Tiferet

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The Fifth Force

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 force, electromagnetic force, strong (nuclear) force, and the weak force (beta decay). Newton first described the gravitational force in his famous universal law of gravity. Today, we use Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity to describe gravitation fields. Electromagnetism was described in the 19 c. by Faraday and Maxwell. Strong and week forces were discovered much later, in the second half of the 20 c. Since Albert Einstein started a search for unified field theory, unsuccessfully trying to unify (describe by a single theory) gravity and electromagnetism, the quest for a unified field theory – the “Theory of Everything” – became the holy grail of theoretical physics. Strong and [...]

By |2019-10-03T17:33:39-04:00October 11th, 2016|Deuteronomy, Devarim, G‑d, Names of G‑d, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Science, Sefirot, Sefirot, Uncategorized, Vayelech|4 Comments
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Fractal Patterns in the Torah

In the Torah portion Emor (Leviticus 21:1–24:23), we are instructed to abstain from work every seventh day on Shabbat. Next week’s Torah portion, Behar, continues this theme and instructs us to abstain from agricultural work every seventh Sabbatical year, Shmita. And the Torah doesn’t stop there. It instructs us to count seven Shmitas and then observe a Jubilee, Yovel. Do you notice a pattern? Every seven days, every seven years, every seven Shmitas… Furthermore, the Midrash states the world will exist for seven thousand years with the seventh millennium being a thousand years of the kingdom of Mashiach (Messiah)—yom shekuloy Shabbat—one long Shabbat. A second-century sage, Rabbi Huniah ben HaKanah, interprets this Midrash to mean that the world will last seven Cosmic Shmitas, i.e., 49 thousand years (which, according to a prominent 13th–14th [...]

By |2019-05-15T17:51:30-04:00May 31st, 2016|Behar, Emor, Fractals, Mathematics, Omer, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Sefirot, Sefirot, Space, Time, Uncategorized, Vayikra|1 Comment
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Shabbat in Numbers

Last week Torah portion, Emor, speaks about the prohibition of working on Shabbat. In fact, the Talmud enumerates precisely 39 categories of labor forbidden on Shabbat. But why 39? Rabbi Shimon b’ Rabbi Yossi ben Lakunya (Shabbat 49b) suggests that the number 39 can be derived from the number of times the various forms of the word “melacha” (work) appear in the Torah. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to see how this works out. In his commentary on this passage, Rabbi Hananel ben Hushiel (990-1053) already pointed out that this word appears 61 times in the Torah, not 39! Actually, this word actually appears 63 times! Another Talmudic Sage, Rabbi Chanina of Sepphoris derives the number 39 homiletically strenuously computing gematria of the phrase, “These are the things.” (Shabbat 7:2) The lack of clear [...]

By |2019-03-26T16:25:51-04:00May 22nd, 2016|Creation, Emor, Husband and wife, Kabbalah, Leviticus, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Sefirot, Shabbat, Sukkot, Uncategorized, Vayikra|2 Comments
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Tree of Life or Nothingness

In the Torah portion Shlach (Numbers 13:1-15:41),  Moses instructs his spies to scout the land of Canaan and to bring back a report. He says to them: … What is the soil like – is it fat or lean? Are there any trees in it or not? You shall be courageous and take from the fruit of the land. (Num. 13:20) The verse seems pretty straight-forward – bring the fruits of the land as a proof that there fruit trees in the land. The trouble is, this is not exactly what the verse says. Translated literally, the verse reads: … What is the soil like – is it fat or lean? Is there a tree in it or nothing? You shall be courageous and take from the fruit of the land. This literal [...]

By |2018-06-08T07:07:49-04:00January 22nd, 2016|Numbers, Pentateuch (Chumash), Shlach, Uncategorized|1 Comment
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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 Moab became disgusted because of the children of Israel. Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now this assembly will eat up everything around us, as the ox eats up the greens of the field. Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of his people, to call for him, saying, "A people has come out of Egypt, and behold, they have covered the 'eye' of the land, and they are stationed opposite me. So now, please come and curse this people for me, for [...]

