B-H
I ) + # The Four Representations of
Civilizations
I don’t remember in which of Hoimar
Von Ditfurth’s books I saw for the first time a picture of a virus under a
microscope. I was either 10 or 15. I instantly knew – that thing did not
assemble itself, the complexity of what I saw required ‘an assembler’. There is
no other way about it.
It still took some time and study to
establish my personal relationship with the Assembler and Creator. It took
years until I found the path designated to approach Him and ultimately to
accomplish complete Unity in Him.
But back then, for the first time in
my life I saw a pattern, something undeniably too complex to exist without
intent, design and supervision. A sign for those with open eyes and honesty to
challenge their own ego in admission of this Higher Power.
Once the personal relationship was
established, I had no need to continue seeing those signs. That is because now
I was experiencing Him in my life. Yet, time and time again He gave me
enjoyment of finding such revelations.
Once I began to learn the
commentaries and Sefurim written by Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch I quickly
developed a great love for every mark of his pen.
He exposed me to the essential idea
that the Creator of the universe reveals himself in three methods. Besides the
Torah and ‘nature’, He reveals Himself in human History as well. Any keen, intelligent,
and sensitive mind can see His guiding actions in the development of mankind.
The earliest days and years of our
history are known to us only through the revelation of Torah and our oral
tradition recorded in the Medrish. As such, it should be treated as a part of
the revelation given to the Jewish people and not as the third component of
general revelation accessible to the rest of humanity. It must be stated that
parts of the Sinaitic revelation were addressed to all children of Noah, all
humans. Scientific research on nature and history is accessible to all
humanity, if they seek the Truth.
In certain parts of humanity’s
development, the Creator of Man can be easily, so to say, detected by anyone
possessing any knowledge of history, culture, and religion. There are certain
patterns which only stubborn individuals can deny as something random and
“natural”.
We observe the patterns because
patterns exist, and we are created with a mind able to see them.
My aim in composing this essay is to
discuss these phenomena.
World Views
Humanity can be divided into four
basic religious or cultural groups of people.
Each of these groups are represented
by a graphic symbol defining the very core of their philosophies and approach
to life, as individuals, as nations and as religions.
v
The
First group is represented by a vertical line.
v
The
Second group is represented by a curved and sloping line.
v
The
Third group is represented by a vertical line that is interrupted by a second
horizontal line.
v The Fourth is represented by a cross
with arms broken in a way that is showing movement. In some cultures, it takes
the form of a swastika on the square plane, in other cultures it may be on the
circle plane or a wheel. Some other places contain only three arms of sign
representing turn around.
Our Mesorah, or more commonly
referred to as Oral Tradition, describes additional details to the history
described in the first chapters of Tanach, the first chapters of the Bible.
The history of the creation of Adam
and Eve is known by nearly all mankind.
Some people deny the veracity of the
Bible as a whole and like to describe it as a Mid-Eastern legend of nomadic
tribes from the Sinai Peninsula.
Others take moral and spiritual
inspiration from this story. As it was declared for the first time in the
history of the nations, that all mankind comes from the same set of parents
created by G-d. In contrast to the myths that told that humans came out from
different body parts of gods or that they have evolved on different trees.
Yet there are those who are inspired
by the moral lessons but deny the historic value of this story. The
story of creation seems a little bit childish and naïve to them.
However, for those of us who
understand the Holy Language and who learn the Torah, it is well-known that
precisely this part of The Tanach contains the greatest levels of revelation
and veracity. In the narrative of Genesis is prescribed the goal of humanity
itself and a guide for every individual to choose his or her own goals in life.
First Man: Paragon of Humanity
Adam HaRishon – the first man, was
created completely naked and morally pure in fact, his skin was translucent and
had a transcending glow of illumination and was made of fingernail-like
substance. He was of immense height and stature and had supernatural sight and
insight. He was mature in mind yet innocent in spirit. Being devoid of shame
and immorality (there was no right or wrong for him, only true and false) there
was no reason to cover his skin.
Immediately when Adam sinned, he
discovered that he was naked. Namely, he discovered that there is shame in his
nakedness. He covered himself with fig leaves and upon leaving the Garden after
the sin, G-d gave him a set of clothes
made out of animal skin. It is clear and obvious that the animalistic nature of
Adam prevailed over the Angelic, spiritual makeup of his higher being. Thus,
Adam was greatly demoted from his lofty position and his radiance and splendor
much diminished.
