Menu

Apr 05
0
Matzah

The Well-Hidden Meaning of Passover

By | Ideas | No Comments

Passover is around the corner. It is a time to celebrate the fulfillment of the dream of all people––to be free. Yet, when I thought about this holiday, I realized a great majority of the time, when a religious Jew raises a cup of wine, the Jew says  “l’chaim,” meaning ‘to life,’ but with no mention of freedom. So I wondered, why is it religious Jews celebrate life, and why is it in America most other Jews give higher worth to freedom, and most of the time assume life? Why is it the opposite true in America? What are the consequences of one view of the world vs. the other view of the world? These questions haunted me for a while, so one day I decided to see if I could find the answers. I think I did. But for now, I’ll only address the question, “Why does the observant Jew celebrate life, why does this Jew lift a cup of wine and say l’chaim, and never mention freedom?” Especially when freedom is the dream of all people.

 

I learned, for the Jew to assume life is to be unaware of the purpose of Torah. To assume life is to fail to receive a very important message relating to Passover. Thus, it is through an awareness of life, and life’s purpose, and life’s meaning that discloses the purpose of Torah, and the main purpose of the first Passover Seder, which has remained very well hidden for over 3000 years.

 

Life is built on a story that connects the past with the future. We call this connection the “bond of life,” and it is through this bond that empowers the Jew to deliver God’s message through time, to each next generation, regardless of the Jew’s status among the other peoples of the world. Through the bond of life, the Jew is empowered to deliver the message to each next generation, even if a slave. That bond, the connection between the past and the future, is the family. As such, to celebrate life, for the religious Jew, is to be very much aware of the purpose of life. Each generation connects to the next generation, always leaving behind a record of one’s family history, a heritage. Thus, to teach each next generation about his or her Jewish past is the purpose of a Jew’s life, for this keeps the memories and the lessons of the past as part of the everyday story of life.

 

For the religious Jew, through being a part of the same way of life, in effect, participating and sharing that way of life, a Torah life, the bond of life continues, thus, sustaining the unity of the family and the entire Jewish community day after day, and from generation to generation. Thus, to celebrate life through being aware of the purpose of life, unity, continuity continues endlessly. It is this certainty of life’s journey that begets feelings of contentment, peace, and joy, and the feeling that the future is always bright. It is through sharing the same way of life, through being aware of the purpose of life, that seals the bond for each generation, because this ensures that the lessons, messages and memories of the past relating to one’s family life, and one’s Jewish heritage, will be learned and cared for, for what they truly are, treasures.

 

The religious Jew knows very well, the past is the guiding light of the future, and the main transmitting source, through sharing and continually learning about a Torah way of life, is from father to son, mother to daughter, from generation to generation. This method of teaching Torah, and a Torah way of life to each next generation, is the great secret to the success of the Jewish people. It is the underpinning of family unity and the source of unifying the Jewish people from generation to generation for endless generations, and the proof is when it all began, which was during the very first Seder, over three thousand two years ago, and continues as the foundation of observant Jewish life to this very day. This is indeed, the very well-hidden other meaning of the Passover story.

 

Through the darkest days and years of the Holocaust, Torah’s message continued to flow, unabated while families remained together, from father to son, mother to daughter those messages, those memories, and lessons were taught. This pathway to the future, the bond of life, has the power to unite families and a people for generations, and the proof is, this way of teaching and the unity of each next generation was first established on that first night of Passover over three thousand years ago. This is the other meaning of the Passover Seder. The bond of life, the connection of every generation to the past, life itself, the source of unifying every generation of every form of life, was established on that first Passover night, as strength of the Children of Israel, the unifying force of the Jewish people until this very day. That was the Jewish family, through a shared way of life.

