כי לא נחש ביעקב
What is the difference between Torah meditation and Eastern methods of meditation, including the types of meditation used by mediums or ‘psychics’?
נחש Nochosh [snake] has a significantly large part to play in the Torah. The word נחש refers both to the serpent, as in the snake first mentioned in the sin of Adam, and to sorcery, as for example, we find Lovon saying נחשתי , or Yosef Hatsaddik saying כי נחש ינחש איש אשר כמוני.
The snake starts the ten plagues, with a staff changing into a snake and back again. We find him [Mishpotim] in the commandments of לא תנחשו – not to practice sorcery and [in Chukas] in connection with slander: a plague of snakes descends on the camp as a result of bad-mouthing the Manna. Moshe is instructed to make a ‘Sorof’ and place it on a standard or staff; the resultant copper snake placed on a staff [note again the theme of staff and snake] heals the stricken and is to become the emblem of healing till the present day.
And then we come to this [last] week’s sidrah, with several references to ‘nachash’, sorcery: לקראת נחשים as opposed to כי לא נחש ביעקב. Plus we are treated to interesting words that don’t appear elsewhere in Tana”Ch, for example: וילך שפי, words used to describe Bilom’s method of inducing his ‘prophetic’ state.
The various commentaries discuss the meaning of שפי. Rashi says it means he went ‘quietly’. Onkelos translates it as ‘he went alone’. Yonason Ben Uziel explains it to mean ‘he went like a snake’.
I suggest that all these meanings describe various facets of a certain mental state used by the ‘sorcerer’, which also throws light on the use of snake as a metaphor.
The primal meditative state advocated by the עובדי עבודה זרה is to clear one’s mind. Psychic or mediumistic ‘messages’ are easily detected on a still mind. This method has not changed for the past four thousand years. It is this method we see here described in the Torah.
This is the state called שפי. It intimates quietness of mind [Rashi], mental [and/or, physical] solitude [Onkelos] that brings the mind to a type of ‘snake-like’ state [Yonason Ben Uziel], as it imperceptibly slides along, taking note of the slightest ‘ripple’ or disturbance.
This is also what is meant by Bilom when he says ואנכי אקרה כה - 'and I will happen here'. This is a strange expression indeed! It denotes a state of waiting, an acceptance of any ‘message’ or communication, primarily, a state of opening oneself up to any outside influence.
All this is in direct opposition to the Torah way of thought and meditation. The Torah way increases one’s holiness, making oneself a place for the Shechinoh [Divine Presence] to reside. Meditation is directed, not to the stillness, but to our soul which is connected to the Shechinoh. All thought or meditation is directed to the Shechinoh. We connect with the Divine Presence within us. This connection, in turn, makes us privy to רוח הקודש, the Divine Spirit, which brings clarity to matters otherwise hidden from human intellect. כי לא נחש ביעקב.
What is the difference between Torah meditation and Eastern methods of meditation, including the types of meditation used by mediums or ‘psychics’?
נחש Nochosh [snake] has a significantly large part to play in the Torah. The word נחש refers both to the serpent, as in the snake first mentioned in the sin of Adam, and to sorcery, as for example, we find Lovon saying נחשתי , or Yosef Hatsaddik saying כי נחש ינחש איש אשר כמוני.
The snake starts the ten plagues, with a staff changing into a snake and back again. We find him [Mishpotim] in the commandments of לא תנחשו – not to practice sorcery and [in Chukas] in connection with slander: a plague of snakes descends on the camp as a result of bad-mouthing the Manna. Moshe is instructed to make a ‘Sorof’ and place it on a standard or staff; the resultant copper snake placed on a staff [note again the theme of staff and snake] heals the stricken and is to become the emblem of healing till the present day.
And then we come to this [last] week’s sidrah, with several references to ‘nachash’, sorcery: לקראת נחשים as opposed to כי לא נחש ביעקב. Plus we are treated to interesting words that don’t appear elsewhere in Tana”Ch, for example: וילך שפי, words used to describe Bilom’s method of inducing his ‘prophetic’ state.
The various commentaries discuss the meaning of שפי. Rashi says it means he went ‘quietly’. Onkelos translates it as ‘he went alone’. Yonason Ben Uziel explains it to mean ‘he went like a snake’.
I suggest that all these meanings describe various facets of a certain mental state used by the ‘sorcerer’, which also throws light on the use of snake as a metaphor.
The primal meditative state advocated by the עובדי עבודה זרה is to clear one’s mind. Psychic or mediumistic ‘messages’ are easily detected on a still mind. This method has not changed for the past four thousand years. It is this method we see here described in the Torah.
This is the state called שפי. It intimates quietness of mind [Rashi], mental [and/or, physical] solitude [Onkelos] that brings the mind to a type of ‘snake-like’ state [Yonason Ben Uziel], as it imperceptibly slides along, taking note of the slightest ‘ripple’ or disturbance.
This is also what is meant by Bilom when he says ואנכי אקרה כה - 'and I will happen here'. This is a strange expression indeed! It denotes a state of waiting, an acceptance of any ‘message’ or communication, primarily, a state of opening oneself up to any outside influence.
All this is in direct opposition to the Torah way of thought and meditation. The Torah way increases one’s holiness, making oneself a place for the Shechinoh [Divine Presence] to reside. Meditation is directed, not to the stillness, but to our soul which is connected to the Shechinoh. All thought or meditation is directed to the Shechinoh. We connect with the Divine Presence within us. This connection, in turn, makes us privy to רוח הקודש, the Divine Spirit, which brings clarity to matters otherwise hidden from human intellect. כי לא נחש ביעקב.