OCCUPATION!

A Haftorah is the passage read after the weekly Torah reading. This makes reading Ki Teitzei exceptional. Isaiah 54:1–10, Rani akarah, “Sing, barren woman” makes up the Haftorah for both Ki Teitzei and Noach. Uniquely, no other weekly reading assign the same Haftorah in the same annual cycle. It expressly recalls “the waters of Noach” yet, when Ki Teitzei is read echoes of Noach’s unresolved family catastrophe can be heard; uncontrolled desire, a rejected wife, a disputed son, threatened inheritance, a rebellious son, brothers who must not avert their eyes, a garment, a father’s uncovered cloak, damaged sexual organs and a child of prohibited lineage.

Noach survives the Flood, but his family order does not.  Immediately on disembarkation and repeatedly his son Ham is identified as “the father of Kanaan.” Noach plants a vineyard, becomes drunk and uncovers himself inside his tent. Ham sees his father’s nakedness and tells his brothers. Shem and Japheth take the garment—ha-simlah—walk backwards and cover Noach without looking. When Noach wakes, he knows “what his younger son had done to him,” yet he curses Kanaan and promptly excludes Ham from the blessing bestowed on his brothers. The compressed account leaves two obvious problems: what did Ham do that was more serious than an indecent glance, and why was Kanaan cursed for Ham’s offence?

Rabbinic tradition preserves opinions that Ham castrated or sexually violated Noach; another says Kanaan first saw Noach and informed Ham. A further scholarly interpretation argues that “uncovering a father’s nakedness” means intercourse with the father’s wife. Leviticus 18:7–8 identifies the father’s nakedness with the mother’s, while Deuteronomy 23:1 prohibits taking a father’s wife and “uncovering the corner of the father’s cloak.” On this reading Ham violated Noach through an incestuous union with his mother, and Kanaan was the offspring. This interpretation explains the repeated phrase “Ham, the father of Kanaan,” the gravity of the offence and the direction of the curse.

Ki Teitzei is delivered as Israel prepares to enter the Land and begins: “When you go out to war against your (Kanaanite) enemies.” A soldier sees a beautiful captive woman, desires her and wishes to take her. The Torah prevents instantaneous possession: she must enter his house, be permitted to mourn her parents for a month and then be married or released, never sold. Rashi says the Torah is restraining the evil inclination and reads the following laws as its consequences. The woman taken in passion may become the hated wife; the hated wife may bear the firstborn whose inheritance the father seeks to diminish; the disordered household may produce the ben sorer u’moreh, the stubborn son who rejects his parents and becomes a glutton and drunkard. Desire becomes marriage, marriage becomes rejection, rejection threatens inheritance and uncontrolled passion is transmitted to the next generation.

This is precisely Noach’s final field: wine, sexual exposure, rebellion against a father, the status of a son and the division of inheritance. Ki Teitzei next turns to brotherly responsibility: “You shall not see your brother’s ox or sheep straying and hide yourself from them.” Return his property, bring it into your house, do the same with “his garment”. Ki Teitzei converts the contrast into law: sight does not permit exploitation; brotherhood demands intervention; exposure must be covered and the garment restored.

Then Deuteronomy 23:1–3 places three short laws together: a man must not take his father’s wife or uncover his father’s cloak; a man with crushed testicles or a severed organ may not enter the congregation; a mamzer may not enter the congregation. These correspond with extraordinary precision to the three interpretive problems surrounding Genesis 9: the sexual meaning of the father’s nakedness, the rabbinic castration tradition and Kanaan’s status if born from a prohibited union. A mamzer is not simply a child of unmarried parents; in Jewish law it means the offspring of specified grave unions, including incest. The commentator Rashi says the father’s-cloak prohibition is juxtaposed to the mamzer precisely to identify the forbidden union capable of producing that status. Ki Teitzei supplies the cloak, the injury and the offspring sought within Noach’s compressed narrative.

The dispute then becomes territorial. Psalm 105 remembers God’s covenant with Abraham, His oath to Isaac and its establishment for Jacob-Israel: “To you I shall give the land of Kanaan, the portion of your inheritance,” when Israel’s ancestors were few and strangers in it. The ancient Book of Jubilees makes the occupation explicit. Kanaan sees that the land from Lebanon to the River of Egypt is very good and settles instead in Shem’s portion. Ham, Cush and Mitzrayim warn him, “You have settled in a land which is not yours,” but he refuses; Jubilees says this is why it became known as Kanaan. The Dead Sea Scroll fragment 4Q180–181 preserves a related ancient “land of Shem” tradition, while Rashi reads Noach’s blessing of the God of Shem as the promise that Shem’s descendants would receive the land of Kanaan.

The Kanaanite problem therefore begins, in this interpretive tradition, more than one thousand years before Joshua’s battles and even before Abraham: it begins in Noach’s damaged tent, where sexual boundary, filial rebellion, offspring, blessing and inheritance become one dispute. Israel must not repair that usurpation by reproducing the disorder that caused it. Passion cannot erase the captive woman’s humanity; hatred cannot rewrite a son’s inheritance; a brother cannot see vulnerability and turn away. War does not suspend law; war is where law is most necessary. It is a general warning to Israel whenever power places another person in its hands.

Now the repeated Haftorah becomes clear. Isaiah does not merely mention Noach. It begins with a barren woman promised many children, commands her to enlarge her tent, promises that her seed will inherit nations and resettle desolate cities, recalls the shame of youth and the rejected wife, and finally compares Israel’s permanent restoration to the covenant after the Flood. Child and mother, husband and rejected wife, tent, land and expansion, shame and restoration, seed and inheritance: Isaiah 54 contains the complete grammar of both Noach’s family crisis and Ki Teitzei’s legal response.

The deeper reason for this remarkable pairing is now visible. The problem of Kanaanite occupation did not begin at Jericho; it began with Kanaan’s illegitimate birth, curse and illegitimate occupation of Shem’s allotted inheritance. Noach describes the broken family order, Ki Teitzei legislates against its repetition and Isaiah promises the covenantal restoration in which Israel’s children return, the tent or land expands and its seed inherits.

