tehiyat hametim

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Quantum Cheshire Cat and Resurrection

In memory of my father, Abraham Shamshin ben Reuven, ע"ה   For those of us who can't get enough of Schrödinger cat, comes a new feline—Quantum Cheshire Cat—the creation of an Israeli physicist, Yakir Aharonov. In Alice in Wonderland, Alice meets a grinning Cheshire cat. To her amazement, the cat disappears leaving only his grin behind: "All right', said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone. Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin, but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!" According to Martin Gardner, the statement "a grin without a cat" is a reference to mathematics dissociating itself [...]

Hillel, Shammai and Richard Feynman

The Talmud (tr. Shabbat) discusses two opinions about the manner in which we are to light Chanukah menorah. According to Hillel, we light the first light on the first night, two lights on the second night, etc. increasing the number of lights every night. According to Shammai, we are to do the opposite – light eight lights on the first night, seven on the second night, and so on diminishing the number of lights every night (according to how many days of Chanukah are still left). The Talmud concludes, ele v’elie diveri Elokim chaim (this and that are words of the living G‑d, i.e., both opinions are true and reflect the will of G‑d), but the Halachah (the practical law) is according to Hillel. The Arizal explains that whereas the law today is [...]

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