole question doesn’t make sense, because this has no connection to the moon.

Speaker 2: But why does it actually work? Does the ninth sphere have some connection to the moon?

Speaker 1: True, true, the constellations have nothing to do with the moon. The moon doesn’t come into this. Constellations are a division of the…

The Rambam says as follows — the Rambam says two things:

1. It’s a theoretical division of the sphere into twelve parts.

2. And why did they divide it? Why is it called that? This is relevant for astronomy, perhaps for astrology, for other reasons, for other things.

But what’s relevant for astronomy is to know that the entire sphere, the entire circle all around, is divided into twelve, and the parts are named accordingly.

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“The Ninth Sphere Itself Has Neither Division Nor Shape”

Now, the Rambam says an important thing: “The ninth sphere itself has neither division nor any of these shapes, nor any star.”

And the ninth sphere, we learned, simply rotates, there’s nothing there, it’s simple. It simply rotates once a day.

Why do we call it at all — “but rather through the conjunction of the stars in the eighth sphere”? Because the stars of the eighth sphere — “one can see in its large stars the pattern of these shapes or something close to them.”

In the stars, when one looks — everyone has seen the pictures once, I don’t have a picture here, but one can also go outside at night and see. You need to use imagination to see a Gedi [Capricorn] or to see Dagim [Pisces], but somehow — the ancients saw the idea of mapping out stars.

Rambam, Laws of Foundations of the Torah, Chapter 3 — The Twelve Constellations, Size of the Stars, and the Soul and Knowledge of the Spheres

The Twelve Constellations — Shapes in the Stars

Why do we call it at all “these are in the firmament of the eighth sphere, and the stars in the eighth sphere, one can see in its large stars the pattern of these shapes or close to them”? In the stars, when one looks — everyone has seen the pictures, I don’t have a picture here, but one can also go outside at night and see. You need to use imagination to see a Gedi [Capricorn] or to see Dagim [Pisces], but somehow the ancients saw the arrangement of stars that…

Okay, you need a better thing to see.

No, you can see much more. Yes, you have many names of constellations, meaning, yes, many pictures that people identify in the sky. The twelve are simply twelve of the pictures that… They also agree, which happen to roughly divide the sky into twelve. They are roughly in the twelve places.

So we called… The Rambam doesn’t concern himself with the… People learn, I know, the Big Dipper and I know what goes on there. That’s another shape that one sees, but it has nothing to do with this, because it doesn’t divide the world. It’s not for the calculation that divides the great sphere into twelve. So, very important, very interesting.

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Halacha 9 — “They Were Only Aligned at the Time of the Flood”: Precession of the Equinox

Now, these are the twelve parts. Now, the Rambam says an interesting thing:

“And these twelve shapes that you see we are discussing were only aligned with those sections at the time of the Flood” (the Mabul).

Interesting. I just told you, why do we divide the world? Why is the first part of the sky, for example, called Taleh [Aries]? Because there is a constellation there, the stars that look like a ram. But actually, you look there, you’ll see it’s not exactly there. The Taleh is actually in the wrong place.

Why? Because in current times it has already shifted. Because the whole thing we say that it remains fixed — the stars relative to each other — that’s not entirely correct. There is some movement, which just takes a very long time.

The Calculation of “At the Time of the Flood”

So, what was — this is the time of the Flood (Mabul), this is what the Rambam understood, that in those times, according to the calculation, it must have been then. The sages who gave the names lived approximately at the time of Noach.

> Insight: Amazing. It’s correct. I mean it’s approximately correct. Whoever knows the calculation… I don’t know the calculation, but whoever made the calculation… This is called in English the “precession of the equinox.”

The calculation that the entire sky shifts, so the constellations change. So today, if you look in the month of Adar, you won’t see Dagim [Pisces] entirely, because it doesn’t align entirely according to the calculation. It has already shifted a bit. But the names remained from then, because they went with the names of the ancient sages. Noach already made the names — there is such a theory that he was the sage at the time of the Flood.

The Rambam’s Words — The Stars of the Eighth Sphere Revolve Slowly

According to this, the Rambam says, he says… He states directly what I said. He says:

“Because all these stars in the eighth sphere all revolve” — it’s not the only way to say that the eighth sphere has fixed stars, that’s only relative. Like the sun, everything actually revolves.

“But they revolve slowly, and the distance the sun travels in one day, each of these stars travels in approximately seventy years” — approximately, just as the sun goes in one day, it goes in seventy years. You understand, proportionally, it takes a few thousand years for it to shift one year, just as the sun shifts.

Discussion: What Does “At the Time of the Flood” Mean?

Speaker 2: What does that mean? The spheres moved away from each other, the order changed?

Speaker 1: The constellation didn’t cause it, no order changed. Just as the order finds itself not in the same place each time, it shifts all the time, just as the stars shift. They just shift much slower.

So the Rambam stands in his time, and he sees — let’s say as an example, I don’t know the actual calculation — let’s say he sees that the constellation Gedi is shifted one month from its place where it should have been. So he thinks: how long does it take to get from there to here? About three thousand years. When was the Flood? About then. So he calls it “the time of the Flood.”

It’s not specifically the Flood. You’re right that some secret lies here, but not that the Flood caused it. Simply, it’s not from the creation of the world, but from the time of the Flood was when the sages who gave the names lived, and that’s all.

He says this simply because he wants to make clear that he doesn’t want to talk specifically about the pictures, he wants to talk about the sections of the sky, which happen to be called that. He doesn’t want to talk about nothing, he just wants to tell you general principles. But later in the Laws of Sanctification of the New Month he does talk more, he uses the constellations.

