Entanglement

And there was Evening and there was Morning: Quantum Mechanics in Genesis

And there was Evening and there was Morning: Quantum Mechanics in Genesis

This essay explores a novel parallel between quantum mechanical principles and the biblical creation narrative through etymological analysis of the Hebrew terms “erev” (evening) and “boker” (morning). The study reveals that these terms, which punctuate each day of creation in Genesis, carry meanings that remarkably align with fundamental quantum concepts. "Erev," rooted in the concept of "mixture," parallels quantum superposition, while "boker," stemming from differentiation and discernment, mirrors quantum measurement and wave function collapse.

By Alexander Poltorak|2024-10-31T23:40:03-04:00October 30th, 2024|Bereishit, Bereshit, Collapse of the wavefunction, Creation, Entanglement, Genesis, G‑d, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Science, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|1 Comment

Joseph’s Birth—A View From Quantum Mechanics and Biology

Joseph’s Birth—A View From Quantum Mechanics and Biology

And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah. (Genesis 30:21) In my previous essay, “The Conflict Between Joseph And His Brothers—A Gender Theory,” I suggested that Joseph exhibited some proclivity to feminine behavior in his youth. This impression can be naturally inferred from the verses and supported by traditions in Kabbalah related to Isaac, Joseph, and Benjamin, as we discussed in that essay. To be sure, Joseph outgrew his feminine tendencies (perhaps assisted by the tough love shown to him by his brothers). He matured into a man who was not only a husband, a father, and the de facto ruler of Egypt, but an archetype of masculinity and a paradigm of piety, for which he earned the designation of Joseph, the Righteous (Yosef HaTzadik). Moreover, spiritually, Joseph personified Yesod [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2020-12-24T20:42:06-05:00December 23rd, 2020|Bereshit, Biology, Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Genesis, Miketz, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Science, Superposition, Uncategorized, Vayeshev, Vayigash|0 Comments

Steering Isaac’s Blessing

Steering Isaac’s Blessing

And Rebekah spoke unto Jacob, her son, saying: “Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying: Bring me venison, and make me savoury food, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Eternal before my death. Now, therefore, my son, hearken to my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury food for thy father, such as he loveth; and thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, so that he may bless thee before his death.” And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother: “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. My father peradventure will feel me, [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2020-11-24T22:04:03-05:00November 22nd, 2020|Bereshit, Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Genesis, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Symmetry, Toledot, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Keturah—an Allegory of Entanglement

Keturah—an Allegory of Entanglement

And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah (Genesis 25:1) As I discussed in the earlier essay, “Yom Kippur – Disentangling the Entangled,” Adam and Eve were entangled. They were not unique in this. I wrote in several essays that every married couple is entangled.[1] How do we know that? Adam and Eve were created as one unit—“Male and female He created them”—as conjoint (Siamese) twins. Although G‑d separated Eve from Adam, they remained entangled, just as two particles born from the decay of another particle remain entangled even after their separation. Thus, Adam and Eve’s entanglement cannot be proof that all married couples are entangled. However, the Torah states so explicitly: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2020-11-12T15:27:17-05:00November 12th, 2020|Bereshit, Chayei Sarah, Entanglement, Genesis, Husband and wife, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Uncategorized|0 Comments

The Akeida — The Binding of Isaac

The Akeida — The Binding of Isaac

And He said: “Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” (Genesis 22:2) The Akeida (the Binding of Isaac) is one of the most enigmatic and troubling stories of the Bible. Its utmost importance is underscored by its inclusion in the daily morning prayers and its central role in the Rosh Hashanah services.[1] In summary, G‑d commands Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in the land of Moriah. Abraham hurries to fulfill the command and travels with Isaac to Mount Moriah, where he builds an altar, binds Isaac, and raises a knife, ready to sacrifice Isaac. At the last moment, an angel [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2020-11-07T21:37:38-05:00November 6th, 2020|Entanglement, Ezekiel, Genesis, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Uncategorized, Vayeira, Wavefunction|1 Comment

My Name Is G‑d, and I Am Pleased to Make Your Acquaintance

My Name Is G‑d, and I Am Pleased to Make Your Acquaintance

In the beginning, G‑d created the heaven and the earth...[1] (Genesis 1:1) Classical biblical commentators have given the first words of the Torah many different translations and have interpreted them to have many different meanings. That said, one simple aspect has received little attention—that G‑d is introducing Himself to us. If we take poetic license and change the order of the words, the first phrase in the Torah could be loosely translated as: “[My name is] G‑d—[Who], in the beginning, created the heaven and the earth.” G‑d is introducing Himself to us as the Creator of everything—heaven (i.e., the spiritual) and earth (i.e., the material). This interpretation of the first verse in the Torah may be helpful for the following reason. In truth, G‑d is entirely unknowable. The Creator of everything, including [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2020-05-25T18:18:41-04:00May 25th, 2020|Bereishit, Bereshit, Creation, Entanglement, G‑d, Mathematics, Names of G‑d, Parshah, Physics, Quantum Theory, Science, Spirituality, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|1 Comment