 

Torah is built for the purpose of sustaining and continuing the unity and strength of the family, which sustains the strength of a people, because all religious Jews share and participate in the same “way of life.” Torah’s central message achieves both. The foundational prayer, Shema Yisroel, the very prayer contained in Tefillin, established the “invisible link” that connects every Jew to Hashem, and every Jew to his or her children, and grandchildren every morning, every afternoon and every evening. This weekday practice by the Jew, connects every Jew to each other through a shared past, and through a daily way of life, and therefore serves as a guiding light for the Jew and the Jewish people towards the future. Thus, it is the Shema Yisroel, that re-states every day the source of strength for the Jewish people, that source is the unity of the Jewish family, and it is through the Jewish family that empowers Hashem’s message to ultimately be delivered to the world. This practice spiritually began at what could be thought of as the first ‘Seder,’ on the eve of the Children of Israel’s departure from Egypt. That source of unity, the deliverer of Torah’s message in the most practical terms, is the family.

 

Thus, the Passover story is not only about achieving freedom from the Pharaoh of Egypt, the more important message is how to sustain the unity and strength of the Jewish people, which was established on that first Seder night,…that’s what’s missing from the Haggadah. The Passover Seder established the pathway that leads to freedom in any generation.

 

The first Seder marked the beginning of a long journey through time, and to start the Jewish people off on the right foot, to introduce the process by which Torah would be taught from generation to generation, that is, even before receiving Torah, these first Jews, for sure without even being aware of it, were directed by Torah’s central message (Hashem), the Shema Yisroel. The commandment that we must teach our children, and they must teach their children, served to define the pathway, and the source of unity of the Jewish people for three thousand years was set in stone on that very first Seder night.

 

The great secret to Jewish success was forever established, through the youngest son’s asking his father four questions, and the family participating in answering those questions. From generation to generation, the Torah’s messages of life would be taught from father to son, mother to daughter, day in and day out, would define the future of every Jew and the Jewish people. “LIFE,” THE LINK BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE FUTURE OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL, WOULD SERVE AS BOTH TEACHER AND SOURCE OF UNIFICATION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. Torah achieves both family unity and the unity of the Jewish people through a Torah observant life, but the success of Torah is 100 percent dependent on the bond of life that is reflected by the observant Jewish family. Amazingly, this source of unity, this source of educating each next generation, was established before the Jews were set free, while the angel of death passed over every Jew’s house.

 

Thus, the other meaning of the Passover Seder, from my interpretation, isn’t about achieving freedom as much as it is about establishing the one pathway that could unify the Jewish people forever, thus empowering the Jewish people to deliver Torah’s moral message in every generation, thus empowering G-d’s chosen people to stand up, speak out, declare that all people are free, all people are equal, in every generation when the need arises. The guiding light are the moral laws of Torah, and the main teacher of those laws are parents and family, the source of life for every generation, and the beneficiary is every Jewish son and daughter, thus the Jewish people, and ultimately the world.

 

Freedom of the body is different than freedom of the mind. Freedom of the body relates to the ability to move, but freedom of the mind comes from a perspective that empowers the mind to see the world, the universe and the story of life through a wide open, objective lens. This is what Torah offers, that is, the ability to see the world, the universe, and beyond in all of their glory, through one perspective. It is through freedom of the mind that we find hope in the future, and not through freedom of the body. The entire story of the universe and life are all contained in this one perspective, nothing is missing. Thus, the message of Torah, the state of reality, thus the state of truth that all people share can be seen through this perspective guiding the human mind, “IN THE BEGINNING G-D (INFINITE DARKNESS) CREATED THE HEAVENS (THE UNIVERSE) AND THE EARTH (LIFE/THE HUMAN BEING).” This is a view of all that there is, was, and could forever be. Thus, this is a mind that has achieved a state of total, absolute freedom.

 

No people in the history of the world, other than the Jewish people, ever achieved a life built on peace, love and compassion for others, from one generation to the next, while at the same time having to live in a world experiencing so much hate from other peoples. This success is the direct result of the main message of the Jewish people, the very message of Passover. To teach every Jewish child Torah, thus, to teach the foundation of a moral code of law that has the power to establish world peace. The proof is Jewish success as a people, notwithstanding the generations of persecution, and misery.

