Ritual Slaughter

Many have wondered: How is it possible that the Torah - which has bestowed upon humanity the universal values of sensitivity and compassion toward others - commands that the only acceptable way to prepare meat for consumption is through Shechita, Jewish ritual slaughter?  There has been much controversy around the world about Shechita.  Many countries and even states in the United States have questioned whether it should be allowed to continue.

This question is even more relevant, seeing that the Torah explicitly prohibits the infliction of needless pain on animals.  Compassion being such an essential Jewish value, how can the Torah demand that people slaughter cattle with a knife, while prohibiting more commonly held practices, such as shooting the animal in the head with a bolt gun, which is said to ensure a quicker, less painful death?  Indeed, the Torah forbids us from knocking the animal unconscious in any way before it is killed, such as by striking it with a heavy object or stunning it with electric current - standard practices throughout the world, which are claimed to lessen the animals' suffering.

In previous generations it was widely accepted that the laws of Shechita ensured the least pain and suffering for animals.  For this reason, the Torah requires ritual slaughter to be performed with a completely smooth blade.  Ritual slaughterers are required to inspect Shechita knives carefully for proper sharpness.  The slightest nick - such as can be discerned by lightly running a fingernail across the blade - deems the knife unfit for Shechita, and prohibits the consumption of any animals slaughtered with it.  Furthermore, Jewish law demands that Shechita take place quickly, with one rapid movement of the knife. These requirements were created so that the animal would feel little or no pain in the process.  Based upon the testimonies of individuals who have been inadvertently cut in a similar manner (such as a surgeon performing emergency medical treatment), a quick, sharp cut of a sharp knife is essentially painless.  In fact, it is usually only after the blood starts flowing that they realize they have been cut. According to the Sages of Israel, however, it is the slaughtering methods of other cultures that cause the greatest levels of pain and suffering to animals.  This traditional Jewish perspective - convincing enough by itself - has been greatly substantiated in recent times by an astounding series of experiments concerning the structure of the blood vessels and arteries in mammalian brains. These experiments erase all doubts about Jewish ritual slaughter, adding the topic of Shechita to a long list of proofs of the Torah's divine origin.

At the base of the brain of all mammals rests a ring of blood vessels and arteries creating a kind of "central station" for all of the blood flowing to the brain.  This central station is known in humans as the Circle of Willis and in animals as the Rete Mirabile.  Every beginning physician knows that the sudden loss of blood pressure in this central component of the brain immediately leads to unconsciousness.

At the time of Shechita the carotid arteries serving as the central route carrying blood through the neck to the brain is severed.  The instant the knife passes through these arteries, blood flow to the brain ceases, blood pressure drops rapidly, and the animal looses consciousness within two seconds, if not sooner!

This means that the animal can feel no pain from this point forward.

To summarize, Shechita does not involve any pain for the animal, thanks to the sharpness of the knife, the quickness of the cut and the immediate loss of consciousness.

On the other hand, non-halachic (not according to Jewish law) forms of slaughter undoubtedly cause pain to animals.  Even numbing the animal with an electric shock, which supposedly prevents any feelings of pain, actually only "fries" the beast's brain, and certainly causes unnecessary suffering.  And of course, death through a bolt to the head surely engenders suffering in the animal, especially if delivered inaccurately, whether due to poor aim or an unexpected movement of the animal's head. In these cases, levels of pain are far from minimized, and in fact, greater and unnecessary suffering may take place."
 

Though it is true that the body of an animal "jumps" after loss of consciousness following Shechita, research has shown this to be a mere muscle reflex, much like the movement of a lizard's tail that has been severed from its body.  An unattached tail, despite its involuntary, reflexive movement, certainly does not feel pain.

It would have been enough to end our discussion with these highly convincing points, but now we come to a true wonder.

The carotid arteries carry blood to the brain from the front side of the neck.  There are additional arteries at the back of the neck near the vertebrae of the spine, called the vertebral arteries.  These arteries also link to the base of the brain, carrying blood to it.  How, then, does Shechita performed only from the front of the neck prevent animal suffering?  Doesn't blood continue to flow to the Rete Mirabelle via the vertebral arteries?  Yet Jewish law forbids cutting these arteries during Shechita, lest one cut the vertebra - a circumstance forbidden in kosher slaughter.

Here modern research has made an incredible discovery. While it is true that all mammals have front and back arteries, all animals with cloven hooves that chew cud - meaning those kosher animals (being the only ones that the Torah allows Jews to eat) - have a different structure in the arteries at the back of their neck.

