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BH

Torah and Chemistry

GALEINAI PUBLICATION SOCIETY

TTThhheee PPPeeerrriiiooodddiiiccc TTTaaabbbllleee ooofffttthhheee EEEllleeemmmeeennntttsss

from Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh

1. Theoretical Background

Oneofthemostwellknownandubiquitoussymbolsofmodernscienceingeneraland

chemistryinparticularisthePeriodicTableoftheElements.Themodernperiodictablehas

beenalmost300yearsinthemaking.Earlyeffortstogroupelementsproducedthetables

ofGeoffroy(1718)andLavoisier(1787).TheatomictheoryformulatedbyDaltoninthe

early 1800s provided chemists with a solidbasis to classify elements, and the theory

stimulatedvigorousexperimentationthatculminatedinthedevelopmentofthemodernformoftheperiodictablein1869(Seefigure1).

1

H2

He3

Li4

Be5

B6

C7

N8

O9

F10

Ne11

Na12

Mg13

Al14

Si15

P16

S17

Cl18

Ar19

K20

Ca21

Sc22

Ti23

V24

Cr25

Mn26

Fe27

Co28

Ni29

Cu30

Zn31

Ga32

Ge33

As34

Se35

Gr36

Kr37

Rb38

Sr39

Y40

Zr41

Nb42

Mo43

Tc44

Ru45

Rh46

Pd47

Ag48

Cd49

In50

Sn51

Sb52

Te53

I54

Xe55

Cs56

Ba57

La72

Hf73

Ta74

W75

Re76

Os77

Ir78

Pt79

Au80

Hg81

Tl82

Pb83

Bi84

Po85

At86

Rn87

Fr88

Ra89

Ac

58

Ce59

Pr60

Nd61

Pm62

Sm63

Eu64

Gd65

Tb66

Dy67

Ho68

Er69

Tm70

Yb71

Lu90

Th91

Pa92

U93

Np94

Pu95

Am96

Cm97

Bk98

Cf99

Es100

Fm101

Md102

No103

Lr

Figure1

From the early rudimentary groupings of chemical compounds to our modern

classificationthatrecognizestheperiodicityofatomicelementstogether,chemicaltables

are usuallybased on an implicit theory of the compositionofmatter1. These theories

havesharedacommonaxiom: thatallof thematter in theUniverse iscomposedofa

finitevarietyofbasicbuildingblocks.Thesebuildingblockshavebeenknownfromthe

ancientGreekstothepresentasatoms.

2HausnerSt.Jerusalem96431tel.:[email protected]

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Inourmoderntableofthechemicalelements,thedifferentatomsareidentifiedand

orderedby theiratomicnumber.Atomsaredefinedas thesmallestunitofanelement

thatcancombinewithanotherelement.Atomsaretheorizedascomposingofanucleus,

madeofprotonsandneutrons,andelectronsthatmovearoundthenucleus.Theatomic

numberidentifiesthenumberofprotonsinanelementsnucleus.Atomscanloseorgain

electrons,andtheeasewithwhichtheydosoisameasureoftheirreactivity.In our modern periodic table of elements, elements are arranged in columns and

rows.Asitsnameimplies,themoderntableisperiodicinnature,meaningthatelements

areplacedinitbasedontheirsharedandrecurring(periodic)characteristics.Periodicity

of element properties is found tobe strongest down columns of the table. Primary

amongtheseperiodsisthatofthe6noble(orinert)gaseswhichpopulatethefarright

columnofthetable.Thepropertysharedbytheinertgasesisalackofreactivityensuing

fromtheirinabilitytogainorloseelectrons.

Anotherexample: the firstelement in thetable,Hydrogen (H) isagas, thesecond,

Helium(He),isanoblegas,andthethird,Lithium(Li),isasoft,reactivemetal.Going

downthetable,wefindeightelementslaterFluoride(F),Neon(Ne)andSodium(Na),agas,anoblegas,andasoft,reactivemetal,andeightelementslater,Chloride(Cl),Argon

(Ar)andPotassium(K)again:agas,anoblegas,andasoft,reactivemetal.

The remarkablepredictabilityof elementproperties revealedby the periodic table

allowed chemists to describe as yet unidentified elementsbased on their supposed

location in the table.Suchwas thecasewhen in1871DimitryMendeleev, theRussian

chemistwhooriginally formulated theperiodic law,correctlydescribed theproperties

oftheelementbetweenSilicon(14)andTin(50)whichhecalledekasilicon.Theelement

in question was not identified until 1886 by a German chemist who dubbed it

Germanium.

2. The Kabbalistic counterparts to the Periodic Table

Itisourgoalinthisarticletopresentanexactandfullanalogytothemodernperiodic

tablewithinTorah.Themotivationforthisgoal isexplained inprecedingchapters.To

doso inamethodologicalmanner,wemust firstascertain that theTorahdoes indeed

include examples of the two central concepts underlying the content and formof the

PeriodicTable:(1)atomsand(2)periodicity.

Thenotionoftheentiretyofcreationbeingconstructedoutofafinitevarietyofbasic

building blocks is central to the earliestKabbalistic sourceknown (and incidentally the

firstbookofHebrewgrammar)theBookofFormation (SeferYetzirah).From there this

notion assumes a central role throughout the entire Kabbalistic and esoteric traditionwithinTorah.2

Specifically, the Book of Formation turns to Genesis and, following a (spiritually)

linguistic perspective, identifies 32 noncorporeal elements or atoms. They are the 10

sefirot[whichcorrespondtothe10utterances(maamarim, )spokenbyGodwhen

He created the world3] and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet [out of which the

GALEINAI PUBLICATION SOCIETY2HausnerSt.Jerusalem96431tel.:[email protected]

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However,thoughtheBookofFormationprovidesuswiththenotionofbasicbuilding

blocks of the Universe, the atoms it identifies are ill suited for our purposes of

correspondence. First, because they are of two separate categories: one (utterances)

clearlyhierarchicallyabove theother (letters).Second,becauseweare searching foraonetoone correspondence between the atoms of the periodic table and some

correspondingunitinTorah.

However,onepieceofvaluableinsighttobegainedfromtheBookofFormationisthe

ideathatshouldtheTorahsequivalentofelementsoratomsbefound,itwouldbeinthe

first chapter of Genesis, where the act of creation is described. Whatbetter place to

searchfortheTorahatomsfromwhichCreationisconstructed?

* * *

Toexplainthecorrespondencewehavefound,letusfirstmentionthatofthemorethan

100elements,only92arenaturallyoccurring.Atomsofelementswithatomicnumber

higher than 92 canbe artificially synthesized,however, they are generally not stable4

and undergonuclear rearrangement resulting in radioactivedecay shortlyafterbeing

synthesized.

Andnowtoourcorrespondence:oneofthemostimportantcontributionstoJewish

scholarship in the recentpasthasbeen theworkofRabbiZalmanPinchasHorowitz5.

Rabbi Horowitz was (to thebest of our knowledge) the first to correctly count the

numberof times theTetragrammaton (YHVH)appears in thePentateuch:1820 times.

EvenmoresurprisingandinnovativewasRabbiHorowitzscatalogingofallthedistinct

words6inthePentateuch,whichhealsofoundtobeexactly1820innumber.

Thisequalitystillwarrantsmuchresearch,butherewewillnoteafactrelatedtoour

own particular interest: of the total1820 unique words in the Pentateuch, the section

describing creation (Genesis 1:1 to 2:3, inclusive) contains exactly 92 distinct words.

Indeed,asmentionedalready,thissectionoftheTorahliterallydescribesthecreationof

matter in the universeit is only fitting that it is here that we find our sought after

parallelforthe92naturalelementsidentifiedbymodernscience.