 

Jewish success can tracked back to the true meaning and purpose of the first symbolic Seder night, as the angel of death passed over every Jewish household, and the question was asked “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Hiding behind the scene of that first question and answer, was Hashem establishing the pathway for Jewish success over the long journey from generation to the next one.

 

Aug 22
0
Man using telescope in field

Nature Directs that We Search

By | Ideas | No Comments

There is a reason the human being must search for truth. In fact, it is compulsory. What I have come to learn, over the course of years of intense reflection and investigation, is that we are all pre-programmed to search, and that this search is, deep down, always for truth. I also discovered how our need to search, and “truth” as object of this search, act together to empower the human being to fulfill a very special purpose.

 

You see, I have come to understand that to find and define the main universal truth that hides within the fabric of nature, and controls the story of life, not only reveals how the universe and nature works, but this truth also reveals the presence of Abraham’s living G-d. Moreover, this truth reveals both the secret to living a long, healthy, happy and meaningful life, as well as the secret to achieving world peace. As such, to find and define nature’s and life’s most central truth, is a very big deal. It has the potential of proving both the existence of Abraham’s G-d, and the existence of a universal agenda in play since the dawn of time. The point is, I learned, the purpose of man (the human being), in searching for truth, is no different than a moth that flies off into the night for the purpose of reaching a faint and distant light. Inevitably the moth will reach that light, which means, inevitably, so too will man. This is man’s purpose, to reach the light that emanates from this special truth.

 

I believe I succeeded in identifying and defining this main, universal truth—that faint and distant light—and I believe that I, just like the moth, reached that light. You see, I learned that the search to find and define nature’s and life’s truth, is man’s destiny, for to understand the nature of this unique and special light, nature’s most central truth, is to learn that it is the driving force behind human free will. Thus, I learned that nature controls the decisions we make when we search for answers, resolutions or explanations regarding both nature’s and life’s problems and mysteries.

 

Please consider the following….

 

Can you imagine yourself searching for a false answer? Of course not, the idea is absurd. Why would anyone strive towards learning a false answer, unless it is for the purpose of finding some truth?

 

We search for truthful answers or a truth because we can rely on the knowledge it yields. Thus, truth has value. Truth is based on certainly, thus to know a truth, is also to know we can always apply a truth to find the right answer, or to guide our decision making. In other words, to know a truth gives one the ability to know what the future holds. It is for this reason that uncovering the one universal truth (a force) that directs the story of the universe is so important, because such knowledge empowers the human mind to unravel the rest of nature’s greatest mysteries, including finding the answer to the question, “Is man in control of his own destiny?”

 

As I said, the goal of finding a false answer is absurd, because a false answer is unproductive, it lacks long-term certainty, and therefore, a false answer is of no value. In fact, a falsity can have a negative value, if it can only get us into some kind of trouble. As such, our purpose is to learn truthfully, and that is whether a person is aware of that agenda or not. Thus, our human minds are pre-programmed to find truth, for this is the way we sustain our value as human beings, above all other forms of life. The point is that neither agenda is a matter of human free will. For this reason, I conclude, that every decision the human mind renders for the purpose of learning, is either to find a truth or to use a truth. After all, is not the purpose of learning what is false for the purpose of learning or confirming what is true? Thus, human free will is based on decisions that are intended to lead us to truth, or to empower us to use a truth. As such, when it comes to learning, the free will of the human mind is powerless to self-determine the purpose of learning. Learning is always for the purpose of identifying and defining truth.

 

As I said, the human being is also pre-programmed to search, and here is some evidence.