Whereas in non-kosher mammals, these arteries enter directly into the "central station" of the brain, in kosher mammals the rear arteries first connect to the front artery before entering the brain.  Most of the blood that reaches the brain flows through these front arteries.  Thus Shechita - performed on kosher animals only from the front - almost instantly halts blood flow to the brain.  For the blood that reaches the brain via the vertebral arteries immediately changes direction and flows away from the brain, towards the point of least resistance, and out from the cut.  The result is an immediate drop in blood pressure and a loss of consciousness in the animal, providing total assurance that it feels no pain.  To conclude, thanks to recent research into the circulatory system of various animals, the very question which challenged the Torah's Divine authorship now proves its transcendental source.  For who other than Hashem could have produced this amazing physiological distinction between various mammals, and forge such a unique connection between halachically defined kosher animals and their physiological structure, while at the same time teaching us how to slaughter these animals in a manner inflicting no pain or suffering?

There is yet another difference between kosher and non-kosher animals.  A study conducted in 1961+ demonstrated that horses, dogs, and other animals resist being brought into slaughterhouses because they sense their approaching death.  They become agitated, and may even kick and fight until they are killed.  In kosher slaughterhouses, this phenomenon is almost non-existent.  For example, lambs present at the slaughter of other lambs do not show signs of fear.  A calf allowed to roam freely during a period of Shechita did not attempt to run away, even though the door of the slaughterhouse remained wide open.  In addition, cud-chewing animals will cease to ruminate when they are under stress.  However, cows in a Jewish slaughterhouse may even sit and ruminate while members of their own species are being slaughtered around them.  All this indicates that not only do kosher animals not suffer during ritual slaughter; they do not even experience emotional discomfort before the act, and have absolutely no sense of their impending deaths.

Still, since there is always the possibility that one of such animals will be more sensitive than the others, Jewish law forbids killing an animal in the presence of another, in order to prevent even the slightest chance of suffering to the one remaining alive.

It is also worth noting the medical opinion of Dr. Temple Grandin, a worldwide expert on proper livestock handling, who has developed various techniques to decrease animal suffering both on ranches and in the slaughterhouse.  Dr. Grandin claims that the major suffering incurred by animals in the slaughterhouse is not in the moment they are killed, but from their improper handling from the moment they arrive until their deaths.  According to her findings, if cattle are handled properly, they reach the point of slaughter relaxed and well behaved.  Because, in the case of Shechita, the actual slaughter is painless, it is clear that proper handling erases the only other chance for animal suffering to take place.

There is still more.

Meat slaughtered for consumption must be kept hygienic and safe throughout the duration of its storage, both for health reason – to avoid food poisoning – and economic ones – so as not to needlessly waste food.  In general, the higher quality the meat and the fresher it can be kept, the less needs to be discarded and the fewer animals need to be slaughtered.  According to some researchers, Shechita ensures higher quality meat than other forms of slaughter.  Shooting, for example, leaves an excess of blood in the carcass, due to the time lag between death and the bleeding of the carcass.  This causes the meat to spoil faster.  In other non-halachic methods of slaughter, the situation is even worse.  (With regard to this topic, we should note the halachic requirement to salt meat after slaughter in order to extract the remaining blood.  This act is derived from the prohibition against consuming blood – primarily a spiritual commandment, which has obvious health benefits as well.)

I have one more question that needs attention.  Why, if Shechita is painless and the most humane to kosher animals, is the world so blind that it wants it stopped?  Simple answer, Hashem is sending a message to the Jews "It is time to come home."  If, eventually, the only place in the world that a Jew can be a Jew; serve Hashem and observe all of the Torah is ISRAEL, (you finish this sentence).  Thank you Hashem – Your message is clear.

What is Real?

What I am about to tell you should have one of three reactions.  The intelligent person should give much thought to the subject, review the proof and realize that everything that Hashem does is for the good.  The not-too-informed will think "I don't buy any of this, this guy is obviously deranged and I am finished with this blog."  The middle of the road person will say "I don't know what to believe – this is crazy and goes against all human logic but I guess I need to investigate further."  Do I have your attention?

Rabbi Avigdor Miller z"tl said it best "Everything you see in front of you is only the imagination of Hashem, it is an allusion and doesn't really exist."  We are not real but only the thoughts of Hashem living out the script called the Torah.  He imagines everything and miraculously His thoughts become our reality.