Before proceeding let us copy the familiar periodic table of elements with the 92

distinctwordsofGenesisplacedinorder:


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1

H2

He

3

Li4

Be5

B6

C7

N8

O9

F10

Ne

11

Na

12

Mg

13

Al

14

Si

15

P

16

S

17

Cl

18

Ar

34

Se19

K20

Ca21

Sc22

Ti23

V24

Cr25

Mn26

Fe27

Co28

Ni29

Cu30

Zn31

Ga32

Ge33

As35

Gr36

Kr

37

Rb38

Sr39

Y40

Zr41

Nb42

Mo43

Tc44

Ru45

Rh46

Pd47

Ag48

Cd49

In50

Sn51

Sb52

Te53

I54

Xe

55

Cs56

Ba57

La72

Hf73

Ta74

W75

Re76

Os77

Ir78

Pt79

Au80

Hg81

Tl82

Pb83

Bi84

Po85

At86

Rn

87

Fr88

Ra89

Ac

58

Ce59

Pr60

Nd61

Pm62

Sm63

Eu64

Gd65

Tb66

Dy67

Ho68

Er69

Tm70

Yb71

Lu

90

Th91

Pa92

U93

Np94

Pu95

Am96

Cm97

Bk98

Cf99

Es100

Fm101

Md102

No103

Lr

Followingourmethodology,weshouldnowseekperiodicity,thesecondorganizing

principleidentifiedabove.Todoso,wewillfirstexamineandunderstandindepththe

periodicnatureofthestructureandformofthetableofelementsandthemodelusedto

explain this periodicity. We will then explore parallel spiritual models found in

KabbalahandChassidut. Ina forthcomingarticlewewilluseour findings toexamine

theperiodicityinherentinourparallelTorahtableofelementspicturedabove.

3. On the relationship between spiritual and mundane in the Torah

Before startingouranalysis, lets take a few stepsback to say a fewwords about the

rationale for looking to theTorah formodels that candescribe (directlyor indirectly)

naturalphenomena.

The physical world and its attributes are often spoken of as a reflection or

manifestationofthespiritualrealm,andassuch,bystudyingthephysicalwemaycome

toknowmoreaboutthespiritualworlds,andultimatelyourCreator7.

ItisexplainedinJewishtraditionthattherearetwowaystodescribetherelationship

betweentheTorahandphysicalreality:

The first,morecommonlyheldview, is that theTorahspeaksofmundanematters

(e.g.lawsofcommerce,liability,etc.)butasitwere,thesemundanemattersarealsoto

be foundreflected in thehigher (or inner)spiritualdimensionsof theuniverse.Sowe

might say that the Torah canbe interpreted as saying something about the spiritual


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worldsaswellasthemundane.Thisinterpretationcanbeassimpleastalkingaboutthe

spirit of the law (as opposed to the letter or the law). Or, it can form thebasis of a

complexandintricate(anthropomorphic)analysisoftheDivine,basedontheTorah.

Thesecondapproach,advocatedbyH. assidism,holdsthattheTorahsactualsubject

matterare thehigher (or inner)spiritualdimensionsof theuniverse,and it isactually

they thatarealsoreflected,ormimicked, inthe lowermundanematerialdimensions8.ThuswemaysaythattheliteralmeaningoftheTorahisspiritual,whileanonliteral,or

allegoricalinterpretationofthismeaningteachesaboutthemundanephysicalworld.9

The second approach may seem troubling because the Torah does not seem to

employspirituallanguage(notethelackofmentionofangelsoranyotherheavenly

artifacts). In fact, the opposite is more the casethe stories related and the

commandmentsofGdfoundinitallseemtospeakdirectlyaboutphysicalrealityasit

was a few thousand years ago. The response to this point comes in the shape of the

TalmudicdictumthatTorahspeaksinthelanguageofmen10.Inotherwords,though

the subject matter of the Torah is indeed spiritual, its language is mundanethe

languageofmensuchthatitemployslanguagethatrefertoobjectsandstatesofaffairfamiliartohumans.11

Armedwith these twobasicnotions regarding the subjectmatterand languageof

Torah,weargue thatby studying thephysicalworldusing scientific methods (which

should hopefully give us a clear picture of physical phenomena) we expect to find

parallelsbetween theTorahs physical terminologyand the findingsofexperimental

science regarding those phenomena. Relating our knowledge about such physical

phenomenatotheTorahsvocabulary(orothernonlinguisticformsofcommunication,

as willbe explained) will, in turn, lead us toabetter understandingof the spiritual

issues,whicharetheTorahsactualsubjectmatter.Thuswecometolearnmoreabout

thespiritualrealmusingscientificknowledge.The Torah contains varied types of communicable information, alluded toby the

famous acronym: PaRDeS. PaRDeS stands for the four types of textual analysis

traditionallyusedtoexploretheTorahinordertorecoveritsinformativecontent.These

are:pshat (literalanalysis), remez (symbolic,ornumericalanalysis),drash (hermeneutic

analysis)and sod (associative,ormodelbasedanalysis). Inorder toquicklyorient the

reader we will note that drash (hermeneutic analysis) was utilized in the study and

developmentofHalachah(JewishLaw).Sod(associative,modelbased)analysiswasmost

fullydevelopedinLurianicKabbalah.Ourpresentstudywillmakeuseofallfourtypes

of textualanalysis.At times,werefer totheknowledgearrivedatusingremezandsod

analysis

as

the

inner

(or

esoteric)

wisdom

of

the

Torah.

4. Nature and the Divine

One of the mostbasic findings in the Torah using remez analysis (numerical, in this

case)isthatthenumericalvalueofthehebrewwordfornature( 12,hateva)=86is

equal to the numerical value of the name of Gd associated with the creation of the


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.

As we shall see, thisbasic equivalency will form thebackdrop for much of our

presentdiscussion.

5. 92 naturally occurring elementsThe firstpossibilitywouldbe tomapeachelement to itscorrespondingHebrew root,

simplybasedonorderofappearance(seeTable1inAppendixA).

Furtherreflectionthoughrevealsanalternative.The92distinctrootsofthestoryof

creationaredividedsuchthatthefirst86appearintheversesrelatingthefirstsixdays

ofcreation(Genesis1:1through1:31),whilethelast6arefoundintheversesrelatingthe

Sabbath (ibid2:1 through2:3).Thismotivatesus tocorrespond the6noblegaseswith

the 6 distinct roots found in the Sabbath section in Genesis, while the remaining 86

elementswillbecorrespondedinordertothedistinctrootsfoundinthe6Dayssection

ofGenesis.

Wemention thissecondpossiblemappingherebecauseofour interest in the inert

gases,asfollows.

6. Inert and non-Inert Elements

Scientifically speaking, there are many ways in which the chemical elements canbe

arranged to accent different attributes of their periodicity. Briefly, when looking at a

periodic table, the elements are normally presented with their name, atomic number,

andoften theirvalenceelectronconfiguration.Thecommonly found tableofelements

highlightsvarious typesofperiodicity,oneof themost centralonesbeing thatof the

noble

or

inert

gases.

One of the most importantand outstanding features of the 92 naturally occurring

elementsisthattheymaybedividedintotwogroups,basedupontheirabilitytoform

compounds:thereare6whichdonotformcompounds,alsoknownasinert(ornoble)

gases,whiletheother86doformcompoundswithotherelements.

On the periodic table inFigure 1, the inert gases form the far right hand column.

Graphically, our modern version of the table of elements is structured such that the

periodicity of the inert gases is highlighted, though, as we shall seebelow, the table

couldbe(andhistoricallywas)arrangedentirelyaroundthisperiodicity.

