I have a website!

B"H

Shalom,

I have set up a new website in http://hagoyim.gigacities.net. It is not so complete but I will keep updating it. This is actually a very old design done while I am still in Form 5 (the content too). The website just cover the basic of basics so there's nothing much for advance learners to see. I hope to add in more thought provoking stuff there (I do wish I have the ability).

So what's the new update nowadays? Nothing much except that I am now in holiday so I have a lot of spare time to work on my website. However, being a busy man I am, my time is truly very limited. By HaShem's help, I hope I can finish this website as soon as possible with fresher contents.

I currently working on some interfaith discussions. I have found out that there is a lot in common between Noachism and every other religions on earth. I have seen that a lot of reasoning that I read from the Torah is explicitly, the greatest principals in other religions as well.

So, I have one idea, crazy enough but I think it is not that harmful. I have the notion that the age of the Mashiach will come after we realised that we are one, not many. We have to shed off a lot of misunderstanding and try to find wisdom common in every religion in order to bring them all back to the truth we all love so much.

Okay, enough rambling for now. Shalom!

Lekh Lekha

The parsha for last week is Lekh Lekha (לן לן) which essentially narrates the departure of Avram from 'Ur to Charan and then to K'naan (Canaan). Well the name implies the meaning of 'Get Out!' (though not that harsh but close...). I have jotted down several important points pertaining to this Parsha, the earlier part that is, because of the apparent blurriness I encountered when I studied the text. Subsequently, I think that this is a charitable thing to do i.e. helping others in their studies.

Before Departure

A lot of scholars address the problem of mentioning the death of Terach even before he passed away. This took place in Genesis 11.32 when the verse explicitly state the death of Terach in Charan. He live for 205 years and when Avram left his father's presence in Charan, Terach was 145 years old but why the mentioning of his death so soon? Rashi, as always, have his say.

According to the great commentator, he told us that,

'The idolaters are considered dead even though they are still alive and the righteous are considered alive even though they had passed away,'

What a profound statement. Rashi, earlier, explained that the mentioning of the death of Avram's Father prematurely is to 'conceal' the fact that Avram left his father during his Golden Age lest others will say that Avram left his father when he needed care the most i.e. during his old days.

However, in my opinion, things look quite differently (bear in my mind, it is my opinion again..)

It seems to me that the sudden mentioning of the death of Terach in Charan is due to the verse Gen 12.1. The continuity of the verses (from the end of Parsha Noach to Parsha Lekh Lekha) seems to be abrupt and it gave an impression that 'things are not going the way they should'. Why I say so? If you follow the narrative closely, you will see that HaShem Did Not Tell Terach, Avram and Lot to left for the Land of K'naan. They travelled at their own initiative to the land; this is what we get from Gen 11.31. However, at the beginning of Chapter 12, one sees that it is under HaShem's Command that Avram left his father's house. This seems odd and contradictory to the whole understanding but a close examination of the text will shed some light.

Firstly, the sudden mentioning of the death of Terach in Charan can only means one thing. Terach did not sojourn with Avram to the land of K'naan and he settled in Charan for the next 60 years after Avram's departure.

Secondly, the verse from Gen 12.1 read thus:

'Now HaShem said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee'

Notice the sentence 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house'. This obviously implies that Avram have to get out from his home country (Ur), from his kindreds, and from his father's (which is in Charan).

The conclusion is at the end of the eleventh chapter of Genesis, it is solely by Terach's initiative that they wanted to move away to the land of K'naan and after some predicament, did not proceed further than Charan. However, after HaShem'S Intervention, it is apparent that this has become a commandment to leave his station to a new land where HaShem will Show him. If this is not the case, why will HaShem mentioned two places at the same time? The sentence seems to me as though as Avram can no longer go back to Ur, his kindreds, and his father's house.

One commentator gave the reason for their expulsion from Ur. The behaviour of Avram since he is a youth is very apparent to us. A well-known midrash states that he broke all the idols his father sold and blame it to the biggest idols. Well, with this behaviour at hand, I do not feel strange that they will be expelled. This is the reason why G-d Chooses Avram and Avram discovered G-d even though HaShem Have Not Revealed Himself to Avram yet.

Dividing HaShem? Heaven Forbid!!!

T"G

Yom Shevi'i Shalom,

There are a lot of speculations on whether the idea of pluralism originated from Jewish Scripture or Pagan's sources. As I am not a scholar, I am not going to do an in-depth analysis of this matter but to 'blog' about it. Well, this is what bloggers do, write something that originate from your mind.

The problem with dividing HaShem is that, this is going against the very foundation of the whole universe, as you will see later. This is as nonsense as attributing to HaShem various attributes (as noted by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon in his Dalalat al-Hairin). Puzzling indeed is his commentary and is not the Ten Sephiroth a division of the Godhead (Heaven Forbid!)?

Not at all as you see, all of the above are only valid if we divide HaShem into Ten Attributes in accordance to the Ten Sephiroth. This is to say that G-d consists of Love, Strength, Crown, etc. However, this is idolatrous. Why? As Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon argued, how do we divide an Infinite HaShem? The most famous of all argument is that, how does One become truly Omnipotent if there is actually Ten-in-one? Ask yourself one very simple question; suppose we have ten 'partitions' of HaShem Coexisting together (Heaven Forbid!) and actually there is Ten in One, how do we fit in the picture, in the realm of non-physicality, that we can partition this and that saying 'X occupies the same SPACE as B or C occupies more SPACE than D?' No we can't because space does not exist in a realm of non-physicality. Only a physical being can feel and occupies space. This is the properties of matter and HaShem is no matter!

So what are the Ten Sephiroth? Honestly, I do not truly understand it as I am not yet a Gentile Qabalist. I am just a common Noachide with a very limited knowledge of HaShem. According to Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, there is only one way to describe HaShem in 'division' without actually dividing Him i.e. through action. We know that HaShem Possesses Mercy and He, also, Possesses Justice and Strength. These are the basis of the Ten Sephiroth or the Partzufim, where G-d is described (not divided) by His Action because Action will not affect the True Essence of HaShem and by doing so, eliminate the possibility of ascribing anything less than equivalent to the Almighty.

There is another one that I think the most important of all. One excruciatingly important point; there is no other existence that is real besides HaShem. A very similar saying indeed for the Buddhist. Buddha mentioned this before that 'Everything is only an illusion' but he missed by one point i.e. everything is an illusion Created by G-d. There is no real existence beyond Him. This point coincides with the Torah as the Torah reiterates that G-d Created us out of Nothing. Basically, we are no more better than 'nothing' and G-d is the Only True Existence!

Well, it might be really scary now if you don't get me. Think of it this way; does HaShem Have a body? No He Doesn't! The reason is thus, physicality is a limiting factor. G-d is Omnipotent and by this, there is actually no more we can argue with. We live inside HaShem and HaShem Desires to Dwell among His Creation. G-d is Love because we know that G-d Creates this world because He Loves us and He Desires to do Good.

May The Mashiach Arrive Speedily in Our Day!