The Land We Married

The Land We Married

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Command the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye come into the land of Canaan, this shall be the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to the borders thereof.” (Numbers 34:1-2) And ye shall inherit the land by lot according to your families—to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer, thou shalt give the less inheritance; wheresoever the lot falleth to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall ye inherit.” (Numbers 33:54) And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-08-05T15:11:16-04:00August 4th, 2019|Creation, Entanglement, Husband and wife, Massei, Numbers, Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Randomness, Sefirot, Soul, Uncategorized|0 Comments

The Entangled Tenth

The Entangled Tenth

And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.” (Leviticus 27:32) This Shabbat, I was called up to the Torah for the last aliyah (lit. “ascent”, meaning the reading from the Scroll) of the book of Leviticus. This portion talks about tithing animals, giving the precise procedure for doing so – every animal is released from a pen one by one while being counted – one, two, three, … , ten. The tenth animal is touch by the rode and consecrated as the ma’aser – tithe. The Torah states that every tenth animal is holy unto G‑d. What is the state of the animals before counting? They have two possible states: (1) chulin, i.e., “not sacred” and (2) ma’aser, [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-06-02T11:37:10-04:00June 2nd, 2019|Bechukotai, Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Leviticus, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Sefirot, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|0 Comments

Adultery and Monogamy of Entanglement

Adultery and Monogamy of Entanglement

And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, designated for a man, and not at all redeemed, nor was freedom given her; there shall be inquisition; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. (Lev. 19:20) In Quantum physics there is a principle of monogamy of entanglement, which roughly means that if two particles (or objects) are entangled, neither can be entangled with a third particle (or object). A human parallel to this principle is obvious – if two spouses are married, neither can have any intimate relations with a third person. In other words, a marriage must be monogamous. It is because of this parallel that the physical relationship between entangled particles in quantum mechanics was named the monogamy principle, or monogamy of entanglement. In [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-05-16T07:05:00-04:00May 12th, 2019|Entanglement, Husband and wife, Kedoshim, Leviticus, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Superposition, Uncategorized, Vayikra|0 Comments

Ye shall be disentangled… but not disengaged

In my post, “Ye Shall be Disentangled,” I suggested that the verse: “Ye shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your G‑d, am holy” (Levit. 19:2) may be interpreted as: “Ye shall be disentangled, for I, the Lord, your G‑d, am disentangled.” I supported this proposition with the quantum monogamy principle (a.k.a. monogamy of entanglement) according to which, if two objects are entangled, neither of them can also be entangled with a third object. Consequently, if we wish to be entangled with G‑d, we cannot also be entangled with the material world, as it would violate the monogamy principle. Thus, we must disentangle from the world, i.e., be holly. One may legitimately object to this interpretation because, in Judaism, we do not have monasteries; we do not have monks, we don't withdraw from [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-05-16T07:34:42-04:00May 8th, 2019|Acharei Mot, Entanglement, Exodus (Shemot), G‑d, Kedoshim, Leviticus, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Shemot, Spirituality, Uncategorized, Vayikra|1 Comment

Quantum Torah Film Premiere

Welcome to the premiere of our first film, Quantum Torah. You can watch the film here: https://youtu.be/uTrMj80k6QE Don't forget to subscribe to my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNVwLUClNUXVBqJUI9A47AQ/

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-02-28T17:44:14-05:00February 28th, 2019|Collapse of the wavefunction, Creation, Entanglement, G‑d, Physics, Quantum Theory, Randomness, Resurrection, Science, Soul, Superposition, Uncategorized, Wavefunction, Yom Kippur|1 Comment

Quantum Torah — Film Premiere

Quantum Torah — Film Premiere

I am excited to announce that the premiere of our film "Quantum Torah" is scheduled for this Friday, March 1st. You can see the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXIq3entXOY&t=1s Not to miss the premiere, subscribe to my channel, Quantum Torah on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNVwLUClNUXVBqJUI9A47AQ I look forward to your comments. See you on YouTube!

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-02-24T17:22:20-05:00February 24th, 2019|Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Physics, Quantum Theory, Randomness, Science, Superposition, Uncategorized|1 Comment

Quantum Torah with Alexander Poltorak film

Coming soon to a theater near you. Watch a trailer: https://youtu.be/Qzr3Ynrpkkk

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-02-02T14:55:48-05:00February 2nd, 2019|Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Physics, Quantum Theory, Randomness, Resurrection, Science, Shabbat, Soul, Spirituality, Superposition, Wavefunction, Yom Kippur|2 Comments

Half-Shekel – Metaphor for Entanglement

Half-Shekel – Metaphor for Entanglement

This they shall give, everyone who goes through the counting: half a shekel according to the holy shekel. Twenty gerahs equal one shekel; half of a shekel shall be an offering to the Lord Ex. 30:13 In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa (Ex. 30), Jewish people are given the commandment of donating a coin as atonement, not just a coin – half a coin. But why half? If G‑d thought, twenty gerahs would be too much, He could have commanded Moses to mint another coin worth ten gerahs. But no, the coin was to remain what it was—worth twenty gerahs—and Jews were to give half a coin. Don’t you find it peculiar? I don’t, because half-coins are the favorite metaphor for explaining quantum entanglement. What is entanglement? When obtaining information about one [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2019-02-20T15:23:07-05:00March 16th, 2017|Collapse of the wavefunction, Entanglement, Exodus (Shemot), Ki Tisa, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Shemot, Superposition, Uncategorized|2 Comments

