Integral Torah Perspectives

ב''ה O.K. This is just too good! Check this out! א מַשָּׂא, נִינְוֵה--סֵפֶר חֲזוֹן נַחוּם, הָאֶלְקֹשִׁי. Ninve ring any Yom Kippur bells (Yonah maybe...)? ג יְהוָה, אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וגדול- (וּגְדָל-) כֹּחַ, וְנַקֵּה, לֹא יְנַקֶּה; יְהוָה, בְּסוּפָה וּבִשְׂעָרָה דַּרְכּוֹ, וְעָנָן, אֲבַק רַגְלָיו. Straight from 13 attributes of mercy to hurricanes and tornados; in the same Pasuk! Or how about: וְעִנִּתִךְ--לֹא אֲעַנֵּךְ, עוֹד. Sounds like a promise that for what we suffer on Yom Kippur, we will not suffer any further.

ב''ה Just a small note on Hawkings latest statement about G-d's involvement in creation (or lack thereof.) It would seem that his opinion is similar to Aristotle in קדמות העולם (primordal existance of matter/the world.) He simply replaces the קדמות הבורא  (primordal existance of the creator) with the laws of gravity. The concentrated form of matter that existed, in whatever form it did, before expression of time and space etc that was caused by the 'big bang' is simply another way of expressing קדמות העולם. There is no way of separating it's 'cause' as a תנועה (movement.) If it is causal it must have a  תנועה itself. If it has a תנועה itself, it must have a primal first 'cause', קדמות הבורא. Something must have caused the laws of physics/gravity themselves to be in there present form. What forces us to say that the laws are absolute? The laws of gravity can not replace the  קדמות הבורא that must be there according to Aristotle (even.) It is s...