Now, let me show you the proof and explain why it is so.  Watch these two 10 minute videos and then we'll talk further:

 

Part 1

Part 2

Since we were created in Hashem's image, we have some examples in our lives of such abilities, on a much lower scale.  Let me give you a scenario to think about.  Picture two couples that are leaving a house and going to a wedding celebration.  They get into the car and leave.  Each one of you came up with an imaginary scenario.  Since I have hundreds of people reading this blog daily, there were hundreds of visualizations pictured.  No two were alike.  Some saw the couples living in the city, some saw a suburban scene. What type of car did they use, what color, what was the seating arrangement, what were they wearing, what did they look like, what did they say, etc?  The important thing about this little exercise is we have the ability with our mind's eye to visualize situations, people and events.  What if your imagination became real?  An infinite intelligence exists that has that ability.  Hashem decided to make a world, fill it with countless wonders and bring it to life in such a way that it became reality for the players He imagined.  Why, did he do it?  See my post This Explains It All, 4 May 2012, which gives some incite of what Hashem will is for us and the world.  The players, all the wonders, the entire sequence of events that is our history and even the design of everything in the universe were created with perfection to satisfy His will and to demonstrate His wholeness.  It is all beyond our comprehension; but, we only need know that Hashem designed the Earth with love and gave it to us for our benefit – to help us.

Further information of the science discovery of a holographic universe (for those interested) can be reviewed in this write-up:       

http://www.rense.com/general69/holoff.htm

More science to ponder:

Higgs Boson.  In the 1960's a Professor Peter Higgs proposed a theory, that as we continue to study sub-atomic particles (the smallest particles of the atomic structure), we will come across a boson particle.  What is the importance of this particle?  It will actually be a mass of real matter that gives reality to the atom (that was an over simplification of an extremely complicated concept).  Why do we need to find such a particle?  Until this very day everything we see in the makeup of matter seems to be only packets of energy and wave-like behavior.  We have never seen anything that can be called solid matter.  A separate discipline called Quantum Physics was created just to be able to study this phenomenon.  Quantum Physics provides a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter.  But, without the proof of solid matter, are we left with the idea that the universe is not real but strictly measurable stuff to keep the Physicist employed – of course, it is our allusion of a universe.  Presently, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. This 17 mile long accelerator is designed to collide opposing particle beams of either protons at up to 7 teraelectronvolts (7 TeV or 1.12 microjoules) per nucleon, or lead nuclei at an energy of 574 TeV (92.0 µJ) per nucleus (2.76 TeV per nucleon-pair).  That is as simple as I can make it (what did I say?).  In other words, they are bringing particles up close to the speed of light, 186,000 miles per hour, and smashing the particles against each other in such a way as to break down the atom into its basic components.  This is all for the purpose of trying to observe real matter; but, to date they have only verified that everything must be an allusion – they still haven't found the famous Higg's boson.  I personally think it is mind over matter – if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

Dark Matter and Dark Energy:  In the 1930's there was a great change in the thinking of the concept of dark.  Dark was always considered a lack of light.  But, science started to view dark as having measurable energy as well as matter.  This has progressed over the decades to the point where the belief that the entire universe even what was thought of as empty space is actually full of energy and matter.  What is amazing is how it totally agrees with the concept in scriptures that "the whole world is full of His glory (Isaiah 6:3, Psalms 72:19)."  There is no place in the entire universe that the essence of Hashem cannot be experienced.  We even say a blessing everyday "Blessed are You Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Former of light, Creator of darkness, Maker of peace, Creator of all things."  He actually create darkness and those wonderful scientist have finally discovered it.  The Torah starts out in the first paragraph talking about how Hashem separated the light from the darkness.  Hashem is everything.  This is verified in Deuteronomy 4:35 Ain Ode Milvado "There is nothing but G-d!"

One more scientific concept "The Unification Theory,." or sometimes called "The Theory of Everything."  This concept would unify all the fundamental interactions of nature: gravitation, strong interaction, weak interaction, and electromagnetism.  Scientists have theorized that there is a commonality to all forces that they may actually be originating from a single source.  Duh, Ain Ode Milvado says it all.

There seems to be infinite proof that everything that exists is Hashem.  His infinite intelligence makes the allusion perfect and anyone who thinks they can see beyond this infinite level is delusional, so to speak.  This means that individual such as atheists are in total denial of the only life force that exists.  To think that there is an accidental free running life producing entity in this non-existent physical world is not too bright.  To believe that we can make up names like "mother nature or father time" to explain reality is beyond human ignorance.  By the way, time is also an allusion (but that is worth its own blog post).  The proof is overwhelming, even scientifically, that there is only a spiritual existence that provides a physical façade.  The purpose is well known since the Single Spiritual Existence mercifully has given us in writing, full details of everything.   The only question for each of us as individuals is "what does it mean to me and how should I be using this information to guide me though my eternity."  A loaded but valid question.  We are on our own to use the gift of this allusive world to thrive, succeed or fail.  We have been given the choice of the blessing or the curse Deuteronomy 11:26, blessing if we do His mitzvot and the curse if not.  How simple a solution to bringing happiness and everything wonderful to life.

Allusion or not, it is our reality – choose the blessing.