Thisbasicdivisioninto6and86observedinthenaturallyoccurringelementsistobe

found(again,usinganonliteralanalysisoftheTorahtext)intheveryfirstverseofthe

Torah: (usuallytranslatedasInthebeginningGd

created theheavensand theearth).The firstchapterof theTorah recounts theactof

creationofthenaturalworld.ItisimportanttonotethatGdhereisreferredtoasElokim

alone (andnotbyHisothernames), thus leading to theassociationof thisnamewith

nature.


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The6 lettersof the firstword,Bereishit ( )canbesplit into2separatewords,

eachwith3lettersandreadasbarahsheet( ),meaningcreatedsix(inAramaic,

thelinguafrancaoftheancientneareast).

Thenext twowords in theverseare barahElokim.Asnotedabove, thenumerical

valueofElokim,oneofthenamesofGdis86.Wehavethenthatthefirst3wordscanbe

understood to say: six were created (barahsheet) and 86 were created (barah

Elokim).Thesumofthesetwoactsofcreationis866=92,thenumberofthenaturally

occurringelements.

Asmentionedabove,86,thevalueofElokim,isalsothenumericalvalueoftheword

hateva inHebrew,or nature.ThusbarahElokim canbe readascreatednatureas

well.

ThereisyetanotherappearanceofthenameElokimregardingthe6inertgases:

Theatomicnumbersoftheinertgasesare2,10,18,36,54,86. Theheaviestinertgas,

radon(Rn),hasanatomicnumberof86=Elokim.

7. Spiritual WholenessWenow turn to reflecton thespiritualparallel to thepresenceofboth inertandnon

inertelementsinthenaturalworld.

Thespiritual(orpsychological)counterpartofphysicalinertnessintheelementscan

befoundintheTorahsdescriptionofJacobandLavans(Jacobsfatherinlaw)working

relationship. Regarding the wages thatJacob received for tending Lavans flocks the

Torahwrites(Genesis30:42):

Thisisusuallytranslatedliterallyas:

the weaker (atufim) [flocks] were to Lavan and the stronger(kshurim) [flocks] were to Jacob.The literalmeaning is that thesheepwerecharacterisedasstrongerorweaker; the

weakerremainedthepropertyofLavan,thestrongerweregiventoJacobaswages.

However,Rashi,thebasic(literal)MedievalcommentaryontheTorahinterpretsthe

meaningof atufim differently.14 ThisHebrew word canbeanalyzed to stem from the

rootatf( )thatyieldstheinfinitivelaatof,towrap.Itwouldthenmeanthosethatare

wrapped.

Likewise,KshurimthewordusedtodescribethetypeofflocksgiventoJacob,canbe

analyzedtostemfromtherootk.sh.r.( )andtheinfinitivelikshor,tobind.Itsmeaning

wouldthen

be

those

that

are

bound

Ifthesecharacteristicsofthesheepareseenasmetaphorsfortwodifferenttypesof

personalities, thenanatufdescribesonewho iswrapped inwool,keepingwarmallto

himself,whileakashursymbolizesonewhois incompletewithoutformingbondswith

others outside of himself. A wrapped (atuf) individual is not inneed of a mate and

finds sufficient warmth alone. Such an individual needs not receive from nor give to

another.Ontheotherhand,apersonwithatied(kashur)personalityseekscompletion

inrelationshipswithothers,attimesgivingattimesreceiving.


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For the sake of rigor we note that spiritually speaking, these two types of

personalities are usually associated with negative and positive qualities, respectively.

Anatufattitude(especiallyinthepresentcasewheretheseflocksareindicatedasbeing

thepropertyofLavan)isconsideredanalogoustothatfoundinBiblicalSodom15:That

whichbelongs to me is mine, that whichbelongs to you is yours.16 While a kashur

attitudeisnormallyassociatedwithholiness(thoughattimesitcandrifttoanextremeformofwantonnesswhichisofcoursenegative).

However, inH. assidicwritings it is explained thata trulywhole individual isone

who hasboth qualities. Tobetter understand why how this is so we may take the

kaballisticprinciplestatedbyRabbiAbrahamAbulafia(1240c.1291),the13thcentury

philosopherandmystic:beingwholeisbeingoneandahalf.Orinthefamouswordsof

RebbeNachmanofBretzlov:nothing ismorewhole thanabrokenheart.Wecoin the

term whole and half ( , shalem vachetzi) to designate this special quality of

wholeness.

Atrulywhole(andholy)personisdoesnotfeelselfsufficient,therebynotrequiring

others,but ratheronewho is,existentially speaking,bothcompleteand incompleteatthesametime.Byvirtueoftheirhalfness,theyneedtoconnectorbondwithothers.By

virtue of their wholeness they are able to offer support and help to others. Real

wholeness(andholiness)comesbyvirtueofanexistentialfeelingofincompletenessof

insufficiencyandinadequacytosinglehandedlyprevail,empoweredandstrengthened

byasenseofwholenesswhichsavesonefromasenseofaninabilitytorisetothetaskat

hand.

Scientifically speaking, we can immediately note the analogybetween these two

basic definitions of atuf and kashur and the distinctionbetween inert and noninert

elements.Bondformationispossibleonlywhenanelectronorbitalishalforincomplete.

Butwhenanorbitaliswholeorfilled,theelementinquestionisnotinneedofacceptingor receivingelectronsand thusdoesnot formbonds.Yet,bothexist innature.Nature

reflectsthesetwobasicqualities.

The inert gases are also called the Noble gases. The mark of nobility is the air of

wholeness surrounding it. The nobility of the elements do not react with any other

elements. It isonly the86,Elokim,elements thatcandoso.Nonetheless, thesixnoble

gasesformasortofaxisaroundwhichtheother86elementsrevolve.

8. Whole-ness of the Patriarchs

The attribute ofbonding is found tobe associated with the name Elokim in another

manner:ElokimisthenameofGdrelatedmostcloselywiththePatriarchIsaacasbothmanifestthequalityofjudgment(ordin ).WhendepartingfromLavan,hisfather

inlaw,Jacobsays:

,


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If the G-d of my father, the G-d of Abraham, the fear of

Isaac, was not with me, then you would have sent me away

empty-handed17Jacob refers to the way inwhich Isaac (his father) knewGdas the fear of Isaac

(pachadYitzchak, ).Thenumericalvalueofpachad,or fear, is92,which isagain

Elokim(86)plussixthetotalnumberofnaturallyoccurringelements.

Yet,Isaacwasnotalwayswholeinthesenseofbeingbothwholeandhalfatthesame

time.ThesagestellusthatIsaacwasactually37yearsoldatthetimethatAbraham(his

father)wascommanded tosacrificehim toGd (seeGenesis22),knownas the testof

theAkeida the test of thebindingof Isaac.TheZohar,18 thebasicbook of the inner

teachingsof theTorah, relates that Isaacwasentirelywhole,exclusivelyof noble,or

inert, character and was therefore not suited for marriage, not suited tobond with

another.ItwastheAkeidaliterally,thebindingwhichbroughthimtocompletehis

character with the quality of halfness. It was only then that he became suited for

marriage, tobond with a wife. ThuspachadYitzchak (= 92) canbe understood as the

attribute of Elokim (86) plus another 6, the addition of something to Yitzchaks ownwholeness.

BythesametokentheZoharexplainsthatAbrahamwasnottrulywholeeither,ashe

didnothavethequalityofMightorJudgment.ItwastheactoftheAkeidathebinding

ofJacobdoneoutof fearandaweofGod (as theangel spoke tohim following the

binding: for now I know that you are indeed fearful of God (Genesis 22:12) which

complementedhisessencewiththisquality.

