In this week's Torah Portion, we meet our famous forefather
Avraham-arguably the greatest revolutionary in the history of the
world. Avraham broke the news to the world that there is One & only
One G-d. Up until Avraham, idols were worshiped; the sun the moon and
the stars as well. The 'Midrash' describes one of the ways Avraham
came to his realization of monotheism at a young age: seeing the
sun's powerful rays beeming unto the earth, blinding his eyes, Avraham
1st believed the sun to be G-d. But as soon as night came-the sun left
and the moon took over! the moon must be G-d then. As this cycle
continued, Avraham realized there must be 1, and Only 1, who rules the
world-One G-d.
We can learn from Avraham our forefather, that G-d, as Hidden as He
seems to be, displays Himself in our world: we just have to take a
minute to investigate deeper.....
Advancements in medicine and technology help us SEE G-d's Amazing Handiwork:
Let's take the Human Eye: 'Right now you are reading these words. What
is happening inside your eye as you are looking at these words? Light
passes through the front of the eye (the pupil) & through the lens.
This light goes toward the back of the eye (the retina) where in a
space less than 1 square inch, there are approximately one hundred
million small machines shaped like rods. Every rod is connected by a
nerve fiber to the brain. The rods contain a chemical substance called
visual purple (rhodopsin). When the light reaches the rod it causes
the visual purple to break down. This breakdown generates several
millionths of a volt of electricity. This electricity is transmitted
to the brain through the optic nerve at about 300 mph. The brain
interprets the signals coming in, identifies what is being seen &
remembers the image. The entire process is completed in about two
thousandths of a second!
The hundred million rods described above only help us see black &
white, however. There is a different mechanism in our eyes for seeing
colors. The back of each eye has approx. 3 million cones with
bleachable pigments which react to light waves of different colors.
The brain merges the electrical signals that each color creates to
form many different hues. When the lighting is faint, the cones become
less active, our sense of color fades away, everything becomes gray, &
the rods for black & white vision become active. There is much more
that can be said about the wonders of the eye.'
-'Discovery'-by Dov Moshe Lipman
To realize there is a G-d in the world is one thing. It takes a
searching eye and a wondering mind. Avraham did that, and passed on
to us the inherent ability to realize too. But Avraham also decided to
act on that knowledge, to do what our Creator asks of His people: to
make this world into a dwelling place for Him through Torah, Prayer,
Charity, Mivtzot, and kindness to others. Let's keep this week's Torah
portion, and our forefather Avraham's search, alive. Let's Keep up the
search-
Shabbat Shalom!
-daniel
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Finding the Infinite - in an Eye
In this week's Torah Portion, we meet our famous forefather
Avraham-arguably the greatest revolutionary in the history of the
world. Avraham broke the news to the world that there is One & only
One G-d. Up until Avraham, idols were worshiped; the sun the moon and
the stars as well. The 'Midrash' describes one of the ways Avraham
came to his realization of monotheism at a young age: seeing the
sun's powerful rays beeming unto the earth, blinding his eyes, Avraham
1st believed the sun to be G-d. But as soon as night came-the sun left
and the moon took over! the moon must be G-d then. As this cycle
continued, Avraham realized there must be 1, and Only 1, who rules the
world-One G-d. We can learn from Avraham our forefather, that G-d, as Hidden as He seems to be, displays Himself in our world: we just have to take a
minute to investigate deeper.....
'Right now you are reading these words. What is happening inside your eye as you are looking at these words? Light passes through the front of the eye (the pupil) & through the lens. This light goes toward the back of the eye (the retina) where in a space less than 1 square inch, there are approximately one hundred
million small machines shaped like rods. Every rod is connected by a nerve fiber to the brain. The rods contain a chemical substance called visual purple (rhodopsin). When the light reaches the rod it causes the visual purple to break down. This breakdown generates several millionths of a volt of electricity. This electricity is transmitted to the brain through the optic nerve at about 300 mph.
The brain interprets the signals coming in, identifies what is being seen &
remembers the image. The entire process is completed in about two
thousandths of a second!
The hundred million rods described above only help us see black &
white, however. There is a different mechanism in our eyes for seeing
colors. The back of each eye has approximately 3 million cones with
bleachable pigments which react to light waves of different colors.
The brain merges the electrical signals that each color creates to
form many different hues. When the lighting is faint, the cones become
less active, our sense of color fades away, everything becomes gray, &
the rods for black & white vision become active. There is much more
that can be said about the wonders of the eye.'
- “Discovery” by Dov Moshe Lipman
To realize there is a G-d in the world is one thing. It takes a searching eye and a wondering mind. Avraham did that, and passed on to us the inherent ability to realize too. But Avraham also decided to act on that knowledge, to do what our Creator asks of His people: to make this world into a dwelling place for Him through Torah, Prayer, Charity, Mivtzot, and kindness to others. Let's keep this week's Torah portion, and our forefather Avraham's search, alive. Let's Keep up the search!
Shabbat Shalom!
-daniel
Avraham-arguably the greatest revolutionary in the history of the
world. Avraham broke the news to the world that there is One & only
One G-d. Up until Avraham, idols were worshiped; the sun the moon and
the stars as well. The 'Midrash' describes one of the ways Avraham
came to his realization of monotheism at a young age: seeing the
sun's powerful rays beeming unto the earth, blinding his eyes, Avraham
1st believed the sun to be G-d. But as soon as night came-the sun left
and the moon took over! the moon must be G-d then. As this cycle
continued, Avraham realized there must be 1, and Only 1, who rules the
world-One G-d. We can learn from Avraham our forefather, that G-d, as Hidden as He seems to be, displays Himself in our world: we just have to take a
minute to investigate deeper.....
'Right now you are reading these words. What is happening inside your eye as you are looking at these words? Light passes through the front of the eye (the pupil) & through the lens. This light goes toward the back of the eye (the retina) where in a space less than 1 square inch, there are approximately one hundred
million small machines shaped like rods. Every rod is connected by a nerve fiber to the brain. The rods contain a chemical substance called visual purple (rhodopsin). When the light reaches the rod it causes the visual purple to break down. This breakdown generates several millionths of a volt of electricity. This electricity is transmitted to the brain through the optic nerve at about 300 mph.
The brain interprets the signals coming in, identifies what is being seen &
remembers the image. The entire process is completed in about two
thousandths of a second!
The hundred million rods described above only help us see black &
white, however. There is a different mechanism in our eyes for seeing
colors. The back of each eye has approximately 3 million cones with
bleachable pigments which react to light waves of different colors.
The brain merges the electrical signals that each color creates to
form many different hues. When the lighting is faint, the cones become
less active, our sense of color fades away, everything becomes gray, &
the rods for black & white vision become active. There is much more
that can be said about the wonders of the eye.'
- “Discovery” by Dov Moshe Lipman
To realize there is a G-d in the world is one thing. It takes a searching eye and a wondering mind. Avraham did that, and passed on to us the inherent ability to realize too. But Avraham also decided to act on that knowledge, to do what our Creator asks of His people: to make this world into a dwelling place for Him through Torah, Prayer, Charity, Mivtzot, and kindness to others. Let's keep this week's Torah portion, and our forefather Avraham's search, alive. Let's Keep up the search!
Shabbat Shalom!
-daniel
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