Science versus Scriptures

As with many subjects that I have written about, I have many books that try to unravel controversies that have existed for thousands of years.  One of the most controversial which is a personal favorite of mine is the subject of the correctness of science as opposed to what scriptures tell us.  I have worked as an Electronics Engineer or within some other capacity in the technical realm for about 38 years.  I have been surrounded with very science minded individuals of the belief that science has the answers, not scriptures.  In the 55 years that I have been studying science, many major changes have come about as new information is derived.  There is not too much information that I recall from my studies in the 1950's and 1960's that exists today.  However, in the past 3324 years, the Torah hasn't changed one iota (actually even long before that since I discussed recently that the Torah was actually conceived by Hashem 2000 years before the creation). 

I have already stated that the laws of Physics, Chemistry and Biology were created by the same One Who wrote the Torah.  All of science and mathematics is in the Torah and the rest of scriptures.  If science has the correct answer to a question, then there is agreement with scriptures – where there is disagreement, science hasn’t caught up with reality, yet.  There are some major problems with science that negates total truth being told.  One is "science is a business."  I hate to be harsh about it but scientists are always fighting each other for whatever grant money is available or whatever employment opportunities exist.  To that end, scientists have always attempted to look worthy by coming up with new theories about the universe and the world we live in.  It is important that they are correct; after all there is money and their reputation riding on it.  This has caused a very dishonest approach to discovering what the reality of everything is.  In many, if not most cases, scientists of all types have come up with good sounding theories (guesses) and tweaked reality to fit their theories.  Take Darwin, for instance, please take Darwin.  He was able to succeed because he came up with guesses that the ignorant atheist community can embrace.  I'll talk more about evolution in the coming days (as my thoughts evolve on the subject).  Competition is fierce but once one develops a reputation for being a good guesser, people believe almost anything they say.  Take Darwin for instance – oh, I already said that.

This cynicism has changed my approach over the years in determining what is true and what is the work of a desperate person trying hard to keep employed.  The key to my finding the absolute truth came from discovering on any subject the answer to the question: "what is Hashem's opinion?"  I have books covering a myriad of scientific subjects that show discoveries made by brilliant scientists over the past 20, 50, 100 years and then seeing that the subjects have been known for 1000's of years by our great sages.  I could write for months on topic after topic proving my theory that scriptures has all the right answers and that scientists are catching up.

I'm reminded of the story of the guy that gets a new computer.  This is probably about the tenth upgrade he has purchased after all he has been a computer whiz for decades.  He takes it home, takes it out of the box, sets it up, downloads his software package and even though he is not familiar with all the new bells and whistles, after about an hour or two he is getting this thing hummin'.  After all he is experienced and knows all about this stuff.  Then there is the individual who buys the same computer, looks at the operators manual and within 15 minutes sets it up and gets it hummin'.  What's the big difference?  One guy is a scientist who by trial and error eventual gains some truth (maybe).  The other is the Torah scholar who opens the handbook of the universe to see the detailed instructions from the Manufacturer of the universe.  Of course, one is interested in truth the other one is in business.

I would like to give you some examples over the ensuing days of subjects that we can compare.  When we see what scientists have accidently discovered and then see what the Creator of science verifies as the correct answer, it does not take long to gain confidence in the Real Source.

A good way to start is by showing numbers (quantitative analysis) that scientists have discovered in modern times and show more accurate readings that Moses was told on Mount Sinai.  The age of the universe, as an example, is perhaps the most misunderstood.  I have already discussed the topic in my post of 3 April 2012 conveniently entitled "The Age of the Universe." The important thing to grasp from this subject is that until the 1980's and probably even the 1990's the most prevalent theory about the universe was the Steady State Theory.  It was not until the Hubble Space Telescope was able to see and verify the background radiation of the big bang that scientist officially changed their thinking from the "universe has always been here" to "there was a beginning."  In the 1960's when I personally was studying theories of the universe, science was totally opposed to the idea that there even was a beginning as the Torah states.  But now there is no conflict.  Wow! The Torah was correct after all and it took many millions of dollars and a space telescope to change the minds of scientists -- they just didn't want to open the owner's manual of the universe. 

As recently as the late 1990's, there was a popular belief that the universe was expanding and would reach a point of equilibrium where gravity would start to collapse the universe.  This was called the Big Crunch.  After all, if the universe started with a big bang, it should end with a big crunch.  They also believed that this scenario may have happened countless times – a big bang then crunch followed by another bang, crunch, bang, crunch, etc, etc, etc.  Well, this idea disagreed with the Torah since we know that in the beginning Hashem created a universe that would be here forever.  So what was the big revelation of the late 1990's?  The universe is expanding at an accelerated rate – meaning it won't slow down, reach equilibrium and eventually crunch.  That was one small step for man, one giant leap for the Torah.  Go get um Torah – correct again.  I am a saver of articles when I see these startling headlines in the news.  Here was the CNN item in December 1998 of the discovery of the expanding universe:

