Jacob

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Joseph and His Brothers

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 learn a new for me (but, actually, very old) Imperial system of measurements. I still struggle with it (decimal system, apparently, was hardwired in my brain). There are many number-systems or positional notation systems. Ancient Babylonians used the base-60 system; the Hindu-Arabic system uses the familiar decimal base-10 system; the Mayans used the base-20 system. There are base-2 binary, base-12 duodecimal, and base-16 hexadecimal systems, to name a few. Aside from the binary system used by computers, we humans mostly use decimal and, sometimes, duodecimal systems. The all-familiar decimal system is used in the metric system of measurements. In base-10 positional notation, there are 10 decimal digits—0, 1, [...]

By |2020-12-10T20:20:44-05:00December 14th, 2014|Bereshit, Chanukah, Genesis, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Husband and wife, Kabbalah, Mashiach (Messiah), Mathematics, Mathematics, Names of G‑d, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Science, Sefirot, Uncategorized, Vayeshev|1 Comment
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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 |2017-04-09T23:10:01-04:00April 20th, 2014|Freedom, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Names of G‑d, Passover (Pesach), Science, Time, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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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 equipment can detect anything spiritual; it is inherently "neutral" to it. Physical elements do not interact with the spiritual, much like a neutron does not couple with an electromagnetic field, or an electron with a strong nuclear field. So, what does interact with spirituality? Only spirituality itself.

By |2024-01-11T23:24:50-05:00December 25th, 2013|G‑d, Parshah, Proves of G‑d, Shemot, Spirituality, Uncategorized, Vayeira|0 Comments
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Body Chemistry

Reading the Torah, sometimes, can give a false impression of reading a story, albeit the greatest story ever written. This Divine drama involves colorful characters, sophisticated plots, jealousy, sibling rivalry, deception, struggle, suffering, and every human emotion. The profound insight brought to light by the Kabbalah—the esoteric interpretation of Torah—was the realization that the human drama played out by Biblical characters is also a mashal—a metaphor or an allegory—that alludes to spiritual forces interacting in higher worlds. Actually, from the point of view of Jewish mysticism, whatever happens down here, first takes place in the spiritual worlds and only later[1] manifests itself in the physical realm. Every Biblical hero, from the point of view of the Kabbalah, is an embodiment and personification of a supernal spiritual archetype. Thus, physical Abraham, in the Kabbalah mysticism, is [...]

By |2020-11-27T10:24:10-05:00November 11th, 2013|Atomic Theory, Parshah, Uncategorized, Vayetze|1 Comment
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Entangled Sisters

The story of entangled twins is continuing in the Torah portion Vayeitzei (Genesis 28:10–32:3.)  Structurally, it is very similar to the story in the previous Torah portion, Toldot (see “Entangled Twins”).  In this portion, we again read about two entangled siblings—albeit, this time, sisters—about deception and spontaneous symmetry breaking. Two sisters were Rachel and Leah. Moreover, according to Midrash, Rachel and Leah were also twins (Seder Olam Rabbah).[1] As inseparable twins, they were “entangled,” as it were. They were somewhat opposite—one introvert, the other extrovert; one beautiful, the other, perhaps not so much (she had “weak eyes”): Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Leah’s eyes were weak; but Rachel was of beautiful form and fair to look upon (Genesis 29:17). Rachel and [...]

By |2020-11-26T16:59:43-05:00November 8th, 2013|Entanglement, Genesis, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Theory, Symmetry, Vayetze|0 Comments
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The Entangled Twins

Entanglement is often called the most baffling and the most quintessential aspect of quantum mechanics. What is entanglement, in a nutshell? Two particles born out of one reaction (or two particles that interacted through a collision) remain connected, no matter how distant from each other. A change in the status of one particle instantaneously causes a change in the status of the other particle. Einstein called it "spooky action at a distance." Entanglement is often associated with a certain symmetry and corresponding conservation laws. For example, the law of conservation of angular momentum requires that the spin (the quantum-mechanical analog of the angular momentum) of two entangled particles always point in the opposite directions. This means that, if two entangled particles have their spin in a state of superposition of Up (↑) and Down (↓), and we collapse [...]

By |2018-11-07T21:37:36-05:00November 3rd, 2013|Bereshit, Entanglement, Genesis, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Purim, Quantum Theory, Symmetry, Toledot, Uncategorized|3 Comments
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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 purchases a double cave, Maarat HaMachpelah, in the city of Chevron (Hebron) as an ancestral burial plot. Today, the immense rectangular structure built over the cave more than 2000 years ago during Herodian era is the oldest house of worship in the world in continuous use. Biblical commentator Rashi explains that the cave was called Machpelah (lit., double) because it had two structures—an upper chamber and a lower chamber. (Another explanation given in the Talmud relates the name of this cave to thee couples buried there—Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. According to Kabbalah, Adam and Eve are buried there as well (Zohar, Ruth 96). Cave of the Patriarchs [...]

By |2018-11-22T15:13:27-05:00October 27th, 2013|Chayei Sarah, Genesis, Kabbalah, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Soul, Space, Spirituality, Superposition, Uncategorized, Uncertainty Principle, Zohar|3 Comments
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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 and descending upon it. Gen. 28:12   Last night I dreamed of an atom with a ladder wedged in the nucleus of the atom, with electrons jumping up and down the ladder. For those readers unencumbered by the knowledge of atomic theory, a brief historical introduction may be in order. When the planetary theory of the atom was fir Ernest Rutherford st proposed by Ernest Rutherford in 1909, it depicted an atom as a solar system wherein a nucleus was positioned at the center of the atom, with electrons orbiting around the nucleus as planets orbit the Sun. However, there was a problem. According to Maxwell’s [...]

By |2017-11-23T09:03:25-05:00November 29th, 2012|Atomic Theory, Ezekiel, Genesis, Parshah, Physics, Quantum Theory, Science, Soul, Vayetze, Zohar|4 Comments
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