What's the Chance of Finding a Can of Coke on Mars? 5 Thoughts to Ponder

Is Hashem Vengeful?

In one of my conversations with my atheist friend, I said to him: "If you desecrate Shabbat, the Creator of the World will punish you...".

My friend replied, "No threats! If I don't listen to Him, He punishes me? What, is He taking revenge on me? Is your God vengeful?!"...

I explained to him that when the Creator of the World punishes a person – it is not revenge for not listening to Him. The Creator of the World loves us! All the tribulations and difficulties that come upon a person are for their benefit - and they all serve as a spiritual cleansing for the soul, not revenge.

To what can this be compared?

To a mother who wakes from a nap, only to find, to her shock, that her 3-year-old son has opened the cleaning supplies cabinet despite her warnings, and has spilled bleach on his hands and feet. The mother panics because she knows that such exposure to bleach can be very dangerous for breathing and eyes, and can even harm the skin to the point of burns!

What does a mother who loves her son do? She immediately takes him to the bathroom, grabs the kitchen sponge along the way, and starts scrubbing, sanding, and washing the skin with plenty of water, even if she has to scratch his skin in the process.

The child screams: "Mom, it hurts!" But his mother continues, knowing that every second without disinfection is life-threatening!

Would an observer say that the mother is taking revenge on the child for not listening to her? Heaven forbid! She cries in her heart along with him: "Why did you put me in a situation where I have to hurt you? I told you from the start not to touch the cabinet! It's not good for you!".

Friends, when a person sins, their soul becomes "stained." In His mercies, the Creator of the World punishes them - not to take revenge, but to cleanse their spiritually stained soul, much like the mother who, out of necessity and with much sorrow, has to hurt her son to clean him, despite his cries and knowing it hurts him.

Land Spread Over the Water

Let's do an experiment: take a piece of earth and place it in a glass full of water. Will it float or sink? The experiment shows that the earth will sink to the bottom of the glass. Why? Because gravity prevails - the material density of the earth is greater than that of liquid water - thus it sinks.

The Earth is composed of "tectonic plates" which form the solid part of the Earth, floating and constantly moving over the Earth’s liquid and volcanic core. The question is, then, how does the ground remain stable above the liquid lava? Why doesn't it sink? How is the entire world situated on dry land, under which is water, without sinking?

(photo: shutterstock)

In the morning blessings we say "Spreads the land upon the water." This blessing gives thanks to the Creator of the World for the solid ground, which, despite standing on water, does not wobble but stands straight and stable.

In essence, naturally, when placing earth in water - it would immediately sink. The Creator of the World performed something contrary to the natural laws he set in place when positioning the earth on the water and it doesn't sink. This is a miracle, that even though the whole world is on land beneath which is water - we do not sink. The Creator of the World in His kindness spreads the earth over the water for us at every moment, and we must be grateful for this.

Nowadays we know that the world is composed of "tectonic plates," like puzzle pieces in constant motion over the liquid and volcanic core of the Earth, meaning every small movement of these plates can cause terrible earthquakes and deadly tsunamis. Hence we learn that at every moment, the Creator of the World keeps our land stable above the liquid lava - as if it were a boat on the raging sea, and Hashem is its captain (thanks to Rabbi Daniel Bles for the analogy).

"Every Minute Counts"

We all have "a few dead minutes" while waiting for the doctor at the clinic, in line for a bus, and similar situations. These are few minutes which are usually not utilized and could be used for Torah study. But what do we all say? "It's just 5 minutes! What does it really matter?".

"If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have set the ordinances of heaven and earth" (Jeremiah 33:25) - The Kabbalists explain this quite literally, that if the world were even a moment without Torah, the entire world would revert to chaos. In other words, studying Torah sustains the entire world. From this, we understand the importance of someone who engages in Torah study. What a tremendous reward such a person has!

Anyone who studies Torah - even for a minute - becomes at that moment a partner in the sustenance of the entire planet. What a reward they get for each minute of Torah study. But what does a person say? "Well, if I were the only one studying Torah in the world, I’d understand what a reward I have in sustaining the world, but there are tens of thousands also studying Torah at the same time, so what will my part contribute?".

This is a mistaken perspective! For it is said, "whoever saves a single life of Israel, it is as if they have saved an entire world" (Sanhedrin, Chapter 4, Mishnah 5), and if you are a partner in saving a whole world (and not just one life), even if you are one of tens of thousands of Torah students - your reward is immeasurable!

(photo: shutterstock)

Imagine having purchased a lottery ticket worth 1,000 shekels, and you receive a call notifying you that you are one of the winners, except the prize is divided among all winners, and you’re invited to come and collect your share. You respond, "I'll come with pleasure, but how many won?". If they tell you 1,000 people won, would you go? Clearly not! You'd tell the organizers that you donate the shekel you won, it's not worth the fuel to get there...

Wait, but if the lottery is for a thousand billion dollars! And you are one of a thousand winners - would you still collect it? Of course! A billion dollars would set you and all your descendants up financially until the end of time...

From here we understand the magnitude of the reward for a person who studies Torah even for a single minute - who merits sustaining the entire world. Even if they are one among tens of thousands studying Torah at that time - this is an enormous reward! It teaches us how we must seize every moment of Torah study!

A Can of Coca-Cola

The Americans, Russians, and Chinese decided to send a manned spaceship to Mars. After immense financial investment from all parties and years of preparation, the spaceship finally embarks.

After the spaceship lands, an astronaut is seen taking a small step for man but a giant leap for mankind on the Martian soil. Cameras capture every move for Earth's inhabitants. Suddenly, the whole world holds its breath at the sight of a 'Coca-Cola' can resting innocently on a rock. The astronaut picks up the can and confirms it is an original based on the label "Made in the USA."

The Russians and Chinese fume with anger. It seems the Americans tricked them and sent another spaceship earlier. The Americans deny the accusation, but they are embarrassed too by the sight of the can. Eventually, the press interviews an Oxford professor who tries to calm the storm with a hypothesis that billions of years ago, that Coca-Cola can was created by the process of evolution, and no less than "Made in the USA" words formed naturally...

Naturally, his remarks are met with global ridicule. Even after billions of years, the mathematical likelihood of such words forming by themselves is virtually zero.

How much more so with the creation of our world, which is an unfathomable enigma!

Even today, scientists admit they have managed to study only the tiniest fraction of the universe. How, then, is it conceivable that the world created itself, without some guiding hand?

This passage circulates online (I know its origin).

The Bank of Time

Imagine having a bank account that credits you each morning with 86,400 shekels.

The balance does not roll over from day to day. Every night, whatever balance you fail to use during the day is deleted - and your account returns to a total of 86,400 shekels the next day...

What would you do with the money? Naturally, you would spend every shekel!

But in truth, each of us has such a bank. It's called the Bank of Time. Every morning we are gifted 86,400 seconds. At night, whatever isn't utilized to do good, is lost.

The balance doesn't carry over to the next day, nor is there any overdraft option. If you leave what was in the account unused, the loss is entirely yours.

There is no going back, no withdrawals against tomorrow. One must live in the present, on the time granted to us.

Use your time to do good only. Benefit from it through acts of kindness and mitzvot to elevate your soul, and you will make optimal use of time. The clock continues to tick, seize the time, today!

Remember - time waits for no one, yesterday is history, tomorrow unknown, today is a gift. Perhaps this is why it's called the PRESENT in English...

Consider: A wise person takes advantage of every moment to become wiser, to learn, to understand the meaning of life and their role in this temporary world... May we be granted to understand the purpose of life and live a life of true meaning, Amen!

This passage circulates online (I do not know its origin).