Monday, October 27, 2008

Parasha Questions - v'Zot haBeracha

הָאמֵר לְאָבִיו וּלְאִמּוֹ, לא רְאִיתִיו, וְאֶת-אֶחָיו לא הִכִּיר, וְאֶת-בָּנָו לא יָדָע: כִּי שָׁמְרוּ אִמְרָתֶךָ, וּבְרִיתְךָ יִנְצרוּ

1 & 2 . ראיתיו ראיתים ותוספת י"ו למרות חסרון י' בכתיב של בניו

3. שינוי לשון נצירה אצל ברית ולא שמירה

4. קטורה קטורת

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Birkat Yosef

1. Interesting to note the Yosef-Gad connections: both mentioning קדקד and the emphasis of the word מגד מ-גד. (I'm further interested by the ג and ק exchange between גד and קדקד as well as קדקד being of the א"ת ב"ש series.)

2. Cf. here תָּבוֹאתָה לְרֹאשׁ יוֹסֵף to Vayechi תִּהְיֶיןָ לְרֹאשׁ יוֹסֵף

3. the Yosef/Bava Kamma connections בְּכוֹר שׁוֹרוֹ הָדָר לוֹ, וְקַרְנֵי רְאֵם קַרְנָיו--בָּהֶם עַמִּים יְנַגַּח יַחְדָּו and בור בפרשת וישב (which in themselves have a fascinating connection of the parasha of בור being sandwiched between the two parshiot of שור in Mishpatim). Also possibly נזיר אחיו נזיר נזיק נזק.

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the petuchot and setumot of the parasha needing explanation, particularly the lack of any setuma uniquely by Dan-Naftali and the lack of any setuma between Asher and the following remaining parsha of מענה אלהי קדם

Friday, October 24, 2008

Nice Song - Frank Sinatra - My Way

Knew the song for a long time but never listened to the whole thing with all lyrics until today. Truly, what a beautiful song.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank+sinatra/my+way_20056378.html

And now, the end is near; And so I face the final curtain. My friend, Ill say it clear, Ill state my case, of which Im certain. I've lived a life thats full. Ive traveled each and evry highway; And more, much more than this, I did it my way. Regrets, Ive had a few; But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption. I planned each charted course; Each careful step along the byway, But more, much more than this, I did it my way. Yes, there were times, Im sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall; And did it my way. Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried. Ive had my fill; my share of losing. And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing. To think I did all that; And may I say - not in a shy way, No, oh no not me, I did it my way. For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels; And not the words of one who kneels. The record shows I took the blows - And did it my way!

There are numerous gemaras related to the concept. One coming to mind is
ואמר לו חזור בך ואני ואתה ובן ישי נטייל בגן עדן אמר לו מי בראש בן ישי בראש אי הכי לא בעינא Sanhedrin 102a
Also, related to the various "coercion parshiot" in Pr' Ki Teitzei and the subordination vs. independent stress in teshuva.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Math, Pi, Kav, Infinity, Limits, and more....

After browsing a bit on the web and seeing the impressive material that's been written on the subjects (a few links of note I placed below) I'm humbly reminded that I really don't know much of Torah or l'havdil Mathematics. That being said, my thoughts:

First, the full passage of Yam shel Shlomo from Melachim I Ch 7 with my added bold highlights:

א ז,כג וַיַּעַשׂ אֶת-הַיָּם, מוּצָק: עֶשֶׂר בָּאַמָּה מִשְּׂפָתוֹ עַד-שְׂפָתוֹ עָגל סָבִיב, וְחָמֵשׁ בָּאַמָּה קוֹמָתוֹ, וקוה (וְקָו) שְׁלשִׁים בָּאַמָּה, יָסב אתוֹ סָבִיב.וּפְקָעִים מִתַּחַת לִשְׂפָתוֹ סָבִיב, סֹבְבִים אתוֹ--עֶשֶׂר בָּאַמָּה, מַקִּפִים אֶת-הַיָּם סָבִיב; שְׁנֵי טוּרִים הַפְּקָעִים, יְצֻקִים בִּיצֻקָתוֹ. עמֵד עַל-שְׁנֵי עָשָׂר בָּקָר, שְׁלֹשָׁה פֹנִים צָפוֹנָה וּשְׁלשָׁה פנִים יָמָּה וּשְׁלֹשָׁה פּנִים נֶגְבָּה וּשְׁלשָׁה פּנִים מִזְרָחָה, וְהַיָּם עֲלֵיהֶם, מִלְמָעְלָה; וְכָל-אֲחרֵיהֶם, בָּיְתָה. וְעָבְיוֹ טֶפַח, וּשְׂפָתוֹ כְּמַעֲשֵׂה שְׂפַת-כּוֹס פֶּרַח שׁוֹשָׁן; אַלְפַּיִם בַּת, יָכִיל