9. Inert Periodicity Historically

Nowthatwehavespentsometimestudyingtheperiodicityoftheinertelements,letus

delveabitintoitshistory.Usingtheperiodicityoftheinertelementsasthebasisforthe

table of chemical elements was first proposed in 1895byJ. Thomsen19 and was itself

basedonanearliermodelbyT.Bayley(1882).AtablesimilartoThomsensappearsin

Figure2.Notethattheprincipaldisadvantagesofthistablewasthelargespacerequired

by theperiodof32elementsand thedifficultyof tracingasequenceofcloselysimilar

elements(forpurposesofillustrationtheinertelementshavebeenmarkedinblue,and

thenonmetals,markedingreen,inthecontemporarytableformatriangularshape,but

heredonotalignsimilarly).


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1

H2

He 3

Li4

Be5

B6

C7

N8

O9

F10

Ne 11

Na12

Mg13

Al14

Si15

P16

S17

Cl18

Ar

19

K 20

Ca 21

Sc 22

Ti 23V 24

Cr 25

Mn 26

Fe 27Co 28Ni Cu29 30Zn Ga31 32Ge 33As 34Se 35Gr 36Kr 37

Rb38

Sr39

Y40

Zr Nb41 42

Mo43

Tc44

Ru45

Rh46

Pd Ag47 48

Cd49

In50

Sn51

Sb52

Te53

I54

Xe 55

Cs56

Ba57

La58

Ce59

Pr60

Nd61

Pm62

Sm63

Eu64

Gd Tb65

Dy66 67

Ho68

Er69

Tm70

Yb71

Lu72

Hf73

Ta74

W75

Re76

Os77

Ir78

Pt79

Au80

Hg81

Tl82

Pb83

Bi84

Po85

At86

Rn87

Fr88

Ra89

Ac90

Th91

Pa92

U

Table 1

10. Orbital Filling of the 6 Inert Gases

Itwasonlyin1922thatNielsBohrproposedthequantumtheoreticalmodelthatforms

thebasisforourcurrentunderstandingofthesubatomicconstructoftheelements,and

explains the observed periodicity of the inert gases. According to Bohrs model, the

structure of each atom couldbe singularly described using 4 quantum numbers to

identify the orbitals in which electrons organize around the atoms nucleus. The

orbitals (sometimes called subshells) are grouped into shells, the shells being

designatedbytheletters:K,L,M,N,,orsimply1,2,3,4,.

Everyorbital isclassifiedby twoquantumnumbers: theprimaryquantumnumber

andtheangularmomentumquantumnumber.Theangularmomentumquantumnumber

isreplacedbytheletterss,p,ord.Twootherquantumnumbersthemagneticquantum

numberandthespinquantumnumberdeterminethenumberofelectronsthatcanfit

inanorbital.

Looking at the periodic table using Bohrs model, we find that the naturally

occurringelementscanbedescribedexhaustivelyusing7shellsand4orbitals,namely

(designatingtheshellsbytheirnumber,notletter):1s,2s,2p,3s,3p,3d,4s,4p,4d,4f,5s,

5p,5d,5f,6s,6p,7s.Thenumberofelectronsthatcanfitineachorbitalis:2insorbitals,

6inporbitals,10indorbitals,14inforbitals

To truly understand the theoreticalbasis for Bohrs model isbeyond our scope.

However,wewould liketotakeacloser lookatthemathematicalregularitiesthatthis

model produces. So let us order the elements in a table that will show us how their

electronsfillthevariousshellsandorbitals:


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1 1 2(2) H He

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10(8) Li Be B C N O F Ne

3 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 21 30(18) Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar Sc Zn

4 19 20 31 32 33 34 35 36 39 48 57 70(32) K Ca Ga Ge As Se Br Kr Y Cd La Yb

5 37 38 49 50 51 52 53 54 71 80 89 92(50) Rb Sr In Sn Sb Te I Xe Lu Hg Ac U

6 55 56 81 82 83 84 85 86(72) Cs Ba Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn

7 87 88(98) Fr Ra

Shells

Orbitals s(2) p(6) d(10) f(14) g(18) h(22) i(26)

Table 2

TherowsdesignatetheShells,whilethecolumnstheorbitalsineachshell.Thusfor

instance, the firstshell (K)canaccommodateup to2electronsand thereforehasroom

for 2 elements. The second shell (L) can accommodate 8 electrons and therefore has

room for8 elements,and soon. In theK shell,all theelectronsareavailable in the s

orbitalonly.IntheLshell,electronsspotsareavailableinboththesandporbitals.

Notethatshellsarenotfilledentirelybeforethenextshellisstarted,duetothefact

thatelectrons inelementsalwaysseekthe lowestpossibleenergystate theycanreach.

Thisisclearifwefollowtheelementsinthistable.UptoArgon(Ar),thefirstshell(K)

and second shell (L) are filled completely. Then the sorbital of the third shell (M) is

filled,followedbyacompletefillingofitsporbital.Argonthenisthe18thelementinthetablewithelectronscompletelyfillingthe3p[3rdshell(M),porbital]orbital.Butthenext

element,Potassium(K)doesnotcontinuetofillthe3rdshellsdorbital,butratherskips

to the 4th shells (N) s orbital,because electrons in that orbital actually have a lower

energylevelthenelectronsinthe4dorbital.Thisisduetotheinteractionsbetweenthe

electronsthemselves,aneffectknownasshielding.SoPotassiumsextraelectronsdo

notlocateinthe3dorbitalbutratherinthelowerenergyorbital4s.Therestofthetable

follows this general trend, with electrons always vying for the lowest energy level

orbitals.

Therearetwointerestingfactsaboutthistablethatshouldbenotedare:

thatthenumberofspotsineachorbitalisequaltothedifferencesbetweenthe

totalnumberofelementsthatcanpopulateeachshell.

alltheorbitalsthatareusedarefilledorpopulatedtocapacitybyelements

exceptfor the5thshellsforbital.Though5fhasroom for14electrons,only4

spotsareusedby the heaviest naturallyoccurring elements from Actinium

(89)toUranium(92).


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The first fact is the reason thatwehavedrawn the tableas7x7even though the

entireg,handiorbitalshavebeenleftblank.Letusexplicitlywritethefirstfactout:The

totalnumbersofelectronsintheshellsare(WedesignatetheseassetA):

A={2,8,18,32,50,72,98}

Thenumbersofelectronsineachorbitalare(wewilldesignatetheseassetB):

B={2,6,10,14,18,22,26}NownotethatthenumbersinsetBarethedifferencesbetweenthenumbersinsetA.

Thiscanbeclearlyillustratedbywritingthetwosets,AandB,onebeneaththeother,as

follows:

totalelectronsinshells 2 8 18 32 50 72 98

electronsinorbitals 6 10 14 18 22 26

This is truly one of the most astonishing mathematical properties of the periodic

table.

But,arrangingtheelementsintheabovetablealsorevealsaninterestingpropertyoftheinertgasesandthatisthataninertgasisformedeachtimetheporbitalfills.Thep

orbitalofeachandeveryshellhasroomfor6electrons.Thatistosaythateachtime6

electronsfilltheporbital,aninertgasifcreated(excludingHelium,whichdoesnotuse

theporbital).

Recollect that above we noted that in the story of creation, the first word of the

Torah, Bereishit, which can be understood to mean created 6, should be seen as

corresponding to the formation of the 6 inert gases! In fact, the excluded inert gas

Helium, ishintedtointhewordBereishitastheletterbet,thefirst letterofthewordis

writtenintheTorahscrollasalargebet( ,betrabati)andthenumericalvalueof

the

letter

bet

is

2.