 

The human mind can only examine one subject at a time; it cannot examine two or more subjects at a time. As such, after examining one subject for the purpose of learning, if the matter relates to two or more subjects, the thinker must move on to the second subject, or third, and on and on, but the point is, we are all pre-programmed to follow a process that constitutes a search. Thus, built into the fabric of human nature is a universal agenda, to search for truth. Why “universal?” That’s because man’s only subject of exploration is nature, and nature extends from the heart and soul of every individual to the end of the universe, and beyond. As such, no matter the label or the category, the species or the form, it is always the same subject man explores, what we call “nature.”

 

Here is another example that proves that man must search.

 

If you draw two circles on a piece of paper, notice that you can only draw one circle at a time. Now try measuring the circumference of both circles at the same time. In ‘natural’ terms, both are impossible. Now try measuring the distance between both circles with a ruler, and watch what you do as if in slow motion.

 

In order to measure the line you’ll have to place a ruler on both circles, but that can only happen one circle at a time. You’ll have to line up the end of the ruler on one circle, and when the ruler is set, you’ll turn your attention to the other circle. The point is this: the fact that a human being can only examine detail, one subject at a time, means that learning follows a specific process, and that process always constitutes searching for a correct or truthful answer.

 

So tell me, have I convinced you that human free will isn’t quite cracked up to be the power most of us think it is?

 

Human beings are a part of nature, and therefore, a part of every other form of life, and it has been that way since the dawn of life, which is why all forms of life are all pre-programmed to struggle to survive. Is not the entire story of evolution about adaptation for the purpose of overcoming the struggle to survive? Yet, there is one aspect about the story of life that has never adapted completely for that specific purpose, that is, almost every form of life with eyes, can never see in a complete circle, with a full 360 degree field of view. Most forms of life, including human beings, can only extend one half of that distance, 180 degrees. Now isn’t that amazing!

 

The one physical aspect of life that has the power to protect life most effectively, the ability to observe the surrounding environment to it’s fullest, for some “strange” reason has never fully made the great leap to adapt to nature fully, not even in the highest form of life, the human being, which means a part of every environment is always hidden to both man and beast, and that has profound significance on the story of life. The question is, could that be coincidental?

 

I submit, it is the inability to see what’s going on in all four directions at the same time that assures that life remain a struggle for both man and beast. The point is, nature directs that life continue as a struggle, and human free will is powerless to change that. For as long as there is something hidden from human sight, man will feel stress, wonder, question, and seek answers to questions. Thus, it is man’s inability to constantly observe his environment from all four directions at the same time, that is a significant driving force of both man’s emotions and thoughts. By virtue of the human being only possessing two eyes that cannot see more than fifty percent of any environment, leads us to understand that life sets agenda, and this is absent of the use of free will.

 

Do not human beings physically and mentally react to every aspect of nature, whether a part of nature is in motion or dead still? As such, cannot nature very subtly control human free will?

 

Jul 20
1
spiral clock future 1.1

All Things Pursue One Direction–the Future

By | Ideas | No Comments

Have you ever considered the fact that you can’t draw a straight line, or a crooked line, or a square, or any other configuration, without first starting to draw from a “beginning” point and continuing until reaching an “end” point? Does this not suggest that everything moves along a path, whether that be the path of life or the path of a planet around a sun, or the movement of the universe as it continues expanding outward? Would this not mean that all things are built on some structural foundation, where we are always moving in one direction, whether seemingly forward or backward? Does not everything move forward into the future?

 

All existence that is based on a structural foundation, therefore, moves along a perfectly straight line, it doesn’t matter what form of development occurs, nor does it matter how fast or slow development occurs, or if development twists or turns, nor does it matter what development relates to.  And finally, it doesn’t even matter if an object is stuck in one place. As long as a structural form of existence is in motion, whether internally or if it moves along some path, it is always pursuing the future.

 

For example, at the moment of the body’s conception development begins (both physically and mentally) and both will continue to progress through the birth process, throughout the course of one’s life. That this may happen at different moments, however, does not change the fact that both “evolved” while pursuing or following the same path relentlessly, that is, always moving into the future.

