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1. Amnon Goldberg: The Moon & Torah
letter in August 6 English Hamodia:
Dear Sir
Further to "When Man Reached the Moon" (2 Av), Rav Mordechai Miller ztz"l [May his Memory be Blessed] pointed out at the time the significance of the return splashdown of the lunar astronauts that took place on Tisha b'Av, July 24 1969.
The astronauts had been told to be prepared being swamped by lunar dust many feet thick, and were astounded to find that there was only 1/2 inch depth on the surface.This caused quite a stir at the time, because the rate of deposition of micro-meteoric dust on the surface indicated that "the Moon had to be less than 10,000 years old"!
The Moon's motions are so complex that Sir Isaac Newton was almost driven to a nervous breakdown attempting to resolve them: "The Sun knows his own course, but the Moon does not know hers" (Rosh Hashana 25).
Amazingly the Moon always presents the same face to the Earth because both its orbit about the Earth and its rotation on its axis are both identical: 40% of the Moon's surface can thus never be seen from the Earth. "The lunar month can never be less than 29 and a half days, two-thirds of an hour and 73 chalokim" (ibid) ie 29.53059 days. This figure is to within a fraction of a second of the length of a synodic month (the time between one new moon and the next) given by NASA and the US Naval Observatory! Only a G-d-given mesorah can explain how Chazal arrived at their figures: "For that is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations" (Dvorim [Deuteronomy] 4) - "this is the calculation of tekufos [Periods] and mazolos [astronomy]" (Shabbos 75).
Ur Kasdim, from where Avraham Avinu [our father] originated, was a city dedicated to Moon worship, and it was once the prevalent religion in Arabia. The Moon-god was known as al-Ilah, and Providence granted Mohammed some success because he was able to sublimate this idolatry into a form of imageless monotheism, renaming the deity as "Allah". The Islamic symbol of the Crescent Moon to be seen on their mosques, minarets and flags is a legacy of the ancient Moon worship that once flourished in Arabia and the Fertile Crescent.
Eclipses only occur because of the fantastically exact Sun-Earth/Moon-Earth size-distance ratio, which is unique in the universe and hints of the primordial days of Creation, before the Moon"s diminution and bespeaks of Geocentricity and of the Earth's special location in the cosmos.The halting of the Moon at Yehoshua's command, "the precious things put forth by the Moon" (Dvorim 33:14), ocean tides, weather forecasting, eclipses, lunar phases, nutation (sic), libration, the Jewish calendar, gyroscopy, satellite and space-shot calculations etc. are best understood in a Geocentric context: "The Earth is suspended at the center of the Universe" (Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei Hatorah 3).
The motto of the Kabbaloh is "As above, so below", and the Sun is considered to be a manifestation of the Supernal Sefiros of Ze'ir Anpin, and the Moon of Malchus.
Dr Hugo Mandelbaum ("The Problem of Molad Tohu", Proceedings of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists 1976) showed that a true repeating lunar-solar cycle occurs only every 689,272 years and that an absolute reconciliation of the lunar calendar with the solar year is an impossibility. Compared to the calendars of the nations, Hillel II's calendar has done outstandingly well for 1700 years. But today it is starting not to match that fixed by direct observation of the Moon. Even though the gap between the two calendars continues to increase, we do not have the authority to alter the calendar until a new Sanhedrin is re-established. A century ago the Chofetz Chaim stated that "we need not be overly concerned much beyond the next century because certainly at that time there will be the Geulah and we will sanctify the New Moon by visual observation".
In Eretz Yisroel the "New Moon Society" and the "Institute for Kiddush Hachodesh Studies" are involved in lunar calculations and practice observing and determining criteria for the limits of visibility of the New Moon in order to be ready for when the Sanhedrin is restored in Messianic Times to come, when "The light of the Moon will be as the light of the Sun" (Yeshaya 30)
Tzefas
2. Do Persian Inscriptions Contradict Traditional Sources?
From: Damon Casale <damonjcasale@mysteriousorigins.org>
RE: Brit-Am Now no. 1387
#7. The Revision of Ancient Historical Chronology and its Pertinence to Brit-Am
http://britam.org/now/1387Now.html#The
Yair,
Regarding chronological difficulties, this is something I've been researching among other things.