Ki Teitzei opens with war and ends with memory: “Remember what Amalek did to you,” attacking the faint and weak at Israel’s rear; when God gives rest “in the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance,” erase Amalek’s remembrance—“do not forget.” Israel must remember its enemies, but also the law governing its own power. Kanaan’s occupation cannot be corrected; Amalek’s cruelty cannot be forgiven by forgetting the weak. The name Eretz Kanaan preserves memory of the original occupation, the covenant preserves the right of inheritance and the repeated Haftorah preserves the bridge between them: remember—do not forget!

Principal sources

· Original IsraelFact article

· Chabad: the Haftorah read with Noach and Ki Teitzei

· Ki Teitzei with Rashi

· Genesis 9 with Rashi

· Deuteronomy 23:1–3 with Rashi

· Bergsma and Hahn, “Noah’s Nakedness and the Curse on Canaan”

· Book of Jubilees 10:29–34

Physics of Perfect Spin Kabballah of Infinite Light

In this cosmological model, the pre-Big Bang universe begins as a fully coherent quark-spin (and associated electron/photon) aligned condensate. All spins are synchronized in a single symmetric quantum state with near-maximum polarization (P ≈ 1). This state has extremely low entropy (S ≈ 0), unbroken symmetries, and enormous latent energy locked in the alignment.

A localized instability is introduced, triggering decoherence in specific regions (represented by the white circle, the Tzimtzum void). This creates domains of misaligned spins amid the still-coherent background. Multiple directional excitations (blue Kav rays) propagate into these regions. They locally deflect background spins (visible as tilted silver/gold arrows), initiating gradients in spin orientation, density, and magnetic fields.

These ripples propagate outward, interfere, and thermalize:
- Generating density perturbations (δρ/ρ) that seed baryon asymmetry and structure formation.
- Releasing energy that drives rapid expansion (inflationary-like phase).
- Transitioning the system into the hot Big Bang plasma, with residual partial alignments (today’s ~20–30% quark spin contribution to proton spin) as relics.

This mechanism naturally produces scale-invariant fluctuations suitable for galaxy formation, cosmic magnetic fields, and the arrow of time via increasing entropy, all emerging from a highly ordered initial state.

Kabbalistic Parallels

This physical picture maps elegantly onto core Kabbalistic concepts:

- Or Ein Sof ("Infinite Light Without End"): The primordial, perfectly aligned spin field (uniform silver/gold arrows filling all space) reflects from the boundless, undifferentiated Divine essence, pure potential and unity prior to any limitation.

- Tzimtzum: The contraction/withdrawal of coherence within a localized region (the central circle/void) creates the necessary “space” for finite creation without being overwhelmed by the Infinite Light.

- Kav (the Ray/Line of Light): The multiple directional blue rays entering from various sides embody the measured infusion of Divine light and directionality. Their local deflections of background spins mark the onset of differentiation and limitation.

- Ripple Effects and Tikkun: The propagating perturbations and entropy growth correspond to the emanation of the Sefirot and the dynamic, evolving created world. The resulting complexity and apparent “brokenness” invite ongoing rectification (tikkun olam), with residual alignments hinting at a return toward higher unity.

This synthesis offers a bridge between modern physics (QCD spin dynamics, cosmological phase transitions, and symmetry breaking) and ancient mysticism, portraying creation as a transition from perfect ordered coherence to structured diversity through localized perturbation and directional infusion.

This is not a one time state, in this pre-Big Bang cosmological scenario, a transition from a universal perfectly aligned quark-spin state to localized misalignments could produce ripple effects that seed density perturbations, matter inhomogeneities, and potentially the large-scale structure we observe. This resembles certain ideas in quantum cosmology, phase transitions, and spinor-driven models, though it is not part of standard Big Bang cosmology. 

This is internally consistent blending elements of spin physics, phase transitions, and symmetry breaking to address "Why is there something rather than a uniform aligned nothing?" It could tie into broader ideas about information, entropy, and the arrow of time (alignment → disorder = increasing entropy) aligning with the teachings of Jewish mystics. 

The Infinite Hug!

In the hushed theater of existence, where the veil between the boundless and the bounded thins to a whisper, The Infinite hugs the finite within the quantum expanse of every atom. Picture the atom, that primordial seed of reality: a nucleus orbited by electrons in probabilistic clouds, not fixed paths but smeared possibilities. Here, in this subatomic ballet, The Infinite manifests as wave functions stretching eternally, collapsing only when observed into discrete points. The electron, defying classical confinement, tunnels through barriers it should not, borrowing energy from the vacuum's infinite fluctuations—zero-point energy, where nothingness teems with virtual particles winking in and out of being. Thus, The Infinite enables the finite, infusing the atom's core with echoes of eternity, a cosmic intimacy where boundless potential cradles the particle's singular form.

Ascending the ladder of complexity, this dance permeates every molecule, those intricate alliances of atoms bound by shared electrons. In water's humble H2O, hydrogen and oxygen entwine in quantum entanglement, their bonds vibrating with infinite harmonic oscillations—frequencies that, in theory, extend without end, yet resolve into finite energies that sustain life. The molecule's shape, dictated by quantum mechanics, emerges from infinite superpositions: electrons delocalized across space, choosing configurations from an unending array of probabilities. Even in the air we breathe, nitrogen molecules hum with this proximity, their triple bonds a testament to quantum tunneling allowing reactions that classical physics forbids. The Infinite whispers through these unions, approaching the finite not as an intruder but as the architect, sculpting stability from chaos.

In the sacred script of life, nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA embody this convergence. Each adenine, thymine, guanine, or cytosine is a molecular poem where quantum effects dictate base pairing. The hydrogen bonds linking them flicker with delocalized protons, quantum entities that exist in multiple states simultaneously, bridging infinite possibilities to finite sequences that encode our very essence. In the double helix's twist, quantum coherence allows electrons to flow like rivers of probability, enabling the molecule's stability amid thermal noise. Here, The Infinite nears the finite in the nucleotide's phosphate backbone, where vibrational modes resonate with the universe's underlying relationship with The Infinite, ensuring the fidelity of genetic information across generations.