Note: The Rambam, Constellations, Astronomy and Astrology

Yes, the Rambam uses the constellations, not because… Someone says there’s a dispute, the Rambam doesn’t believe in mazalos. Mazalos is a physical thing, it’s correct. The Rambam disagrees that the constellations have an influence on our… That’s a different topic. But he says there are constellations, and there are configurations — this is astronomy, this is not astrology.

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An Insight from the Akeidas Yitzchak: Why Does the Highest Heaven Revolve Slowly?

That one moves slowly — there’s a simple explanation. It says there “The stars fought from their courses” [Judges 5:20]. I saw a Torah from the Akeidah [Akeidat Yitzchak, Rabbi Yitzchak Arama], he says: Why does the highest heaven rotate so slowly? It should be the opposite — the higher it is, the faster it should be able to go.

> Insight from the Akeidat Yitzchak: He says that “the ultimate knowledge is knowing that we don’t know” — the higher one is, the better one understands. And all these stars move with an intellect that they have, just as the Rambam goes on to say — the intellect drives them. The higher it is, the more it understands that it understands less, and therefore it goes slower, not faster.

This is an interesting Torah from the Akeidat Yitzchak.

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Halacha 10 — The Size of the Stars

The Rambam’s Words

Alright. Now he’s going to tell us how large the stars are, and this is also numbers. But what will it matter for the Rambam to say that at the time of the Flood? Because you could say that even today there is a certain similarity. Today one also sees some resemblance to the Flood. Yes, but today everyone also knows — if you study astrology, astronomy, they’ll tell you that the pictures are in the wrong place.

The problem is already that the picture doesn’t match. The picture is not in the place of the twelfth of the sphere. It’s not that the picture is divided into exactly twelve different locales. The picture is in the wrong place.

Yes, it’s a different problem. The astronomers are involved… not the astronomers, the astronomers don’t care, but the astrologers have a problem with this, because it means that their mazalot [zodiac signs]…

The Rambam wants to say hints in the Torah, I don’t know.

The Rambam’s Numbers

Okay. Now, know an interesting thing. The Rambam wants to simply state the sizes. Why should he say this? I don’t know. No, he means to say, because when a person looks up at the sky, everything appears roughly the same, let’s say. It doesn’t look clear. But when you calculate carefully, you know it’s not so simple.

“And of all the visible stars, there are small stars, each of which is smaller than the earth, and there are large stars, each of which is larger than the earth many times over” — Star of the first magnitude. That’s what he calls it. The earth is larger than some of them, and there are stars that are each many times larger than the earth. There are stars that are much larger than the earth.

He says: “And the earth is larger than the moon approximately forty times” — our earth is larger than the moon approximately forty times.

“And the sun is larger than the earth approximately one hundred and seventy times” — the sun is in turn larger than the earth one hundred and seventy times.

“It turns out that the moon is one six-thousand-eight-hundredth of the sun, approximately” — that the moon is one six-thousand-eight-hundredth of the sun. Yes, because he makes the calculation: forty times one hundred and seventy.

“And among all the stars there is no star larger than the sun, and none smaller than what is called ‘star’ in the second sphere” [Mercury] — there is no star larger than the sun, and none smaller than the one called “star” in the second sphere.

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Insight: The Numbers Don’t Match — But This Makes the Greatness of the Creator Even Greater

Now, all these numbers — as much as I want to talk about the Rambam — these numbers are not held today. Why? Mostly because it was realized that the universe is much larger than the Rambam thought.

> Insight: This is a very interesting thing, if one wants to think about how great… We spoke about love of God (ahavat Hashem), fear of God (yirat Hashem), the greatness of the Creator (gadlut haBorei)… The entire universe is, in our understanding, much larger than they thought. Therefore the calculation comes out differently.

They made all the calculations based on how much one sees from here — it comes out that it must be approximately this big. If the whole thing is much farther away — for example, even the moon is not exact today. For example, one sees, in order for it to appear this large in our eyes, it had to be this small. But in truth it is many more times larger, because it is much farther than they thought.

Similarly with the moon, the opposite — the moon is closer, so they made it much smaller. Today they say the moon is approximately a third or a quarter of the earth, not a fortieth. Something like that. Exactly. It’s simply — they didn’t calculate the distance well, and therefore they thought the numbers were wrong.

And in general, everything is much, much larger than they thought. So one can indeed more… one becomes more impressed by the greatness of creation, not less, but more.

Much larger than they once thought. All nine spheres fit, according to them, into one small region of the universe. Even the “known universe” is much larger than that. The entire nine spheres that they thought fit in. They thought the world was very small.

From here we learn that the world is larger than one thinks.

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Halacha 11 — “They All Possess Soul, Knowledge, and Intellect”

The Rambam’s Words

Wonderful. Another important thing. Now, the Rambam wrote this for a reason, and many people mock this, but there is a portion of truth in it. The next thing is no longer a portion of truth, but not everything one doesn’t understand means it’s not true. I just want to say what he says.

“All the stars and spheres all possess a soul (nefesh)” — they all have a soul, that’s one thing.

A second thing: “and knowledge and intellect (de’ah v’haskel)” — they also have intellect.

That means, two things: they are possessors of soul and they are possessors of intellect. Like a cow, or a cow has maybe a little intellect — a tremendous intellect it certainly doesn’t have.

All the spheres are both possessors of soul — they have a soul — and also possessors of intellect. Two things that they do, that they are.

The Distinction Between “Nefesh” and “De’ah”

And I’ll give a plain explanation:

– “Nefesh” means a thing that can move on its own — nothing moves it, it moves by itself.