Another number to ponder.  How many stars are in the universe?  Science calculates anywhere from a few to hundreds of sextillion stars.  They overdid it since the Talmud tells one how to calculate the number and it comes to only1.06434 quintillion.  Science is obviously drawing straws since I have reviewed various methods of calculation that they use and found them to be very strange and inaccurate.  The only thought is maybe they are including TV and movie stars – there are many of them.   One thing they did get correct.  The Talmud gives the calculations by stating that space is divided into 12 sectors each being represented by a constellation (the Zodiac which is of Jewish origin).  Behind each constellation are divisions and subdivisions and more.  By multiplying all that is behind each constellation we get the total for the universe.  Science in 2003 discovered that the universe is shaped like a soccer ball with 12 spherical pentagons tiled together on a sphere.  This divides the universe into 12 sectors with all the stars being behind them.  Where did I hear that one before?  Once again an October 2003 CNN news article:

You may think that I am pointing out comparisons that I have no way of knowing the real numbers, even though if the Torah is correct about everything else, I gain tremendous confidence in what Hashem is telling us.  But, let's give another example of something we do have as an accurate measurement.  Since the first mitzvah in the Torah is to celebrate Rosh Chodesh, the head of the new month, it was imperative that the Torah tells us a way to calculate the average length of the lunar month.  If we don't know exactly when the new moon appears, we cannot accurately know when to celebrate.  Science in the 1960's went to the moon.  Because their spacecraft was to head to a moon over several days that was continuing in orbit around the Earth, NASA needed to accurately calculate the exact position of the moon and in turn the length of the lunar month.  They spent millions of dollars on what was at the time the most sophisticated method of measuring and came up with a calculation that was 6 millionth of a month difference from what the Talmud (Rosh HaShanah 25a) has as a calculation (which was told to Moses on Mount Sinai and put down in the Talmud thousands of years ago).  What is even more exiting is that in the 1990's NASA sent a satellite to the moon and needed to recalculate the length of the lunar month.  State of the art measuring methods had improved greatly and gave NASA a calculation that was within 2 tens of a second from the Talmud calculations.  Science obviously is getting much closer to what the Talmud calculated for nothing (a much better price – as a taxpayer I object to NASA wasting my money).  Once again, trial and error versus opening the handbook of the universe.     

One last caveat to the information in scriptures.  After Rosh Chodesh each month we say a blessing of the moon's reappearance after about 3 days of the moon getting larger.  One of the blessings says "Just as I leap toward you and cannot touch you, so may all my enemies be unable to touch me with evil intent."  It's a beautiful thought but I once heard a story that the wording was changed.  At one time is read just as it is impossible for me to touch you (the moon that is)…  About 250 years ago, the Vilna Goen who knew the Talmud by heart, made the change offering insight from the Talmud that we someday will travel outside the Earth and will go to the moon.  The impossibility of touching the moon was removed.  How did he surmise such a conclusion?  The Talmud talks about flying towers that will allow people to fly.   The Vilna Goen's genius expanded the concept of flying towers to mean flight on Earth and beyond.  There is nothing missing from scriptures.

This is an endless topic that as long as someone can suggest a new idea scientific or otherwise, information can be found in scriptures.  Letting us know that the great sages and Rabbis of thousands of years ago were aware of what our modern day scientist has discovered and has yet to discover, gives great validity to scriptures and absolute validation to the Source of the information.

I have thoughts of continuing this subject this week with some very fascinating facts that further solidify the absolute truth from Hashem.  Tomorrow, my hopes are to cover a subject that nobody will believe.  I plan to present what scriptures says about the reality of this universe and also to present scientific verification of the information.  I am not going to tell you what the subject is since I wish to keep you in suspenders (I've used that expression for years).  I guarantee, you will emerge from tomorrows post in awe of Hashem or believing that men in the white coats are coming for me.  It will not be believable but will get you thinking (maybe a headache).  Even I am excited and can't wait to read what I am going to write.

Reward and Punishment

I have mentioned that we are under a system of reward and punishment (to save typing hereafter will be referred to r and p), measure-for-measure (hereafter m for m) for what we do.  But, as with everything in this life, there are many more details to be discussed.  The basis for the system is: if you follow the commandments (hereafter I will start calling commandments "mitzvot."  It's time to start introducing some Hebrew into the picture), you will be rewarded and if you violate the mitzvot there will be retribution.  When the Torah talks of m for m it is referring to everything.  Every word, every act, no matter how small, is recorded and will result in r and p.  The system, however, is strictly help from Hashem in our mission to correct ourselves and the world.  Human beings require discipline to behave properly, so Hashem provides us with a totally workable system to succeed.  Hashem wants us to have an eternity of goodness and joy but created us in His image meaning we have the capability to do the right thing or not based on our own free will.  This entire world was created for us so we have the opportunity to make it right or not, hence, the system or r and p.