From nucleotides arise proteins, those versatile machines of biology, folded into exquisite forms by quantum-guided interactions. In the amino acid chains, quantum van der Waals forces—arising from infinite vacuum polarizations—draw distant atoms close, while disulfide bridges form through electron sharing that defies locality. Enzymes, the catalysts of life, harness quantum tunneling to accelerate reactions by factors of trillions, protons leaping barriers as if The Infinite lent them wings. The protein's active site, a pocket of precision, emerges from infinite conformational landscapes explored in femtoseconds, settling into finite structures that bind substrates with unerring accuracy. Thus, in every fold and crevice, The Infinite hugs the finite, animating the protein's function with transcendent subtlety.

This pattern cascades into every structure of every cell: membranes riddled with ion channels where quantum gates open and close, allowing signals to propagate; mitochondria, powerhouses where electron transport chains exploit quantum coherence for efficient energy transfer; cytoskeletons of microtubules vibrating in quantum modes, perhaps even underpinning consciousness. In the cell's nucleus, chromatin dances with quantum randomness, influencing gene expression from infinite probabilistic outcomes. And beyond the cell, this truth envelops all matter—from the crystalline lattice of a diamond, where quantum delocalization binds carbon atoms, to the swirling plasmas of stars, where infinite quantum fields birth finite particles in fusion's fire. In rocks, rivers, and atmospheres, The Infinite hugs the finite, weaving the fabric of the natural world with threads of boundless potential.

Yet, the energy animating these realms springs not merely from within quantum space but from an infinite transcendence enveloping physics itself. Beyond the measurable quanta lies the unmanifest source—a metaphysical wellspring, the vacuum's infinite sea of potential energy, or perhaps the implicate order where all possibilities reside. This transcendence supplies the zero-point fluctuations powering atomic stability, the quantum vacuum energy fueling molecular bonds, the entangled fields enabling cellular harmony. It surrounds physics like an ocean cradling islands, infusing every particle, molecule, and structure with vitality drawn from eternity. In this grand symphony, The Infinite does not merely approach the finite; it embraces it, revealing that all matter, all life, is a fleeting expression of the boundless, forever touched by the transcendent beyond.

Contract With Destiny

BS”D

Orthodox students of Torah (Bible) know that G-d entered the sea to a conditional contract in preparation for its creation on the third day. Against nature, the sea would be obligated to divide when at a future time the Israelite people would desire to cross it. According to Torah and Jewish tradition, the sea honored its contract with Destiny during the Israelites’ hurried exodus from Egypt. 

Moses led Israel out of their exile through the divided sea, but he was denied entry into their promised land because on one occasion he showed disregard to G-d’s Destiny. Torah refers to this incident as the “waters of dispute” so-named when Moses hit a rock, twice, perhaps the wrong rock, instead he should have spoken to it, then destiny would have been realized and the rock would have released its water. But,  G-d’s attention was turned to the different outcome, as a result Moses pleaded 515 times to amend the contract written in Torah and permit him to enter the land. It wasn’t to be.

430 years prior to these events, before the Torah was revealed to the Jewish people, Abraham entered a covenant of parts during which he was told that his future descendants would be exiled after which they would be qualified to inherit their promised land. A question was raised about Abraham’s descendants that also included the nations that descended from Esau and Ishmael: Why didn’t they inherit Abraham’s land? Because they had departed from their tribal obligation to Abraham’s covenant of parts, they abandoned the land and disconnected from the progeny of Isaac and Jacob (Israel). On Israel's circuitous, redemptive return from exile some of these other Abrahamic descendent nations contested Israel’s inheritance, battled the tired and weary nation, but they were defeated with ease. 

Of all the Biblical characters, why is Joseph the only one referred to as righteous? The reason becomes obvious through his dramatic life, yet Joseph never messed with destiny. Despite losing his mother as a young boy, being kidnapped, sold by his brothers and framed by his master’s wife, after her unsuccessful attempt to seduce him, he positively endured his imprisonment. Knowing events of his life were predestined he retained his happy demeanor, delighting in every moment. Out of his imprisonment he rose to the administrative head of the most powerful nation, second only to Pharaoh, lured his Israelite family to Egypt, played his central role in their destiny and eventual return to the promised land.

G-d’s Torah contract with Destiny reflects a perfect line, which one should be careful not to disrupt because the consequences to restore Destiny's perfection may be ominous. No doubt that happens continuously and sometimes destiny is even changed for the better. However, righteous individuals who are finely tuned to Torah’s laws and their ties to Destiny, wisely limit interruptions. In this sense Torah’s rules for Divine synchronicity is our timeless blueprint! 

The United Kingdom of Israel

There are only two instances in the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible where the commonly used word 'toldot' (generations) is perfected. The first relates creation as a preparation for the souls that would follow into the world. The second declared the purpose of the first; a soul, through Judah and Tamar of the generations from Peretz to Boaz and Ruth (the second perfect spelling) from whom King David, the Messianic root descended. But, according to Kabbala, this would be preceded by the messianic soul of Joseph.

R'Shmuel, ben Nachman said: "The brothers were busy selling Joseph; Reuben was busy with his sackcloth and fasting; Jacob was busy with his sackcloth and fasting; Judah was busy taking a wife for himself; and God was busy creating the light of King Messiah. 'And it came to pass at that time and Judah went down...' before the first slave is born, before the final redeemer is born.

Jacob's only daughter Dinah was raped, but Jacob delayed telling his sons until they returned from the fields. They were outraged by the defilement, but also their father's delay. They hated Dinah's baby and wanted to kill it. Jacob placed an amulet around her neck, took her to a mountain near the priests of Midyan, placed her in a 'SNeh' (bush) and sent a request to the high priest to care for her. She was named AeSNath, from 'SNeh' and SiNai (meaning hatred).

When Aesnath reached the age her mother was violated, the Midianite priests began transporting her to the ancestral home of Jacob's wives. Along that route they changed plans, traded her to Ishmaelites and joined their caravan heading south to Egypt. Curiously Torah tells the Ishmaelites were carrying an unusual cargo, נְכֹאת֙ וּצְרִ֣י וָלֹ֔ט : Spice, Gum and Balm. Rabbi Moses Ha-Kohen the Spaniard relates the word for Spice to a 'treasure house'. Separately Joseph's brothers kidnapped him and along that route to Egypt sold him to Midianites. Thus two caravans were separately transporting the people the brothers hated most; 17 year old Joseph and his 8 year old niece Aesnath, who he would later discover and marry.