– “De’ah” means that it can move according to a calculation.

That is, an animal, for example, also moves on its own, but only according to desires and wants. It has instincts, such things. It cannot make a calculation “I need to travel to Australia because there might be good air there.” There are animals that travel to Australia, but not because they know, rather because they have a built-in inclination to travel there. Unless you can break that piece in it that gives it the inclination so it shouldn’t travel.

A person has intellect — he can travel to Australia because he knows that Australia is there, and if you confuse him he’ll go back.

Application to the Spheres

The same thing they understood about the spheres. Why does it travel? Who makes it travel? Because it understands that it needs to travel. That means, it has a soul — it can travel on its own, nothing pushes it. That means, God in the end…

Rambam, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, Chapter 3 (continued) — Soul and Knowledge of the Spheres, and Introduction to the Four Elements

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Soul and Knowledge of the Spheres — Why Must the Spheres Have Their Own Power?

Discussion: The Spheres’ Own Power

Speaker 1: But why should it actually want it? If God directs the sphere, why is it necessary for it to have its own power?

Speaker 2: He doesn’t mean that He directs it like… God leads the sphere, but He gives it the choice, He gives it the choice, and also the choice to choose on their own.

Speaker 1: It doesn’t have a choice to choose, choice exists only by us.

Speaker 2: With the stars, there is a part that they also reckon with in the sphere, as he said.

Speaker 1: I don’t know, what you’re asking is a good question. Perhaps the stars are simply a part of the sphere.

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“The Heavens Declare the Glory of God” — Literally

Speaker 2: But you say there are people who wonder about this Rambam, but fundamentally one shouldn’t wonder, because in all our prayers we say so — “The heavens declare the glory of God” [Psalms 19:2], and so on. The Rambam fits very well with all the verses, because all the verses say that the heavens and all the celestial systems declare the glory of God.

Speaker 1: No, that’s not such a big question, because the Rambam said that “The heavens declare” is literally, it’s truly in its plain meaning.

Speaker 2: No, not only the Rambam — it was said that they cause us, when one contemplates the greatness it causes us to praise, but the plain verses say that *they* praise.

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Insight: What Does “Praise” Mean Without a Mouth?

Speaker 1: The Rambam himself says — it says “Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights” [Psalms 148:1] — that the first half of that Halleluyah speaks literally, and the second half is only that it’s us, because the world doesn’t have intellect — the earth, the depths, they don’t have intellect.

Speaker 2: But I’m just saying a simple thing.

Speaker 1: And the Rambam — the Rambam himself makes this clear in the Moreh [Moreh Nevuchim / Guide for the Perplexed]. When we say intellect, soul, we don’t mean that it has some kind of soul that will undergo reincarnation (gilgul), I don’t know what. It means literally — that the power of motion that it has is its own power.

I understand that God gave it this power, but it’s not that God pushes it. Just as God says that God leads a person — that doesn’t yet mean that the person doesn’t have a soul. He’s not just an object, he is something more than that — he is a living thing.

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“Life and Kindness” — Living Forever

Speaker 1: Just as he says — “life and kindness” — but living not like a person whose life begins and ends. Eternal life — living and standing and recognizing the One who spoke and the world came into being.

Speaker 2: Ah, what does “recognizing the One who spoke and the world came into being” mean?

Speaker 1: Okay, I’m not going to explain that, but the fact that it travels is because it wants to reach God.

Speaker 2: How does one reach God by traveling?

Speaker 1: A good question.

—

Discussion: Why Does the Sphere Travel in a Circle?

Speaker 1: Like the well-known… a number was said — in the learning, when he meets a queen, yes?

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 1: It’s a parable — that sort of thing. Despite that, something like that carries through.

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 1: So says the holy Rambam, yes — each one according to its greatness, according to its level, they praise.

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Insight: The Essence of Praise Is Not the Mouth — It Is the Knowledge

Speaker 1: But I see an insightful thing. We say according to the Rambam “they praise” — one understands it means literally. It doesn’t mean a mouth there, right?

The Rambam says that you still understand — when we praise, we don’t say it with our mouth. What is the true praise? The mouth? No, it’s the knowledge that we have. It happens to come out through the mouth — our way of expressing things is only through the mouth, primarily through the mouth.

But even when we speak — the friend’s mouth, the essential praise… Otherwise — a person who praises God, it doesn’t primarily mean the mouth. It means it, and the essence is a spirit, the amazement. But his understanding opens — amazement is perhaps just a feeling. His understanding — that is the praise.

—

So Too with the Heavens — Praise Through Recognition

Speaker 1: His opinion — the same thing. When we say that the heaven praises the Creator, we don’t mean that the heaven has a mouth and it speaks. His opinion — the heaven understands God, and that is a praise for God — that one understands Him. When someone understands Him, so there are systems, so you say He is glorified, and the like.

—

Angels and Spheres — The Connection Between Them

Speaker 1: So this means “they praise and glorify their Creator like the angels” — just as the angels who are forms only, the same thing — those that are forms in matter, they also praise God.

“And just as they recognize the Holy One, so they recognize themselves, and they recognize the angels above them” — the angels, they have a certain self-awareness, that they recognize themselves, and they recognize the angels above them…

—

Insight: Angels Are the Directors of the Spheres

Speaker 2: Here the Rambam says an interesting thing — that the angels are the directors of the spheres. Has this already been said?

Speaker 1: No, he figured this out from here.

Speaker 2: Because it turns out… it’s not a different category, it’s not just a different category — there is a connection between them, many are higher.

Speaker 1: Seemingly the angels actually lead them.

