While the pulse of millions of Americans is running high in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, here's something that could calm you down.
Planet Earth is throbbing every 26 seconds, and while scientists are mystified by the beat, some rabbis believe it has to do with the name of God.
In October, Popular Mechanics reported: "Why is Earth pulsating every 26 seconds, and why can't scientists explain it after 60 years? This is an enigma wrapped in a periodically predictable mystery motion. It could be a harmonic phenomenon, a regular seismic chirp caused by the sun's energy, or a beacon drawing scientists to its source to begin a treasure hunt.
"In the early 1960s, a geologist named Jack Oliver first documented the pulse, also known as a 'microseism,' according to Discover. Oliver, who worked at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory at the time, heard the noise, but didn't have the advanced instruments seismologists have now at his disposal."
Now, Israel365News is taking another look at the phenomenon, as it reports:
The mystery remained and scientists ignored the microseisms until 1980, when Gary Holcomb, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, discovered they are strongest during storms. It was studied once again in 2006 in Geophysical Research Letters but the cause was still unknown. Some scientists conjecture that subtle seismic activity is constantly present as a result of the sun's warming effect on the planet.
In 2013, graduate student Garrett Euler narrowed down the source of the pulse even more, to a part of the Gulf of Guinea called the Bight of Bonny, leading him to conjecture the source was indeed the result of ocean waves hitting the coastline.
But in the same year, a team led by Yingjie Xia from the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics in Wuhan, China suggested that the source of the pulses was a volcano on the island of São Tomé in the Bight of Bonny.
Both theories leave as many questions as answers. There is no dearth of volcanoes or beaches in the world so why are the microseisms limited to that one site? Why the intervals? Why 26 seconds?
The website explains, "When presented with the mystery, rabbis all recognized that the 26-second phenomenon is the earth dancing out praise for its creator."
"The 26-second duration of the microseismic pulse is explained by the gematria (Hebrew numerology) of God's name. י-ה-ו-ה, spelled out by the Hebrew letters yod heh vav heh equals 26."
In English, the name of God has been transliterated as YHWH, with the meaning often rendered as "I AM."
Rabbi Lazer Brody, an American-born Hasidic rabbi who teaches on the Lazer Beams blog, says the 26-second pulse of Earth is inspiring.
"There are so many secrets, places where we can discover HaShem (God, literally 'the name')," Brody told Israel365News. "I focus on simple faith and science is just a different part of that."
That sentiment is echoed by Rabbi Shlomo Katz, of the Congregation Shirat David in Efrat, Israel.
"It is very consoling," Katz told Israel365News. "In these last stages before the geula (final redemption), it is clearly important to be in tune, even literally, with the planet. Being religious, being close to HaShem, is much more than just what goes on in church or synagogue, or what you read in a book. We need to be sensitive to the quest, to nature, to see how the entire world fits into God's plan. Science and nature have to be part of our conversation with God."
"God could have made the world in an infinite number of ways but here we see that every detail is for His glory," he added.
Rabbi Shaul Judelman, former director of the Ecology Beit Midrash, told the website the Bible itself actually refers to what he called, "the earth dancing for [the Name]."
Why, mountains, did you skip like rams?
Why, hills, like lambs?
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob. (Psalm 114:6-7 New Living Translation)
"The sages were careful observers of nature and that was where they discovered God,” Judelman explained. "They were very much in the world. Back then, that was science; observing nature and trying to understand it. There was no conflict between faith and science. Absolutely the opposite. They complemented each other. Delving into the world, nature and how it works, revealing more of God."
"But we have fallen into a space where we think we have to destroy science to protect faith or destroy faith to advance science. That isn't so and in fact, we need both sides in order to grow and move towards geula (final redemption)."
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