There are three aspects that need to be clarified.  What will happen to us as r and p?  When will we receive r and p?  Where will the r and p occur?  To preserve our free will, nothing will be obvious.  Example from the Torah is the telling of Miriam receiving retribution for saying something against her brother Moses.  I'm not going to get into the details except to say that she was put outside the camp for seven days and afflicted with tzaraas (described as a disfigurative condition in chapters 13-14 of Leviticus – unknown to us today – many times incorrectly translated as leprosy – it wasn't).   The entire assembly of Israelites where about to make their next move but were delayed one week to wait for Miriam.  Why?  Miriam was 87 years old and highly loved and respected but when she was 6 years old, 81 years earlier, she did the mitzvah of waiting in the Nile River to see that her baby brother Moses, who was in the basket, would be retrieved and taken care of by Pharaoh's daughter.   Her reward, so to speak, was an m for m act of the people waiting for Miriam because she waited for her brother 81 years earlier.  Not so obvious but the important point is every positive act will be rewarded.

I think you get the idea that if r and p happened exactly at the time of the mitzvah being done or violated, we would not have free will.  If we actually saw reward immediately we wouldn't have a choice but would, like robots, be programmed to react only one way.  What is wrong with that?  Hashem wants us to correct our errors in order to perfect ourselves – that requires self-determination through free will.

An important word about punishment is that Hashem is merciful.  We are not referring to someone making a mistake.  If mistakes are made, Hashem helps us with correction but does not punish us.  Punishment comes from deliberate and willful violation of the mitzvot.  Is someone knows, as an example, that he should observe the Shabbos but inadvertently didn't realize today is the Shabbos and started to perform many acts of violation, that is forgivable.  If the individual knows it is the Shabbos and performs violations maliciously, in other words, in defiance of Hashem's mitzvot, that will bring punishment.  We are told, as an example, that if an individual is destined to go to Hell it does not have to be for punishment but could be strictly for correction before they enter Heaven.  To make it even easier, as an example, we are told that when we recite the prayer, Shema Yisroel, twice a day, if we do not slur our words together but meticulously separate words as told to us in the Talmud (the places of separation are defined in our prayer books), Hell will be cooled for us.  This place that we have a picture of being very hot and torturous doesn't have to be if one is sent there for correction and not retribution.

A word about timing.  When Hashem knows that our free will is only directed at doing His will, the r and p does become more obvious.  If we are, as an example, in a dire situation and pray to Hashem for help, the very act of always turning to Hashem for help with the proper conviction will give immediate results.  I say with proper conviction and even proper intention since the person who thinks "I am going to fool Hashem to get my way is a fool."  Tricking or bribing Hashem is counterproductive and never works.  The person who thinks praying is "do this for me Hashem and I will go to synagogue every Shabbos from now on" is probably a Hell of an individual.  Hashem is infinitely smarter and cleverer than all of us combined.

I have personally experienced immediate results on a fairly regular basis.  I find I don’t have to wait 81 years to have my prayers answered if I need something on the spot.  If you remember when I talked about prayer, Hashem gave us a system that our very words can cause energies to flow and results to occur.  The important thing is knowing exactly where the source of energy originates – there is only Hashem.

Let me give you some examples I've experienced.  I have 100's if not 1000's of stories that I could share but will offer on two stories just to get my point across.  I was once at a meeting at work on a Friday afternoon.  I was getting a little panicky since I had to leave (Shabbos was coming).  The boss was standing at the exit door.  How could I, without making a scene, leave?  We were on a conference call with other individuals on the phone.  I turned my attention to Hashem and thought "if we could lose the phone connection."  With split second timing, as I thought the word "connection," the phone went dead.  The boss asked "what happened?"  I proudly said "I think we lost the phone connection."  The boss said "let's take a ten minute break to reconnect and we'll continue."  I went back to my office, got a friend to replace me at the meeting and off to Shabbos.  Thank you, Hashem.

There was another incident where my car broke down about 13 miles from home on a highway.  You guessed it.  It was Friday afternoon and I had to get home for Shabbos.  Fortunately, I don't care for, or did I have, a cell phone.  Why?  If I did and called a towing service I would have been late.  I took my attaché case out of the car (yes, I used to carry and attaché), locked the car and with a big smile on my face said "I wonder how Hashem is going to help me with this one?"  I put out my thumb and within 10 seconds a big truck stopped.  This was a surprise since big trucks don't usually stop for a guy in a black suit, black hat and beard.  I figured "Hashem works in mysterious ways" so I climbed up into the truck to see that the truck driver was wearing a Yarmulke.  He just happened to be going to the town where I live and proceeded to take me right to my front door.  Thank you, Hashem.  I have even more miraculous stories but they are longer and give me the chills when I think about them.