Speaker 2: Quickly, because this is the whole point — to say, God directs the sphere through the angels.

Speaker 1: Yes.

Speaker 2: It’s never stated here clearly, but that’s how it comes out.

Speaker 1: That’s the whole point!

—

The Three-Tiered Chain of Emanation (Seder Hishtalshelut)

Speaker 1: We are building here the order. The details are indeed not so clear, the order is as follows — of three things, there are also three levels of the chain of emanation (seder hishtalshelut) as it’s called:

1. God directs the sefirot

2. And the sefirot direct the spheres

3. And the spheres direct the world

—

Levels of Knowledge — “The Knowledge of the Stars and Spheres”

The Rambam’s Words

Speaker 1: He says, the three levels are also levels in knowing one another, but also different levels in knowledge:

“The knowledge of the stars and spheres is less than the knowledge of the angels and greater than the knowledge of human beings.”

—

Plain Explanation — Why Are the Levels This Way?

Speaker 1: It appears simply that since angels are only knowledge, therefore their knowledge is the greatest. And stars and spheres have matter and form — so it’s a bit weaker, but still they are living and existing forever — so it’s greater. And human beings are the weakest level and the weakest knowledge.

—

Insight: Knowledge Has to Do with Your Level of Existence

Speaker 1: It could simply be built on what we learned — that knowledge has to do with what level you are in reality.

If you are… for example, a son can say that he knows his father better than a grandchild. Perhaps the grandchild is very smart, but his knowledge — he knows that he is a direct thing. If the angels lead the spheres, influence them, and the like, then it’s simply one thing.

But knowledge here means knowledge of God — what they know of God. Because the angels have a more direct connection to God than the stars, and it’s understood that the stars more than human beings.

This means that one knows the reality. What else does it mean? That he reads the newspaper, he can quickly make a summary of the encyclopedia? It doesn’t mean that.

Speaker 2: Okay.

—

“They Are Compared to Stars” — Jews Are Compared to Stars

Speaker 1: Until here, the laws of the spheres.

So, the whole thing — as we said — we learn that here you will want to study the laws of sanctifying the new month (hilchot kiddush hachodesh) and astronomy in general. The first half of this chapter is the most general introduction to astronomy as the Rambam understands it. And this is the knowledge of the heavens, as it says “When I behold Your heavens” [Psalms 8:4].

A great part, a very great part of the contemplation of creation, and also of beginning to learn at all — from knowing the spheres, from knowing the stars, the celestial systems.

And regarding this it says — on Shabbat I learned a bit with someone about this — it says in Rashi that God loves the Jewish people, “and they are compared to stars.” And it’s very hard to understand what is the great significance of being a star. When one understands here, one understands a bit what the significance of being a star is, yes.

—

Introduction to the Four Elements — The Order of Existence

The Transition from Spheres to Elements

Speaker 1: Okay. So now we’re going to go to the… Now, let me say a small introduction to clearly understand where we are in the order of existence.

Now, we said that aside from the stars which are in the middle — yes, they are in the middle, they are form in matter that remain forever, right? Between the angels, and after that are lower created beings.

Speaker 2: Yes, you still have other things, but not everything has consciousness, that’s why he says consciousness, right?

—

Novel Point: Two Levels of Matter and Form

Speaker 1: Now, there’s another thing we discussed — that there is creation, formation, and matter and form that also change, right?

Now, but we need to know that within this alone there are two levels, and the first level will be discussed in this chapter, and the next level will be discussed in the next chapter.

In other words — all the things that we see, yes, everything we can see in the world below the moon, yes, everything we can see here that is made of matter and form — us, it dies and it is born — is however not things in themselves at all.

Here is a new principle — they are different, everything will not be like that. That is, all the things we see, aside from the fact that they are made of matter and form — which we said can be called a composition/compound, it is also made of something and it is also what it is — aside from that, it is also made of many things. Nothing exists plain/simple.

That is, even the matter itself is made of many things.

Speaker 2: No, both — the matter and the form.

Speaker 1: Yes, because the four elements are already matter and form. It’s a second level of matter and form. Both — both the matter and the form.

—

Novel Point: The Four Elements Are Already Matter and Form

Speaker 1: That is, the elements are not made from the…

Speaker 2: Yes, because the four elements are already matter and form. The four elements are not thin/pure matter. The four elements are forms, as he says here in the commentators, see.

—

Novel Point: You Can Never See an Element by Itself

Speaker 1: The four elements are… but the point is — you can never see one of the four elements. All four elements that you will see have already been mixed together.

Therefore, in other words — everything we see in the world is altogether a… it’s altogether such a thing like a kugel [used as metaphor for a mixture/compound]. It’s such a thing like a composition of a bunch of things. It’s not things in themselves at all.

—

Novel Point: Why Things Die — Not Because of Matter and Form, But Because of Weak Matter and Form

Speaker 1: Aside from the fact that they die — that’s precisely why they die, as the Rambam will elaborate — that’s why they must change, because of this. Not because they are made of matter and form, but because they are made of a weak matter and form.

In other words — they are not original things. Originally, basically, there are only four things — four matters and forms. These are general bodies, and afterward these things become compounded into other things, and those are the things that we know.

That is — a river, a stone, a person — each one of these things is made of four elements, that’s why it separates later. So, when it dies, the meaning is not that it will dig out the form — it will return to its element. Its element goes somewhere else as sealed/combined.

—

Novel Point: The Four Elements Remain Forever — Like the Spheres

Speaker 1: So consequently, the first chapter — in this chapter we’re going to explain also, it’s an interesting thing. We learned earlier that the stars, the spheres, they don’t change, they remain forever. But people change.