11. Mathematical Patterns in Inert Elements

Letusnowlookatthenumbersoftheinertgasesfromanotherperspective. Ifwetake

theatomicnumbersoftheinertelementsandnotethedifferencesbetweenthemwecan

constructthefollowingtable:

elementatomicnumber

difference inatomic number

n, wheredifference = 2n

2

He (Helium) 2 2 1

Ne (Neon) 10 8 2

Ar (Argon)18

8

2

Kr (Krypton) 36 18 3

Xe (Xenon) 54 18 3

Rn (Radon) 86 32 4

Table 3

The rightmost column shows that the differences between the elements are all

values,inorder,ofthemathematicalseriesf[n]=2n2(nstartingat0).


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Thesenumbersareknown in the inner teachingsof theTorahas thedoublesquares

( ,ribuimkfulim).Theirsignificanceisrelatedtothe32pathsofWisdom( "

,lamedbeitnetivotchochmah).TheBookofFormation,mentionedabove,begins:

--

'

Using 32 wondrous paths of wisdom Kah Havayah [God]

Lord of Hosts engraved and created His world, using

three books: author and book and story.20

ItisknownthatthetextualsourceintheTorahforthese32pathsofWisdomistobe

foundinthe32timesthatthenameElokimisusedintheversesdescribingthesixdays

of Creation.21 This, again, is the Name which we have recognized as central in our

discussionoftheperiodictable.WenotethatnootherNameoftheAlmightyappearsin

thecreationstory,22anditappearsexactly32times.

32 is thus thenumberassociatedwithWisdom (chochmah). In the inner teachingsofthetorahwefindthenumber50associatedwithUnderstanding:50GatesofUnderstanding

( ,chamishimshaareibinah).Thereisalsoanother,lesswellknownconcept

of72Bridges( " ,ayinbeitgesharim).23

Actually, all three of these concepts are closely related and are part of one larger

picture.Thisbasicconceptualschemeidentifiesthetypeofenergyrelatedtoeachsefirah

andthetypeofconduitthroughwhichitflows:

Thus the energy ofWisdom is identified as mind that flows through apath ( ,

nativ);theenergyofUnderstandingisidentifiedasintelligencethatflowsthroughagate

( , shaar); finally the energy ofKnowledge is termed psyche and flows through a

bridge( ,

gesher).

This

model

issummarized

in

Table

2.

sefirah energy type conduit type number of conduits

Wisdom mind Path 32

Understanding intelligence Gate 50

Knowledge psyche Bridge 72

Table 4

Ofcourse,72 isalsoadouble square (particularly,72=2 .62).Wehave thus,so far,

foundthementalsignificanceofthedoublesquaresforn=4,n=5andn=6.Tocomplete

ourunderstandingof thesignificanceofdouble squaresweneed tocomplete the series

beginningwith

n=1.

Thebasicmodelof the sefirot inKabbalah indicates thataboveWisdom resides the

Crown( ,keter)thatisexplainedintheZohartoconsistofthreeheads( ,

tlatreishinshebaketer).24Inourpresentmodelwewillmapthese3partsoftheCrownto

correspondtothefirst3valuesofn.

Continuingourpreviousdiscussion regarding thevariousmentalpowerswenote

thatWisdommarksthefirstconsciousmentalpower.Thus, theCrownwhichresides,

both figuratively and in our Kabbalistic model, above the head corresponds to the


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14

superconscious faculties.The threeheadsof theCrown,or the3superconsciousmental

powersareknownas:Belief( ,emunah),Pleasure( ,taanug)andWill( ,ratzon).

Table 3 illustrates the double squares for values of n from 1 to 6 with their

correspondingmentalfaculties.

sefirah mental faculty n f[n] = 2n2

belief 1 2

pleasure 2 8Crown

will 3 18

Wisdom mind 4 32

Understanding intelligence 5 50

Knowledge psyche 6 72

Table 5

Using the sefirotasamodel for the seriesofdouble squares,we could continue the

seriesuntiln=13.Forexample,correspondingtothedoublesquare128(n=8)wewould

havethe

sefirah

of

Might

( ,

gevurah).

For

338

(n

=13)

we

would

have

the

sefirah

of

Kingdom( ,malchut).

Wehavenowtakenalookattheseriesofdoublesquares,thedifferencesbetweenthe

atomicnumbersof the inertgases.Thisseries isessentially thebackboneof thewhole

periodictableoftheelements.

Extrapolating from our knowledge of double squares in the periodicity of inert

elementswewouldexpectthenextinertelementtobeofquantumnumber:

86 (Radon) 32 = 118. This element hasbeen dubbed Uuo (Ununoctium)by the

InternationalUnionofAppliedChemists(IUPAC)untilitsexistenceisprovenatwhich

timeitspropertieswillbeascertained.

Wewouldexpecttofindthenextinertelementatquantumnumber:

11850=168.ThiselementhasbeendubbedUho(Unhexoctium).

12. Metals and non-metals

Another important periodicity represented in the periodic table is that of the non

metallic elements. Whereas the periodicity of the inert elements was definedby the

doublesquares(asexplainedabove),theperiodicityofthenonmetalsisrecognizableby

the triangular shape they form on the periodic table, as highlighted in the next table

(nonmetalsareshadedinturquoise).


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1

H2

He3

Li4

Be5

B6

C7

N8

O9

F10

Ne11

Na12

Mg13

Al14

Si15

P16

S17

Cl18

Ar

19

K20

Ca21

Sc22

Ti23

V24

Cr25

Mn26

Fe27

Co28

Ni29

Cu30

Zn31

Ga32

Ge33

As34

Se35

Gr36

Kr37

Rb38

Sr39

Y40

Zr41

Nb42

Mo43

Tc44

Ru45

Rh46

Pd47

Ag48

Cd49

In50

Sn51

Sb52

Te53

I54

Xe55

Cs56

Ba57

La72

Hf73

Ta74

W75

Re76

Os77

Ir78

Pt79

Au80

Hg81

Tl82

Pb83

Bi84

Po85

At86

Rn87

Fr88

Ra89

Ac

58

Ce59

Pr60

Nd61

Pm62

Sm63

Eu64

Gd65

Tb66

Dy67

Ho68

Er69

Tm70

Yb71

Lu90

Th91

Pa92

U93

Np94

Pu95

Am96

Cm97

Bk98

Cf99

Es100

Fm101

Md102

No103

Lr

Table 6

Ofthe86noninertelements15areclassifiedasnonmetals.Theother71elements

areclassifiedasmetals.Wenotethathydrogenissometimesplacedinaclassofitsown,

somethingweshalladdressbelow.Generallyspeaking,thoughnotalways,metalsactas

electrondonorsandnonmetalsaselectronrecipientsinchemicalcompounds.

As mentioned above, the nonmetals form a triangle in the righthand side of the

periodictable:5elementsinthefirstrowofthetriangle,4inthesecond,3inthethird,2

inthefourthandfinally1inthelast.

5

B6

C7

N8

O9

F14

Si15

P16

S17

Cl33

As34

Se35

Gr52

Te53

I85

At

15isatriangularnumber.Thefunctionthatgeneratestriangularnumbersis:

n(n1)

2f[n]=

Wedesignatetriangularnumbersbythespecialsymboln.25Thus,5=15.Another

way todefine thenth triangularnumber isas thesumofallnumbers from1ton. It is

thereforealsotruethat:

n=n(n1)

Therefore,

5=54


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But,4=10,sothat5=510.

Thus,the5thtriangularnumberhasthepropertyofwholeandhalfthatwesawabove

(5).