Since then, man must cover his or her
skin, as a proof of his failure and shame. The clothes made by G-d possessed
potent characteristics of illumination and power. Generations later these
clothes were used by individuals like Nimrod and Eisav. They used it as a
‘magical’ device of intimidation and as a tool to deceive people into
worshiping and submitting to them.
It should be added that the word
‘skin’ (עור – pronounced OR)) and word ‘light’ (אור – pronounced OIR) in Holy Tongue are pronounced almost the same
and only the spelling of the first letter is different. This is because of
Adom’s physical/spiritual illumination was changed to an object of separation,
distancing, and darkening of his relationship with creation and the Creator
(thus we find disharmony between humans and animals, the labor needed to
cultivate, the fear of the night, etc).
The Staff of Elokim
It is brought in Kabbalah that Adom
was created naked and unclothed. However, he was holding in his hand a device,
a staff. This staff appears later in the Biblical narrative when it comes into
the possession of Moshe Rabeynu (Moses) and is called “Mateh Elokim” – the
Staff of G-d.
It was a device created in the hand
of the first man.
Just as man himself and all the
physical and natural phenomenon surrounding him, this device was representing
something from the higher spiritual reality.
The Staff was made out of the same
material as the Luchois Habris – the Tablets of the Covenant. This material is
called “Even Saphiri” – Stone of Saphiri. This stone was heavenly blue in color
(sapphire) evoking the Heavenly Abode.
Furthermore, the word “saphiri”
is associated with “Sefirot” (G-dly emanations and attributes), “Sefira”
(counting of 50 days from Pesach to Shevuos), “Sapar” (telling; story),
“Sefer” (book) and many other words which by association can give an
idea of what this stone was about, namely a “telling” or representation of the
Spiritual potential.
The Staff in Moshe’s Possession
To add another element to the puzzle,
let’s examine the story of when Moishe, our Master and Teacher met G-d for the
first-time, face to face.
He was holding a Mateh – a staff, in
his hand at the time. This staff was the Matteh Elokim. How did this staff come
to be in Moshe’s possession?
The Medrish says that Moshe ``plucked
it '' out from his father-in-law Yisro’s garden. In turn, Yisro stole it from
Egypt when he abdicated his post as advisor to Pharaoh. In turn, it was brought
to Egypt by Yosef who got it from Yaakov and who acquired it from his forebears
all the way to the time of Creation.
For a short while Yaakov was in
possession of two objects given to Adam by his Creator, the Staff and the Beged
Ha’Or – garments of hides, when he wore them to get the blessing from his
father Yitzchok. However, there was one moment in his life when Yaakov was
completely naked and the only thing that was left in his hand was the Mateh –
the staff. It was when Eliphaz ben Eisav caught up to him at the River of
Yarden while escaping from Eisav. He remained with nothing but his staff.
Just as Adam, Yaakov the perfect one (Tam) had nothing but the
staff.
It should be noted, the fact that he
wore the clothes for this short a time, affected his descendants in the most
negative way.
We know that “masey avois simun
lebunim” – the doings of the patriarchs are a preordination for their
children. Namely, the Patriarchs’ actions and life events are like a genetical
code that forms and shapes the history and character of
the Jewish people. I will explain this particular event later.
The Staff in Egypt
When Moishe met Hashem, he was told
to throw the staff on the ground and that it would turn into a snake in order
to convince his brothers about the legitimacy of his mission. But first Moishe
has to convince himself.
The staff becomes a snake, not just
any snake, which of course Moishe would not be afraid of while talking to the
Creator himself. He saw the snake that brought devastation and suffering on the
first man and his descendants and this was something that Moishe was afraid of
– even while talking to G-d.
Hashem tells Moishe to grab the
snake, but not from the front rather from the tail end, in a way of trickery.
It immediately becomes a staff again
from the tail to the head: the Snake becomes a vertical linear object in the
hand of man.
When Moishe meets the Pharaoh, he
shows him that a time will come when the snake will be grabbed and be made into
a device going from down, up, from a lower to higher realm.