Let me talk more about the when and the where.  Even though the system is for both here on Earth and for all eternity, most of r and p occurs after we leave this Earth.  This is also a merciful thing because r and p are far more intense in the afterlife.  On Earth we always have the possibility of further correction through our efforts.  When we leave this life, our need for further correction or, may Hashem forbid, retribution is well defined.  The possibilities are we go to a Heavenly existence; we receive correction as needed, hopefully, in as pleasant place; we return to Earth for another life, the squall; or, we go to a very harsh place for pure punishment.  Each of those choices has many levels involved.  The important idea for our discussion is that this is when most of the r and p is dulled out.  The good news is correction is usually swift and not difficult (depending, of course on how much needed).  Punishment is also anywhere from short to extensive (use your imagination on that one).   Reward, however, is forever.  For our good deeds, our fulfilling Hashem's mitzvot while on Earth, we are rewarded forever and ever and at a level that is beyond our comprehension.  Doing Hashem's will on Earth has such a tremendous payback that we truly would lose our free will if we could experience one second of our eternity.  That is all it would take to make us the most observant individuals possible.  More so, is giving such a wonderful gift to a spouse and, of course, children and grandchildren.   We very often think about what it would be like to win the lottery on Earth and have everything we ever wanted.  I like Steve Wright's line about that:  "If I had everything, where would I put it?"  Yet, we have a guaranteed lottery winning ticket available; all we need to do is purchase it.  It is waiting for each of us and the payoff is eternal.  Wow, eternal Powerball.  Thank you, Hashem.

One last concept to know about doing mitzvot.  "A mitzvah is its own reward."  On Earth the feeling of doing Hashem's will or helping another human being is extremely rewarding in itself.  This leads us to the most important concept of all "we don't do mitzvot for reward; we do them because we love Hashem and want to do His will."  If Hashem knows that we are doing His will for personal gain, it diminishes the purpose of why we serve Him.  But, if we do it for its own sake out of love for Hashem, we get it all and that includes the wonderful feeling of just serving Hashem with joy.  That is true happiness and there is no greater reward for us and our loved ones.

How Accurate is the Torah?

The great success of Jewish tradition is the meticulous transmission of the Torah text. But actually how accurate is it?

How do we know that the Torah we have today is the same text given on Mount Sinai?
The Torah was originally dictated from Hashem to Moses, letter for letter.  From there, the Midrash (Devarim Rabba 9:4) tells us:
Before his death, Moses wrote 13 Torah Scrolls. Twelve of these were distributed to each of the 12 Tribes.  The 13th was placed in the Ark of the Covenant (with the Tablets).  If anyone would come and attempt to rewrite or falsify the Torah, the one in the Ark would “testify” against him.  (Likewise, if he had access to the scroll in the Ark and tried to falsify it, the distributed copies would “testify” against him.)
How were the new scrolls verified?  An authentic “proof text” was always kept in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, against which all other scrolls would be checked.  Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sages would periodically perform global checks to weed out any scribal errors.

WRITING A TORAH SCROLL

To eliminate any chance of human error, the Talmud enumerates more than 20 factors mandatory for a Torah scroll to be considered “kosher.” This is the Torah’s built-in security system. Should any one of these factors be lacking, it does not possess the sanctity of a Torah scroll, and is not to be used for a public Torah reading.
The meticulous process of hand-copying a scroll takes about 2,000 hours (a full-time job for one year). Throughout the centuries, Jewish scribes have adhered to the following guidelines:

• A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is added.
• A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is deleted.
• The scribe must be a learned, pious Jew, who has undergone special training and certification.
• All materials (parchment, ink, quill) must conform to strict specifications, and be prepared specifically for the purpose of writing a Torah Scroll.
• The scribe may not write even one letter into a Torah Scroll by heart. Rather, he must have a second, kosher scroll opened before him at all times.
• The scribe must pronounce every word out loud before copying it from the correct text.
• Every letter must have sufficient white space surrounding it. If one letter touched another in any spot, it invalidates the entire scroll.
• If a single letter was so marred that it cannot be read at all, or resembles another letter (whether the defect is in the writing, or is due to a hole, tear or smudge), this invalidates the entire scroll. Each letter must be sufficiently legible so that even an ordinary schoolchild could distinguish it from other, similar letters.
• The scribe must put precise space between words, so that one word will not look like two words, or two words look like one word.
• The scribe must not alter the design of the sections, and must conform to particular line-lengths and paragraph configurations.
• A Torah Scroll in which any mistake has been found cannot be used, and a decision regarding its restoration must be made within 30 days, or it must be buried.