Thenumber10, the4th triangularnumber (and thewholepartof5),hasa special

referenceintheinnerteachingsoftheTorah.Itissometimesasdesignatedas:

,,,

simple song, double song, triple song, quadruple songThis idiomalludes tothenumber10as thesumof1(simple),2(double),3 (triple)

and4(quadruple).

Inourparticularcase,wehave5elementsabove4,or inHebrew letterswehavea

heh( =5)overayud( =10).Recallthat86thenumberofnaturalelementsexcluding

theinertgasesisnumericallyequivalenttotheDivinename,Elokim( ).Thisname

hasfiveletters,withnumericalvaluesareasfollows:

letter in hebrew valuealeph 1

lamed 30

heh 5

yud 10

mem 40

The15nonmetalsthuscorrespond to thetwo letterheh( ,5)andyud ( ,10)ofthe

fivelettersofthenameElokim,theseminalnameoftheperiodictable.

13. Metals and Hydrogen

After accounting for the 15 nonmetals we now remain with 71these are known as

metals.However,inmanyrenditionsoftheperiodictable,hydrogen,theelementwithatomicnumber1,isclassifiedbyitself,implyingthathydrogenforvariousreasonsdoes

notfallwithinoneortheothercategoryofmetalsandnonmetals.

Howshouldweunderstand the roleofhydrogenamong theelements?Togivean

answer,wemustfirstreintroduce theclassicalmodelofthefourelementsofantiquity

anditsmoderndaycorrespondence.Asexplainedelsewhereinlength,26eachofthefour

classic elementsfire, air, water and earthcorresponds with a specific modern

chemicalelement(seetable6).

classicalelement

modern

element

atomic

numbersefirah

air oxygen 8 Crown( ,keter)water hydrogen 1 Wisdom( ,h. oh. ma)

fire carbon 6 Understanding( ,binah)

earth nitrogen 7 Knowledge( ,daat)

Table 7

Thiscorrespondenceisbasedontheessencethateachoftheclassicalelementswas

meant to represent,and themajor role thateachof themoderndayelementsplays in


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17

nature. Thus, oxygen is the most important component of Air for human beings;

hydrogen, our subject of interest (together with oxygen, which we have already

correspondedwithAir)makesupwater27,uponwhichwewillelaborateinamoment;

nitrogen is the earths major nutrient usedby plant life; and the earliest human fires

wereofthetypethatburnscarbon.

Looking at the atomic numbers of these elements we note that the sum of theirtriangularnumbers=86:

1 6 7 8=1212836=86!28

The classical element water naturally corresponds to hydrogen (e.g. in modern

nomenclature, the prefix hydro denotes a watery characteristic). During the time

periodthatKabbalahwasbeingdeveloped,theacceptedchemicalanalysiswasbasedon

the4classicelements.Classicwaterwasbroughtdownascorrespondingtothesefirahof

Wisdom.Thus, inour modern chemicalanalysis,hydrogen that corresponds to classic

water would also correspond to the sefirah ofWisdom. RegardingWisdom we find an

importantverse(Psalms104:24):

You made them all with WisdomAnalyzingthisusingsod,whereWisdomisthesefirahofhydrogen,wecansaythatall

chemicalelementsbeginwithhydrogen,butthathydrogenremainsinacategoryofits

own. Thus hydrogen would parallel the first letter, aleph, in the Name Elokim, the

essentialNameofthePeriodicTable.Moreover,thenumericalvalueofalephis1,asis

theatomicnumberofhydrogen,strengtheningouridentification.

Aswehavealreadyaccountedfor the lettersaleph,hehandyudof thenameElokim

we are left with two letters: lamed and mem. We are also left with 70 elements not

accounted for (aseither inertgases,nonmetals,orhydrogen).Thenumericalvalueoflamed is 30, the numerical value ofmem is 40, their sum equal to 70. Thus we can

completeourcorrespondenceof theelementswith thenameElokimbynoting that the

numberofmetalsequalstheletterlamedandmem.Ourcompletedanalysisispresented

inTable8.

letter(s) of nameElokim

in Hebrewnumerical

valuecorresponding

element(s)

aleph 1 hydrogen

heh yud , 15 nonmetals

lamed mem , 70 metals

Table 8

Elokim As Creative Consciousness

OuranalysisofthenameElokimasthecentralpivotoftheperiodictablewouldnotbe

completewithoutusspendingafewmomentslookingatthespiritualsignificanceofthis

phenomenon.


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ThoughtheusualusageofthewordElokim isasthenaturalnameofGod,itdoes

haveotherusesintheBible.Indiscussingcivilsuits,theTorahreferstothecourtorthe

judgeasan Elokim (Exodus22:8,22:27). In theBookofPsalms (82:6)we findanother

usageofthenameElokimtorefertoAdam,thefirsthumanbeing:

I had said, You are Elokim and all of you are sons of the

Most HighThisverse servesas the source fromwhich theArizal teaches thateachandevery

Jew literallyhasaDivineelementwithin them.Theverbsaid ( )heredoesnot

mean thatGod literallycommandedAdam tobe anElokim,but rather,as itat times

means in Biblical Hebrew, that God had wanted or had hoped that man would

ascendtotheheightsofbeinganElokimsonsoftheMostHigh.

The Edenic serpent, the catalyst for Adam and Eves downfall and transgression,

clearly voiced this destiny of mankind as a reason for eating from the Tree of

Knowledge(Genesis3:45):

.

And the serpent said to the woman: You shall not surely

die. For God knows that on the day you eat of it, then your

eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as Elokim, knowing

good and evil.Withoutgoing in length into thedifferencebetweenGodshope formankind,and

theserpentsdescriptionofmankindsdestiny,letusmerelysaythatduetoAdamssin,

thisdesireofTheHolyOneBlessedBeHewasnotyettoberealized.Godwilling,inthe

timesoftheMessiahitwillbefulfilled.

But how would we describe the state of humanity hoped forby God and termed

Elokim.Untilnowwehavestudiedthenatural(mundane)worldasareflectionofthe

spiritual worlds of the Divine. Here we find that an element of the mundane world,

albeit a spiritual elementthe soulshares the same nameElokimas the pivotal

nameofthePeriodicTable.IfuntilnowwehaveseenthePeriodicTableasreflectingthe

Divine,wenowunderstandthatitalsoreflectsthespiritualelementwithinman.Thisis

notentirelysurprisingasweknowthatthesoulisitselfapartoftheDivine.

AsthenameElokimisthecentralbuildingblockforthePeriodicTableofthephysical

elements,sowesaythatwithinmanthenameElokim is instrumental in theexpansion

anddevelopmentofconsciousness.Consciousnessistomankindasthephysicalworld

istoGod,andbothareconstructedusingthepivotalnameofElokim.Thisisthemeaning

ofthesayingofthesages:

Icreateworlds,youalsowillcreateworlds. IwantedthatjustasIcreate,youwill

create.TheserpenttrickedEveintothinkingthatshecouldreachthislevelofcreative

consciousnessthroughtheft. Thiscouldonlyfail. Yet,theCreatorwantsthis,forusto


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19

reachcreativeconsciousness. Thusallofourmeditationon theNameElokim is really

aboutoursouls ( ,neshamah). Each level,thealeph,thehei,theyud,the lamedmem,

andtheaxisofsixaboutwhichallthe86(86=Elokim)elementsrevolve,belongstothe

soulof theJew. By studying theperiodic table, weare studying aspectsofour own

souls.

14. Hydrogen As the Source of All Elements

ItwasmentionedabovethathydrogencorrespondstothesefirahofWisdom,andthatby

WisdomGodcreatedallintheuniverse,asnotedintheverse:Youhavemadethemall

withWisdom(Psalms104:24).