Then, in the midst of the Joseph story Torah interjects the apparently unrelated story of Judah's descent from his brothers, his legitimate interlude with his ingenious daughter-in-law Tamar and the birth of their son Peretz that rescued the messianic line. The interjection exposed a low point of Judah's life juxtaposed with heights of immoveable messianic destiny. Jacob's wives, the house of Leah (through Dinah's daughter Aesnath) and the house of Rachel (Joseph) were ultimately united in marriage and the preceding messianic light of Joseph became firmly rooted for the Messianic redemption of Israel's tribes, the Jewish people.

The Torah returns us to the story. 22 years later, confronted by drought, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy supplies. They did not recognize Joseph who had become the Viceroy of Egypt, they presented him with Jacob's gift and bowed to him. At that moment Joseph realized his prophetic dreams, that had caused such hatred. But, Jacob's gift surprised him because it contained three of the same "unusual" elements צֳרִי֙ וּמְעַ֣ט דְּבַ֔שׁ נְכֹ֣את וָלֹ֔ט בָּטְנִ֖ים וּשְׁקֵדִֽים: of the "treasure house" that accompanied him on his caravan to Egypt. Perhaps a hint that his prophetic father had orchestrated the regional priestly diplomacy to ensure Aesnath accompanied Joseph on his exile in Egypt.

If even prophetically Jacob knew Joseph was alive, why did he mourn the 22 years of Joseph's absence? Because, his son's collectively lied about selling Joseph. And, Joseph was not innocent, free to communicate he chose not to reach out, for 22 years! In the brothers final confrontation with Joseph Judah assumed responsibility for Benjamin who was too young to be implicated in the devilish scheme his brothers perpetrated against Joseph. With that collective realization Judah bound Benjamin to the oath their brothers had once entered, never to reveal their darkest secret, about the sale of Joseph to their father and Joseph, admitting his own shortcoming, fell on the necks (Torah uses the plural) of his younger brother Benjamin. Together they wept over the trauma of their brotherly fracture that would result in the future destruction of Jerusalem's temples. But, the sons of Israel (Jacob) were united, bound by their collective silence.

Still seeking assurance, on his death bed Israel's sons assured him "Hear us, O' Israel The Lord is our God, The Lord is One" and Israel's final, parting response: Blessed be the glory of His kingdom for ever and ever! 

The Righteous Who Are Buried on Friday

45 fallen victims of Meron

A king who was crowned in the middle of history sacrificed his popularity to correct a universal spiritual flaw. The king knew why he was set the task, what he had done to expose the flaw and why he was coerced into the corrective action. He knew his action would would plunge him into trouble and despair. He was alone in his knowledge when he acted.

Above all the king desired to build a permanent temple for his people and the world to elevate spiritual awareness. Through his people all would be unified in prosperity and prevailing peace. The challenges against him came from his closest family, his advisors and leaders of his people. Most were vehemently opposed to the action he was taking, most thought him to be borderline crazy, but he persevered.  

As he was beginning to bare the brunt of his corrective action, alone and desperate, perhaps to restore his popularity he called on his once loyal general to personally conduct a census of his nation. Reluctantly the general carried out the kings orders, but in half measure underwhelming the kings authority before the people. Spiritual retribution against the king was swift and he was forced to make the impossible choice of a suitable national punishment, he preferred to endure a three day plague. On the first day 70,000 of his people were killed. By the second day the plague had reached the kings city, people were petrified.

The king's spiritual advisor recommended he urgently buy the plot of land, at the top of the hill on which his palace was built to construct an altar at which the king could publicly repent. The king immediately invited the tribal leaders of his panicked nation to join him in the purchase and to support his public pleading for cessation of the nations tragedy. They swiftly contributed, the plague was stopped, but in exchange for its premature cessation the general's pious brother lost his life. 

Despite the kings effort and desire he did not merit to build the temple, but out of the corrective action attempting to rectify the universal flaw a son was born. This son became king and around that altar he built the temple his father so desperately desired. However, completing the corrective action still awaits a king who, in his lifetime will build a temple that ushers in the era of permanent prosperity and peace in the world. 

In a world still in the grip of the global Coronavirus pandemic, early Friday morning a community gathered to circumcise a baby and welcome him as a Jew from the priestly tribe who are exclusively designated to serve in the future temple. On the other side of the world, at that same time, where the plague once killed 70,000 a tragedy was unfolding. Around midnight on Thursday/Friday at a pilgrimage festival, celebrated annually for a Jewish soul who was the world's ultimate embodiment of humility and whose teachings are now a national treasure, festivity quickly turned to mourning when 45 souls instantly perished and many more were injured.

The day is known as humility of humility, one of 49 days accounting and accessing individual attributes between Passover and receiving the Old Testament - Torah. For a pure idea to manifest perfectly into reality (true to the idea) it must pass the inner and outer humility test, failing which it will be polluted and sensed as such.

Thirteen years have now passed since the calculated end of history as the world awaits an individual that can endure plague, convert tragedy into opportunity, be recognized, lead his people, advance spiritual understanding, build a temple, and deliver peace and prosperity in the world. We pray it happens soon! 

 

 

Bells and Pomegranates

 

A second temple golden bell, shaped like a pomegranate was discovered beneath the ancient road, in a drainage channel on the route between the upper Temple Mount and the lower Gihon Spring. It may indicate the object was one of seventy two alternating pomegranates that adorned the hem of the High Priest's garment worn on special days that he would serve in the temple. If it was one of the adornments to the High Priests garment, it could have significant implications for the way we learn out various meanings of words in the original holy language of the Torah.  

The grammatists varying opinions struggle to definitively interpret the details in the following phrases. However, this discovery may finally put to rest any differences and establish an important precedent for the use of grammar in other phrases of the Torah that deploy similar grammatic structure.  For the benefit of those who do not understand Hebrew, words that mean bell are highlighted in in gold and pomegranate in blue.