Pharaoh, his priests, his wives and
children replied to Moishe that it will not be so fast and not so easy. They
could make staff into snakes and that’s what they are planning to do throughout
history.
Moishe’s Staff eats the snakes of
Mitzrayim – the Egyptians. That is the end and goal of history.
The Straight Line
We are created as the Tzeilem Elokim.
All parts of our body represent some element from the higher reality, the only
reality which is actual. (On this point the Maharal explains that just a sketch
of a tree is a far-removed representation of what a tree is, so we too are mere
images of the Divine).
A Hand represents the action. Our
actions are always good or bad – moral or immoral, desired by our Creator or
causing Him anguish. When our actions are in accordance with the Will of our
Creator, we are holding the staff in our hand. When we are insubordinate, the
snake is chasing us. With the staff, miracles can be made, when the snake is
chasing us our life is a horror and tragedy. For good or bad, our actions have
a direct impact on heaven which in turn has a direct impact on earth.
This is the vertical line: the
straight connector between heaven & earth: the staff.
The vertical line connecting lower
and higher is represented in the Hebrew alphabet as letter Vav and the meaning
of the prefix Vav is “and”.
Vav is the crucial element of the
word Mitzvah – the meaning of the word Mitzvah is a link or connection. By
following the Will of the Creator – the Mitzvos, one is connecting to the
Creator Himself.
The Curved Line
The second group of humanity that is
represented by curved; tilted line, are the nations of Islamic faith.
Islam is aware of the Creator and
possesses high philosophical and moral standards. Let’s take a look at the
entire history of Islam, though not through the prism of propaganda of the
nations of Edom who see the Muslims as a competition to their own philosophy of
ruling the planet in their own way.
When Islam arose, from the very
beginning our masters called Rishonim saw it as an advance in human history and
a step closer to the Geula. Those who understand that we as the Jewish people
were obligated to be the Light for the nations and ultimately their spiritual
leaders in moral teachings; they understood that Islam with its understanding
of G-d, ideas of charity, and teaching of Seven commandments of Noah will make
this task much easier. There are many statements from the Rishonim that express
precisely this idea. Sefer Kizuri, Rambam, Ramban, Hovos Halvuvois from that
period of history and later the Maharal from Prague and Rav Hirsch talk openly
about this idea.
It must also be mentioned that the
difference in treatment of the Jewish people and other religious minorities in
Islamic countries was astoundingly different than in Christian realm. There
were few hot spots in the history of Jewish Muslim relations, but Islamic
civilization has never produced anything close to inquisition, pogroms and
holocaust. There were no Muslim Torquemada, Chmielnicki or Hitler Y-Sh-m.
Planet Earth unfortunately always saw some religious or ethnic tensions on the
ground of economic exploitation, and it must be pointed out that in Islamic
states, Jewish community was living a relatively good life considering minority
status. Major persecutions or animosity directed against Jews is limited to few
periods and local range. We will mention two major periods and places
where Islamic countries decided to be Judenrein - Almohads in northern Africa
in 12th century and the Saudi Arabian regime in modern times.
The curved line also starts from the
bottom shutting up. It reaches almost the highest point but the path itself is
not a straight and safe ladder connecting higher and lower realm as it was
designed for Yaacov-Yisrael. Curiously, the Islamic sword also often has that
curved shape unlike Christian weapons which we will talk about next. I see no
further reason to explain why Islam is considered – what is called in Latin:
Preparatio Judaicae, as it should be obvious to an intelligent and educated
reader.
Curved line, therefore, represents
legitimate attempts and even connection with the higher realm but it is not a
direct or straight connection.
The Cross
The other big portion of humanity are
considered by us as Bnai Eisav – the children of Eisav-Edom.
I wrote about the characteristics of
the civilization of Edom-Eisav in many of my other essays and encouraged my
readers to go to this material as it was and (Beezras Hachem) still will be a
topic of essays to come.
The main idea expressed in those
essays is that Chazal – our Sages of blessed memory, explain that Edom-Eisav
represents brutal militaristic conquest and control of the world.
Control can be achieved by many
means.
It can be achieved by propagandizing
the minds of the world with content appealing to the animalistic desires of humans.
The immense entertainment industry is doing precisely this work, delivering on
a daily basis their values and ideas that are mostly conflicting with the moral
principles expressed in Revelation or even simple logic.