ThisideathatWisdom,oritselementalparallel,hydrogen,isthesourceofallother

matter in the universecorresponds to the accepted contemporary theory of

nucleosynthesis(elementformation),whichtheorizesthatallelementsarecreatedinthe

fusionreactionofhydrogenstars likeoursun. In thecoresofstars,hydrogen is fused

into helium, helium into carbon (and sometimes into oxygen) and may include the

formationofelementsasheavyasiron(atomicnumber26).

InouranalysisofthePeriodicTablewehaveseenthathydrogencorrespondstothe

letteralephof thenameElokim.TheBaalShemTov, the founderofChassidut, taught

that all the other 21 letters of the alphabet originate from the letter aleph, another

paralleltothetheoryofnucleosynthesis.

15. The Mathematical Series of the Element Groupings

We now have a complete structural scheme for understanding the spiritual

correspondenceofeachofthe92naturallyoccurringelementsinthePeriodicTable.We

haveseenthattheycanbedividedinto4basicgroupings:hydrogen,the6inertgases,15

nonmetalsand70metals.Wenowhaveaseriesof4numbers(whichwehavefoundby

categorizingthe92elements):1,6,15,70.

With this series in hand, we now turn to one of the most basic techniques of

numericalanalysisused inthe innerwisdomoftheTorah:seriescalculus.29Whenever

wehaveaseriesofnumberssuchas this, it is important, frombothmathematicaland

Kabbalistic perspectives, to find the base of the series. Doing this is technically very

simpleasallthatweneedtodoisfindthedifferencesbetweenthenumbersoftheseries,

then the differencesbetween the differences, and finally, in our case where webegin

with4numbers,thedifferencebetweenthose,asfollows:

numbersinseries 1 6 15 70differencebetweennumbersinseries 5 9 55

differencebetweendifferences 4 46

finaldifference/baseofseries 42

Thusthebaseofourseriesis42.TheNamewithwhichtheuniversewascreated,is

the42letterName. Theverynumberthatisthebaseofouranalysisoftheperiodictable


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20

is thenumber that is themost related to theCreationby thesages,ofwhich it issaid

thisisthegatetoGod,therighteouswillcomethroughit,30itisthenameof42letters,

withwhichthehigherandthelowerwerecreated.31

16. Group 1B Periodicity: Copper, Silver, and Gold

FollowingouranalysisofthemajorperiodsinthePeriodicTable,wenowturntoamore

local periodicitythat of the elements in Group 1B. Group 1B contains the three

preciousmetalsCopper(Cu),Silver(Ag)andGold(Au).Apartfromtheirbeingknown

as the 3 precious metals, these three elements were of particular significance in the

constructionoftheTabernacle(Exodus25:126:30)asweshallsee.

These elementsgroupnameIBsignifies that theelements in thegroup sharea

similarorbitalconfiguration to those inGroup1A (Hydrogen,Lithium,Sodium,etc.).

Morespecifically,elementsinGroupIBalwayshaveoneelectrontodonateor,inour

terminology,theyarealwaysjustalittlebitmorethanwhole(shalem).Theouterorbital

configurationsoftheseelementsare:

Cu 3d104s1

Ag 4d105s1

Au 5d106s1

Weseefromtheorbitalconfigurationthatthesemetals,copper,silverandgold,have

anaspectoffinishingacycleandbeginninganewone.Ineachofthem,thespecificd

orbitalisfilled(completed)whilethenextsorbitalcommencesfilling.

Naye saider is a Yiddish idiom that expresses this same sentimentwhere one

phenomenoniscompletedandanewonecommences,particularlyinregardstostages

orcyclesinhistory.WemightsayoftheIBelementsthattheyreflectsuchapointinthe

PeriodicTable,whereoneorbitalcompletesandanewonebegins.Atthispointanew

beginningismade,anewderech,path.ItisacknowledgedwithinthecirclesofChassidutthatwhentheBaalShemTovwas

born,aneworderbegan in theworld.Likewise,when theMessiahwill come,anew

orderwillbeginaswell32.

By having only one electron in the s orbital, these elements, like their Group 1A

counterparts, are the epitomic electron donors, or influencers (mashpiim). Due to the

outersorbitalhavingonlyoneelectron,thesethreemetalsofGroupIB,whichservedto

build the Holy Temple, combine in theory with oxygen in the same manner as

hydrogen,asexplainedabove.Morespecifically,theywouldcombinewithOxygenata

rationof2:1(2atomsfromgroupIB,foreveryOxygenatom).

NotingthateachofthegroupIBmetalscommencethefillingofanothersorbital,wemay take a closer look specifically at the outer orbital configurations of the transition

metalsbeforeandaftercopper(Cu):

element Sc(21) Ti(22) V(23) Cr(24) Mn(25) Fe(26) Co(27) Ni(28) Cu(29) Zn(30)

orbital 3d14s2 3d24s2 3d34s2 3d54s1 3d54s2 3d64s2 3d74s2 3d84s2 3d104s1 3d104s2

Table 9


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21

Precedingcopper (Cu),orbitalswhichhavebeen filledare1s,2s,2p,3s,and3p. In

copperwe find that3dthesixthorbital iscompletedwhile4stheseventhorbital

beginstobefilled.Thustheseventhorbitalisstartedwithcopper.

ThereisawellknownprincipleinTorahthatallseventhsarebeloved(

).Hereweseethisprinciplebeautifullyapplied.TheTabernaclesignifiesthemost

beloved place for God to dwell in the mundane world. It is only fitting that itbeconstructedfromcoppertheelementcommencingthefillingoftheseventhorbital.

Continuingourexaminationofcopperspecifically,letusquotefromExodus,where

theTorahdescribestheofferingrequiredbytheChildrenofIsraelfortheconstructionof

theTabernacle:

And God spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Children of

Israel that they should bring me an offering: of every man

whose heart prompts him to give, you shall take my

offering. And this is the offer that you shall take from them:

gold and silver and copper

IntheoriginalHebrewtext,thewordforcopper( )isthe29thwordfromthe

beginningoftheparshah.29is,ofcourse,theelementalnumberofcopper.

IntheTorah,inthetextjustquoted,thegroupIBelementsareorderedbyheaviness

(atomic mass): gold (79) silver (47) copper (29), the heaviestgoldlisted first. This

ordercorrespondstoreadingthegroupIBelementsfrombottomtotop.

InAramaic, theonlynonHebrew language towhich thesageshavecontributeda

measureofsanctity,theHebrewwordforheavy( ,kaved)meansprecious(inHebrew

,yakar). Some of this meaning has alsobeen retained in the Hebrew word kavod,

whichmeansimportanceorhonor.Inanycase,itisestablishedthatinHebrewthat

whichisheavyisalsoprecious.

WeseethisintheGroupIBelements.Theheaviertheelement,themorepreciousitisconsidered.Gold is themost treasured33, thensilver,and,copper, the lightest is the

leastprecious.

Another approach for analysing the significance of these three metals is their

correspondence with the sefirot. Indescending order of heaviness, gold is associated

with the sefirah ofMight ( ,gevurah); silver associated with lovingkindness ( ,

chesed); copper corresponds to Beauty ( , tiferet). It is well known that the 3

patriarchs,AbrahamIsaacandJacobalsocorrespondtothese3sefirot,asfollows:

lovingkindness(chesed) Abraham silver

might(gevurah) Isaac goldbeauty(tiferet) Jacob copper

Table 10

As we can see, gold the most precious corresponds with the patriarch Isaac. This

parallel between Isaac and gold becomes meaningful when considering the future

buildingofthe3rdHolyTemple.Ofthattimeitissaid(Isaiah63:16):


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22

For you are our father, for Abraham has not known us, and

Israel has not recognized us, You God are our father, our

savior, Your name is forever.Thesages(Shabbat89b)explainthisversetomeanthatofall3patriarchs(Jacob isalso

knownasIsrael),itwillbeIsaacthatwillshowspecialmercyontheJewishpeople,his

offspring, and will thusbe the primary patriarch. The sages also relate that the 3rd

Templewillbeconstructedentirelyofgold.