SUCCESS OF THE SYSTEM

Maintaining the accuracy of any document as ancient and as large as the Torah is very challenging even under the best of circumstances.
But consider that throughout history, Jewish communities were subject to widespread persecutions and exile.  Over the last 2,000 years, Jews have been spread to the four corners of the world, from Yemen to Poland, from Australia to Alaska.
Other historical factors make the accurate transmission of the Torah all the more difficult. For example, the destruction of the Temple 1,900 years ago saw the dissolution of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish central authority which traditionally would unify the Jewish people in case of any disagreements.
Let’s investigate the facts as we have them today. If we collect the oldest Torah scrolls and compare them, we can see if any garbling exists, and if so, how much.
How many letters are there in the Torah?  304,805 letters (79,847 words)

	Words	Letters
Genesis	20,512	78,064
Exodus	16,723	63,529
Leviticus	11,950	44,790
Numbers	16,368	63,530
Deuteronomy	14,294	54,892
Total	79,847	304,805

  

Letters in the Torah (according to the alphabet)

	Letters			Letters
א	27,057		ל	21,570
ב	16,344		מ	25,078
ג	2,109		נ	14,107
ד	7,032		ס	1,833
ה	28,052		ע	11,244
ו	30,509		פ	4,805
ז	2,198		צ	4,052
ח	7,187		ק	4,694
ט	1,802		ר	18,109
י	31,522		ש	15,592
כ	11,960		ת	17,949
Total	304,805

If you were to guess, how many letters of these 304,805 do you think are in question? (Most people guess anywhere from 25 to 1,000 letters.)
The fact is, that after all the trials and tribulations, communal dislocations and persecutions, only the Yemenite Torah scrolls contain any difference from the rest of world Jewry.  For hundreds of years, the Yemenite community was not part of the global checking system, and a total of nine letter-differences are found in their scrolls.
These are all spelling differences.  In no case do they change the meaning of the word. For example, how would you spell the word “color?”  In America, it’s spelled C-O-L-O-R. But in England, it’s spelled with a “u,” C-O-L-O-U-R.
Such is the nature of the few spelling differences between Torah scrolls today.  The results over thousands of years are remarkable!

TORAH COMPARED TO OTHER TEXTS

But how impressive is this compared to other similar documents, such as the Christian Bible? (Both books contain approximately the same number of words.)
First of all, which would you expect to be more successful in preserving the accuracy of a text?
The Christian Bible.  For several reasons.
First, the Christian Bible is about 1,700 years younger than the Torah.  Second, the Christians haven’t gone through nearly as much exile and dislocation as the Jews.  Third, Christianity has always had a central authority (the Vatican) to ensure the accuracy of their text.
What are the results?  The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, a book written to prove the validity of the New Testament, says: ” A study of 150 Greek [manuscripts] of the Gospel of Luke has revealed more than 30,000 different readings… It is safe to say that there is not one sentence in the New Testament in which the [manuscript] is wholly uniform.”
Other scholars report there are some 200,000 variants in the existing manuscripts of the New Testament, representing about 400 variant readings which cause doubt about textual meaning; 50 of these are of great significance.
The Torah has nine spelling variants—with absolutely no effect on the meaning of the words.  The Christian Bible has over 200,000 variants and in 400 instances the variants change the meaning of the text.
The point of course is not to denigrate Christianity. Rather, this comparison demonstrates the remarkable accuracy of the Jewish transmission of Torah.

THE TORAH AND THE UNIVERSE

There is a famous story in the Talmud (Eruvin 13a):
When Rabbi Meir came to Rabbi Yishmael to learn Torah, he was asked:
“What is your profession, my son?”
“I am a scribe,” was the reply.
He said to me: “My son be careful with your work, for it is the work of Heaven.  Should you perhaps omit one letter or add one letter — it could result that you destroy the entire world
Rebbe Meir remarked: “Needless to say, I do not err by omitting or adding (letters)... but I am even concerned for a fly — lest it come and alight upon the right-hand corner of a dalet ד and erase it, thereby rendering it a reish ר
The famed commentator Rashi (11th century France) offers examples of how the addition or deletion of a single letter can lead to a blasphemous or heretical reading of the Torah — i.e. a mistake that could destroy the entire world.
Maharsha (16th century Poland) explains there is a danger even if the error does not affect the meaning of the word. This is because of a Kabalistic tradition that the letters of the Torah form the sacred Names of Hashem written as “black fire upon white fire.”  These letters were employed by Hashem in creating the world, and it is through them that He sustains it.  The deletion of even one letter of this sustaining force therefore threatens the existence of the world.
Carefully guarding the words of the Torah has been a Jewish priority throughout the centuries.


Note:  When I began to write about this important topic, I went on line and found this brilliant essay from Yeshivah Aish HaTorah.  I decided that I couldn't do any better; so, I reproduced it here with some minor embellishments from me.  Thank you Aish.
Have a great Shabbos.