Relativity

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Relational Space

Meditations on the Maaseh Merkavah – II This post is a sequel to my previous post, “Space – Between Future and Past.” For background information, the reader is referred to that post. My second Shavuot “epiphany” was that space is relational. Not that I realized that space was relational for the first time – I always thought so. But, for some reason, thinking about the meaning of the four faces of Chayot, the "living creatures" – the angelic beings described in the prophecy of Ezekiel that we read on Shavuot – made it absolutely clear in my mind. Isaac Newton The debate about the nature of space goes back at least to the times of Newton and Leibniz. Isaac Newton believed (as it is apparent from his mechanics and as it [...]

By |2020-10-20T00:26:20-04:00June 17th, 2019|Ezekiel, Kabbalah, Mathematics, Mathematics, Names of G‑d, Physics, Relativity, Sefirot, Shavuot, Space, Time, Uncategorized|6 Comments
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Space – Between Future and Past

Meditations on the Maaseh Merkavah – I We do science by studying nature. We study physics in a lab, peering into space, or working out mathematical models with pencil and paper to see if they fit experimental data. However, great mystics of the past were able to see how this world operates by gazing into spiritual worlds above. On Shavuot, the holiday when we celebrate the revelation on Mount Sinai, we read the prophecy of Ezekiel (the First Vision of Ezekiel) called Maaseh Merkavah (or Ma'aseh Merkabah) – Work of the Chariot. Masters of Kabbalah have taught us that understanding the Work of the Chariot gives the initiated an understanding of the works of nature. This Shavuot, studying and thinking about Maaseh Merkavah, I came to understand some profound insights about the physics [...]

By |2020-06-01T21:10:52-04:00June 13th, 2019|Ezekiel, Fractals, G‑d, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Kabbalah, Names of G‑d, Physics, Relativity, Science, Sefirot, Sefirot, Shavuot, Space, Spirituality, Tanakh, Time, Topology, Uncategorized|6 Comments
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Ten Sephirot and Special Relativity

The Special Theory of Relativity, published by Albert Einstein in 1905, was a game changer. It ushered the era of new physics dubbed by some as the “Jewish physics.” And Jewish physics it was. At the core of Special Relativity is the notion of the relativity of motion – all motion is not absolute, as Newton thought, but is relative to something else, to a particular point of view. In physics, we define a point of view as a frame of reference. If you are standing in a moving train, leaving the railroad platform, in your frame of reference (which is always at rest) the train is at rest relative to your frame of reference. The railroad platform, on the other hand, is moving with respect to your frame of reference. For someone [...]

By |2019-06-05T17:55:43-04:00June 2nd, 2019|Kabbalah, Mathematics, Mathematics, Physics, Relativity, Sefirot, Sefirot, Space, Spirituality, Symmetry, Uncategorized|4 Comments
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Unified Field Theory and the Dew of Resurrection

And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook (Levit. 23:40) After completing his masterpiece, the General Theory of Relativity in 1916, Albert Einstein spent the rest of his life working fruitlessly on unifying gravity with electromagnetism. His quest was to develop a unified field theory that would unify his General Relativity, a theory of gravitational, with Maxwell electrodynamics. To his great dismay, Einstein never succeeded in developing a unified field theory. It was actually even worse. While working tirelessly on unifying two known classical fields – gravitational field and electromagnetic field – Einstein missed the incredible progress in quantum physics, of which he was one of the founders and for which he received his [...]

By |2019-05-20T03:48:19-04:00May 19th, 2019|Emor, Kabbalah, Leviticus, Mashiach (Messiah), Names of G‑d, Parshah, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Theory, Relativity, Resurrection, Sefirot, Sukkot, Uncategorized, Vayikra|4 Comments
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Chanukah Menorah – the River of Time

In a Kabbalistic meditation on lighting Chanukah Menorah, the Arizal links the menorah lights with a supernal river (see Candle on the River). The Arizal’s principal disciple, Rabbi Chaim Vital, writes: One should meditate on the idea that the initials of the words "…l'hadleek ner Chanukah [to light the Chanukah candle] are the holy name called "Nachal."Shaar HaKavanot, Inyan Chanukah The first letters of the words  “l'hadleek ner Chanukah” are three letters, Lamed (L), Nun (N), and Chet (Ch). Rearranged, these letters spell the word NaChaL, that is, a stream or a small river. As I wrote in my essays, “On the Nature of Time and the Age of the Universe,” and “Joseph—the Master of Time,” a river has been the metaphor for time across many cultures. Does this Kabbalistic meditation hints at a connection between Chanukah lights and [...]

By |2021-12-03T12:57:08-05:00December 9th, 2018|Chanukah, Cosmology, Creation, Holidays (Yomim Tovim), Relativity, Space, Time, Uncategorized|3 Comments
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Biblical Relativity

And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years... (Gen. 23:1) Why did Esther merit to rule over 127 countries? Said G‑d: “Let Esther, the descendant of Sarah who lived 127 years, come and rule over 127 lands. (Esther Rabbah 1:8) The Midrash Ester Rabbah compares 127 years of Sarah’s life with 127 provinces that Esther ruled. How can one compare time with space? When the Midrash says that Adam gifted 70 years of his life to his descendant, King David, it’s understandable – a year for a year. But a year for a province? What’s the connection? Hermann Minkowski When, in 1905, Albert Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity, it was nothing short of a scientific revolution. For the first time, Einstein showed [...]

By |2018-11-12T21:11:51-05:00November 4th, 2018|Bereshit, Chayei Sarah, Genesis, Pentateuch (Chumash), Physics, Relativity, Science, Space, Time, Uncategorized|1 Comment
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