Names of G‑d

Four Cups and Three Matzoth

On Seder night we drink four cups of wine and eat three matzoth. Why four cups and not three? Why three matzoth and not four? The same numerical relationship exists among our forefathers. We have the patriarchs – Avraham (Abraham), Yitzchak (Isaac) and Yaakov (Jacob). But we have four matriarchs – Sarah, Rivkah (Rebeca) Rachel, and Leah. This dynamics also manifests itself in the holiest name of G‑d – Tetragrammaton – Y‑H‑W‑H. Why does the four-letter Name have only three unique letters, Yud, Heh, and Vav? According to Sefer Yetzirah – a classic text of Kabbalah attributed to Abraham or to Rabbi Akiva – there are three letters of Hebrew Alef Bet called mothers: Alef, Mem, and Shin, which are considered to be “primary” letters. The three mothers represent the basic logical triad [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2017-04-09T23:10:01-04:00April 20th, 2014|Freedom, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Names of G‑d, Passover (Pesach), Science, Time, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Pesach – Time of our Freedom

The holiday of Passover – Pesach – is called zman cheruteinu– time of our freedom. As we have discussed many times on this blog (see Interpreting Dreams; It’s the time, stupid! Carpe Diem; Mezuzah and Time; Riddle — the answer; Splitting the Sea), freedom can only be obtained by mastering time. Everything about celebrating Passover is related to time. It all starts on the Rosh Chodesh Nissan (the New Moon, the beginning of the month of Nissan – marked by the renewal of the monthly lunar cycle – during which we celebrate Passover). On that day, the very first commandment was given to the Jewish people – the commandment to set the calendar by the lunar cycle, i.e., the commandment of keeping time. Classical commentators ask: Why the Torah (which means “Instruction”) does not have as [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2017-04-10T16:28:20-04:00April 18th, 2014|Freedom, G‑d, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Names of G‑d, Passover (Pesach), Rosh Chodesh, Time, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Second Adar – The Month of Quantum Physics

Second Adar – The Month of Quantum Physics

Today is Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet – the New Moon and the beginning of the second month of Adar. If we ever to have a month commemorating quantum physics, there would be no more appropriate month for that than the second month of Adar – Adar Bet. A state of superposition is a physical state unique to quantum theory. In classical physics (such as Newtonian mechanics or thermodynamics) a physical system is either in one state or the other, say in a state A or a state B. Only in quantum physics a system can be in a blended state C which is a linear superposition of states A and B. For example, the spin of an electron can be either Up or Down. However, an electron can be in a blurred state of [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-03-07T13:39:00-05:00March 3rd, 2014|Atomic Theory, Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, G‑d, Names of G‑d, Purim, Quantum Theory, Randomness, Rosh Chodesh, Superposition, Time, Uncategorized, Uncertainty Principle|1 Comment

Mezuzah and Time

Bo: Exodus 10:1 – 14:16 The Erev Shabbat parshat Bo (the Eve of Sabbath of the week when we read the Torah section Bo) 2014 was my lucky day – I seem to have found an answer to a nagging question of many years. During several years from 1989 to 1996, I had been working on a book on Mezuzah. This was not a book about halachot (ritual laws) of mezuzah – there were many books on that subject – this was a book about the meaning of mezuah – its significance in Jewish history, philosophy, ethics, and mysticism. By 1996, the book was finished and I signed a contract with the leading publisher of English Judaica – Jason Aronson. I was supposed to deliver the finished manuscript in a few months, but [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2017-02-02T22:34:18-05:00January 5th, 2014|Bo, Exodus (Shemot), G‑d, Names of G‑d, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Shemot, Time, Uncategorized|0 Comments

I Am Who I Am: Conversation at the Burning Bush

I Am Who I Am: Conversation at the Burning Bush

…And behold, the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the thorn bush was not being consumed." (Ex. 3:2) Every theologian worth his salt along with many philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle to Descartes and Kant, attempted to prove the existence of G‑d. Tomas Aquinas, for instance, offered not just one but five “proofs”! Others, such as Hume and Nietzsche, tried proving the opposite. Little did they understand that proving the existence (or nonexistence) of G‑d is a fool’s errand. Here are at least ten reasons why G‑d's existence cannot be proven (or disproven): The existence of G‑d cannot be proven because… G‑d doesn’t “exist,” not in the ordinary sense of existence anyway. One can say that something exists only so long as it may exist or may not. By stating that something [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2024-01-04T11:21:39-05:00December 23rd, 2013|G‑d, Names of G‑d, Parshah, Proves of G‑d, Shemot, Shemot, Uncategorized|1 Comment

Second Adar – The Month of Quantum Physics

I Am Who I Am: Conversation at the Burning Bush

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