Exodus 28:33-35

וְעָשִׂ֣יתָ עַל־שׁוּלָ֗יו רִמֹּנֵי֙ תְּכֵ֤לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן֙ וְתוֹלַ֣עַת שָׁנִ֔י עַל־שׁוּלָ֖יו סָבִ֑יב וּפַעֲמֹנֵ֥י זָהָ֛ב בְּתוֹכָ֖ם סָבִֽיב׃

On its hem make pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, all around the hem, with bells of gold between them all around:

פַּעֲמֹ֤ן זָהָב֙ וְרִמּ֔וֹן פַּֽעֲמֹ֥ן זָהָ֖ב וְרִמּ֑וֹן עַל־שׁוּלֵ֥י הַמְּעִ֖יל סָבִֽיב׃

a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe.

וְהָיָ֥ה עַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לְשָׁרֵ֑ת וְנִשְׁמַ֣ע ק֠וֹלוֹ בְּבֹא֨וֹ אֶל־הַקֹּ֜דֶשׁ לִפְנֵ֧י יְהוָ֛ה וּבְצֵאת֖וֹ וְלֹ֥א יָמֽוּת׃ (ס)

Aaron shall wear it while officiating, so that the sound of it is heard when he comes into the sanctuary before the LORD and when he goes out—that he may not die.

Exodus 39:24-26

וַֽיַּעֲשׂוּ֙ עַל־שׁוּלֵ֣י הַמְּעִ֔יל רִמּוֹנֵ֕י תְּכֵ֥לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֖ן וְתוֹלַ֣עַת שָׁנִ֑י מָשְׁזָֽר׃

On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, twisted.

וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ פַעֲמֹנֵ֖י זָהָ֣ב טָה֑וֹר וַיִּתְּנ֨וּ אֶת־הַפַּֽעֲמֹנִ֜ים בְּת֣וֹךְ הָרִמֹּנִ֗ים עַל־שׁוּלֵ֤י הַמְּעִיל֙ סָבִ֔יב בְּת֖וֹךְ הָרִמֹּנִֽים׃

They also made bells of pure gold, and attached the bells between the pomegranates, all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates:

פַּעֲמֹ֤ן וְרִמֹּן֙ פַּעֲמֹ֣ן וְרִמֹּ֔ן עַל־שׁוּלֵ֥י הַמְּעִ֖יל סָבִ֑יב לְשָׁרֵ֕ת כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃ (ס)

a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe for officiating in—as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Torah grammar has no redundancy, it's highly precise and must preferentially be interpreted as having particular meaning. Therefore, given the hindsight of discovery the presumption that it would be easy to say a golden pomegranate, as a bell alternating with a woven pomegranate, around the hem of the garment seems logical. However at the time, before the garment was made (Exodus 28) accurate description was crucial, but how will we retrospectively read the written instruction, with efficiency against this discovery?

Exodus 28:33

פַּעֲמֹ֤ן זָהָב֙ וְרִמּ֔וֹן פַּֽעֲמֹ֥ן זָהָ֖ב וְרִמּ֑וֹן - a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate.

By learning the Hebrew meaning and more precisely arranging the English interpretation, its possible the grammar could be saying (the design describes a) "gold bell and pomegranate" repeating to emphasize "gold bell and pomegranate". The first time for the bell and the second for the pomegranate that each become one object. The grammar may be duplicated here to emphasize the requirement in the ~3300 year old unconventional innovation for the golden pomegranate bell.  

Exodus 39:26

פַּעֲמֹ֤ן וְרִמֹּן֙ פַּעֲמֹ֣ן וְרִמֹּ֔ן

However, when we learn about the implementation of the innovative design, we are simply told "bell  and pomegranate, bell and pomegranate" where the Torah expects the design instruction of the golden pomegranate bell followed by a woven pomegranate, in an orderly fashion around the hem of the High Priests garment to be fully and efficiently expressed in the abridged grammar. 

If the repetition of words emphasizes the nuance in the unifying idea of a golden pomegranate bell, where else should we look at repetitions that teach what we may not have fully considered until this golden pomegranate bell provided the retrospect to re-learn what we thought we already knew? 

 

Who was Asenath?

Dinah the wife of Lavan was the mother of Leah and Rachel, both of whom married Jacob. Lavan motivated a deception of Jacob to first marry Leah although Jacob always considered Rachel his first wife, his first choice. Leah's daughter was said to have been swapped from Rachel who instead bore Joseph, her first son, Leah named her daughter Dinah, presumably after her mother. 

At 8 years old, Jacob's daughter Dinah was raped by Shechem and she conceived. The teenage sons of Jacob wanted to kill the baby to cover their shame, but Jacob objected, instead he placed the baby in a 'sneh', written as סנה - a 'bush' in Midian. The region of Midian was named after the son of Abraham, it roughly stretched from modern Medina (Saudi Arabia) along the Gulf of Arabia to Eilat (Israel).  

The baby was raised by priests in Midian and at age 9 it was transferred, most likely by Midianites on a caravan traveling along the trade route north, then west at Gilead, toward Shechem, the Mediterranean coast and south to Egypt. On their journey the Midianites encountered an Ishmaelite caravan also travelling west through Gilead to the coast and Egypt, they began trading while they travelled to their ultimate destination. 

Joseph was disliked by his brothers. At age 17, near Shechem they threw him into a pit (Genesis 37:25). They concocted an idea to sell him to the approaching Ishmaelite caravan coming from Gilead (Genesis 37:28). Unusually the Ishmaelites were carrying sweet smelling balms when they would normally carry tanning hides and tar. The Midianite caravan arrived at the pit before the Ishmaelite caravan to whom the brothers intended the sale, they removed Joseph from the pit and abducted him.

In the middle of the Joseph story Torah interrupts with a seemingly unrelated story about Joseph's brother Yehuda's (Judah) one-time relationship with the daughter-in-law of his deceased son. Tamar, who was the daughter of a high-priest, disguised as a prostitute expressed her right over Yehuda to procreate from the blood line of her deceased husband. This led to the birth of Peretz from whom the Messianic House of David lineage arose (Genesis 38:1).

Then, just as suddenly Torah returns to the continuation of Joseph's story. The Midianites traded with the Ishmaelites several times on the way to Egypt, ultimately they delivered Joseph to the house of Egypt's designated high priest and chief slaughterer Potiphar.  