By |2020-10-15T23:12:39-04:00July 8th, 2015|Balak, Bamitbar, Entanglement, Ezekiel, Kabbalah, Mashiach (Messiah), Numbers, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Sefirot, Soul, Spirituality, Superposition, Tanakh, Uncategorized, Zohar|4 Comments
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On Change

We all know that we leave in a three-dimensional world. Up-down, right-left, forward-backward – these are well-familiar to us directions in three dimensions of space we occupy. However, we also live in a three-dimensional world of another kind. In physics, we have units of measurement. There are lots of them, but only three are fundamental – all other are various combinations of these three – meter, second and kilogram (yes, in science, we use metric rather than Imperial units). We measure space in meters (m), we measure time in seconds (s) and we measure mass in kilograms (kg). These three units are fundamental in a sense that they are irreducible and all other units are combinations of meter (m), second (s) and kilogram (kg) (please note that in this context, kilogram is not [...]

By |2019-03-26T16:45:52-04:00May 16th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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The End of Days I

In this Torah portion, Vayechi, Jacob, gathers his children to reveal to them “Ketz HaYamim”–“the End of Days.” Rashi explains that Jacob’s intention was to reveal the date of the coming of Mashiach (Messiah). Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather and I will tell you what will happen to you at the end of days. (Gen. 4:1) However, he proceeds rebuking his sons without revealing to them the Ketz — End of Days. Rashi says that Jacob looked into the future and saw his children being in exile for a long time. Rashi says that the word “ketz” (end)—spelled in Hebrew Kof-Tzadik—has the numerical value of 190. (Kof=100, Tzadik=90. 100+90=190). Jacob gazed 190 years into the future and saw his children still enslaved in Egypt. He became depressed and Shechinah (Divine Presence) left him. [...]

By |2017-01-13T15:54:32-05:00January 2nd, 2015|Genesis, Mashiach (Messiah), Names of G‑d, Pentateuch (Chumash), Sefirot, Uncategorized, Vayechi|1 Comment
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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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Forty Two Journeys to the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything

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 the 42-letter name, just as He created heaven and earth… (Zohar Chadash) The forty-two “stations” from Egypt to the Promised Land are replayed in the life of every individual Jew, as his soul journeys from its descent to earth at birth to its return to its Source. (Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov)   Torah portion Massei (Num. 33-35) recalls forty-two journeys of the Children of Israel in the Sinai desert after the Exodus from Egypt. This is not the first time the concept of forty-two journeys appears in the Torah.  Commenting on the Biblical verse, "And G‑d said, 'Behold, I Will Cause to Rain Bread from Heaven for You,’” (Ex. 25:5) [...]

By |2019-07-30T21:26:13-04:00July 27th, 2014|Creation, G‑d, Massei, Mathematics, Names of G‑d, Numbers, Omer, Pentateuch (Chumash), Uncategorized, Yom Kippur|4 Comments
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Pesach – Time of our Freedom

The holiday of Passover – Pesach – is called zman cheruteinu– time of our freedom. As we have discussed many times on this blog (see Interpreting Dreams; It’s the time, stupid! Carpe Diem; Mezuzah and Time; Riddle — the answer; Splitting the Sea), freedom can only be obtained by mastering time. Everything about celebrating Passover is related to time. It all starts on the Rosh Chodesh Nissan (the New Moon, the beginning of the month of Nissan – marked by the renewal of the monthly lunar cycle – during which we celebrate Passover).  On that day, the very first commandment was given to the Jewish people – the commandment to set the calendar by the lunar cycle, i.e., the commandment of keeping time. Classical commentators ask: Why the Torah (which means “Instruction”) does not have as [...]

By |2017-04-10T16:28:20-04:00April 18th, 2014|Freedom, G‑d, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Names of G‑d, Passover (Pesach), Rosh Chodesh, Time, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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