 

Consider a hurricane. Does it develops in two simultaneous directions? Or is that only what seems to be going on? In fact, both directions are one and the same.

 

As a hurricane’s winds turn in a circular shape, the winds are always moving forward into the future, but that is also true as the hurricane moves in a “forward” direction. So while a hurricane’s winds move in a counterclockwise direction, the direction those winds pursue is also always forward into the future. Thus, we establish the arrow of time.

 

The point is, part of the structure of existence, whether in a tangible or intangible form, is to always pursue the future, and always leave behind a record of the past, thus empowering the human being to learn from the past, both the story of the universe and the story of life. Furthermore, a person can’t learn much from the present, because the present is equivalent to fixed moment in time. As such, all that one can learn from a fixed moment (like a photo snap shot) is ” what was” a fleeting moment ago (assuming there is some duration to the moment). Without the ability to compare at least two moments in time, there is no foundation for learning, because there is no basis for comparison, and only through comparison can we see and measure change, thus learn and draw conclusions. Finally, you can never learn from the future, because the future never arrives. In conclusion, if you can’t learn from either the present or the future, we are only left with one place to learn from, and that is the past.

 

Without the past, man has no  way of learning, but without a future there would be no subject to learn about. As such, the learning process is only possible because of the universe, all of nature, and the story of man, always moving in one direction, that is towards the future.

 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS CONCLUSION, IF CORRECT, CANNOT BE OVERSTATED, BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT THE LEARNING PROCESS IS CONTROLLED BY NATURE, AND NOT BY THE FREE WILL OF MAN.

Apr 15
0
apple-gravity 1.1

Finding Truth

By | Ideas | No Comments

“Truth” is a universal concept. It denotes something that is constant, steady, fixed through all of time. To find the truth–in the sense of being an original discoverer–you either fall on the new concept by chance and make a connection (just think of Newton’s discovery of gravity), or you must hunt it down. However, either way it requires a “perspective” that is wide open enough to uncover it and its many implications. If the perspective isn’t wide open enough, while the concept may be logically correct in some provisional sense, it may still prove to be false in the long term.

 

Thus, “logic and truth” are different. Logic is an invention of the human mind, while truth isn’t. Truth is a state that prevails in nature, or a concept that conforms to a law of nature. Thus, it will always hold true.

 

Logic on the other hand depends totally on connecting one thing to another because the connection makes sense to the human mind given a number of assumptions. In this manner, if a logical conclusion hasn’t been tested under all conditions or under a sufficient set of circumstances over a long enough period of time, the thinker could be relying on a logically correct conclusion that is ultimately false and will eventually be shown as such. In this instance the fault is in the thinker’s perspective as it wasn’t open wide enough to detect every interconnection and every scenario.

 

Here’s an example: the concept of time.

 

If you give no value to infinite emptiness, privation, or darkness, as is the case with the world of science, you could never know that in “truth” there is no time. Moreover, you could never know that all of time is no more than a single moment.  For instance:

 

The earth turns a complete revolution = one day.

 

The earth rotates completely around the sun = one year.

 

However, the earth never leaves the solar system, nor does it ever leave the universe, all of which are constantly moving in one way or another. Yet, on a still grander scale, we could say that there isn’t a single star or planet that ever leaves infinite emptiness, the darkness of space itself.

 

Look up at any clear night sky. It’s the same picture you’ve seen throughout your lifetime. Stars, planets, against a backdrop of darkness, which beyond the universe is probably completely empty.  Have the stars or planets or our earth, or you, ever left the darkness?  The answer, “No.”

 

If you just look at the stars and the planets, your life is in constant motion. You move from A to B, a hundred times each day, always thinking you’re moving into the future, and always leaving a past, but the truth is, you never went anywhere at all. Your life is just like the stars and the planets, you’ve been stuck, fixed in the exact same overwhelmingly enormous empty place throughout all of your life. Thus, the concept of time on a universal scale relative to infinite emptiness is false. The earth is stuck in one place, and so too is every star and galaxy stuck in one place–the great cosmic backdrop of darkness.