For a long time I thought the shortened Persian chronology, according to Seder Olam Rabbah, was accurate. Then a friend of mine invited me to look at some actual epigraphic evidence otherwise.
See this link:
http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/achaemenians/inscriptions.html
These are actual royal inscriptions by the various kings of Persia. Each of them gives a genealogy of the kings going all the way back to the founder. And, there are more than just the four known to Seder Olam Rabbah.
Since this is a primary source, and it's impossible to refute, then unfortunately Seder Olam Rabbah has to be in error.
I read somewhere (and I can't remember where) that Seder Olam Rabbah was originally composed in two volumes, with the second volume being the Jews' history from the Persian empire down to AD 160 when the whole thing was originally compiled. Also, that the second volume was not preserved very well and the remaining fragments have been placed entirely in the chapter 30 we have today. From what's remaining, I've read that the chronology of the Persian era bears marks of repeated revision. I don't even remember where I read this and have no idea how to verify it, but it's a possible avenue of research to figure the Persian chronology issue out.
Also, as far as shortening the conventional chronology elsewhere, it likely can be. I haven't read Centuries of Darkness myself, although I've read a similar work titled "Pharaohs and Kings: A Biblical Quest" (published in the UK as "A Test of Time."). It's an alternate approach dealing with the same phenomena of a "Dark Age" that shouldn't exist.
Damon
Brit-Am Reply:
Damon Shalom,
The URL you sent me
http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/achaemenians/inscriptions.html
gives inscriptions from
Cyrus the Great,
Darius the Great,
Xerxes-1,
Artaxerxes I Makrocheir,
Darius II Nothus,
Artaxerxes II Mnemon,
Artaxerxes III Ochus,
here we have seven monarchs.
Conventional Chronology gives:
Cyrus II, the Great, son of Cambyses I, ruled from c.550-530 BC (ruler of Anshan c. 559 BC " conquered Media 550 BC)
Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 529-522 BC
Smerdis (Bardiya), alleged son of Cyrus the Great, ruled 522 BC (Possibly a usurper)
Darius I the Great, brother-in-law of Smerdis and grandson of Arsames, ruled 521-486 BC
Xerxes I the Great, son of Darius I, ruled 485-465 BC
Artaxerxes I Longimanus, son of Xerxes I, ruled 465-424 BC
Xerxes II, son of Artaxerxes I, ruled 424 BC
Sogdianus, half-brother and rival of Xerxes II, ruled 424-423 BC
Darius II Nothus, half-brother and rival of Xerxes II, ruled 423-405 BC
Artaxerxes II Mnemon, son of Darius II, ruled 404-359 BC (see also Xenophon)
Artaxerxes III Ochus, son of Artaxerxes II, ruled 358-338 BC
Artaxerxes IV Arses, son of Artaxerxes III, ruled 338-336 BC
Darius III Codomannus, great-grandson of Darius II, ruled 336-330 BC
Here we have 13 monarchs.
Seder Olam (as understood by Saadia Gaon) in line with the simple implication of the Book of Daniel
Darius "the Mede" (9:1); a son of Ahasuerus
Cyrus (10:1).
Xerxes
Darius the Persian
So far we actually may have Seder Olam being more consistent with the inscriptions than conventional chronology"
The major discrepancy between Seder Olam and the inscriptions appears to emanate from our understanding of the Behistun Inscription.
We shall (God willing) continue this study elsewhere.
3. The Presence of Giants Confirmed by their Implements"
This article is worth reading along with the Blog Comments accompanying it.
Giant stone-age axes found in African lake basin
http://www.physorg.com/news171790409.html
