As we begin again the next weekly cycle of Bible portion reading, we are told about the early days on earth. The Bible, in Genesis, says that God spoke to the waters and the land and commanded them to bring forth living beings.  That’s it - one statement about the origin of life on our planet - God said so.

Volumes have been written in the scientific and philosophical journals about the origin of life. Everyone from Socrates to Aristotle and Plato to Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawkins have put forth their theories about how life began.

Let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment (you know him - Satan, the angel of death, the great avenger, the evil inclination). Let’s take his side and look at the non-Biblical view of life’s beginnings and see what it implies.

Scientists speak of the primordial soup of amino acids that randomly combined to form the earliest living cells. The most widely accepted theory states that for many, many, many years, all of the organisms that existed on earth consisted of just a single cell. No Venus fly traps, no Chilean bass and no dinosaurs. Just complex one-celled beings that contained the same components that exist in the cells of all living organisms today - rhibosomes, nuclei, chromosomes and more. And as these cells consumed more of the nutrients surrounding them, they grew ever larger, fatter and obese.

As they perused their environment, they realized that fat wasn’t where it’s at so if they wanted to continue to survive, they would have to make a decision - either lose weight or divide themselves into two.

Lucky for us, they chose the latter.

Suddenly, during what is called the Cambrian explosion, every genus and phyla that we have today (and perhaps some that are no longer around), came into being. That included, according to science, the “potential” for every variety of plants, fish, birds and animals.

Only one problem - who made that decision?

Do we think that an unthinking mass of protons, neutrons and electrons decided that existence was worth existing and then on its own, developed the capability of reproducing itself?

That would imply that life, at all levels, is worth perpetuating; that the continued survival of each specie, and in fact, every individual cell, serves some purpose that transcends its own intrinsic existence. Otherwise, why bother?

The smallest cells “knew” this. Somehow, deep inside, we know it too.

The Bible commanded all beings - “Be fruitful and multiply.”

You see? When God speaks, even CELLS listen!

I am constantly amazed at the pace of new technological developments taking place in the world today. It’s been said that there have been more scientific advances in the last 100 years than in all of human history combined.

Cell phones, the internet, the atomic bomb, landing a man on the moon, COLOR television (I’m going back a LONG way now). These inventions were unheard of and unimaginable by our grandparents and great – grandparents. What the future holds, nobody knows.

But think of it on a more simple level. Imagine living in a world without indoor plumbing, or central heat and air conditioning. Imagine living in a hut instead of a high-rise. Think of a world without email or texting. Unbearable! Most people are not even aware that a “cc” on an email means “carbon copy” because that’s how we used to make a copy of a page – by slipping a waxy sheet of black carbon between two pieces of paper and pressing hard when you wrote. “Make me a xerox” was an unknown phrase.
Now take it back to an even simpler level. Imagine living in a world without bread.

Who was the genius who discovered all of the steps necessary to convert a wheat seed into the food staple of mankind? It was certainly NOT just common sense.

First he had to plow a field, then plant a seed, then water it and cultivate it. When the stalks of this strange looking plant were fully grown, cut them down and throw them into heaps. Thresh the stalks by beating them against something hard to separate the husks from the stalks. Winnow them by blowing air at them or by throwing them up into the air to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Grind the wheat until it was as soft as powder.

Mix with water.

Add yeast (whatever that was) otherwise he would wind up with matzoh not bread.

Bake in the oven until golden brown.

Who would have thought of all that? I wouldn’t. Fortunately, someone else did.

And now take it back to its most simple level.

Imagine living in a world without wheat seeds.

Now Who thought of that?

Caterpillars turn into butterflies. Tadpoles into frogs. Children into adults.

There are countless, natural wonders that occur on Earth every day.

Monkeys into man? I don’t know anyone who has ever witnessed it but, as the theory goes, if we wait a few million years, perhaps we will live to see it. The theory of evolution has been used to answer many questions for which we have no other answer except - God willed that it should be that way.

Let’s see if we can use their theory to answer the following question:

We know that the sun is 93 million miles away from the Earth. Any further away, we would freeze, any closer we would fry. Any bigger we would be toast, any smaller we’d be ice. If the Earth didn’t rotate, one half of the surface would be as dry as a desert. If the axis weren’t tilted, the fields would have no rest. If the atmosphere were any thicker, the sun would not be able to evaporate the waters of the seas and there would be no clouds. If gravity were any weaker, rain would not fall from the sky, if it were any stronger, we wouldn’t be able to get out of bed (which is difficult enough as it is). As far as we know, the Earth is the only place in our galaxy that has naturally occurring water (since it only exists as a liquid between 32 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit). Without water, there is no organic life. If there were no wind, the continents would only be fertile at the shores (much like the Nile and Egypt). If the wind didn’t blow, carbon dioxide which is only a small portion of the air we breathe, would never reach plants and there would be no food. No food, no monkeys to turn into man.

So here’s the question:

If everything evolved by accident, how did the sun-wind-gravity-water cycle evolve so precisely that it allows for the survival of intelligent life (somewhere) on our planet for thousands of years?

Dumb luck? Or perhaps you want to see alternative answer #2 above.

Sir Isaac Newton is credited with having discovered gravity.

We all know how it happened.

He was sitting under an apple tree when all of a sudden a ripe, juicy apple plunked down on his head.

He said to himself, “Whoa. There must be some invisible force that pulls objects down to the ground.”

Duh!