*BasedontwolecturesgivenbyRabbiGinsburgh,9thofElul5753(27/8/93)and15thofIyar5761

(7/5/01);TranscribedandtranslatedbyBatyaEshel.

1.Foramorethoroughdiscussionoftheseontologicalschemesinthe19thcenturyseeNye,ch.3.

2.Mostnotablyinchapter1ofpartIIIoftheTanya,thebasicworkofH. abadH. assidism.

3.Avot5:1;seeBTMegillah21bandelsewhere.Fortheidentificationofthe10sefirotwiththe10

maamarot,seeAlterRebbesTorahOr53a,82dandelsewhere.Foracorrespondencebetweenthe

the10maamarotandthe10AristotleanphilosophicalcategoriesseeMaimonides,Introductionto

Logic104.Foracorrespondencebetweenthese10philosophicalcategoriesandthesefirot,seeour

audiotape(Hebrew)TenTypesofConsciousness,(KfarH. abad:GalEinaiPublications,1998).

4.Recently,newexperimentationhasledtothediscoveryofsocalledislandsofstabilityinthe

superheavyelements;seeOganessianet.al.,VoyagetoSuperheavyIslandinScientificAmerican

282:1(January2000),pp.4549.

5.SeehisvolumeAhavatTorah(Podgorza,1905).

6.Meaningwordsthatstemfromdifferentroots( ,shorashim),the2or3lettercombinations

which serve to form words in semitic languages like Hebrew [technically, 2 letter roots are

knownasgates( ,shaarim)].

7.MarehHa

adamch.3(folio2a).

8.Basedon thisview,R. IsraelBaalShemTov, the founderof theChassidicmovement in18th

centuryUkraine,taughtthattheTorahisuniversalinthesensethatitisrelevanttoeveryperson

ateverymomentineverylocation(quotedubiquitouslyinToldotYaakovYosefbytheBaalShem

Tovsstudent,R.YaakovYoseftheMaggidofPolanah).

9.In theoriginalHebrew these twoviewpointsare:1) 2)

; these specific idioms are fromAsarahMaamarot,Maamar

ChikurDin, III, ch. 23by R. Moshe Azaria (Ramah) of Pano. They are originallybased on R.

YishayahHorowitz,authoroftheShneiLuh. otHabrit(Biozepaf,5639)folios10c11a.Thesecond,

Chassidic approach, seems to fit much better with the well known midrash (hermeneutic)

statement:He[God]lookedintheTorahandcreatedtheworld(seeBereisheetRabba1:1)

10. "" ;Berachot31bandelsewhere.

11.Notethatfollowingthefirstviewpoint,wheretheTorahisliterallyspeakingofthemundane,

thisTalmudicdictumhasno(oratmosttrivial)meaning.

12.ThesourceofthisnonBiblicalwordtodescribenaturewarrantsadiscussiontoitself,which

isunfortunatelybeyondthescopeofthepresentarticle.

13.Asthisnameisconsideredoneofthe7sacrednamesofGod,inmostcircumstances,itmay

notbe pronounced as it is written. We have thus used the usual substitution Elokim for the


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original lettering.Where thenumericalvalueofspecific letters in thisnameareused,wehave

resortedtotheoriginallettering,soasnottounnecessarilyconfusethereader.

14.Rashi,ad.loc.

15.Genesis18:1619:28.

16.See

Avot

5:10.

17.Genesis31:42.

18.SeeZoharI,120ab.

19.HansPeterJorgenJuliusThomsen(18261909),aDanishchemist,Professorofchemistryatthe

PolytechnicUniversityinCopenhagen,mostfamousforhisworkinthermochemistry.

20.SeferYetzirah1:1.

21.Genesis1:131.

22.MosttraditionalcommentariesontheTorahexplainthatchapter2ofGenesisdoesnotrelate

analternatestoryofcreation,butisratherasecondaccount,elucidatingthefirst.

23.SeeZoharIII,227a;AlterRebbesLikuteiTorahIII,36d.

24.Thesource for thesefirahofCrownbeingsubdivided into3 headsor crowns isZoharIII,

288aff.SeealsoMishnahAvot4:13:R.Shimonsays:thereare3crownstheCrownofTorah,

theCrownofPriesthoodand theCrownofSovereignty.InHassidut it isexplained that the3

headsorcrownsinthesefirahofCrownarealludedtointhe3laurelsfoundinthevesselsof

theHolySanctuarybuiltbyMosheinthedesert.TheselaurelsweremadetoencircletheArkof

theCovenant(seeExodus25:11),theTable(ibid25:24)andtheAltarofIncense(ibid30:3).

25.ConwayandGuy(1996:338)designatetriangularnumbersinasomewhatdifferentmanner

as:n.Weretainouroriginalnotationhereandthroughout.

26.IsraelOmerFromansky,TheFourElementsandtheSevenmetals.AudioTape(Rehovot,Israel:

GalEinaiPublications,1993).

27.Meiman( ),likeitsenglishequivalenthydrogen,actuallyderivesfromtheHebrewword

forwater( ,mayim).

28.AdditionalmathematicalequivalenciestothePeriodicTablearisefromthisequation:

Notethat86,thesumoftriangles,canbesplit: 1 6 7=50,while 8=36.Thisdivisionof86into50and36playsamajorroleintheKabbalisticexpositionoftheNameElokim(seeTikunei

Zohar49,folio85b;ZoharI,1b;ibidII,231b232a),basedontheverse:Liftupyoureyesonhigh

andbeholdwhohascreatedthesethings(Isaiah40:26),orintheHebreworiginal:

. (who)=50and (thesethings)=36.

Additionally,the sumofsquaresof1,6,and7=12 62 72=86;while82=64.Thisrevealsthe

important relationshipbetween86and64:86=Elokim ( )and64=Din ( ).TheNameof

ElokimisdirectlyrelatedtothethesefirahofMight( ,gevurah)itissometimesevencalled

theNameofMightwhichisalsoreferredtoasJudgment( ,din).

29.Foramorerigorousdiscussionofthismathematicaltool,seeappendixB.

30.Psalms118

31.ZoharII,234a; III,256b.One form [seeTikuneiZohar,69 (fs.103b104a)]of theNameof42

Lettersisrecitedanumberoftimesin thedailyprayers.In theTalmud(TractateKidushin71a),

wefindadirectreferencetotheNameof42letters:

SaidRavYehuda,saidRav: theNameof42 letters isnot tobegivenbut toonewhoismodest

andishumbleandstandsinmidlifeanddoesnotangernorgetdrunk,anddoesnotactharshly.

Andhewhoknowsthename,andiscarefulwithit,andkeepsitpure,isbelovedaboveandliked

belowandisfearedbyallcreaturesandinheritstwoworlds,thisworldandthecomingworld.


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32.TheMessiahisdestinedtorevealacompletelynewunderstandingintheTorah,aboutwhich

thesageshavesaidthattheTorahofourdayislikenaughtwhencomparedtotheTorahofthe

Messiah.Ofcourse,thetextoftheTorahwillnotchange,onlyitsunderstanding.

33.Itisinterestingtonotethattheobjectivebasisforthevalueweattributetogoldisnotclearat

all.For

more

on

this

question

see

Puzzling

Over

Golds

Allure

in

Johns

Hopkins

Magazine,

June 2000 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University) or internet,

www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/0600web/oncampus.html.

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