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{{bheader|Oct 23rd|Devar/5770/Noach}}  
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{{bheader|Oct 30th|Devar/5770/Lech Lecha}}  
  
 
Hi again!  
 
Hi again!  
  
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Thankfully, this week was very calm and peaceful... and hot!  We are eagerly awaiting any sign of the approaching fall season; but so far, nothing doing.  Tomorrow night we resume asking for rain in our prayers (here in Israel, not elsewhere), so hopefully those prayers will be responded to positively.
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'''It is raining right now!''' B"H!!
  
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In a burst of unexpected honesty, the "Palestinian Authority" says it has [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133896 no evidence of Israeli 'war crimes'], though I'm sure they'll find a way to fabricate some. In further good news, the former [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=7536409 commander of British forces in Afghanistan] refutes the Goldstone blood libel, in the UN.
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The other day, as I was walking to my office, I encountered the building's janitor, Ahmed.  As is my usual practice, I exchanged the common pleasantries with him.  Then I said, "where's the rain?".   He suddenly became animated, and said to me, "We have to ''pray'' for rain!  The reason there's no rain is because ''we are not good''!".  This hit me like a ton of bricks!  Not only had we (e.g. Israeli Jews) only started requesting rain in our daily prayers just last week, but I had also just reviewed with someone the ''halachot'' about fasting because of the lack of rain, and how we need to "search our deeds" and repent, in order to be worthy of rain.  To have a presumably non-Torah aware Gentile reinforce this to me was very impressive. Only in Israel!
  
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As you probably remember, Arik Sharon (the former Prime Minister of Israel) fell into a coma several years ago and is still awaiting Judgement Day.  But what would he think [http://www.jewgleperth.com/?p=19 if he woke up today]? It would be much funnier were it not so true.  He would probably agree with this former Egyptian terrorist [http://wejew.com/media/6531/Ex-Terrorist__Concessions_Strengthen_Radicals/ that giving concessions strengthens radicals].
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Last week I spoke a bit about evolution, and what I said led some to believe I am ''anti'' evolution.  I just want to clarify that I am ''not'' against evolution per se, but I ''am'' quite certain that as it is currently presented, the theory of evolution is not statistically possible.  Interesting article again, in [http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mantis-shrimp-polarization Scientific American] about circularly-polarized eyes in certain shrimp.  I'm thinking that's another difficult piece of the puzzle. More, B"H, next week.  I have a lot of material to read through still...
  
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In Science and Technology news: a recently published [http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=evolution-details-revealed-through-2009-10-18 report in Scientific American] reveals the results of genetic drift in 40,000 (forty thousand) generations of {{wiki2|Escherichia_coli|E. Coli}} -- the longest running experiment of its kind to date.  After all that, the E. Coli is still E. Coli -- although some were able to consume citrate (E. Coli cannot do that ordinarily) (see an interesting [http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK3U696N278Z93O discussion on that topic] from last year).
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In another Israeli moment: my cel-phone company called me to "give me a deal".  The lady told me that I could pay another 20 shekels a month and be able to send 50 SMS messages. I told her that I never send SMS messages. She said, "but now you will". So I told her that I was not at all interested in SMSing anyone.  So she said, "OK, I have another deal for you that can save you money".  Alright, I'm interested in saving money.  She tells me, "You are spending 40 NIS on average on your phone bill, but you have only 50 minutes of airtime. For 50 NIS, you will get 120 minutes".  I told her that I don't even use 50 minutes, why would I want to pay more for something I wouldn't even use?  She said, "you can talk more!". I said, "but I don't want to talk more than I already do". She said, "don't you want to talk to your friends?". To which I said, "not really".  She finally conceded there was little they could do for an anti-socialite such as myself...
  
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Another interesting paper indicates that [http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/19/9/1637 ancient bacteria are virtually indistinguishable] from modern ones.  The "money quote" is: ''Almost without exception, bacteria isolated from ancient material have proven to closely resemble modern bacteria at both morphological and molecular levels''.  This raises a serious question for my scientific readers: where is the macro-evolution?  There should be direct evidence of it all around us, and yet we see none.  Please refer me to the appropriate scientific literature if I am wrong.
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I finished another complete learning-cycle of the Rambam's [http://www.mishnetorah.com/en/book.html Mishneh Torah] this week (yesterday, actually).  So I'm feeling energized and excited to widen the scope of my learning.  Anyone with suggestions (especially if you are here in Maaleh Adummim), please feel free to email me.
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For my non-scientific readers: "macro-evolution" refers to one species evolving into another species.  The term "species" generally refers to varieties of organisms which cannot interbreed (or do not normally interbreed).  A simple thought-experiment will illustrate one serious problem with macro-evolution.  Suppose you have a population of creatures all of one species.  One of them develops a mutation of such a type that it cannot breed with the rest of the members of the species... in effect, it has become a different species.  The problem is obvious: that species dies out after one individual.  So you need to have two such (identical or compatible) mutations in the same population at the same time (and the mutated individuals need to mate with each other).  Or you need a "two step" solution: some mutation occurs which takes the individual to a 'half-way' position where he can still breed with the host population, but down the line another mutation renders further interbreeding impossible.  Of course this applies only to organisms which use sexual reproduction, unlike the lowly E. Coli.
 