Joseph was 30 when Pharaoh made him Viceroy over Egypt and blessed him to marry Asenath, the adopted daughter of Potiphar. Joseph had recognized Aesnath as being Hebrew by the amulet around her neck. Asenath - אסנת, is written using the same two letter source as 'sneh' and 'Sinai'. Jacob named her when he placed an amulet around her neck and left her in the 'sneh' on Mount 'Sinai' for the priestly caste of Midian to care for her. 

Many commentators declare Asenath the daughter of Dinah from the rape by Shechem. One Yemenite source adds that the unusual balm's carried by the Ishmaelites was a hint to Asenath being on the same transport with Joseph to the House of Potiphar, the high priest in Egypt. Considering Torah's juxtaposition of Judah-Tamar and the prospect that Joseph-Asenath were on the same caravan motivates deeper enquiry for such blatant interjection and suggestion. 

Although Judah was Jacob's fourth son to Leah, he rose above the rights of his older brothers to obtain the status of Leah's firstborn. Joseph was firstborn to Jacobs chosen wife Rachel. Jacob's progeny would eventually give rise to the Messianic lineage through penultimate Joseph and ultimate Judah. This is a central tenant of Judaism, the lens through which many of the interpersonal relationships recorded in the Torah can be better understood. 

Providence ensured Asenath would be on the caravan with Joseph to Egypt, to the same home and their marriage some thirteen years later. This was the first intermarriage between Leah and Rachel's bloodlines and Torah's interjection of Judah-Tamar confirms the subtle messianic allusion to Aesenath daughter of Dinah, granddaughter of Jacob. 

The tumultuous journey of Dinah's soul, its intermingling with Shechem, elevation through Asenath and eventual ascension with Joseph in Egypt preceded the messianic moment of Judah and Tamar that gave rise to Peretz, Boaz (Ruth), Yishai and David who was crowned King and from whom future kings descend. 

The word 'toledot' refers to generations, it is used dozens of times in the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible. However, it is spelled perfectly in only two places; once in the first verses of Genesis (2:4) in reference to the creation of the souls of heaven and earth and once in the book of Ruth, naming the descendants of Peretz.

Torahs' finely woven words preserves the record of its deep seated interest in the messianic root for all who care to learn of its complete wisdom.

 

   

Jacob Knows!

The story of Yehuda and Tamar is a very strange juxtaposition to the kidnap and sale of Joseph. Many reasons are given, but I'd like to add more.

Joseph was 17 when he was sold, by his brothers to the Ishmaelites who traded with Midianites on their caravan journey to the house of Potiphar in Egypt. 

Genesis 37:25

(25) Then they (the brothers) sat down to a meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels bearing gum, balm, and ladanum to be taken to Egypt.

כה) וַיֵּשְׁבוּ֮ לֶֽאֱכָל־לֶחֶם֒ וַיִּשְׂא֤וּ עֵֽינֵיהֶם֙ וַיִּרְא֔וּ וְהִנֵּה֙ אֹרְחַ֣ת יִשְׁמְעֵאלִ֔ים בָּאָ֖ה מִגִּלְעָ֑ד וּגְמַלֵּיהֶ֣ם נֹֽשְׂאִ֗ים נְכֹאת֙ וּצְרִ֣י וָלֹ֔ט הוֹלְכִ֖ים לְהוֹרִ֥יד מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃

Commentators raise the oddity of the Ishmaelite load, which would normally have been tars, not the fine balm's mentioned. A Yemenite midrashic source backs up my view that Torah is hinting at something very special.

The Ishmaelite caravan was trading with a Midianite caravan, traveling through Gilead as they separately journeyed to Egypt. The gum, balm and ladanum (נְכֹאת֙ וּצְרִ֣י וָלֹ֔ט - sweet smelling balm's) were a hint that Joseph's niece Aesnath (אסנת) who, 9 years earlier Jacob had placed in a 'sneh' (סנה), a bush in Midyan (perhaps Mount Sinai - סיניה) was traveling on the same caravan. Sneh is in fact the source of her name. Ultimately Joseph and Aesnath were traded into the House of Potiphar in Egypt.

However, the story of their journey is interjected and juxtaposed to the story about the death of Yehuda's two sons that led him to a relationship with is daughter in law, Tamar who birthed Peretz. Then oddly, immediately after the interjection, Torah returns to Joseph (of Rachel) who at 30 years was blessed by Pharaoh to marry Aesnath (from Dinah-Leah). This was the first time the bloodline of Jacob's two wives intermarried. 

Mystical Judaism introduces the idea that the Messianic son of Joseph will precede the Messianic son of Yehuda (David). That seems to be borne out of and supported by Joseph and Aesnath, on the same Caravan being interjected by and adjacent to Yehuda and Tamar (read the link for more about the Messianic soul).  

Later in the story, Joseph encountered his brothers and demanded they fetch the youngest brother  Binyamin from their father Jacob and bring him to Egypt. Reluctantly Jacob conceded, but he commanded his sons to return baring gifts of the land.

Genesis 43:11

(11) Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, do this: take some of the choice products of the land in your baggage, and carry them down as a gift for the man—some balm and some honey, gum, ladanum, pistachio nuts, and almonds.

יא) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֜ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל אֲבִיהֶ֗ם אִם־כֵּ֣ן ׀ אֵפוֹא֮ זֹ֣את עֲשׂוּ֒ קְח֞וּ מִזִּמְרַ֤ת הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ בִּכְלֵיכֶ֔ם וְהוֹרִ֥ידוּ לָאִ֖ישׁ מִנְחָ֑ה מְעַ֤ט צֳרִי֙ וּמְעַ֣ט דְּבַ֔שׁ נְכֹ֣את וָלֹ֔ט בָּטְנִ֖ים וּשְׁקֵדִֽים׃

Three of the six gifts connect to the land, Honey (from dates), Pistachio and Almonds, but the remaining three are identical to and directly relate to the fine balm load carried by the Ishmaelites. Was Jacob hinting at something by sending these three specific gifts to Joseph? By Jacob connecting his gift to Aesnath he was hinting that he knew of her dispatch on the Midianite caravan to Egypt. 

