From: friedenb@egr.msu.edu ( Gedaliah Friedenberg )
Subject: Re: Discovery
Originator: friedenb@kira.egr.msu.edu
Reply-To: friedenb@egr.msu.edu ( Gedaliah Friedenberg )
Organization: Michigan State University
Distribution: soc
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 92 21:43:06 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.093020.21444@cpp.ob.open.de> schweik@cpp.ob.open.de (Martin Schweikert) writes:

>Could someone please tell me where I can learn the principles on
>which the Discovery project is based upon?
>
>As far as I understand them now, there are methods of selecting and
>arranging characters from Torah.

Although I have not gone through the Discovery program, I am quite
familiar with it.  So, here it goes.

The program presents the transmition of the Torah from G-d to us
(today) as an analogy.  Videos are watched of a spy trying to get his
message to his comrades.  The spy has to take care in transmittion of
the message, and the comrades must be careful in receiving the
transmition (and also must verify that it is the true message from
their spy, not a falsified version implanted by the "enemy").  

This, of course, is obviously a parallel of the Torah as the spy's
message.

Part of the process of verification is the understanding of codes.
Codes are complex encoded "messages" in the Torah.  These messages
were largely unknown before the advent of computers (although a few
were found by hand).  For instance, if one takes every 2,235th letter
in the Torah (at the end of the Torah, go back to the first letter),
it may spell something.  Codes have been found which refer to the
Holocaust, George Bush (no kidding!) the Gulf War, the 39 Scud Missles and
many other topics.  All of the codes which have been found have
referred to actual historical events.  

One would argue, though, that since there are nearly an infinite
number of possible combinations of letters in the Torah, that if you
look hard enough, that you will eventually find something.  Not so.
The New York Times was used in the same computer system in order to
try to find codes.  A few words came out.  Even two or three words
which might fit together in the right context, but nothing which can
compare to the full sentences found in the codes of the Torah.  The
Discovery program had a mathematics consultant from MIT analyze this
issue, and determined that it is nearly statistically impossible for
codes to be a mere coincidence.

Then, if the codes can tell the past, then why can't we look into the
future? is a regularly asked question.  The computer is not capable of
random searches since there is such a large number of possible
combinations.  The computer must be given boundary variables, such as
a key word or phrase to look for.  If we knew the amount of
information about a future event necessary to give to the computer, then we
would know the future already and thus wouldn't need the code.

The developer of the computer which does this type of analysis is in
the midst of writing a book about it.   Supposedly it will attract
religion experts as well as math experts.  I look forward to it.

The Discovery program is offered regularly as a 3 day program in
Jerusalem.  It is also offered on a traveling basis in different
American cities as a 1 day program.  Contact your local Aish HaTorah
representative for more info.

Gedaliah Friedenberg
-=-Department of Mechanical Engineering
-=-Department of Metallurgy, Mechanics and Materials Science
-=-Michigan State University

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