Five-Hundred-Year-Journey
Alexander Poltorak Abstract This essay addresses the anigmatic statement of the Jewish Sages, stating that G-d created this world with the letter Heh and the
August 11, 2025 / 17 Av 5785
1 Comment
Spirituality
Upsherenish: A Defining Moment in a Boy’s Life
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
February 3, 2025 / 5 Shevat 5785
No Comments
Human, Angel, or Machine: The Challenge of Consciousness
By Alexander Poltorak I. Introduction The confrontation between Jacob and an unidentified being in Genesis raises fundamental questions about the nature of consciousness, identity, and
December 16, 2024 / 15 Kislev 5785
No Comments
The Ontological Ambiguity of Messengers: From Angels to AI
This post continues the discussion we began in “Bereshit: The Binary Universe I” and continued in “The Binary Universe II: Angels as Microprocessors” and “Binary
December 9, 2024 / 8 Kislev 5785
1 Comment
Binary Universe III: Two Camps of Angels
This post continues the discussion we began in “Bereshit: The Binary Universe I” and continued in “The Binary Universe II: Angels as Microprocessors.” At the
December 8, 2024 / 7 Kislev 5785
No Comments
Rosh HaShanah: The Beginning of Change II
Abstract This essay explores the profound connections between language, philosophy, physics, and spirituality in the context of Rosh HaShanah. By examining the linguistic roots of
October 15, 2024 / 13 Tishri 5785
No Comments
Zealotry and Mercy: Parallels Between Pinchas and the War in Gaza
Zealotry and Mercy: Parallels Between Pinchas and the War in Gaza The biblical story of Phinehas (Heb. Pinḥas or Pinchas) presents a complex moral scenario
July 26, 2024 / 20 Tammuz 5784
No Comments
The Mystery of the Eighth Day
And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Leviticus 12:3 In the Torah portion of Tazria, we are commanded to
April 14, 2024 / 6 Nisan 5784
No Comments
Gazing at the Shekhinah
In his commentary on this week’s Torah Portion, Yitro, Rabbi Chayim Vital, writing in the name of his teacher, the Ari-zal, states that Abel was
February 4, 2024 / 25 Shevat 5784
2 Comments
Entrainment by the Red Heifer
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
July 3, 2023 / 14 Tammuz 5783
1 Comment
Cartesian Dualism, Kabbalah, and Quantum Mechanics
Cartesian dualism, or mind-body dualism, formulated by the French scientist, mathematician, and philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650), holds that the body and the mind (which he
January 22, 2023 / 29 Tevet 5783
2 Comments
Creation—Destruction—Reconstruction
Structurally identical biblical accounts of creation, destruction, and restoration are viewed as a manifestation of dialectic triad thesis-antithesis-synthesis.
November 11, 2022 / 17 Heshvan 5783
2 Comments
The Soul – Part IV. The Whole vs. the Parts
This is the fourth installment in the series of essays on the nature of the soul. The first three installments can be found here: What
December 27, 2021 / 23 Tevet 5782
1 Comment
What is a Soul? III. The Many Souls of Man
…[H]e who tries to cure the soul, wishing to improve the moral qualities, must have a knowledge of the soul in its totality and
December 15, 2021 / 11 Tevet 5782
No Comments
What Is a Soul? II. Anatomy of the Soul
In the biblical story of the creation of Adam, the Torah states: Then the Eternal G‑d formed man of the dust of the ground, and
November 5, 2021 / 1 Kislev 5782
2 Comments
What Is a Soul? I. The Spiritual vs. the Material
Introduction Most Americans believe in an immortal soul.[1] Most scientists think the soul does not exist. Why do so many people believe in an immortal
October 22, 2021 / 16 Heshvan 5782
2 Comments
A Wheel Within a Wheel