 

So finding the truth depends on one’s perspective.  Finding truth and proving truth demands a mind that is wide open and untainted by any prejudice or other subjective flaw. Hence we come to the definition of an “objective” mind, a mind that thinks with “integrity.”

 

Expressed in ancient classical terms, the only perspective that is wide open enough to prove the truth of life’s journey was first stated in Torah, in fact, in the very first ten words of Torah.

 

“IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH…”

 

Look closely and here’s what you’ll find: the entire state of reality.

 

IN THE BEGINNING GOD (INFINITE EMPTINESS) CREATED THE HEAVENS (THE UNIVERSE) AND THE EARTH (LIFE/HUMANITY).

 

As I said, you could never know the truth of life’s journey unless you factored into the universal equation infinite emptiness, for any perspective that encompasses less could only produce a logical conclusion, but never a truthful conclusion. There is only one truthful conclusion, and it isn’t subjective. It is factual and provable to every human being.

 

Dec 23
0
Spinning Black hole 2.2

Avoiding the Void

By | Ideas | No Comments

I discovered years ago something very special about nature that may amount to proof of G-d’s existence.

 

 As I imagine it, Hashem (G-d), sweet, loving Hashem, has, as it were, a ‘little boy’ within His own special nature. He felt lonely living without someone to take care of, and to take care of Him, and so, He created a universe exactly for that purpose. “Nothing” in the entire universe can have any meaning or any purpose as it stands all alone, and so Hashem’s plan was very well hidden. Everything is based on mutual dependency, from the originating forces that established the universe, to the lives of every human being (G-d’s ultimate purpose for creating the universe).

 

 Gravity could never be a force without two or more separated objects. It is “nothingness” that creates the possibility of separation. It is the presence of the void within and through the physical universe that gives rise to gravity.

 

 To create a black hole, you need a mysterious dark state, but the only reason it’s mysterious is because apparently no scientist is giving this void its fair due consideration. Science has “avoided the void.”

 

 If you look up the definition of “avoid” in the dictionary it says “avoid is to keep away from,” “to shun,” the latter meaning, ‘the void’ has no value or worth, which in terms of human thought is to discount, subordinate, never to be worthy of exploration.

 

 The void as it stands alone has no meaning, no purpose, but when merged with only a one (uni) dimensional, invisible state, the possibilities of both motion and friction arise, thus establishing a physical “uni”verse, by virtue of an everlasting relationship between Hashem and the universe, and eventually Hashem and the story of mankind.

 

 Moreover, I am living proof of Hashem’s purpose–that “nothing” in the universe, including Hashem, can have meaning or purpose without a relationship to something else. For me, this is confirmed when I am in a relationship with another, be that a significant other or family member or friend.

 

 To understand the universe in “truth,” you must turn the way we have been taught to think upside down, so that we can see the truth, which is always “right side up.”  Does not everything flow from the “void,” so why is the void the last place any scientist will look, especially when it’s the first place that we should look. ISN’T THAT AS SIMPLE AS A ‘COMMON SENSE’ APPROACH?

 

 That is, the universe is built upon a complete and total dependency of every aspect of nature. As I said, there is nothing in nature, not in the universe, here on earth, or within the human condition, that can stand alone and have meaning or purpose, and when it comes to the forces of nature and the “true” story of universal existence and the story of mankind, it is exactly the same. Whether in the beginning or in the end, The story is always the same–we are all in a perpetual, everlasting relationship with that great, dark, mysterious, and awe inspiring void.

 

 It is for this reason, the inability of our free will to break that relationship, that is the proof that this great void controls universal and human destiny.

