Yerushalayim at the Top of the World: Fun with Google Earth

My thanks to Yossi Nahavandi for pointing this out to me.

We know that the Gemara (I don't know where) states that Yerushalayim is the highest point of the Earth. Now, any survey of the surrounding hills will show that this cannot be taken literally at face value. Some say that it means that Yerushalayim in the highest spiritual place on the Earth. This is indeed correct, but I think one can show a more literal meaning to this.

If we look at the Earth as a perfect sphere, the "highest" point will obviously be the "top" of the sphere. However, since the Earth is in space, every point can be seen as the "top" - it all depends on one's orientation.

Now, another idea I have heard on this topic, is that Yerushalayim is the center of the civilized world, or that it is the center (or top) of the Earth's land mass.

I do not know of anyone who has performed a scientific center-of-mass calculation of all land masses on Earth to come up with a spot which is the "top".

However, with the help of Google Earth, we can see a nice result of this idea, at least visually.

Here is a picture of the Earth, positioned so that the Holy of Holies is directly at the center (marked here by the glowing yellow dot):

[For you techy types it is roughly at (31 46' 41" N) (35 14' 06.6" E)]

Now using an online tool (or simple math), we can calculate the exact opposite spot on Earth from this location, and we see that the Earth centered on THAT spot looks like this:

[It is at: (31 46' 41" S) (144 45' 51" W)]

Interesting, no? The opposite of Yerushalayim in smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles away from the nearest continent!

So, we see that there can be a possible literal meaning to the idea that Yerushalayim in indeed at the highest point on Earth, when land mass in considered.

(If anyone wants to take the time to calculate the true center of mass on a sphere, be my guest - be sure to give weighting to populated areas).

Midrashic Architectural Engineering Advice

This is a question for all those frum mechanical engineers or architects out there:

The Midrash Rabbah on Eichah states:

"If any object's width is not a third of its height, it cannot stand!"

Although this must be true at some level, I am wondering if the pshat understanding is in fact correct? From what I remember, as long as the center of mass is above the base, the object will stand. I assume the Midrash is talking about a free-standing structure - i.e. no underground base or support. Also if we are talking about an object of constant density, does the stability of balancing the object become sensitive after the width-height ratio mentioned in the Midrash?

In either case, does anyone know of a deeper explanation (if any)?

Have You Ever Seen An Ox Eat Grass?

Here is an odd Midrash that I would like someone to explain to me.

The Midrash Rabbah on Ruth Chapter 7 sif 11 states:

"There is nothing as vulgar, abhorrent, and outlandish as the sight of an ox eating grass".

My question is... why?

Is this telling us that an ox eating grass is more vulgar than maggots devouring a carcass?
Or vultures eating a dead ox?

If there is a deeper meaning to this Midrash it escapes me (as most would).

Any ideas?

(I ask this knowing full well almost no one, and perhaps mamash no one comes to my blog. But maybe someday someone buki in Maharal will stumble here and be able to answer my question. :) )

Isaac Newton's Religious Side

Here is a link to a very interesting article on CNN by AP about documents on display in Israel showing Isaac Newton's religious writings including some Hebrew, a calculation of the worlds end time, the return of the Jews to Israel, the dimensions of the Temple, etc.

According to the site, I am not allowed to re-publish or distribute the article, otherwise I would just copy it here.

The link is:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/06/18/newton.papers.ap/index.html

UPDATE:

The official link for the web site of the exhibit is:

http://www.jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/mss/newton/

There you can find more information and see the original documents.

Processing the Universe?

An open question on a Midrash:

In the Midrash Rabbah on Megillas Ruth, Introduction, Sif 7, it is stated:

"Everything (kol) that was created (bara) in [the] six days of Creation (bereishis) requires processing (asiyah)".

It then lists as an example of this, the fact that mustard seeds and lupines need to be sweetened, and wheat needs to be ground up.

My question is: How does one process a star or galaxy?

If ALL (kol) that was created in the six days needs processing like wheat does, then how do we process stars, comets, galaxies, lava, etc?

At first I thought this could be a hint at some kind of evolutionary process (Hashem Created things, and then they needed to be processed to get to where we are today), but since the two (really three) examples given involve human processing, I do not think it would be correct to say that.

Now, to be sure, some things we know now can be processed in ways we didn't know before.
A couple of examples:
- We use solar panels to process the light from the sun into usable electricity.
- We process Uranium in order to make nuclear power to provide electricity and large explosives.

But how would far away things in outer space come into play here?

Well perhaps, since we have gained so much knowledge of Hashem's Creation by observing outer space, that this is considered "processing" those far away objects.

Another idea would be, as per my QM post below, that when we observe the objects in space, we collapse their wave-function, and thus bring them retroactively into "real" existence. This could be the "processing" of those objects, and their use for us would be the knowledge we gain from observing them. This might be tied into the use of the term "asiyah" by the Midrash, where perhaps a connection can be made to the concept of the level of the world called "asiyah" in Kabbalistic thought.

I know it's pretty far-fetched, but I cannot think of anything else.

Anyone else out there have a good pshat on this?