The lofty, mystical pieces of this deeply spiritual world begin to be seen by us mortals. Jacob dispatched Aesnath and sent Joseph to find his brothers, the angel of Dothan delivered him into their hands. Torah juxtaposed the important event of Yehuda and Tamar. Jacob ultimately sent all his sons to Egypt and later the family of Israel immigrated. On Jacob's death bed, he anxiously wanted to tell them of the messianic roots he had set, but in unison his sons settled him saying "Hear O' Israel (as in Jacob) the Lord is God, the Lord is One" to which he responded "Blessed be the name of the glory of His Kingdom for ever and ever" then he left this world.

 

The Abraham Accords - The Patient Soul!

Translators struggled to interpret the end of the Bible's six-day Genesis creation story because it contains too many allusions to secrets that are lost in any translation attempt.

2:4 Such is the story (generations) of heaven and earth when they were created. When the LORD God made (prepared) earth and heaven

2:4 אֵ֣לֶּה תוֹלְד֧וֹת הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם עֲשׂ֛וֹת יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃

In Hebrew, the verse suggests earth and heaven were a preparation (עֲשׂ֛וֹת), but for what? Generations of heaven and earth?

The verse includes the first use of "The Name" יְהוָ֥ה "Ha Shem". It suggests the creation of earth and heaven were a preparation for a special soul, alluded in the small 'הִ' heh of the word בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם (B'hibaram). The sub-script 'heh' reflects it's smaller written form in a kosher Torah scroll. 

The preceding six creation days exclusively use the name אֱלֹהִ֖ים Elo-h-im (Elokim) - 32 times. אֱלֹהִ֖ים  Elokim is understood as a mystical concealment of the ultimate spiritual Name - יְהוָ֥ה - Ha'Shem through which it relates to the physical world. Perhaps that's why the letters of אֱלֹהִ֖ים Elokim equate to the numerical value 86, also shared with הטבע ha'teva - 'the nature' inherent in physical creation. Kabbalah relates the 32 times to the archetypal soul that comprise 10 nuanced concealments, referred to as vessels or attributes and 22 paths that connect them.

The word תוֹלְד֧וֹת toldot is rarely spelled in its complete form, with two vav's (וֹ ). In the story of Noah it is incomplete. The story of Isaac also uses the incomplete form (תוֹלְד֧ת) because only one of his two sons, Jacob would carry the ascendant Jewish soul. The complete form appears only one other time in the entire 24 books of the Bible. During the story Peretz, (Ruth 4:18) its meaning is conveyed definitively as - 'generations' justifying that creation was indeed a preparation of earth and heaven for generations that would ascend from the soul root.

2048 years after creation three angels (Genesis 19:1) were dispatched to announce that Abram, at the age of 100 would finally have a son to his wife Sarah. One angel informed Abram, one destroyed the city of Sodom and the other rescued Abram's nephew Lot with his wife and daughters from the impending destruction in Sodom.

The letter 'heh' was added to Abram when it became Abraham - אַבְרָהָ֔ם - (Genesis 17:5) and the בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם B'hibaram soul root descended. The letters of בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם B'hibaram can be rearranged to spell בְּ'אַבְרָהָ֔ם b'Abraham. The former can mean 'He created the heh' alluding to special soul, the latter means 'in Abraham'. 

Lot's wife died on escape from Sodom. Lot and his daughters were fearful, stranded in a remote cave. The daughters feared cessation of their blood line, so they engaged a semi-conscious Lot incestuously. The תוֹלְד֧וֹת toldot soul complement was reserved for one daughters descendant Ruth, a convert to Judaism through whom the soul complement descended. 

Ruth would deliver the counterpart to Boaz and fully complete the בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם B'hibaram soul journey. That event occurred through the lineage of Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Boaz and Ruth to Peretz, Jesse and David. In 2884 the messianic soul root in David was recognized by the Jewish people when he was crowned king and in the middle of history arrived in Jerusalem in 2891. This year 5782 is exactly double that midpoint, signaling the end of history. 

Thus, the mystical creation secrets of Torah are indelibly inked, but lost in translation.

Scapegoat And Distraction

We sometimes scoff at the ancient practices of Judaism as if there is no place for them in modern society, but do we take the time to understand them? After all, they have endured the Jewish people for thousands of years, surely there must be something to them?

One such example are two identical goats, that when Israel had a national temple would be sacrificed on the holiest day of the year - Yom Kippur. The high priest led a sequence of sin offerings and calls for repentance. In his heightened spiritual state he would draw a lottery to determine which goat would be designated Az-Azel (scapegoat) and which would be offered in the temple. Repentance simply means agreeing not to do the same thing again and achieving it.

As mentioned in last weeks entry, elements in three of four evil realms cannot be redeemed, but the fourth translucent realm depends on our actions. Given the power of these realms, redeeming elements to a state of holiness empowers the redeemer, but only when purity of process is realized. The two goats represent undercover agents of the translucent realm and only the wise, or sweetened agent can be redeemed by the redeemer who will be empowered if the pure process is maintained. In this case one goat will be sacrificed in the temple, the other will be taken to a high desert cliff and thrown to its death. Either way both die! For repentance the sacrifice in the temple is momentarily redeeming, while the other distracts negative forces that would otherwise have the redeemer, in this case Israel fail in its restraint.

In a modern context compare this to a goal to restrain yourself from breaking your resolution by improving your behavior through dieting, speaking, behaving etc. When you pass your first test, you may be internally pleased, but if you express your pleasure before you have completely and permanently separated from your past behavior you may be setting yourself up for failure. Here distraction often ensures no relapse, a positive separation from your old ways. In context, the word holy always means to separate from something less holy!

In the depths of initial restraint, when the battle to hold back is at its toughest with each small victory character is strengthened and power to restrain improves - will power! Without restraint from repeating the very thing you resolved to achieve, there can be no self-test of honesty to yourself and your connection to reality.

Esoteric wisdom of not mixing wool and linen (flax) in the clothes you wear dates back to the sons of Adam and Eve. Prodigal Cain brought an offering of dark flax-seed to use the power of earth to reunite the four realms his father and mother had released when their self interested ego's distracted  the selflessness they had been instructed to preserve. But his grandiose desire was too self-serving. His brother Abel brought white wool from a sheep to symbolize that the animal or emotive realm must first be offered and sacrificed, by the intellectual realm in order to defeat the self-actualization of ego.