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The serious question to my scientific readers is: given the infinitesimal probability of even one such occurrence, how can you support the notion that all the millions of species on Earth were formed by such random events?  If you can believe that premise, you must be a champion Lotto player!  40,000 generations of E. Coli remained E. Coli in this experiment.  Indeed, in 40,000 generations of humans we seem to have remained humans. How is macro-evolution possible solely as a result of random mutation?
 
  
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Because the weekly Torah reading has to do with Avram leaving home and moving to Israel, our synagogue hosts an "olim (immigrants) shabbat".  We are one of the families who will be having "olim" as guests for tomorrow's meal.  On the menu:
 +
* quinoa stuffed vegetables
 +
* cauliflower
 +
* ''shnitzel''
 +
* gingerbread cookies
 +
* banana muffins
 +
* ''gefilte'' fish
 +
* fried eggplant
 +
* green teHina, Hilbe, Hummus
 +
* vegetable soup
 +
* potato ''kugel''
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(and other ''salads'' -- I don't remember everything being made).  You're welcome to join in...
  
 
Until next week,<br>
 
Until next week,<br>
 
Shabbat shalom!<br>
 
Shabbat shalom!<br>
  
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{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/October 2009/Oct 23rd|Oct 23rd|Blog/November 2009/Nov 6th|Nov 6th}}

Latest revision as of 14:53, 6 November 2009

Oct 30th (See this week's devar torah)
Send Ron feedback on this blog

Hi again!

It is raining right now! B"H!!

The other day, as I was walking to my office, I encountered the building's janitor, Ahmed. As is my usual practice, I exchanged the common pleasantries with him. Then I said, "where's the rain?". He suddenly became animated, and said to me, "We have to pray for rain! The reason there's no rain is because we are not good!". This hit me like a ton of bricks! Not only had we (e.g. Israeli Jews) only started requesting rain in our daily prayers just last week, but I had also just reviewed with someone the halachot about fasting because of the lack of rain, and how we need to "search our deeds" and repent, in order to be worthy of rain. To have a presumably non-Torah aware Gentile reinforce this to me was very impressive. Only in Israel!

Last week I spoke a bit about evolution, and what I said led some to believe I am anti evolution. I just want to clarify that I am not against evolution per se, but I am quite certain that as it is currently presented, the theory of evolution is not statistically possible. Interesting article again, in Scientific American about circularly-polarized eyes in certain shrimp. I'm thinking that's another difficult piece of the puzzle. More, B"H, next week. I have a lot of material to read through still...

In another Israeli moment: my cel-phone company called me to "give me a deal". The lady told me that I could pay another 20 shekels a month and be able to send 50 SMS messages. I told her that I never send SMS messages. She said, "but now you will". So I told her that I was not at all interested in SMSing anyone. So she said, "OK, I have another deal for you that can save you money". Alright, I'm interested in saving money. She tells me, "You are spending 40 NIS on average on your phone bill, but you have only 50 minutes of airtime. For 50 NIS, you will get 120 minutes". I told her that I don't even use 50 minutes, why would I want to pay more for something I wouldn't even use? She said, "you can talk more!". I said, "but I don't want to talk more than I already do". She said, "don't you want to talk to your friends?". To which I said, "not really". She finally conceded there was little they could do for an anti-socialite such as myself...

I finished another complete learning-cycle of the Rambam's Mishneh Torah this week (yesterday, actually). So I'm feeling energized and excited to widen the scope of my learning. Anyone with suggestions (especially if you are here in Maaleh Adummim), please feel free to email me.

Because the weekly Torah reading has to do with Avram leaving home and moving to Israel, our synagogue hosts an "olim (immigrants) shabbat". We are one of the families who will be having "olim" as guests for tomorrow's meal. On the menu:

  • quinoa stuffed vegetables
  • cauliflower
  • shnitzel
  • gingerbread cookies
  • banana muffins
  • gefilte fish
  • fried eggplant
  • green teHina, Hilbe, Hummus
  • vegetable soup
  • potato kugel

(and other salads -- I don't remember everything being made). You're welcome to join in...

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom!


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