The Amazing Fine Tuning of the Universe

B"H



In his best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time", Stephen Hawking
(perhaps the world's most famous cosmologist) refers to the phenomenon as "remarkable."

"The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers (i.e. the constants of physics) seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life". "For example," Hawking writes, "if the electric charge of the electron had been only slightly different, stars would have been unable to burn hydrogen and helium, or else they would not have exploded. It seems clear that there are relatively few ranges of values for the numbers (for the constants) that would allow for development of any form of intelligent life. Most sets of values would give rise to universes that, although they might be very beautiful, would contain no one able to wonder at that beauty."

Hawking then goes on to say that he can appreciate taking this as possible evidence of "a divine purpose in Creation and the choice of the laws of science (by God)" (ibid. p. 125).

Dr. Gerald Schroeder, was formerly with the M.I.T. physics department. He
adds the following examples:
>>
>> 1) Professor Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in high
>> energy physics
>> (a field of science that deals with the very early
>> universe), writing
>> in the journal "Scientific American", reflects on
>>how surprising it is that the laws of nature and the
>> initial conditions of the universe should allow for the existence
>> of beings who could observe it. Life as we know it would be
>> impossible if any one of several physical quantities had slightly different values.
>>
>> Although Weinberg is a self-described agnostic, he cannot
>> but be
>> astounded by the extent of the fine-tuning. He goes on to
>> describe how
>> a beryllium isotope having the minuscule half life of
>> 0.0000000000000001 seconds must find and absorb a helium
>> nucleus in
>> that split of time before decaying. This occurs only
>> because of a
>> totally unexpected, exquisitely precise, energy match
>> between the two
>> nuclei. If this did not occur there would be none of the
>> heavier
>> elements. No carbon, no nitrogen, no life. Our universe
>> would be
>> composed of hydrogen and helium. But this is not the end of
>> Professor
>> Weinberg's wonder at our well-tuned universe. He
>> continues:
>>
>> One constant does seem to require an incredible
>> fine-tuning -- The
>> existence of life of any kind seems to require a
>> cancellation between
>> different contributions to the vacuum energy, accurate to
>> about 120
>> decimal places.
>>
>> This means that if the energies of the Big Bang were, in
>> arbitrary units, not:
>>
>>

100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
>> 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
>> 000000000000000000,
>>
>> but instead:
>> 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
>> 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
>> 000000000000000001,
>>
>> there would be no life of any sort in the entire universe
>> because as
>> Weinberg states:
>>
>> the universe either would go through a complete cycle of
>> expansion
>> and contraction before life could arise, or would expand so
>> rapidly
>> that no galaxies or stars could form.
>>
>> 2) Michael Turner, the widely quoted astrophysicist at the
>> University
>> of Chicago and Fermilab, describes the fine-tuning of the
>> universe
>> with a simile:
>>
>> The precision is as if one could throw a dart across the
>> entire
>> universe and hit a bulls eye one millimeter in diameter on
>> the other
>> side.
>>
>> 3) Roger Penrose, the Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics
>> at the
>> University of Oxford, discovers that the likelihood of the
>> universe
>> having usable energy (low entropy) at the creation is even
>> more
>> astounding,
>>
>> namely, an accuracy of one part out of ten to the power of
>> ten to the
>> power of 123. This is an extraordinary figure. One could
>> not possibly
>> even write the number down in full, in our ordinary denary
>> (power of
>> ten) notation: it would be one followed by ten to the power
>> of 123
>> successive zeros! (That is a million billion billion
>> billion billion
>> billion billion billion billion billion billion billion
>> billion
>> billion zeros.)
>>
>> Penrose continues,
>>
>> Even if we were to write a zero on each separate proton
>> and on each
>> separate neutron in the entire universe -- and we could
>> throw in all
>> the other particles as well for good measure -- we should
>> fall far
>> short of writing down the figure needed. The precision
>> needed to set
>> the universe on its course is to be in no way inferior to
>> all that
>> extraordinary precision that we have already become
>> accustomed to in
>> the superb dynamical equations (Newton's,
>> Maxwell's, Einstein's) which
>> govern the behavior of things from moment to moment.
>>
>> Cosmologists debate whether the space-time continuum is
>> finite or
>> infinite, bounded or unbounded. In all scenarios, the
>> fine-tuning
>> remains the same.
>>
>> It is appropriate to complete this section on "fine
>> tuning" with the
>> eloquent words of Professor John Wheeler:
>>
>> To my mind, there must be at the bottom of it all, not an
>> utterly simple equation, but an utterly simple IDEA. And to me that
>> idea, when we finally discover it, will be so compelling, and so
>> inevitable, so beautiful, we will all say to each other, "How could
>> it have ever been otherwise?"

-Perhaps this "beautiful Idea" Prof. Wheeler wonders about, is G-d's Divine Idea. Chassidic thought explains, that when G-d Created the world, His sole Desire and plan was that we would ultimately make a home for Him on this very earth, by transforming the physical into the spiritual. How? Through fulfilling His Divine Will by performing Mitzvot (for ex., when a man wraps physical 'Tefillin' at the behest of G-d, or a woman lights physical candles to honor Shabbat), he and she are transforming this physical world into 1 big Mitzvah, i.e. a home for Hashem, thereby bringing closer the unity of heaven and earth.

