By Alexander Poltorak Abstract The Torah portion of Shemini records the climactic eighth day of the Tabernacle’s dedication, the moment when divine fire finally descends.
By Alexander Poltorak “G‑d is a mathematician”Carl Friedrich Gauss I. Can We Prove that G-d created Axioms of mathematics? 1. Introduction A reader challenged me with a
By Alexander Poltorak This essay is dedicated to the Upsherenish of our dear grandson, Tzemach Asher Noam, Sheyiḥiyeh, which took place today in Houston. May
Abstract This essay explores the profound significance of the letter Bet (ב), the first letter of the Torah, and its numerical value of two as
The spectacle of the universe becomes so much the grander, so much more beautiful, the worthier of its Author, when one knows that a small
And for the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the purification from sin, and running water shall be put thereto
To Mendel Almost three years ago, in December of 2019, I posted an essay, “The Tree of Knowledge as a Metaphor for Superposition of States
And G‑d created man in His own image, in the image of G‑d created He him; male and female created He them. And G‑d blessed
And they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick… Exodus 1:14 On a literal level, the Egyptian exile (Galut Mitzrayim)
A light shalt thou make to the ark…with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (Genesis 6:16) We mentioned in the previous posts
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
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: “We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with
And Abraham drew near, and said: ‘Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt
Meditations on the Maaseh Merkavah – II This post is a sequel to my previous post, “Space – Between Future and Past.” For background information,
The Special Theory of Relativity, published by Albert Einstein in 1905, was a game changer. It ushered the era of new physics dubbed by some
March 14 is celebrated by nerds around the world as the Pi Day. When written in digits, 3/14 represents first three digits of the number
Vectors, Spins, and Gender Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him
When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by
November 19, 2018 And he [Jacob] dreamed, and behold! a ladder set up on the ground and its top reached to heaven; and behold, angels
And he [Avraham] spoke with them, saying, “…Listen to me and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar. That he may give me
In my last post, Tisha B’Av on Shabbat – A Relativistic Perspective, I wrote that G‑d created His sanctuary in four dimensions — Bet HaMikdash
Yesterday was the 9th day of the month of Av or, in Hebrew, Tisha B’Av. Usually, Tisha B’Av is marked by mourning and fasting. Yesterday,
In the Torah portion Miketz, Pharaoh has two dreams. He wakes up agitated and calls on all the wise men of Egypt to interpret his
Ye are standing this day all of you before the Lord your G‑d: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the
I grew up in Russia and was raised on the metric system based on decimal arithmetic. When we immigrated to the U.S., I had to
Today is Yud Tes Kislev — Rosh HaShanah of Chasidut. Today I received two gifts, which I’d like to share. Lately, while learning Samach Vov,
These are the journeys of the children of Israel… (Numbers 33:1) When G-d brought the Jews out from Egypt, He brought them out with the mystery of
As we began this Shabbat reading the Fourth Book of Torah—Numbers, I thought, it would be appropriate to post on this blog an excerpt from