I. Introduction Every year on Rosh HaShanah, the raw, unarticulated cry of the shofar cuts through silence. For Kabbalah, that cry is not mere ritual
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
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 Dedicated to the refuah shaleimah (a complete and speedy recovery) of David ben Leah And thou shalt put in the breastplate of
The parallels we have uncovered between the four elements, the letters of the Tetragrammaton, and the worlds of Seder Hishtalshelut suggest that the ancient sages
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
Introduction What could the Standard Model of particle physics possibly have in common with biblical accounts of the Israelites’ travels in the Sinai Desert, Kabbalistic
…[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
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
On this blog, we search for structural parallels between the Torah and science; we look for scientific metaphors that help us to understand the Torah
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
In the previous post “Physics of Tzimtzum I—The Quantum Leap”, we gave a general overview of the mystical doctrine of tzimtzum—the cornerstone of Lurianic Kabbalah.
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.,
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
And every meal-offering of thine shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy G‑d to be lacking
And the Eternal G‑d said: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate opposite him.” (Genesis 2:18)
As we discussed in the previous post “Singularity and Paradise,” Paradise offers a beautiful metaphor for modern cosmology wherein Eden is the initial singularity preceding
These are the chronicles of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Eternal G‑d made earth and
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
Meditations on the Maaseh Merkavah – I We do science by studying nature. We study physics in a lab, peering into space or working out
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
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month… all the fountains of the great
The months of Tishrei is full of holidays, and they all share a common theme—the unification of time—past, present, and future. It all starts with
Now, therefore, write ye this song for you, and teach thou it the children of Israel.” (Deut. 31:19) The four known fundamental forces are: gravitational
This week, we read in the Torah portion Vayigash (Gen. 44:18–47:27) about Joseph revealing himself to his brothers and Jacob coming to Egypt with his family. This
This post is a continuation of the earlier post, The End of Days I. In this Torah Portion, Shemot, we read about the encounter between
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
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 holiday of Passover – Pesach – is called zman cheruteinu– time of our freedom. As we have discussed many times on this blog (see
…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