Now as I beheld the Chayot [living creatures], behold one Ophan [wheel] at the bottom hard by the living creatures, at the four faces thereof. The
May 21, 2021 / 10 Sivan 5781
5 Comments
Egyptian Exile as a Metaphor for Compactification in String Theory
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)
January 11, 2021 / 27 Tevet 5781
No Comments
The Conflict Between Joseph And His Brothers—A Gender Theory
The confrontation between Joseph and his brothers is one of the most troubling stories of the Bible. Joseph and his brother—twelve sons of Jacob—were the
December 20, 2020 / 5 Tevet 5781
12 Comments
Akeida in Parallel Universes
Michael Frayn’s 1998 play, Copenhagen, concerns a meeting between two great physicists, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, in 1941 in Copenhagen. In this play, the
November 8, 2020 / 21 Heshvan 5781
8 Comments
Noah’s Ark—Three Layers of Reality
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
October 28, 2020 / 10 Heshvan 5781
1 Comment
Let There Be Light
And G‑d said: “Let there be light.” And there was light. And G‑d saw the light, that it was good; and G‑d separated between the
October 16, 2020 / 28 Tishri 5781
No Comments
Physics of Tzimtzum I — The Quantum Leap
Introduction “In the beginning G‑d created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) “In the beginning G‑d created the heavens and the earth,” the Torah
August 17, 2020 / 27 Av 5780
5 Comments
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
May 25, 2020 / 2 Sivan 5780
1 Comment
The Soul is in the Blood
For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” (Leviticus 17:11) The word translated here as “life” in the Hebrew original is nefesh, i.e.,
May 4, 2020 / 10 Iyyar 5780
6 Comments
Counting Weeks and Days
There is a Biblical Commandment to count the days between the Passover and Shavuot, the “Feast of Weeks” (a.k.a. Pentecost). We start counting on the
April 28, 2020 / 4 Iyyar 5780
2 Comments
In the Beginning — It’s All About Change
In the beginning G‑d created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) The first verse in the Torah is key to understanding the fundamentals
March 11, 2020 / 15 Adar 5780
4 Comments
Why the first humans were not allowed to eat from the Tree of Knowledge
As always in science, every answered question breeds new questions. Now that we understand that the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge are
December 26, 2019 / 28 Kislev 5780
4 Comments
The Tree of Knowledge as a Metaphor for Superposition of States and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
And out of the ground made the Lord G‑d to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and the
December 19, 2019 / 21 Kislev 5780
2 Comments
Cosmic Symphony
Strings vibrate, Souls tremble, Angels are running and returning, G‑d is touching and not touching – The rhythms of the universe… Nothing stays still… all
October 30, 2019 / 1 Heshvan 5780
1 Comment
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
August 4, 2019 / 3 Av 5779
No Comments
Fitting Pieces of the Puzzle Together
Meditations on the Maaseh Merkavah – IV This is the fourth and the final installment in the series of posts related to Ezekiel’s prophesy, Ma’aseh
June 21, 2019 / 18 Sivan 5779
2 Comments
Space – Between the Future and the Past
Meditations on the Maaseh Merkavah – I We do science by studying nature. We study physics in a lab, peering into space or working out
June 13, 2019 / 10 Sivan 5779
7 Comments
Ten Sephirot and Special Relativity
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
June 2, 2019 / 28 Iyyar 5779
4 Comments
Unified Field Theory and the Dew of Resurrection
And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of
May 19, 2019 / 14 Iyyar 5779
4 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.
