Northern Light-Reading

    HOW GEOLOGY SAVED MY (JEWISH) BACON   Geology has served me well. It has opened my eyes to numbers very large as in the concept of Deep Time, For example making the Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Geology has also opened my eyes to numbers very small as in the distance between a mineral’s atomic planes, measured in Angstrom Units, where one Angstrom Unit is a hundred-millionth of a centimeter. Having a feel for very big numbers and very small numbers makes your head spin and puts you beyond the rational, and leads you to matters spiritual. I am thankful for that. With all this in mind and I know it sounds a little weird, but one Psalm in particular, number   91 has a personal geologic meaning for me. Allow me to give over some passages found in the Psalm for you to see how they relate: 2 - I will say of the LORD, who is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust 10 - No harm will befall you, nor will a plague draw near to your tent. 11...

  YOM HASHOAH   Yom Hashoah commemorates the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Yom Hashoah is celebrated on 27 Nisan. This year because of the conflict with Shabbat  it will fall earlier, on Wednesday the 23 rd  of April. In Israel at sundown   there will be state ceremonies. The flag is lowered to half mast; the President and the Prime Minister deliver speeches. Holocaust survivors light six torches symbolizing the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and Chief Rabbis recite prayers. During the daytime, ceremonies and services are held at schools, military bases and at public and community organizations. On the eve of Yom HaShoah and the day itself, places of public entertainment are closed by law. Israeli television airs Holocaust documentaries and Holocaust-related talk shows, and low-key songs are played on the radio. Flags on public buildings are flown at half mast. At 10:00 AM, a siren sounds throu...

                                                  PRICE OF FREEDOM                                          REMEMBERANCE DAY, INDEPENDENCE DAY:                                                  YOM ZICHORON &  YOM HA'ATZMAUT                                                                                    Remembrance Day and Independence Day יום העצמאות יום זיכרון      ------------------------------...

  ARE WE OTHER THAN THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK?     While ridding the household of all chametz in preparation for the Passover holiday, my thoughts turn to the ultimate source of chametz, namely and without reservation, bread. In Parshat Tzav, Hashem instructs Moshe that as part of Aaron’s inauguration process, he should bring a special grain offering that will be burnt in its entirety on the Altar (6:14). “On a griddle it shall be made with oil, scalded shall you bring it; a  repeatedly baked meal offering you shall bring it in broken pieces that you will offer it…” עַל-מַחֲבַת, בַּשֶּׁמֶן תֵּעָשֶׂה--מֻרְבֶּכֶת תְּבִיאֶנָּה; תֻּפִינֵי מִנְחַת פִּתִּים, תַּקְרִיב   I’m thinking, what distinguishes this offering is that it is scalded or boiled before baking.  After very sober serious contemplation, it is my belief that this method of bread preparation, albeit altered by time and geography, has come down to us as part of our esteemed Ashke...