 

 

 

Nov 05
0
unity and the divide 1.1

THE CAUSE OF ANTI-SEMITISM

By | Ideas | No Comments

It’s been a number of years since I tried to track down the true reason or cause of anti-Semitism. But I did. And the reason I succeeded is because I went to the only true source to find the answers to my questions. That source is the Hebrew Bible, or TORAH.

 

I learned that Torah is not only the source of anti-Semitism, but that Torah also reveals the resolution to the problem, and I learned both from reading the sections of the Torah that tell the story of how the Jewish people began. That is the story of Abraham’s life, and his relationship with his God. (Notice that I did not say “where the story of the Jewish people ‘first’ began,” which I’ll address at another time).

 

Reading about Abraham’s life many times, and afterward considering the “practical” purpose of Torah as it relates to Jewish life from generation to generation (which is to maintain a strong and close relationship with Abraham’s God) I began to understand the meaning and purpose of Abraham’s God choosing the descendants of Abraham’s son Isaac to deliver a very specific message to the world. I learned that Torah’s message holds the key to achieving the dream of all people, in other words, the message discloses what mankind must do to live in a world of peace and brotherly love. That key is to live a “moral” life, because a moral life is to live a life built on humility and goodness and compassion for others. As such, to live a moral life is to preserve and protect a future that is following the pathway that empowers mankind to achieve world peace built on brotherly love.

 

I learned that Torah’s purpose is to set forth how such a high standard of life can be achieved and preserved from generation to generation, thus, ensuring a society that it is following the certain pathway to actually fulfilling that elusive dream. I learned that to live such a life, is to understand not just the story of life, but also the meaning and purpose of life. This is why the message of Torah must be heard. It is the key to living a happy and peaceful life, regardless of a person’s religion, even if a person has no religion, and regardless of a person’s race, or cultural background, or political beliefs, and regardless of an individual’s economic standing. Torah holds the secrets to achieving “everlasting world peace.” For these reasons, this Torah message must be heard.

 

However, to deliver that message with a loud enough voice, God demanded of Abraham, and the descendants of Abraham’s son Isaac, absolute loyalty to God. In other words, the entire Jewish community must live a “Torah observant life” to not just deliver that message to the world, but for the world to hear the message. For without keeping the high standards of a moral life according to Torah, as a community, as a nation, the Jewish people will become divided from within, causing the message to get lost. Torah’s message–the key to achieving world peace and brotherly love–is the key to unifying the Jewish people as a nation, and the key to unifying the world. But as a divided nation, the Children of Israel must fail, and the dream of all people must remain no more than a mere elusive dream, thus, insuring that human suffering will continue.

 

Standing together as a unified nation, bonded through time and space through living a Torah moral life, from generation to generation, is the only way to assure that the message would not get lost. As such, if the Jewish community became divided, scattered among the world’s peoples, for sure the message would get lost. The point is, to deliver the message, the Jewish community must show the world how to unite as a nation, standing together “as if a single heart and a single mind,” in order to achieve the purpose of the Children of Israel, to be “a light unto all nations of the world.” Thus, for the world to unite in peace and brotherly love, first the Jewish community must unite as a nation, and must appear to stand on the highest level of humanity, which is to lead a Torah moral life, for the message to be heard. Torah demands a religious, Torah observant nation to deliver God’s message.

 

But to unite as a people, standing together on the loftiest of plateaus of morality, is to appear to the world at large as if the Jew believes he is on a higher level of human worth, and so to deliver God’s message to the world, a message of hope in the future (because the message is a pathway to achieving peace and brotherly love for all of the nations of the world) is to also cause human jealousy, even hate. As such, built into the very fabric of God’s message to the world, and the way the message must be delivered, is the full spectrum of human emotion: hope, love, peace and goodness, as well as the emotions of jealousy, hate, anger and evil.

