LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Scientists in Edinburgh announced this week that the bacteria that cause leprosy can reprogram liver cells to grow new tissue, an ability that may help to develop treatments to rejuvenate ageing and diseased livers. This holds out the possibility of discovering a mechanism that will reverse the aging process in general and could make the old look young again. There is an intriguing Midrash on this week’s parasha, which indicates that until the time of Abraham, no-one looked old! On the verse: “Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Bereishit 24:11) the Talmud suggests that at this...
IN THE SAME BOAT A group of people were travelling in a boat. One of them took a drill and began to drill a hole beneath his seat. His friends said to him: “What on earth are you doing?” The man replied: “Why does it concern you? I’m only drilling under my own place” They said to him: “But you will flood the boat for us all!” (Midrash Vayikra Raba 4:6) This 1500-year-old parable of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai encapsulates starkly the challenge we face in the world today. For centuries, we were able to dig holes in our collective...
INTRODUCING LOT What do you know about Lot, the nephew of Abraham? Lot was the son of Abraham’s brother, Haran, who joined Abraham and Sarah on their epic journey to an unknown land. Our Sages point out that it was to Lot’s credit that when Abraham told the Egyptian border officials that Sarah was his sister, Lot did not spill the beans. Abraham and Lot left Egypt as wealthy men but the family partnership broke down. Lot’s shepherds could not get on with the shepherds of Abraham. It appears that they took their lead from their boss. We read about...
THE LIGHT OF THE UNIVERSE Have you heard of BOAT? I read about it this week BOAT is an acronym for Brightest Of All Time. It is the name that has been given to the biggest cosmic explosion ever detected, that occurred on 9th October. It seems to have been the result of a massive dying star 2.4 billion light years away. Noah’s Boat, the Ark is also associated with illumination, albeit on a much smaller scale. Noah is instructed by G-d to build an Ark. He tells him: “Make a tzohar for the Ark.” This word, tzohar, doesn’t appear...
OF SERPENTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA As we start the drama of Creation, it is always worth remembering that the Torah speaks to us and about us. Let us set the scene: Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Did the serpent lie? In the account in the parasha, the serpent cunningly says to Eve: “Did G-d actually tell you that you couldn’t eat from any tree in the garden?” Eve replies: “We have been told that we can eat from any tree in the garden, except, from the tree in the middle. G-d has said that we mustn’t...