Sacrifices and incenses – fields and entanglement

Sacrifices and incenses – fields and entanglement

At the end of the weekly portion, Tetzaveh, the Torah speaks of the burnt offerings (Heb. qorbanot) and the incense offerings (Heb. qetoret). The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, contrasts these two types of offerings by highlighting their symbolism. The Hebrew word for a burnt offering or sacrifice, qorban, is etymologically related to the word qarov “close,” qiruv “to bring close” and qerovim “relatives,” as they all share the same root QRB “to be close.” Sacrificial offering (qorban) meant to bring a person who brought it close (qarov) to G‑d. The Hebrew word for incense offerings, qetoret, literally means “smoke," "the odor of sacrifice," or "incense.” However, Rabbi David Kimchi ("Radak") points out that the word qeturot means “connected” as it is etymologically related to the Aramaic word qeter “to bind” and [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2024-02-21T20:59:41-05:00March 15th, 2017|Entanglement, Parshah, Physics, Quantum Theory, Shemot, Tetzaveh, Uncategorized|1 Comment

Entangled Cherubs

Entangled Cherubs

And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work shalt thou make them, at the two ends of the ark-cover. And make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end; of one piece with the ark-cover shall ye make the cherubim of the two ends thereof. And the cherubim shall spread out their wings on high, screening the ark-cover with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the ark-cover shall the faces of the cherubim be. And thou shalt put the ark-cover above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee from above the ark-cover, from between the two cherubim which are [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2017-05-23T19:03:51-04:00March 4th, 2017|Chronicles, Entanglement, Exodus (Shemot), G‑d, Kabbalah, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Shemot, Terumah, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|0 Comments

Standing and Moving

Standing and Moving

According to the Saadia Gaon, these two Torah portions – Nitzavim and Vayelech – are really one portion, which sometimes is split into two. In the language of Quantum Mechanics (QM), the two portions are entangled, in a manner of speech, and are described by the single "wavefunction." Needless to say, this is not meant in a literal sense, as QM describes physical objects, whereas these biblical chapters are certainly not. Nevertheless, taking poetic license, we can loosely say that these portions are entangled, i.e., they are really one. Nitzavim and Vayelech, however, speak of the opposite themes – “nitzavim” connotes standing( lit., you stand), while “vayelech” connotes walking (lit., …and he walked). As much as it seems paradoxical at first, from the physicist’s point of view, it is not surprising at all. Typically, [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2020-10-15T22:53:46-04:00October 9th, 2016|Collapse of the wavefunction, Deuteronomy, Devarim, Devarim, Entanglement, Nitzavim, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Quantum Theory, Rosh HaShanah, Superposition, Uncategorized, Vayelech, Wavefunction|1 Comment

Balak and Balaam – an entangled pair

In my last year’s post "Balak – Interference of Souls," I suggested that Balak needed Balaam (Bilam) to cause constructive interference to make the curse more powerful. This year, while reading this Torah portion last Shabbat, I realized that there was another reason for which Balak needed Balaam – the entanglement. As I wrote last year, both Balak and Balaam received evil aspects of the souls of Cain and Abel (Havel) but in different proportions: Balak was primarily a reincarnation (gilgul) of the evil aspect of Cain (although he also received some smaller portion of the evil aspect of the soul of Abel) and Balaam was primarily a reincarnation of the evil aspect of Abel (although he also received some smaller portion of the evil aspect of the soul of Cain). Let us [...]

By webadmin|2019-07-16T22:57:19-04:00January 18th, 2016|Balak, Bamitbar, Entanglement, Numbers, Pentateuch (Chumash)|0 Comments

Blessings and Curses of Entanglement

Blessings and Curses of Entanglement

The blessings and the admonitions of Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3–27:34) are viewed as the result of entanglement and disentanglement with G‑d respectively.

By webadmin|2020-05-14T23:55:23-04:00January 6th, 2016|Bechukotai, Entanglement, Randomness, Superposition|3 Comments

Covenant between the Parts as a Metaphor for Quantum Entanglement

Covenant between the Parts as a Metaphor for Quantum Entanglement

And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other… And it came to pass, that, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a dread, even a great darkness, fell upon him… And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and there was thick darkness, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. Genesis 15:10-17 The above verses from the Torah portion Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1–17:27) describe the Covenant between the Parts (a.k.a. the Covenant of the Pieces), when G‑d entered into eternal covenant with Abraham (at the time called Abram) – a covenant symbolized by halved animals. The simple meaning of this ritual is apparent: just as a halved [...]

By Alexander Poltorak|2020-11-03T17:30:36-05:00October 25th, 2015|Entanglement, Genesis, Lech-Lecha, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Randomness, Uncategorized, Wavefunction|0 Comments