 

Thus, it is through God’s promise to Abraham, that God establishes a certain future for His chosen people, a four thousand year journey built on hope and goodness and compassion for others. At the same time, it is also a future built on jealousy and hate from some of those same others–both a future built on anti-Semitism and a future built on the salvation of the world, a world that is empowered to fulfill the purpose of man, to achieve world peace and brotherly love, thus, the Kingdom of God.

Sep 02
0
space between

Seeing the Whole Picture

By | Ideas | No Comments

It may be said that the Torah is built on two main components–one, that all of nature, including human life, was established through a physical aspect, and two, emptiness, or what Einstein referred to as space/time. This is easily verified by looking up at the heavens on any clear night, when the darkness of the night horizon reveals millions of stars, planets etc, but it’s also when those millions of stars give relevance to the darkness.

Did you ever notice how important the darkness seems when looking up at a clear night sky, and how irrelevant it is at any other time? That happens because when you first look up at the night sky your mind usually isn’t in control of what your looking at. Nature is in control. There are rare times in life when “you see the whole picture.” Your perspective is stretched so far that it encompasses “all that there is,” and by no mere coincidence this picture is expressed in the very first ten words of the Torah, which I discovered was for the purpose of disclosing to the world how to find nature’s truth, the truth of life, and the secret to achieving everlasting world peace. That secret is to know that the living G-d of Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Moses is as real as the darkness that hovers across one end of each night’s horizon to the other.

“In the beginning G-d (infinite emptiness/space) Created the heavens (the physical universe) and the earth (life, because life gives the universe its meaning).” G-d didn’t hide His message to the world; He disclosed His message up front. Contained within these first ten words of Torah, I learned, can be found the entire story of the universe, and the story of every human’s journey through life.

The point is, every part of nature is comprised of a physical component and emptiness or space, and so, whatever human beings observe and think about are these two components together, whether we are aware of both or not. The best example is what I am writing. Notice that between each letter and word there is a blank, or space. Yet, when you read what I write, you’re only aware of the letters, and not the space. Type, and watch how often your thumb hits the empty space bar. Now consider this truth. While every letter changes from one word to the next the space is always a constant. Believe it or not, just within the example of writing, you can find the hidden mystery of the story of life.

The universe is built on and in empty space, which is a constant. Empty space never changes. However, the physical aspects of the universe are subject to the laws of motion, gravity and other forces which cause physical changes to occur on a moment to moment basis. As such, the universe is built on both “sameness” and “diversity.” I learned that the two together are in fact, the composition of the state of “reality.”  But I also came to understand that the two together cause the story of nature and each story of life to be built on a paradox.

Here’s what I mean: it is the “sameness” of the story of every person’s life (birth, death and a journey comprised of experiences built on both pain and happiness in the middle) that creates the “illusion of human equality,” while it is the diversity of nature’s exterior that creates the illusion of “inequality.”  Each letter that I type is diverse, different, but each space in between is the same. However, while you are aware of the letters you are not aware of the sameness of space (which is necessary to connect each letter and each word to each other). Take away the space, you lose clarity, add space you gain clarity, but look only at the letters and the words, and you are looking at only a part of reality. You are looking at the world of logic (the relationship between terms, objects, formal figures, even letters–the end points), but not the world of truth (which takes into account the gaps, the blank intervals of the betweenness itself).

Western thinking is built on diversity–what we see in front of our eyes, which are only the physical aspects of nature. These are things we can touch and feel, but reality is also based on the sameness–what in Western thinking is considered “nothing,” “worthless.”  The result, we think with only the use of the physical universe, and so we live in a realm that is an illusion, not based on the “real world.”

It is because reality is comprised of sameness and diversity–both of which are inseparable–that it ends up also causing the emptiness of space to affect our thinking. Yet, we aren’t aware of that, and so we constantly make mistakes in our thought process and in the conclusions we come to. We draw logical conclusions, but conclusions that aren’t necessarily true (for truth would factor in both). As a result, we constantly move towards conflict (mere diversity) and run away from peace (sameness).