The elements also don’t change — this is an interesting thing. They remain forever — as long as the world exists, there is always fire or water or wind/air. What changes are the things that are made from them.

—

Why Does This Belong in This Chapter?

Speaker 1: So this is the… compounds. The whole thing we’re talking about regarding elements is like an introduction to why we’re going to discuss in the next chapter — what is the true third type of things that exists in the world.

Now it’s just like an introduction. Therefore, I think about this — it belongs in this chapter, because they are truly also things that remain, you understand? It doesn’t remain by itself, because it constantly changes, but in practice the fact that the four elements exist is a certain thing that always remains. It’s interesting. And it’s also part of the circles that we’ve already seen.

So in a certain sense this is the more basic. In the fourth chapter we’re going to learn things that are entirely not basic — they’re only compounds of elements, basically the lowest things that can be.

—

Discussion: Does the Soul Have Anything to Do with the Four Elements?

Speaker 2: But can you already say tomorrow — what you’re saying that the forms are also composed of the four elements? So when you take a person, the form of a person is a new thing — is a human or an animal has a form of an animal. So does the human soul also have something to do with the four elements?

Speaker 1: No, no, no — the soul does not have four elements. That’s not what I meant.

Speaker 2: I meant to add that certain desires of the soul come from the elements.

Speaker 1: No, no, that’s an error. That’s what we learned before — saying that the soul is also four elements. That’s only a metaphor. In truth, no — the four elements are only the matter.

—

Matter Itself Cannot Be Seen

Speaker 1: But the matter itself, the matter itself already has forms within it. That is — the form of… there is a form of fire. In fire we see the matter with the form of fire.

Okay, because we don’t see matter by itself — it never existed that way. Just as we cannot see form by itself, we cannot see matter by itself. We can only think of both.

When we see wood, we see it either in the form of a tree or in the form of a table. We don’t see wood as wood alone.

Speaker 2: No, because wood is already a form. Wood means something — a tree. It’s made of something.

Speaker 1: It’s not that you can be mistaken that it’s made of something, right?

Speaker 2: So what is it? Matter.

—

“Tohu Vavohu” — The Basic Matter

Speaker 1: Tohu vavohu [“formless and void” — Genesis 1:2] — it says in the Ramban, yes? Since — God created.

And interestingly — here he remembered to mention that God created. Until now what was there? “And there were spheres.” Perhaps he’s simply going back to an earlier point — all… he says that everything goes back to the…

Rambam, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, Chapter 3 (continued) — The Universal Matter and the Four Elements

The Concept of Matter — Wood Is Made of Something

Speaker 1: You don’t see that the wood itself… no, even the wood is already a form. Wood means a tree or whatever. It’s made of something. You see that you can change it, that it’s made of something, right? So what is that? Matter.

—

Halacha 12 — The Raw Mass Below the Sphere of the Moon

“God Created” — Why Does the Rambam Say This Again?

Speaker 1: “Know and understand” — it says in the Rambam — “God created.” God created…

Interestingly, here he remembered to mention that God created. Where was he until now? The spheres? Perhaps he’s simply going back to an earlier point? He says that everything goes back to the introduction he made, “everything that the Holy One, Blessed be He, created in His world.”

Interestingly, but here he remembered to say again “God created.” I don’t know. Not sure. Perhaps because this is simply a new level of creation already. Because all the others he already mentioned, but God created three types of things, and now he’s saying a new type of thing that God created. So is this one of those types of things?

Speaker 2: Ah, it’s considered somewhat a fourth type of thing. It’s a type of thing that is the vessel with which to create the third thing.

Speaker 1: Interesting.

The Rambam’s Words — One Raw Mass That Is Not Like the Raw Mass of the Spheres

Speaker 1: God created “below the sphere of the moon, one raw mass that is not like the raw mass of the spheres.”

Discussion: The Word “Golem” — What Does It Mean?

Speaker 2: Golem means matter?

Speaker 1: Exactly. Golem is in the Holy Tongue. The holy Rambam was very insistent on writing only in the Holy Tongue, not in Aramaic or in other languages. So the word that is commonly used is chomer [matter/material].

Speaker 2: Chomer is which language?

Speaker 1: Chomer is also the Holy Tongue, but it’s a word…

Speaker 2: Actually, where does the word chomer come from?

Speaker 1: “Chomer b’yad ha-yotzer” [clay in the hand of the potter — Jeremiah 18:4]?

Speaker 2: “Chomer b’yad ha-yotzer.” Chomer means when you make the clay into a form of matter?

Speaker 1: No, chomer is not the clay. Chomer is clay.

Speaker 2: Ah, chomer is the clay, and you make it into bricks. “Chomer u-leveinim” [mortar/clay and bricks — Exodus 1:14] is a matter and form of bricks.

Speaker 1: Exactly. So it’s a good analogy. But perhaps the Rambam never used the word chomer. I think one needs to check. What the translators used as the word for the Greek word “matter” is mostly chomer. But the Rambam found a verse — I think that in one place he explains it explicitly, if I remember.

It says “golmi ra’u einekha” [my unformed substance Your eyes saw — Psalms 139:16], or it says in the Gemara “golmei klei etz” [unfinished wooden vessels].

Speaker 2: Golem perhaps means it has no form, no?

Speaker 1: So golem is indeed matter according to the Rambam. One shouldn’t be a golem — that it should even feel something, it has no form. “Shiv’ah devarim b’golem” [seven things characterize an unformed person — Avos 5:7], yes.