Now let's do our best to do one more good deed and learn a bit more Torah, to bring this Intention of G-d's into its ultimate reality, with the coming of our Righteous Mashiach! May it be speedily in our days, before you even sign out of your e-mail account!
~Shabbat Shalom!~

-Daniel

Gaza: Miracle Protection of Israeli Soldiers

B"H

Miracle in Gaza

Chief Rabbi Confirms Gaza Miracle Story
by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) Former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, recovering from a
life-threatening disease, prayed several times at Rachel's Tomb before
the recent war in Gaza. Informed that an "old woman" saved IDF
soldiers' lives in Gaza, he said, "Did she mention that I sent her?"
The story was first told by Rabbi Lazer Brody, a rabbi in Ashdod who
"devotes his time to spreading faith around the globe via Breslov
Israel and the Emuna Outreach organization" that he founded. Rabbi
Brody told IsraelNationalNews that he receives many phone calls in the
framework of his work – including a particularly noteworthy one about
two weeks ago. "The caller, an Israeli man, was clearly knowledgeable
about how IDF infantry troops operate," the rabbi and former IDF
special-unit veteran said, "and this is what he told me:"
'My son is in the Givati Brigade, and his unit's job is to clean out
areas around Gaza City. Outside one house, a woman dressed in black
appeared and started yelling at them in Arabic, 'Ruchu min hon – Get
out of here! It's dangerous!' The troops thought she might be trying
to protect her family, but they didn't want to take chances; the
company commander called the regiment commander, and they went on to
their next target. There, too, the same woman appeared and gave the
same warning. The soldiers thought she probably came somehow through
the tunnel network that Hamas had set up between houses, and one of
the soldiers even yelled at her… Then they went to a third house – and
the same woman appeared again. This time, all the soldiers froze.
'The soldiers then hooked up with a Golani Engineering force whose job
it was to blow up houses that were found to be booby-trapped. My son's
unit asked them to check these three houses – and they found that all
three of the houses that the woman had warned them away from had been
booby-trapped."
The story did not receive high-level confirmation, though it made the
ranks of the rumor mills - and many dismissed it as just that. Then,
on Monday night of this week, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of
Tzfat and son of former Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu, was
teaching students in Machon Meir in Jerusalem about the sublime level
of soldiers fighting on behalf of Israel. In this connection, he said:
"There are soldiers who have been telling that in some places where
they went in, there was a woman who told them not to enter certain
buildings because they were booby-trapped, and that she said her name
was Rachel... I asked a certain Yeshiva dean about this story, and he
told me that it wasn't a 'story,' but that he actually knew one of the
soldiers involved, and he told me his name.

"Then the Yeshiva dean asked me if it was in any way connected with
the fact that my father, Rabbi Eliyahu, had left the hospital before
the war and went to pray not once, not twice, but three times at
Rachel's Tomb, and went nowhere else to pray? I told him I didn't
know, but that I would ask.
"In truth, I was a little bit afraid to ask him, because he usually
dismisses these kinds of stories… But I decided to go, and I asked
him, 'Do you remember that you told us one time about Rabbi Shalom
Mutzafi, of blessed memory, during World War II, when the Germans
seemed about to enter the Holy Land, and he prayed at Kever Rachel
against the decree, and he said that he actually saw Rachel praying.
[My father] said yes, he remembers. "So I told him about this story
that I had heard, and I asked him, 'Should we believe it? Is it
truth?' And he said, 'Yes, it's true.' I asked him to explain, and he
said - in these words: 'I told her: Rachel, a war is on! Don't
withhold your voice from crying [based on Jeremiah 31,14-16]! Go
before G-d, and pray for the soldiers, who are sacrificing themselves
for the Nation of Israel, that they should strike - and not be
stricken.'
"I told him, "Well, you should know that she really did that." So he
asked, "Did she mention that I sent her?"
"Everyone should then make his own calculation," Rabbi Eliyahu the son
then continued. "If this is the great level of the soldiers, and if
this is the great power of prayer, then how can anyone say anything
against them?..."

Chanuka: The Soul is the candle of G-d

B"H

Hey everyone,

Two Sunday nights from now (Dec. 21st), the 1st candle on the Chanukah Menorah will be lit.

If Chanukah could be expressed in 3 words, I think it would be: "Light overcoming darkness." The "Festival of Lights" commemorates the tiny Maccabee army's miraculous defeat of Antiochus IV and his Greek army in 2nd-century B.C.E. They had been desecrating our holy temple, abusing our people and suppressing any form of Jewish practice. 1 cruse of pure oil was somehow found, and miraculously lasted for 8 nights, shining its light to the now free Jews.

Our sages tell us, that the miracles of Chanukah should be greatly publicized. The miracles that G-d Performed for us then, must be remembered and felt today in our times. Chabad houses around the world are arranging their annual huge menorahs to be lit at your local mall or government building. Why? To remind us that "light" can and must shine through the apparent darkness we see. When terrorists brutally murder a young dedicated Jewish couple in India, we turn this cruelty into kindness, from darkness to light. (see here: http://www.chabad.org/special/campaigns/chabadindia/mitzvot_cdo/aid/773655/jewish/What-Can-I-Do.htm).
That's our job as Jews, as G-dly souls in this world, "The soul of man is the candle of G-d." Placed to be a light in this world to shine. We jews are lamplighters. So when we light the candles this yr. and enjoy the sweet doughnuts and latkas, let's remember that this candle's light we are lighting, can and must be extended through us into every corner of the world; beginning with the corner we are found in. One more mitzvah, one more helping hand, one more smile can overturn worlds. It only takes 1 candle to light up a dark room; one kind gesture to a lonely person who feels dark inside. Light up their world! A little light expels a lot of darkness. Imagine what a lot of light can do? As lamplighters, it's been our 4,000 year job. May we merit our overdue payment with the coming of Moshiach Now!