2 Million Monsters in Your Home – 5 Points to Ponder

Which Monsters Live in Our Home?

What would you think if we told you that about 2 million tiny monsters are living right now on your bed at home?... Well, it's the truth. Tiny dust mites live on every item in the house, so small we cannot see them, but they are there.

Don't be alarmed. Dust mites are not terrifying and horrible monsters as you might think. While they may look a bit like dreadful aliens under magnification, they usually don't cause us harm, despite potentially triggering small issues like allergies or asthma.

The mite roams on our beds, carpets, books, clothes, and furniture, looking for food. They are not easily visible because dust mites are tiny, but many are scattered in the house and every enclosed place.

House dust mites love dusty and humid conditions. Therefore, if we keep everything clean and ventilate our bedding, carpets, and home, there will be fewer dust mites, and our health will be better.

Have you ever thought about what would happen if our eyes could see those tiny creatures?

Undoubtedly! A view of thousands of dust mites around us would be daunting, and we wouldn't function. We must thank Hashem, who planned everything down to the last detail and spared us unnecessary information to allow us a comfortable and optimal existence on Earth.

Who Created Hashem?

By observing creation, we understand there exists a superhuman force that created amazing natural systems, for humans cannot create such systems. So... who is this creator?

We understand it is someone with immense ability and great wisdom, for everything appears orderly, planned, and sophisticated. But who is this with a name? Is it one or perhaps more than one? Does it have parents? Children? Does it belong to this realm of concepts, or as a creator, does it belong to another realm of concepts?

However, from creation, we cannot learn anything about it. Through creation, we understand it is a powerful force of wisdom and might. But who it is, we can only know from the book, where Hashem reveals Himself to us – from the Tanakh.

In other words, from creation, we know there is a creator, and from the book given to us, we learn the details about Him. For example, we learn the names expressing His ways of governance in the world. Is He alone or plural? Does He have parents or children? We cannot know this from creation, but in the Torah, He says: "I am the first and I am the last; besides Me, there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6). Meaning: I do not come from someone; I have no parents; nobody created me or gave birth to me; I am unlike you. You are created beings belonging to the category of creations I created, which is why you have a beginning. I have no beginning – I am first – I have always been.

It is difficult to comprehend His firstness, but it is logical, for if we said that He Himself has a creator, then the next question would be: who created the creator who created Him? And then what would be the next question? "So who created the one who created Him?" And so on, until we must conclude to one and say: Listen, He has always been because He is a creator, not belonging to the category of beings.

And the intellect understands this: for if we arrive at one who has always been, then we need not consider all those in between because the first is also the last. Meaning, He has no children, parents, or partners – He is one.

In conclusion, from creation, we know there is a creator, and from the book He gave us, we learn details about Him. May we merit deepening our knowledge of the book we received from the Creator of the world, Amen.

(From Rabbi Zamir Cohen's lecture - "Faith and Joy - Paths to Happiness")

(Photo: shutterstock)

Cell Division

Pregnancy begins with a single primary cell ("zygote"), containing the genetic material – DNA – of the mother and father, providing all the genetic information needed to create a new organism.

Researchers and scientists examining this process struggle with the following questions:

• How does the primary cell "know" to divide into two specifically, and how and when to do this? And how does it "know" to distribute equally to each cell the number of chromosomes present in the cell nucleus before division?
• Each cell includes the genetic code for the whole body. So how does a cell, capable of developing into any organ, become something specific? How does each cell "know" its role and how to develop? How does a retinal cell know it needs to produce a uniquely light-sensitive protein? How does a pancreas cell know it needs to produce insulin?

In other words: all the cells created from the building materials of the father and mother receive instruction to divide and form various organs: eye, heart, and so on. Each cell in its beginning could be any of these organs. If so, it is unclear how the command is given that each cell differentiates and becomes something different, precisely in the necessary format to create the fetus! How does the ear cell "know" to develop into an ear, compared to the eye cell "knowing" it should develop into an eye?

Reflection on the biological process reveals a precise plan allowing life. The many question marks and life's mysteries point to the genius embedded in every cell, in every tissue, in every organ, and every function of the living organism. Our body is proof of a plan and intention. So who is it that designed and created this wondrous system, to which human hands did not contribute at all?

Shmuelik the Hedgehog

Hedgehogs frequently appear in tales and children's stories as pets, like the familiar and beloved children's story "Shmuelik the Hedgehog."

Hedgehogs are well identified by their overall shape and unique spines, covering their back up to their crown. A mature hedgehog has about 7,000 spines, and each spine is two to three centimeters long with a pointed tip.

The hedgehog protects itself from predators in a unique way: its body is covered with dense, prickly spines, and if it feels a predator threatens, the hedgehog rolls into a spiny ball, which no animal dares or wants to eat.

Hedgehogs have a very special spine, which uses main muscles when they curl up, serving as an efficient protection against predators. Sometimes, when they feel threatened, they do not curl up, instead raising their spines and waiting for the danger to pass.

Curling up – altering the body structure to a ball shape – is a very unique trait in the hedgehog's behavior. No other mammal curls so perfectly like the hedgehog. When the hedgehog curls, the spines become bristly, harden, and sharpen like barbed wire. At this stage of curling, the hedgehog is protected, so only a few natural enemies can harm it.

Who "wrapped" the hedgehog's body with dense, sharp spines? How does the hedgehog's body "know" to curl up perfectly? Who equipped the hedgehog with extraordinary "life skills" helping it to defend itself perfectly in its environment?

The more we delve into the wonderful wisdom embedded in creation, and the amazing abilities instilled in animals at their creation, the better we understand that someone mighty created animals and embedded these laws in them...

(Photo: shutterstock)

Excuses

How many unnecessary arguments could be avoided if we tried to find the truth instead of stubbornly insisting on being right.

We've all made plenty of excuses to strengthen our baseless personal opinions, merely to be right. The excuses are ready to pull out... For the obligation of a Jew to fulfill commandments, we'll say: "The main thing is to be a good person," or "I love Hashem in my heart". Regarding immodest clothing, which is forbidden by the Torah, we’ll respond: "In my opinion, this tank top is modest". For an open miracle we saw with our own eyes, we’ll tell everyone: "It's just a coincidence". For commandments we find inconvenient to keep, we'll say: "These are inventions of the rabbis"...and so we'll find a suitable answer to every claim against us. It's certainly easier than dealing with the truth and changing our ways, but in this manner, we allow ourselves to live a lie, as long as we continue to believe we're right.

The nature of man is not to admit guilt. A person invents countless different and peculiar excuses, mainly to avoid accepting the truth that slaps them in the face. But if a person seeks the truth and wants to live it, he ought to strive to adhere to it as it is.

Man was created with such wonderful wisdom and intelligence, with amazingly coordinated and integrated systems, each organ in its correct place, every material at the precise dosage, each action at the right timing. One should think who is responsible for this? How was this wondrous creation made? Could it be that all this astonishing creation – with billions of stars and galaxies, oxygen, water, humans, animals, trees, and flowers, testifying to planning, coordination, and purpose – was created without a guiding, supervising hand?!

Try to forget habits, let go of personal bias. Just look around you. It doesn't take much effort to "see" the Creator of the world, just open your eyes and observe.