I find the whole thing astonishing ... not sure where to begin even... here goes.... the famous remez to Pi in the kri and ketiv of קו קוה .. the ratio of 111/105 x 3... the common symbolism of Male in 'line' and Female in 'circle'.... kav being finite and defined, a circle (by virtue of pi) being infinitely irrational... the references at the end to בת וכל... malchut infinity... י"ם של שלמה,,. ... the relation of yaakov (kav) to Rachel (and maybe Leah, not sure)....

and on a somewhat related point: what made the problem of solving areas of curves in mathematical history so difficult, so complex? it's that same infinite nature of the curves....and how ultimately does the 'limit technique' of Calculus make that infinity approachable to us? by finding a way of converting/compartmentalizing the "infinite" component into "nothing" i.e. the fragmenting of the nth term into the denominators of the equations so that they become neglible and allow us to deal in real terms with what's left of the equation.... a conversion of אין סוף into an אין to allow for יש. .. the double meaning of kol כל וכל שהוא...

see also:

http://www.truthofland.co.il/english/Sea%20of%20Solomon.htm 

[Note the following: pi = פא"י which = צ"א i.e. זו"נ...]

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Ma'asei Breishit and Science

Was reading the dialogue of a controversy regarding evolutionary creation and Torah between R' Nosson Slifkin and a R' Coffer. It's not pretty in my opinion, brace yourselves:

Here's my two cents though: while everyone's arguing about the Rambam in the Moreh and the opinions of Rishonim in their writings and the like, why doesn't anyone mention the possibility that this is bordering on the heels of kabbalistic realms and as such needs to be discussed in the context of kabbalistic works. Couldn't this presumably be some of the very issues of Ma'aseh Breishit/Merkava? What good then is arguing (ad nauseam I might add) solely about Rambams?

A good place to start I think would be the usage of Elokim throughout Ma'asei Breishit, אלהים  being the same gematria as הטבע. That and a discussion of ה' הוא האלקים as per R' Yosef Gikatlia in his גנת אגוז would seem to be a relevant point to discuss and work out. 

Saturday, October 4, 2008

גר ומסתעפיו

Was wondering about the connection of the various points:
  1. Ger גר as in convert
  2. Ger as in settler גר ותושב
  3. גרה as in גרה לא יגר - regurgitation
  4. גרה as in עשרים גרה יהיה השקל
  5. הגר שפחת שרה
  6. גרמא וגרם ??
  7. לשון משנה גרגיר ענבים
  8. גירוי - instigation and conflict [note the french "guerre" = war/conflict , as well]
Was thinking along the lines of movement/change/wandering... but not completely satisfied by it's usage in #1 i.e. a regular Ger. His conversion to Judaism is pretty final so how would that justify a word that connotes constant change and movement.
I don't have #4 worked out exactly either but was thinking to connect it to the Gm' Bechorot 50a in the drashot of מוסיפין על השקל ואין פוחתין---
דתניא עשרים גרה השקל למדנו לשקל שהוא עשרים גרה ומנין שאם רצה להוסיף יוסיף ת"ל (ויקרא כז) יהיה יכול יפחות ת"ל במדבר יח) הוא
Problem is though that over there it's really the shekel that is changing not the unit of gera itself..... וצע"ע
Also interesting to note that the word is one of the א"ת ב"ש ג"ר.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

הבדל ברית נח וברית בין הבתרים

ראיתי להעיר על פרשת ברית נח דהינו ברית בין אלקים ובין כל בשר אשר על הארץ למרות בבריתו של ירור עם אברהם בברית בין הבתרים וגדול הוא לענ"ד.
ומתוך דקדוק זה ראוי לעיין ולהבן היטב בשימוש שם אלקים בפרשת מילתו וכוונת הענין שמה

יז,ז וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת-בְּרִיתִי בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶךָ, וּבֵין זַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ לְדֹרֹתָם--לִבְרִית עוֹלָם: לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵאלֹהִים, וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ
יז,כב וַיְכַל, לְדַבֵּר אִתּוֹ; וַיַּעַל אֱלֹהִים, מֵעַל אַבְרָהָם