Lightning Flashes As Metaphor.

This post is a continuation of this earlier one.

In the Moreh, Rambam addresses the issue of Moshe’s apprehension of God in several places. In the introduction to MN, Rambam discusses what a person can expect to apprehend in metaphysics.

“Do not imagine that these most difficult problems can be thoroughly understood by any one of us. This is not the case. At times, the truth flashes so brilliantly that we perceive it as clear as day. Our nature and habit then draw a veil over our perception, and we return to darkness almost as dense as before. We are like those who, though beholding frequent flashes of lightning, still find themselves in the thickest darkness of the night. On some, the lightning flashes in rapid succession, and they seem to be in continuous light, and their night is as clear as the day. This was the degree of prophetic excellence attained by (Moses) the greatest of prophets, to whom God said, "But as for thee, stand thou here by Me" (Deut. v. 31), and of whom it is written, "The skin of his face shone," etc. (Exod. xxxiv. 29)… The degrees in the perfection of men vary according to these distinctions.”

The metaphor for apprehension used here is flashes of light. In moments when a person is able to distance himself from his “nature and habits”, from his personal physical needs and existence, he acquires a fleeting apprehension of the transcendental. That apprehension is so tenuous that it cannot be retained for more than a few moments. However, a trace of that insight is retained for “we return to darkness almost as dense as before”. When the next flash arrives, we start from a different level but we still “find ourselves in the thickest darkness of the night”. In other words, we cannot retain the full insight we gained. It flashes in front of our eyes and disappears just like a dream. It is the intensity and constancy of these flashes that defines the different levels of perfection attained by the various seekers. Moshe, the paradigm of perfection, never stopped having these flashes with great intensity, one after the other. However even to him these insights were only “flashes”. There was a fleeting quality to them but their constancy made it seem as if he was in a “continuous light”.

Rambam puts this idea into practical terms in MN 3:51. He first discusses the need to have the proper intellectual preparation and development when dealing with apprehension of God. He warns that one must beware from confusing God with figments of one’s imagination. After having acquired sufficient intellectual knowledge, one focuses the mind on trying to grasp all that is possible about God. It is at those times that the “flashes of light” that he spoke about in the introduction occur. Here he presents in practical terms how these insights must be handled.

“You must know that even if you were the wisest man in respect to the true knowledge of God, you break the bond between you and God whenever you turn entirely your thoughts to the necessary food or any necessary business. You are then not with God, and He is not with you: for that relation between you and Him is actually interrupted in those moments.”

He then describes a process of training that one must undergo over years, to retain this focus at all times. One starts with the daily prayers, concentrating on what we are saying, each time more and longer to the point that even after prayer is finished, we are still thinking about God. One then develops self-control and discipline to limit the times one deals with worldly affairs to a minimum leaving more time for the focus on God. He then again cautions:

“When you are alone by yourself, when you are awake on your couch, be careful to meditate in such precious moments on nothing but the intellectual worship of God, to approach Him and to minister before Him in the true reality which I have described to you and not by way of affections of the imagination. This I consider as the highest perfection wise men can attain by the above training.”

Here we are talking about a person that has attained intellectual knowledge sufficient to meditate about God must always be vigilant against straying into the imaginary. I understand that to mean that as these insights come in flashes that are fleeting, the next insight may not be properly anchored in the earlier understanding which is only a trace by now, especially if time has elapsed. That is the meaning of Rambam in the introduction, “We are like those who, though beholding frequent flashes of lightning, still find themselves in the thickest darkness of the night”. The “darkness of night” is the result of “you break the bond between you and God whenever you turn entirely your thoughts to the necessary food or any necessary business”. Here is however how Moshe is depicted:

“It is only when we have acquired a true knowledge of God, and we rejoice in that knowledge in such a manner, that whilst speaking with others, or attending to our bodily wants, our mind is all that time with God. It is only when we are with our heart constantly near God, even whilst our body is in the society of men. It is only when we are in that state which the Song on the relation between God and man poetically describes in the following words: "I sleep, but my heart wakes: it is the voice of my beloved that knocks" (Song v. 2). Then have we attained not only the height of ordinary prophets, but of Moses, our Teacher, of whom Scripture relates: "And Moses alone shall come near before the Lord" (ibid. xxxiv. 28); "But as for thee, stand thou here by me" (Deut. V. 28)”.

This is the practical presentation of “On some, the lightning flashes in rapid succession, and they seem to be in continuous light, and their night is as clear as the day”, which is how Moshe was described in the introduction. The constancy of the insights, these flashes coming uninterrupted, assures that the imaginative does not distort the proper apprehension. The traces of the insight that we retain tend to weaken as time goes on and the longer the interval the less remains of them. The resulting apprehension may therefore be inconsistent. To Moshe the flashes of insight were uninterrupted and therefore he was able to attain a level of apprehension no one else could or would.

The problem is that Rambam always cautions us that we can never apprehend the essence of God. So what kind of apprehension are the fleeting flashes?

I will discuss this in upcoming posts.