The Universal Matter Is Different from the Matter of the Spheres

Speaker 1: God made a type of matter, a type of raw mass, “that is not like the raw mass of the spheres.” It’s not like the raw mass of the spheres, which we said earlier that the matter of the spheres is a very different type of matter from what we know — it’s transparent, it has no weight, and it has no smell or color. Rather, God made a type of matter that is very different.

Four Forms for the Universal Matter

Speaker 1: And this matter, the basic matter, has four forms in relation to it. That is, the matter plays out in the… one universal matter, and this receives four forms.

“And they are not like the form of the spheres” — he says again the same words. Also the matter is not the matter of the spheres, and also the form is not the form of the spheres.

—

Halacha 13 — The Four Forms and Bodies

How Matter and Form Create a Body

Speaker 1: “And each form was fixed in a portion of this raw mass.” A part of the universal raw mass, the universal matter — the raw mass enters into the four forms, as if it becomes four forms, it gets shaped into four forms.

The Form of Fire

Speaker 1: The first — “the first form is the form of fire, and it joined with a portion of this raw mass,” and a part of the matter of the raw mass has the form of fire, “and from both of them came the body of fire.”

It got caught up, somehow a form of fire came from wherever, from heaven, it got caught into a part of the matter, and from both together it became the body of fire, which is the matter and form of fire together. Correct?

Interesting. So when the form and the matter don’t come together there is no fire — there would have been one of the two. There would have been nothing, there would have been the universal matter that cannot be seen, there would have been tohu vavohu [formless and void — Genesis 1:2].

The Form of Wind/Air

Speaker 1: “The second form is the form of wind/air, it joined with a portion of it,” a part of the matter, of the universal raw mass, with the form of wind/air, and it became wind/air, a body of wind/air.

The Form of Water

Speaker 1: “The third form is the form of water, and it too joined with a portion of it,” that the material, the basic material — I don’t know the word material — the basic raw mass, the basic matter, attached itself to the form of water, “and from both of them came the body of water.”

The Form of Earth

Speaker 1: “And the fourth form is the form of earth,” or dust/earth as we know it.

Discussion: Why Does the Rambam Use “Earth” and Not “Dust”?

Speaker 1: Very good. The Rambam doesn’t use the language of the Torah. In the Torah it never says “dust” for the element. But “the form of earth” does appear.

Speaker 2: True, but it seems that “earth” is more straightforward.

Speaker 1: The form of earth is when the universal matter attaches itself to the form of earth, and from that becomes a body of earth. A body is the combination of matter and form.

—

Halacha 14 — The Order of the Four Elements: Levels in the World

The Four Elements as Layers — “Layers of an Onion”

Speaker 1: Very good. It comes out — take note — how they all have a place. This is the important thing. All four forms have a certain place in the universe. Just as you — apparently also further as it connects to the previous chapter. Just as they learned that the highest is the first sphere, after that there is the…

Speaker 2: The sphere of the fixed stars, yes, the encompassing sphere, has the revolving sphere.

Speaker 1: After that there is the sphere of the stars, after that and so on — each has its own place, a level. The same thing, the four elements also have levels.

Speaker 2: Correct? Take note.

The Rambam’s Words — Four Bodies One Above the Other

Speaker 1: “And the lowest of them are four distinct bodies, one above the other” — this you haven’t learned until now, this is a new thing. It’s also part of the layers of an onion, basically, the onion that the world is.

“And each one surrounds the one below it from all sides like a sphere” — it’s like a sphere, four more spheres. Like spheres.

The Body of Fire — Adjacent to the Sphere of the Moon

Speaker 1: “And the first of them, adjacent to the sphere of the moon — the body of fire.”

Very good. Because fire goes up very high — a greater example. That’s why you see that fire goes upward, because fire wants to reach its place which is high. It doesn’t mean there is a fire, it means there is a force of fire, but anyways.

Novel Point: The Rambam Holds That the Sun Is Not Fire

Speaker 1: The Rambam did not hold that the sun is a ball of fire.

Speaker 2: No, it’s not fire at all.

Speaker 1: The heavens are nothing. There is what they hold — there was a dispute (machlokes). There were those who held that the spheres in the heavens are generally made of fire. But the Rambam holds that they are made of something called the fifth element (chomer ha-chamishi), a new type of matter, but not fire. Fire is one of the four elements, it can’t be. It’s lower, it’s below the sphere of the moon.

Speaker 2: We see it as fire because it also passes through the sphere of the moon?

Speaker 1: No, it has nothing to do with that. It can’t be. It could be, but I think not.

The Body of Wind, the Body of Water, the Body of Earth

Speaker 1: “U-l’matah mimenu guf ha-ru’ach” — “And below it, the body of wind/air” — yes, a great sphere, a great body of wind is below it. Ru’ach means wind, air.

“L’matah mimenu guf ha-mayim” — “Below it, the body of water.”

Speaker 2: Which is called the upper waters (mayim elyonim), I know.

Speaker 1: No, this is the lower waters (mayim ha-tachtonim), I don’t know. “Below it” — this is the highest place where water exists. But it’s not so high, it simply means on the earth.

Speaker 2: That’s not it. Water gives the impression that it’s something higher up in the heavens.

Speaker 1: But it surrounds — it’s below the sphere of the moon, much higher than where we are.

Speaker 2: No, that’s something else.

Speaker 1: “L’matah mimenu guf ha-aretz” — “Below it, the body of earth.”

Speaker 2: What is the body of earth? What we walk on?

Speaker 1: Yes, certainly (vadai). “Below it, the body of earth,” “v’ein beineihem makom panui klal” — “and there is no empty space between them at all.”