The decline of family and marital
values is not only self-destructive to individuals but destroys entire
societies and nations.
Another tool of control is the loan
and banking system in the form as it exists in our society.
I will never forget a conversation I
had with my friend when I simply told him that he, like millions of Americans,
doesn't own ‘his’ house – the bank owns it. And as millions of Americans
learned at the time of the recession, banks can send you under the bridge or to
the tent cities without mercy.
At the time when the control of minds
and possessions of the inhabitants of the Edomite nations fails to work, the
rulers don’t hesitate to use deadly force as they are using it to control other
nations.
I expressed in my essays on American
democracy, that there is a change in progress. However, it will still take a
time to come to that era, when the Chazer becomes Kosher, as it is promised in
the words of our prophets and masters.
Meanwhile the nations, culture, and
religion of Edom-Eisav is a major obstacle to us on many levels.
Edom did everything in its power to
deny our moral message as it usurped our task and right to be chosen to lead
humanity in spiritual measures.
They persecuted us mercilessly and
not only millions of our brothers were killed in periodic persecutions and
sometimes almost total annihilation by sword – the very symbol of their
civilization. The vertical line of connection is cut by a horizontal flattening
force. A divide severing the direct connection. A Symbol with a dead Jew
hanging on it.
Another aspect of this disruption is
our own weakness when we falsely assume that by operating in the realm of their
values we can survive or even accomplish something.
The Hours when Yaakov imitated
Edom-Eisav by wearing his clothes, somehow imprinted in us the wrong idea, that
by aping Edom we are being nobilitated.
The Wheel of Fortune.
The Swastika is one of the oldest
graphic symbols related to spirituality and life philosophy.
It is known to the ancients in the
Middle East, it has been used by Hindu civilizations since they exist. It was
known to Greeks, Romans, and Mezzo Americans. It is still used by Chinese,
Mongols, Siberian nations, Native Americans, and is known in various places in
Africa. That’s a lot of places and a lot of time!
It represented most people in the
world in the past and it still represents a big part of human society in the
present day. The ‘swastika philosophy’ is still popular, but not the symbol
itself.
The Swastika had become a shameful
symbol only after WWII, for its association with the Nazi regime.
In all of those places, and in all of
those cultures, it still has an almost universal and common meaning; as
expressed in a Roman saying – “Fortune turns around.”
For example, The Greek Gammadion was
equivalent to the one of the Sanskrit swastika and the meaning of both symbols
was almost the same.
Fortuna, known to Greeks as Tyche was
a deity of luck, good or bad luck while the Indian Swastika was a wish of good
luck.
There are many relatively
contemporary interpretations of this symbol, but historically it has another
meaning.
It’s supposed to represent the idea
that whatever is now down, will be up, whatever is left, will be right, and so
on… There is no solid standard, there is no pattern, there is no right and
wrong, and neither does right or wrong have an influence on up and down – our
life situation. It is a random self-sustained mechanism without an ultimate
source, without an outside influence other than itself. The wheels turn. Karma.
In this mindset there is no space for
G-d, The ultimate Creator and (Manhig) of reality.
In this philosophy there may be space
for gods - devices helping to achieve different goals but they operate within
the circle of the swastika or the swastika is a part of this spiritual
non-reality.
There is a place for prayer and even
sacrifice but only to achieve our ends, not to subordinate our ends in
accordance with Whom we own our existence to.
The ‘good’ is what is good for me and
the ‘bad’ is what is bad for me. ‘Me’ is the ultimate center of the universe.
‘I’ can use different devices to
change ‘my’ luck, but it has nothing to do with ‘my’ moral standards or
actions.
Sometimes ‘I’ can adjust my behavior
to something to which was told to ‘me’ as being moral, but only to use it as
another device to adjust ‘my’ luck. G-d and morality serves ‘me’.
This is the kind of syncretic mindset
common among formal monotheists. They still believe that there are self-turning
powers independent from The Only One Above.
B’Ezras Hashem I will come back to
the topic of “luck”, as it deserves an essay for itself.
Conclusion
Those are the four forms of
civilization and their four graphic symbols representing the very essence of
what they are.
As I said in the introduction to this
essay, this observation is just a glimpse of the revelation of G-d in history.
