SYNAGOGUES
RESETTLEMENT SERVICE
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE
SPOTLIGHT ON AGENCY SERVICES
Resettlement
Skillman Project
Services to the Aging
Annual Meeting
of
Jewish Family Service
and
Resettlement Service
Monday, June 12, 1989
5:00 p.m
United Hebrew Schools
21550 W. Twelve Mile Road, Southfield, Michigan
You are cordially invited
Light refreshments will be served
I would like to thank
all my friends for the
"get well wishes"
received during my
hospital stay and
my convalescense.
Sam Geller
Personal (Service
given)
s,
4
Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield
THE BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT GROUP
PURPOSE:
To offer information and peer support to any
member of the Jewish community dealing
with personal loss through death. Meetings
are held regularly, run by trained facilitators.
SPONSOR: TEMPLE ISRAEL
5725 WALNUT LAKE ROAD
WEST BLOOMFIELD
661-5700
FUNDED BY: BARBARA E. BERNSTEIN MEMORIAL FUND
4,2
PRIM
9 1989
Computer Unravels Hidden Word
And Patterns Within The Torah
ELIZABETH KAPLAN
Features Editor
H
itler's name, as well
as the words death
camp, bloodthirsty,
evil and the Holocaust can be
found in the story of Noah.
The name of Moses
Maimonides, the Rambam, is
found by God's command to
"multiply My wonders in the
land of Egypt" in the descrip-
tion of the Ten Plagues. Near-
by, one can find the Hebrew
letter mem. Count 50 letters
and stop. Count another 50
and stop, and do it again. The
letters spell the word
Mishneh.
Now start with the letter
tuv. Count intervals of 50 and
the letters spell the word
Torah, completing the phrase
Mishneh Torah, Maimonides'
great work.
Rabbi Herschel Greenberg,
adjunct professor at the State
Univerity of New York and
director of the Bais Chabad in
Buffalo, believes these cases
are more than coincidence.
They are, he said, a reflection
of the fact that everything in
the world can be found in
God's Torah.
Rabbi Greenberg spoke this
week on "The Computer
Unlocks the Secrets of the Bi-
ble" at the Maple/Drake
Jewish Community Center
for the Center's Center for
Jewish Creativity and Ex-
ploration and the Bais
Chabad Torah Center of West
Bloomfield.
"There is definitely a uni-
que pattern to the Torah that
is unparalled," Rabbi
Greenberg said, tracing ex-
ample after example in which
words in the text can be
discovered by counting letters
at equal intervals such as 50,
31 or 22. Each number car-
ries with it a significance
Rabbi Greenberg said further
proves that the discovery of
the hidden words is anything
but chance.
For example, the Hebrew
word for serpent, "the symbol
of evil inclination who fights
observance of mitzvot," ap-
pears twice at equal intervals
of 248 and 345 in the story of
the Garden of Eden. Such
numbers might appear unim-
portant, Rabbi Greenberg
said, until one adds them.
The total: 613, the number of
mitzvot.
Although Torah scholars
began hundreds of years ago
to unravel such mysteries, it
wasn't until computers were
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An excerpt from Exodus I, chapter I, showing the word Torah, reading
backward at equal intervals of 50.
set to work on the Torah that
the hidden words could be ful-
ly explored, Rabbi Greenberg
said. Researchers use com-
puters to find all possible
equal intervals at which
words can be found.
It was through the use of a
computer that the word
Chanukah, surrounded by
terms relevant to the holiday,
was discovered. Rabbi
Greenberg also noted that the
names of dozens of rabbinical
figures can be found in the
text; often, they are surround-
ed by the dates of their births
and deaths.
But the Torah is not limited
to Jewish experience alone.
Rabbi Greenberg showed
numerous references to the
French Revolution, including
the words Bastille and (King)
Louis, all discovered at the
smallest possible equal inter-
vals in the same part of the
text.
He also noted that
numerous diseases can be
found by unraveling hidden
words in the Torah. Among
these is diabetes, directly
above which is the word pan-
creas, from which diabetes
originates.
Rabbi Greenberg's com-
ment that a reference to
AIDS is contained in the
Torah prompted several ques-
tions from members of the au-
dience. If this is the case, they
asked, couldn't the cure for
AIDS and other diseases be
found by studying the text?
Rabbi Greenberg il-
lustrated his response with
the reference to insulin. One
knows what insulin is now, he
said, but hundreds of years
ago the discovery of the word
would have meant nothing. ❑
Council Dinner
Planned June 20
The Council of Orthodox
Rabbis of Greater Detroit will
hold its 59th anniversary din-
ner June 20. The honoree will
be Dr. Phillip Friedman, chief
of neurosurgery at Sinai
Hospital, who has served as
president of Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah and Congregation
Shomrey Emunah.
The Council represents all
Orthodox rabbis of the
metropolitan Detroit area. It
grants kosher supervision to
local butchers, bakeries and
restaurants and maintains an
active Beth Din.
The 59th anniversary din-
ner will be held at the Westin
Hotel. For information, call
the Council office, 559-5005.
Students Lead
Sabbath Service
Three students of Temple
Kol Ami's high school will
conduct a service of affirma-
tion 8 p.m. today. The affir-
mants are Mark Golding,
Susan Levin and Matthew
Roth.
Nathalie Conrad, musical
director; Jeffrey Levin,
soloist; and Dr. Bernard
Roman, violin soloist, will
provide music for the service.