Speaker 2: So we grow in wind.

Speaker 1: We grow on earth and in wind, and when we go into the sea we go into the water, and so forth.

Discussion: “Let the Waters Gather” — The Order of Water and Earth

Speaker 1: Interesting, because this is divided between earth and water. Below the water is the earth, and is there wind? How is it divided?

Speaker 2: Ah, that’s very good. There was an entire verse about this: “Yikavu ha-mayim mi-tachas ha-shamayim el makom echad” — “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place” (Bereishis 1:9).

Speaker 1: What’s the connection (kesher)?

Speaker 2: Because the world imagines (medameh) that it’s not so. It’s a novelty that it’s not so.

The Flood and the Order of Water/Earth

Speaker 1: Interesting, because here there was also a change (shinui) during the Flood (mabul). It has some connection.

Speaker 2: The Flood made a change. Because the Flood did the… divided it.

Speaker 1: During the Flood everything was flooded with water, and after the Flood the order of water was restored, and the water went down beneath the earth. It actually makes sense that it should be so.

Why the Spheres Have No Weight, Smell, or Color — A New Explanation

Speaker 1: And now, the four elements. The reason why all the spheres above them have no weight, no smell, and all those things, is because they are above the four forces, which are apparently responsible for weight and smell and all those things. They are made from a type of substance called the matter of the earth, or the lower matter (chomer ha-tachton), which has all those properties.

—

Halacha 15 — The Four Elements Have No Soul

The Rambam’s Words

Speaker 1: “V’arba’ah gufim alu ein lahem nefesh” — “And these four bodies have no soul.” They are different from what was enumerated — that the spheres are possessors of a soul, and he said that they have knowledge and recognition (da’as v’hakarah), that they know their Creator (yod’im es bor’am).

But the four elements are not possessors of a soul, because “einam yod’im v’lo makirim, ela k’gufim meisim” — “they do not know and do not recognize, but are like dead bodies.”

Discussion: Three Things — Soul, Knowledge, Life

Speaker 1: These are the same three things stated: soul, knowledge, and life. Life (chaim) essentially means one of two things.

Speaker 2: Life — what does life mean?

Speaker 1: Life has two meanings. There is life — the animal soul (nefesh ha-behamis), which means what he calls here the nefesh — they can move on their own. The intellectual soul (nefesh ha-sichlis) is knowledge (dei’ah) — that’s a human being. When we say a person lives, it can be in two ways: he can live like an animal, or he can live like a human being.

The Difference Between Spheres and Elements

Speaker 1: But the… so for example, the spheres live, but they live not just because they… also because they move, and also because they know. The bodies of the four elements are dead — both because they don’t know, and because they don’t move on their own.

How Do Creatures Have Life from Dead Elements?

Speaker 1: And how does it come about that creatures composed of the four elements do have life? They received a soul (neshamah) in addition. They are the body, they are not the living part (chelek ha-chiyus) of all creations — they are the dead part (chelek ha-meis) of creations, the bodily part (chelek ha-guf).

“Minhag” — Nature Without Intention

Speaker 1: “V’yesh l’chol echad v’echad meihem minhag” — “And each one of them has a practice/way” — they have a certain way in which they conduct themselves, but it’s not with intention, it’s not something they know. They do it involuntarily (b’al korcham), they do it like an object.

“She-eino yod’o v’lo masigo v’eino yachol l’shanoso” — “That he does not know it, does not comprehend it, and cannot change it” — he doesn’t know it, this is the opposite of “knows and recognizes” (yodei’a u-makirah). It’s not “knows and comprehends” (yodei’a u-masig) and not “knows and recognizes” (yodei’a u-makir).

“V’eino yachol l’shanoso” — he doesn’t have the soul that acts on its own, that has a will (ratzon). He doesn’t have the soul, unlike the spheres which are in a ball, in a sphere, but they themselves have a will, they move intentionally, as the Rambam said.

Novel Insight: “Minhag” = Nature

Speaker 1: The bodies have something called a minhag (practice/custom). This minhag is another word for what we usually call nature (teva). They have a nature. That means, it doesn’t mean they are random. They have a certain way in which they conduct themselves, but it’s not they who conduct themselves. They have an order (seder), the Almighty gave them whatever order they follow, but it doesn’t mean that it knows what it’s doing.

Discussion: Can You “Talk” to Elements? — The Difference Between Elements and Spheres

Speaker 1: You can’t tell it… The other aspect of their constancy (hasmadah) is — you can’t go to the table and say, “Do me a favor, today, one day, you should fall upward, not downward.” It doesn’t work that way. Or the element of fire that flies upward — it always flies upward. You can’t talk to it.

But With Stars You Can Theoretically Talk

Speaker 1: The stars, you can theoretically talk to. You can tell it, “Dear star, I think today you should go the other way.” It will tell you… as the verse says, “Ha-t’kasher ma’adanos kimah o moshchos k’sil t’fatei’ach” — “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?” (Iyov 38:31).

You know what it’s going to tell you when you go and say that to it? You’re going to tell the star that it should move differently, and it will say, as the verse says—

The Difference Between Spheres, Nature, and Humans — And the Human’s Role as a “Sphere” for the Lower Creation

Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, Chapter 3 (continued)

—

The Star Has Knowledge — You Can’t Persuade It

The stars — you can theoretically talk to them. You can tell it: “Dear star, be cold, you should go the other way.” It will tell you — as the verse says: “Ka’asher yir’u es ha-geshem ken yishme’u la-yetzer” — it doesn’t have the power to…

But you know what it’s going to tell you, when you go and tell it — the star — when you go and tell the star that it should move differently, it will tell you: “You’re a fool. I go this way because I understand better than you that this is how I must go. You can’t convince me otherwise.” You can’t change its mind.