Noah was the tenth generation after Adam. He was instructed by God to build an ark and prepare his family for the great flood. On the ark they were not permitted to have sexual relations, but his son Ham, the dog and raven did not obey. After exiting the ark, Noah planted a grapevine, got drunk and uncovered his nakedness in his tent. Ham saw his father, but his brothers Shem and Japheth turned their backs until they covered their father. Noah cursed Ham's son Canaan seemingly for the actions Ham had perpetrated. However, from laws against practices of sexual misconduct we can learn that Canaan was the product Ham's incestuous relation with his mother. Canaan the product deserved the direct curse of his grandfather as punishment to Ham and his Noah's wife. On numerous occasion the Torah warns; If a man lies with his fathers wife, he is considered to have uncovered his fathers nakedness, perhaps offering insight to Noah's grief.

Torah records the living practices and precedents of the Israeli nation for almost 4000 years, its text is alive and continues to inform those who dedicate time to discover it.

Disease, Psychology, Relationship and Religion

Many have grown impatient with orthodox religion and practices. The laws and their implementation in modern life often present difficult contradictions, inconvenient to the pressurized tendencies we have adopted to our personalities. In the age of Coronavirus, we have been forced to take a fresh look at our habitual practices, religious or otherwise.

Five hundred years ago, a student diligently recorded the teachings of his master, Rabbi Isaac Luria. The teachings were so extraordinary that they revived enthusiasm, consolidated communal views, re-instituted prayer, established the foundation for modern Jewish revival and birthed the study of human psychology. At 38 his holy soul departed our world. I have extensively read those writings and their modern commentaries in a brilliant book entitled "Apples from the Orchard" and decided to share just a glimpse of their genius.

Awareness of ritual impurity is a cornerstone of holy life, especially when a national temple existed for the Jewish people. For example, if a woman conceives and gives birth to a son, she shall be impure for seven days, as in the days of her menstrual period. On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. The word for this impurity is 'tazria' relating to a condition once known as tzara'at. A flesh swelling, a scab or a bright spot, not quite the equivalent of modern leprosy, rather a skin disease that only existed in the spiritually elevated temple times.

As a backgrounder: About the questions Jewish people would ask, Moses was instructed to tell them it is because Eve transgressed what she was told, she was made to suffer the impurity of menstruation, but by circumcision of the foreskin the power of impurity along with evil lust will be weakened. The original Eve physiology was such that menstrual cycle and giving birth was once painless and bloodless. In the process of human spiritual maturation the phenomena will return. But how?

Marginally the foreskin effects the experience of marital relationships, it increases gross sensual pleasure, which can decrease a mans sensitivity to his wife. By removing it, sexual experience becomes less narcissistic, more spiritual. During a menstrual period a woman is more self conscious, unable to orient toward the proper selfless, yet self-serving intent, the interaction of both parties enjoying martial relations. Circumcision improves this relationship behavior, a man is less likely to succumb to gross sensual pleasure and more inclined to the sensitivity of his wife's spiritual state of mind.

Circumcision is the "sign" of the Jewish covenant between man and God, a reminder of servitude toward higher authority. Here, it was placed between menstruation and disease to remind about haughtiness that could blot out its spiritual designation and purpose. With the disease a swelling is caused by public facing humility, but private egocentricity; a scab, deep in the skin is a feeling of superiority over peers, but not others; and worst of all a bright spot results from feeling and acting superior to everyone. These are personality traits that God despises, that's why a verse in psalm 93 states "God reigns, He is robed in haughtiness", a reference to the clothing that masks His humility.

The oral and written traditions know about the time the snake stood upright that the defilement of Eve was caused by the injection of its poison. The antithesis of Godly attributes, the snake personified 'evil', selfishness and egocentricity that actually had intercourse with Eve, then it was banished to the dust under its belly. Inflated consciousness, when not being used for Divine purpose feeds the alternative and is termed 'evil'. A soul comprises the animal and intellect that each person must appropriately blend toward selfless expression or the snakes perspective will dominate and suffering persists. The more one centers on  a spiritual life toward selfless expression, as guided by God's commandments the more one is liberated from the alternative entrapment.

It's for this reason Adam was created outside the Garden of Eden, from dust of the earth representing selfless, Divinely inspired existence and only brought into it after. But, Eve intermingled the seventy gentile nations with Israel represented in the purity of Adam as the soul of the future Jewish people. This is why Eve menstruated at the moment of her son's birth who shed the blood of his brother. The Talmud relates the father supplies the white bones, sinews, nails, brain and white of the eye. The mother, red skin, flesh, hair, blood and black of the eye. God gives spirit, soul, facial features, eyesight, hearing, speech, ability to walk, understand and discern. As if to illustrate Eve's dominance we are told, when the wife gives seed first the baby is male.

The Torah uses the expression uncircumcised for only four organs; procreative, ears, heart and mouth. So why is the procreative organ the only one circumcised? Because the term 'orlah' is shared and relates foreskin to the fourth of four years fruit is commanded to be left on a newly planted tree, before it can be consumed. It's as if we are blocked off by some type of 'orlah' or foreskin. Analogous to circumcision the fruit of the fourth year is to be taken to Jerusalem and eaten only in the confines of the holy city.

Kabbalah explains fruit of the first three years belong to three realms of absolute evil that human consumption cannot possibly rectify, but the fourth comes from the "bright" or translucent realm that has potential to be transformed by our actions. Therefore, the heart, ear and mouth must be blocked off, scrupulously guarded to ensure that egocentricity, selfishness and uncorrected animal behavior does not dominate our persona. Through this true and especially marital relationships endure.

These three 'demonic' realms, replete with angels of good an evil are the battleground for the forces enabled by our actions on the fourth, ultimately to prevail and elevate our world to a more pure, spiritual, pristine existence. In the final healing and purification from these diseases, the sufferer brings two birds to the temple altar, one is slaughtered, the others wing is dipped in the slaughtered birds blood and freed in an open field.

As if to show that liberation from our disease is dependent on the slaughtered bird we can begin to appreciate the symbolic importance. These commandments remain a practitioners guide to a better way of life, even to the extent that childbirth will ultimately be painless and free from blood once again.