Your Nails – Not What You Thought. 5 Points to Ponder

Labor Contractions

Labor contractions are contractions of the uterine muscles, at the end of which the baby emerges into the world.

During each stage of childbirth, the contractions perform a different function intended to advance the childbirth process: initially, their goal is to cause the cervix to open fully. Subsequently, the contractions work to bring the baby toward the birth canal. By contracting the lower part of the uterus, the contractions create a state of opening and closing the cervix, thereby helping the baby to descend slowly and gradually, until it emerges into the world. Finally, the contractions help expel the placenta from the body.

Contractions are one of the body's ways of signaling that it is ready for birth. Although contractions begin when something stimulates the "pituitary gland," causing it to release a hormone called oxytocin, which triggers uterine contractions, medical literature still does not know precisely how and what causes contractions to begin. The exact mechanism that starts labor remains unknown! What causes contractions to appear after a fixed term of 9 months, signaling that the fetus is about to exit the womb?!

Regarding the trigger for the onset of contractions, much remains unknown. If doctors knew what causes labor to begin, efforts could be made to prevent or reduce the number of preterm births that occur before 37 weeks of pregnancy and involve complications for both mother and child.

Finally, labor contractions are the most recognizable pain during childbirth, and almost every woman who gives birth suffers from pain during contractions. At least, there is an explanation for the pain: in the Torah, it is said that after the woman fed the first man from the Tree of Knowledge, she received her punishment: "To the woman He said... in sorrow you will bring forth children..." (Genesis 3:16).

What Do Muslims Want from Us?

Let's examine together some data in the Quran:

• In the Quran, the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned at all.
• The Quran highly praises the Torah of Israel (see Surah 6 "The Cattle," verse 91; Surah 40 "The Forgiver," verse 53. Surah = Chapter).
• The Quran states that if there are unclear subjects, one should refer to the Bible (see Surah 10 "Jonah," verse 94).
• The Quran explicitly states that the Land of Israel is sacred to the Jewish people (see Surah 5 "The Table," verses 20-21; Chapter 28 "The Story," verses 5-6).
• Muhammad advises Muslims to treat Jews kindly and amicably (see Surah 29 "The Spider," verse 46).

These sources lead to the conclusion that Muslim demands on the land of Israel, the people of Israel, and the State of Israel contradict Islam! So, what do they want from us? Can anyone explain this to me? Reality shows that it is unfounded hatred.

(Photo: shutterstock)

However, there is an "explanation" for this in the Torah: it is stated in Parshat Vayishlach (Genesis 33:4): "And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they wept." This, seemingly, is a revelation of brotherly love. If so, why did Esau come with an entourage of 400 warriors to greet Jacob? Rashi explains, citing Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, "The law is, it is known that Esau hates Jacob..."

This law teaches us about the eternal hatred towards us, and that there is no point in trying to deal with it as it is beyond nature. It is not about escaping reality, not only because it is impossible to escape from it, but because this reality has a purpose, to elevate and distinguish the people of Israel, the chosen people, the people of the Creator of the world, to separate them from the nations so that they will not intermingle or resemble them, Heaven forbid...

The Role of Fingernails

Let's look at the tips of our fingers on our hands and feet and discover a kind of hard material – the nails. It's somewhat strange, this appearance at our fingertips. Have you ever thought about why we really need them?

Nails are a hard protein called keratin, a sort of protective layer for the sensitive tips of the fingers and toes. But what do they protect against?

(Photo: shutterstock)

There is a high concentration of nerves at the tips of our fingers (hand and foot). This concentration means extremely high sensitivity to any stimulus. Any contact with a stimulus can cause us excessive pain because of the high sensitivity in the area. Therefore, in His great kindness, the Creator of the world created for us a kind of "shield" for those nerve-concentrated areas, so that any damage to the fingertips is "blocked" thanks to the nails.

For a person without nails, any excessive contact with an object could cause sharp pain at the fingertips and render them unable to function. In contrast, for a person with nails, even if they encounter various stimuli, such as a slight bump from a drinking glass, the pain does not penetrate excessively through the nerves in the area, and thus the pain sensation is more moderate.

So, the question arises: why did the Creator of the world create fingers, and generally - the palm and foot, with a high concentration of nerves in the first place? Here, too, the care of the Creator of the world for our bodies is evident: high sensitivity to any stimulus in those areas is vital for our health, for example, sensitivity to heat: touching a hot tea cup with the hand will cause the nerves to send an urgent message from the brain to the hand - to release the grip on the cup immediately, lest we get burned.

By observing the human body, we can understand that it involves a superhuman creator with infinite genius and tremendous power...

Continental Drift

It is said in the Torah, in Parshat Bereshit: "And God said, 'Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear,' and it was so" (Genesis 1:9). The verse in the Torah speaks of one landmass that appeared after the waters, which covered the entire earth, gathered into one place. In other words, one vast ocean surrounded the sole continent that existed on Earth.

Wait, this information is in stark contrast to what we clearly know today, that the waters of the oceans surround seven continents on Earth (Eurasia, Africa, Australia, Greenland, North America, South America, and Antarctica).

(Photo: shutterstock)

So how many continents are there on Earth? One according to the Torah, or seven continents according to science? Is there a contradiction here?

The Zohar, written about two thousand years ago, reports on significant geological changes that occurred on Earth after its creation, stating: "The water brought forth a single land, and from it seven lands were formed" (Zohar Chadash 12a). That is, at the time of creation, there was only one continent, but at some point, it split into seven continents, which drifted apart, as ocean waters entered the spaces formed between them, creating the various oceans and seas.

It was only about 80 years ago that a turning point occurred in the scientific world, with the first to speak of continental drift being a researcher named Wegener (1924), who claimed that all the continents were initially united as a single large continent, only later drifting apart. As proof of his claim, he pointed to the striking similarity between the coastline of Africa and the east coast of South America, as if they were two pieces of a puzzle. In further studies he conducted, he showed similarities in vegetation, wildlife, and the geochemical structure of various minerals at connecting points of the two continents, proving that initially, all the continents were joined together.

And now, let us consider: who, besides the Creator of the universe, could have known thousands of years ago—long before any person had maps of the shapes of the continents—that all continents were once a single landmass that split and moved apart? Moreover, how would the scientists of that time have responded to the Zohar's determination, two thousand years ago, about the existence of seven continents in the world, when the continents of North and South America, Australia, and more had not yet been discovered?

A Well-Known but Important Reminder About Shabbat

Friends, the value of *Shabbat* is unparalleled: "He who keeps Shabbat as it should be, even if he had worshiped idols, he is forgiven" (Shabbat 118b). The reason is that the Creator of the world declares in the Torah that observing Shabbat is a sign and a symbol of the covenant between Him and the people of Israel, who believe in Him, making it of great importance: "The Israelites are to observe the Shabbat, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days Hashem made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:16-17).