—

Nature — Acts Without Knowing, Not on Its Own Understanding

But nature doesn’t know that it’s the best. The Almighty knows that this is the best way for the thing to conduct itself. And the star is like one who agrees — it agrees that this is the best way the thing was made. It doesn’t act on its own.

Similarly, nature — it also has a certain thing that it does on its own, but it doesn’t do it with knowledge, it doesn’t do it on its own understanding (al da’as atzmo). You can see the difference, because for example the spheres can travel without anything pushing them, according to what we learn here. They go toward something, not as if something pushes them. Okay, that’s a secret we don’t have here.

—

The Human Being — A Combination of Both

Because the human being, who is a combination of both — it’s a soul from the highest heights (neshamah mi-merom elyonim), although the soul is thoughtful and knows what it does, and the bodily component is the… okay, we’ll get to that soon.

Okay, we’re learning about humans — exactly, humans are all things.

—

Question: If the Four Elements Don’t Know — How Do They Praise the Almighty?

The Question from “Praise Hashem from the Earth”

Because the star — someone asks a question: because the star said that the heavens, that the bodies don’t know — so what is the meaning? We do see, it all stands in a verse: “Halelu es Hashem min ha-aretz, taninim v’chol tehomot” (Tehillim 148:7) — “Praise Hashem from the earth, sea creatures and all depths.” And here the four elements are listed: “Eish u-varad, sheleg v’kitor” (Tehillim 148:8) — “fire and hail, snow and vapor.” Fire is fire, hail is water, vapor is wind, and snow is water. So we have the four elements. And it looks like they do thank the Almighty!

We said that they don’t know or recognize (yod’im u-makirim) anything!

—

The Answer — “Let Human Beings Praise Him”

“Elei bnei adam” — we human beings thank the Almighty with His mighty acts, because we see more how the might of Hashem is displayed in “fire and hail” and in other creatures placed below the firmament. Why? “She-gevurasam tamid nikeres la-katan v’la-gadol” — “because their might is always evident to small and great alike.”

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The Rambam’s Explanation of Tehillim 148

And the Rambam will then go on to say — we take them together with sea creatures (taninim), just as we know for certain that sea creatures don’t have their own intellect. But here it says “Halelu es Hashem” — something needs to be observed, and I want to see that I should praise the Almighty.

I don’t remember — what he means to say here is that the “Halelu” speaks for everyone, for a simple person. Everyone can see the grass of the field (esev ha-sadeh), and therefore he praises the Almighty for it. The great sages, they go and praise the Almighty from the heavens, from “Ha-shamayim mesaprim” (Tehillim 19:2) — “the heavens declare,” from the stars. But to understand the virtues of the stars one needs to be a sage, because you can’t see how it works.

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Distinction: “From the Heavens” — They Themselves; “From the Earth” — Humans on Their Behalf

This is the same chapter where it also speaks about the forces of the heavens. In the chapter, he speaks at the beginning about the forces of the heavens thanking on their own, and for the “sea creatures and all depths” we do it. But that’s one way of saying it.

According to what I’m saying, it appears that the Rambam says here there’s another thing: but there it doesn’t say “let them praise Him” — it doesn’t say that humans should praise Him. It says that they themselves should praise. “Halelu es Hashem min ha-aretz” says that humans should praise. Which humans?

> [Novel insight] Now he asks a question — the Rambam had a difficulty: can humans know the wisdom of the heavens? It says so — because here we’re talking about simple people, human beings (bnei adam).

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Analysis of the Chapter — “From the Heavens” Versus “From the Earth”

This is very good. Let’s see:

“From the Heavens” — The Heavenly Creations Praise on Their Own

“Mal’achav v’chol tzeva’av” (Tehillim 148:2) — “His angels and all His hosts” — that’s obviously the hosts of angels. “Shemesh v’yarei’ach” — “sun and moon,” and “kochvei or” — “stars of light,” everything is “sh’mei ha-shamayim” — “the heavens of heavens,” “ha-mayim asher mei’al ha-shamayim” — “the waters above the heavens.” That is on their own, that is their enduring existence.

When the Creator commanded them: “Ya’amdu la’ad l’olam, chok nasan v’lo ya’avor” (Tehillim 148:6) — “They stand forever, He gave a decree that shall not pass” — they remain for eternity. Very good.

“From the Earth” — Humans Praise on Behalf of the Lower Creations

But “min ha-aretz” — as you say further: “Malchei eretz v’chol l’umim” (Tehillim 148:11) — “kings of the earth and all nations,” very good. Here he brings us: “Z’keinim im ne’arim” — “elders with youth,” “Bachurim v’gam b’sulos” — “young men and also maidens.” All of these are small and great, very good.

They need to praise the Almighty from the grass of the field, because they know nothing about the forces of the light, they don’t understand.

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Novel Insight: Humans Are “Spheres” for the Lower Creations

> [Novel insight] But it’s a bit interesting, because we do the work of knowing on behalf of the lower creations. As if we are their spheres — we are the conscious force (akirah) for the grass of the field, and the four elements — we humans are that for them.

We can do the same work of the… for the heavens too, if we are wise and we know. But they don’t need it so badly, because they already do it on their own. These things need us — to make them speak. Wonderful.

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Conclusion of Chapter 3

We have finished a difficult chapter, and we have gained a bit more awareness of the greatness of God (gadlus Hashem) and the distinction of Israel (ma’alas Yisrael). May it be His will (yehi ratzon).