His kids never threw their bowls of cheerios out of their high chair? (Okay, they may not have had high chairs back then but he certainly knew the word “cheerio”! He was British you know).

So instead of discovering the miracle of gravity, he should have focused on the miracle of the apple:

Did he notice that the apple was totally green before it ripened so that it would blend in with the leaves so that no one would pick it before it was ready?

Did he look at the perfectly packaged, air-tight covering on the apple that seals out bugs and locks in the juices?

Did he ever take advantage of the free coupons inside the apple that entitles him to a lifetime of free apples if he would just plant them in the ground and wait around a few years?

Did he fully understand that within those seeds is the formula to recreate a tree of wood, complete with roots and bark and leaves and blossoms that are capable of reproducing exact replicas of that tasty fruit needing no food or nourishment except water, sunlight and tasteless soil?

Did he know that the tree actually knew exactly when to signal the fruit stem to automatically detach itself from the branch to allow the fruit to fall gently to the ground (or onto to his head) as soon as the apple was ripe?

Probably not.

He probably just ate it because of that other miracle of fruit – an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

For the last 2,000 years, the Jewish people have been accused of many things:

We killed Jesus
We poisoned the wells of Europe and caused the Black Plague
We plotted the bombing of the World Trade Center
We arranged for the Arab nations to rebel against their leaders
We control the media
We control the banks
We control the world

There is one thing we’ve never been accused of and that is - being stupid.

Everyone can see that, with all of our accomplishments in technology, medicine and business (at least) we are (at least) smarter than average.

Maybe they’re wrong.
Maybe we are stupid.

There is a growing anti-Jewish sentiment permeating the world. It might be masked as anti-Zionism but it is anti-Semitism all the same. Jews around the world are once again becoming the focal point of hatred. Hate crimes against Jews are becoming all too common in France, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Russia and of course throughout the Arab world.

The exact reasons are unclear. Adolf Hitler is quoted as saying:

“Even if there had never been a synagogue, or a Jewish school, the Jewish spirit would still exist and exert its influence. It has been there from the beginning and there is no Jew, not a single one, who does not personify it.”

It matters not if you are Orthodox or non-affiliated, liberal or conservative, Ashkenazic or Sephardic, American or Israeli, practicing or agnostic. In the eyes of the world, all Jews are Jews.

Yet we each see ourselves as separate. There are some of us who seriously question the policies of the State of Israel. Some of us don’t like the ways of the ultra-Orthodox. Some of us don’t accept the policies of the liberal-Jewish platform. Some of us won’t associate with Jews who are more or less observant than we are.

As we continue to fight and divide ourselves, it gives the world the opportunity to drive a wedge between us.

Without even considering the metaphysical benefits of a united Jewish people (as promised by the Prophets and our Sages), when all eyes are upon us, doesn’t it make sense for all Jews to unite and accept each other?

To allow the world to incite us against our own people would be foolish indeed. To take it upon ourselves to alienate our own brothers and sisters is sheer madness.

Let’s not give the world one more thing to accuse us of.

Let’s not be stupid.

Uh-oh, is it possible that a writer at this Jewish website would actually agree with the theory of evolution?

Let’s see.

Darwin states in his “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” which, interestingly enough never addresses the crucial question of the origin of life itself, that life began on Earth as single celled organisms that eventually evolved into the higher forms of life that we see today.

According to Darwin, there is an evolutionary chain from algae to fish to birds to reptiles to cold and warm blooded animals and finally to mankind. He describes the progression in much the same sequence that the Author of Genesis wrote thousands of years earlier.

But Darwin left out ONE, VERY important consideration.

The probability that any of this could have happened by accident is against astronomically calculated odds. Scientists, biologists, geneticists, agnostics and atheists all admit that even the simplest of human cells is far more complex than any invention that mankind could ever conceive of, let alone duplicate. There had to be another factor leading up to the arrival of man.

So here, I can’t say that Darwin and I agree.

But consider the second part of his title, dubbed “The Survival of the Fittest”.

Along the chain leading to the eventual development of all of the “beings” we see in existence today, there were predecessors that were less than complete. Skunks without smell, birds without feathers, cats without claws and rabbits without reproductive systems.

Only those that were fit survived. The rest fell by the wayside.

Here’s where I think Darwin makes a little sense. Heaven forbid, not from the evolutionary standpoint, but from a view of human history.

When we look back on the last six thousand years of recorded history, we see many societies that appeared to be “fit” but were actually less than that. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Mongols, Huns, Ottomans, Nazis, Communists and Socialists all rose to power expecting to be around forever.  But look around, they have also fallen by the wayside.

There is only one nation that has seen them all, lived amongst them all, survived them all and continues to this day.

That is - the Jewish people.

Perhaps that’s because what we stand for, what we believe in and what we actively practice is the fittest of all ideals.

Yup, in this regard, I’m beginning to agree with Darwin. Only the fittest survive.

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.

We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, ‘Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!’
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.’

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so…Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a blessed, garbage-free day.
- D.J. Pollay

We let insults bother us because we feel upset someone failed to show us the honor and approval we demand. But look objectively at our planet in relationship to the entire universe, and you will realize how ludicrous it is to be upset over such matters. Seen from outer space our planet is merely a speck of dust, and individual inhabitants are microscopic. Now picture how every person inflates himself. Contemplate how they become angry when someone has belittled their “great honor.” With this perspective you can laugh at the presumptuousness of any person overly concerned about someone’s insulting him.
- Gesher Hachayim, vol. 3, p. 39