May 8, 2019 / 3 Iyyar 5779
1 Comment
Quantum Torah Film Premiere
Welcome to the premiere of our first film, Quantum Torah. You can watch the film here: Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel here:
February 28, 2019 / 23 Adar I 5779
1 Comment
Quantum Torah with Alexander Poltorak film
Coming soon to a theater near you. Watch a trailer:
February 2, 2019 / 27 Shevat 5779
2 Comments
Sanctuary in Five Dimensions
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
July 27, 2018 / 15 Av 5778
3 Comments
Grand Unification
In physics, we seek Grand Unification, also known as the Theory of Everything. The Standard Model describes three out of the four fundamental forces: the
December 23, 2017 / 5 Tevet 5778
No Comments
Quantum Cheshire Cat and Resurrection
In memory of my father, Abraham Shamshin ben Reuven, ע”ה For those of us who can’t get enough of Schrödinger cat, comes a new
September 28, 2017 / 8 Tishri 5778
2 Comments
Sex, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll
And the Eternal spoke unto Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Eternal and died. (Leviticus
May 8, 2017 / 12 Iyyar 5777
1 Comment
Five Worlds
Today, Yud Shvat, is the yartzeit (anniversary of passing) of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, a.k.a. the Rebbe Rayatz, or the Frierdiker
February 6, 2017 / 10 Shevat 5777
No Comments
Chayei Sarah – where Kabbalah meets physics
And these are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred years and thirty years and seven years (Gen. 25,17) You might say the
November 27, 2016 / 26 Heshvan 5777
5 Comments
Unified Field Theory… and Practice
Albert Einstein had a lifelong quest—to develop a unified field theory—the theory that would describe as a single field gravity and electromagnetism (just as Maxwell
October 16, 2016 / 14 Tishri 5777
3 Comments
The Fifth Force – Epilog
This post is a continuation and the conclusion of the previous post, THE FIFTH FORCE. Aside from the connection with the last week’s Torah portion,
October 13, 2016 / 11 Tishri 5777
5 Comments
Adam Kadmon and Holographic Universe
Dedicated to the memory of Professor Yaakob David Bekenstein The Torah opens with the word “Bereshit” – in the Beginning – whose first letter, Bet,
October 11, 2015 / 28 Tishri 5776
No Comments
Balak – Interference of Souls
Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. Moab became terrified of the people, for they were numerous, and
July 8, 2015 / 21 Tammuz 5775
4 Comments
Mezuzah in Three Dimensions
The mezuzah is one of the few miẓvot ([divine] “commandments”) for which the Torah states its reward. In this case, the reward is a long
August 15, 2014 / 19 Av 5774
No Comments
Menorah
Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him: “When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the menorah.” (Num. 8:1)
June 8, 2014 / 10 Sivan 5774
No Comments
613 Degrees of Freedom
Passover has ended. All Jews hastily return their Passover dishes to storage in special cabinets or the attic until the next Passover. After an eight-day
June 6, 2014 / 8 Sivan 5774
1 Comment
Ye Shall be Disentangled
Ye shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your G‑d, am holy. Leviticus 19:2 This Torah portion begins with an astonishing statement: Speak unto all
April 25, 2014 / 25 Nisan 5774
No Comments
Carpe Diem
As we have discussed in the post, It’s the time, stupid, Pharaoh never got the message that it’s all about mastery of time. To make
January 2, 2014 / 1 Shevat 5774
No Comments
Sensing Spirituality
It is unsurprising, then, that spiritual phenomena have never been experimentally detected in a laboratory setting. Spirituality, by definition, is non-physical. Consequently, no physical laboratory
December 25, 2013 / 22 Tevet 5774
No Comments
Maarat HaMachpelah – Double Cave
Give me the Machpelah (double) Cave Genesis 23:9 The first legal acquisition of land in Israel takes place in this Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, when Abraham
October 27, 2013 / 23 Heshvan 5774
3 Comments
Paradox of the Red Heifer
Speak to the children of Israel and have them take for you a perfectly red unblemished cow, upon which no yoke was laid… The cow
June 24, 2013 / 16 Tammuz 5773
1 Comment
Tumah and Taharah
The Hebrew words taharah and tumah, which are the subjects of the Torah portion of Chukat (Numbers 19:1–22:1), are usually translated as ritual purity and
June 19, 2013 / 11 Tammuz 5773
No Comments
Jacob’s Ladder
And he dreamed, and behold! a ladder set up on the ground and its top reached to heaven; and behold, angels of G‑d were ascending
November 29, 2012 / 15 Kislev 5773
3 Comments
On the Nature of Time and the Age of the Universe
Presented at the International Torah and Science Conference in Miami International University on December 18, 2005 Alexander Poltorak Introduction. This is the third in
August 15, 2012 / 27 Av 5772
8 Comments