The Unification of Torah and Science: Basic Principles and a Case Study on Electromagnetism

Transcription

1 The Unification of Torah and Science: Basic Principles and a Case Study on Electromagnetism Part 21--Let There Be Light Continuing our renewed reading of the Torah, we will merely skim over the second verse of creation, "and the earth was chaos and confusion and darkness upon the face of the abyss and the spirit of God hovered upon the face of the water." We then reach the creation of light out of the darkness in the third verse, followed by God's differentiation between light and darkness in the fourth verse. We will note that in Hebrew, the numerical value of the entire third verse, "And God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light," is exactly equal to that of the second phrase of the fourth verse, "And God separated between the light and between the darkness" they both equal =ויאמר אלקים יהי אור ויהי אור=ויבדל אלקים בין האור ובין החשך This number appears a third time on the sixth day of creation in the numerical =ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם man value of the phrase, "And God said, 'Let us make which is also 813. Since the words "and God said," appear in both phrases, we have an exact equation between "'Let there be light!' And there was light," and "Let us make man," in which both phrases equal 470. יהי אור ויהי אור=נעשה אדם= 074

2 This is an amazing equation when we understand that the ultimate purpose of creation is the condensed light of God manifest in the creation of man; the only creature with the ability of achieving Divine consciousness. The sages teach that "everything follows the beginning". Light is the most important factor leading to creation. However, our sages also state: "Everything follows the conclusion." These two seemingly contradictory principles, when taken together, show that everything in creation is a process towards creating man, who is the ultimate manifestation of God's light in the world. The verse referring to the creation of light concludes with the words "and there was light." This is the only one of the Divine utterances that concludes with a repetition of the same word. In all the other expressions of creation, the phrase describing the implementation of God's word is "And it was so." We can deduce that there is something special about light that makes it necessary to repeat that light fulfilled G-d s word, "Let there be light." Although we would expect the equality between the two phrases mentioned above to be even regarding the numerical value of their parts, the fact is that this equality is specifically between the two parts of the phrase, "Let there be light and there was light" and the one part phrase, "Let us make man." Even though the Torah does not explicitly mention it, we find it natural to expect that almost

3 all species of organism are two-gendered. However, in the account of creation, man is the only creature that is specifically stated to be a two-gendered species, "male and female did He create them." The fact that the two above-mentioned phrases are numerically equal alludes to a very deep insight into the nature of light, for although we would not expect light to have two separate components, one male and one female, Kabbalah teaches us that each part of the phrase, "Let there be light and there was light," refers to a different feature of light. "Let there be light" refers to direct light, while "and there was light" refers to reflected light. Direct light is the male component of light (or zichri) and reflected light is the female component (or nikvi). The combined numerical values of the two terms, or zichri, male light and, or nikvi, female light, equal the numerical value of the complete phrases, 470. אור זכרי+אור נקבי= 074 Thus, in the creation of light we find first the expression, "let there be light," the male, direct light, followed by, "and there was light," the female, reflected light. Male light is the actual word of God, while female light is the natural consequence of God's word, the result of the direct light shining back after it has been reflected. The creation of man is therefore similar to the creation of light, as man was originally male and female. Only after the initial creation of man as an

4 androgynous creature does the Torah continue to explain the creation of woman from man and how the female came into being as an independent psyche and an independent body. The initial spurt of energy is male energy which returns from its destination as female energy, as a ball bouncing off of a wall. In keeping with the modest nature inherent in the female, in Kabbalah there is no direct mention of a "wall;" it is merely implied by the expression "reflected light," for in order to have light that is reflected, there must be something that reflects that light. This wall is the D-Brane of modern super string theory. In fact, one of the interpretations of the M in M-Theory is that the M stands for "membrane." According to this theory, strings are connected to a wall, or membrane, either in contact with it or "bouncing off" of it, without actually penetrating the membrane. These strings are so infinitesimal in size that they can be considered to be a point with zero dimensions. If they would have the power and courage of Ehud ben Gera, they would stab through the membranes and penetrate through to the other side. Our new rendition of this observation is that the dual quality of light is exactly our electromagnetic force. Scientists believe that the magnetic field surrounding the earth, discovered by Gilbert, is produced due to a forceful electric current circulating in the core of the earth. Obviously, one would have to penetrate the infernal depths of the earth in

5 order to prove such a thing. (We know that only the greatest tzadikim chose to go to Hell in order to extract souls who had been doomed to fiery torment ) The electric field therefore preceded the magnetic field and corresponds to "Let there be light," while the magnetic field is the consequence of that force, "And there was light." Did Job Understand Electromagnetism? If there is one part of the Bible that has to be understood in light of modern science more than any other part, the best choice would be the last chapters of Job, where we find that God Himself poses questions about the wonders of nature. God Himself asks Job fifty rhetorical questions "Do you know how these wonders came into being?" Job as we will recall, was a pious man who suffered terrible losses, first losing all his wealth and acquisitions, then losing his offspring and finally he was afflicted with great physical suffering. Four of Job's friends telepathically sensed his affliction and came to comfort him from great distances. The first three to speak to Job did not succeed in bringing him any comfort. It was the fourth and youngest, who spoke up last, who succeeded in comforting Job by relating correctly to his painful situation. His name was Elihu ben Berachel, the numerical value of which exactly equals Mashiach. According to the Ramban, Elihu achieved his success by explaining to Job the secrets of the rectification of

6 souls through reincarnation. This, explains the Ramban, is the only way to understand and rationalize why people suffer in life. After Job successfully overcame his trauma through philosophical rationalization, God then appeared to him and asked him exactly fifty rhetorical questions about creation. One of the most important questions that God asks Job is a verse that reads, "Does rain have a father? Or who gave birth to the qualities of dew [eglei tal]? As we shall see below, what God is actually asking Job is, "Do you understand the secrets of electromagnetism?"