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Essays by
Stan Tenen
Essay Index
Learning by Copying vs. Learning by Reading 1997
Scientists and Wordsmiths 2003
A Few Notes on Literalism 1994
A Purloined Letter: The Evidence is Not Hidden 1999
Damning By Faint Praise 2003
Man Bites Dog 1996
The Purpose of Prayer 1997
Foundations of Jewish Survival 1997
Determinism vs. Freewill 2003
The Dirac String Trick - First Hand 1997
The Most Assymetrical Spiral 1997
Dini's Surface, Mt. Sinai, & the Human in the Gorilla Suit 1997
Who Wrote the Bible 1994
Squaring the Circle: A Philosophical Solution
2000

The Three Abrahamic Covenants and The Car Passing Trick
1996

Making Peace With Geometry - Index
Spirals as Metaphors:
Some Notes on the Logarithmic and Golden Mean Spirals 1997

Notes on Golden Mean Addendum September 1997

Bible Codes
Index of Collected Articles
Alternatives to Biblical Scholarship 1999
When is the Textual Approach Not Appropriate? 2000
On Immortality 2000
Which Way Up? 2000
The Three Pillars of Love 2001
Eating Our Words: A Purim Drash 2002
HOQ 2002
Shabbos & Resonance 2001
Cracking the Bible Code, by Jeffrey Satinover, M.D: A Personal Recommendation
by Stan Tenen, ©1997

There has been much said and posted with regard to the Codes in the Torah, and of course, Drosnin's book, The Bible Code, has been highly promoted and discussed also. The vast majority of what has been said has been of such uneven, mixed, or ill-educated quality, as to make it nearly impossible to sort the sense from the nonsense. (Those interested in hearing my discussion of the Codes, and of Drosnin's book, can listen to them by checking the RealAudio archives for Art Bell's "Coast-to-Coast" radio interview program for the segments aired on June 9, 1997, and July 8, 1997. Check http://www.coasttocoastam.com/guest/tenen-stan/6379   for current information about the availability of these interviews. )

Therefore, I am very pleased to recommend the new book by Jeffrey Satinover, M.D., Cracking the Bible Code (William Morrow), which has just been published in hardcover (in Fall 1997). I have read it through, and I have shared it with friends. This is without a doubt the best presentation of the Codes in Torah available to a general readership. Dr. Satinover includes background history of codes, some personal biography, and an excellent and highly readable treatment and assessment of the Codes themselves. In all regards, Dr. Satinover's presentation is fair-minded, scientifically and academically competent.

My only quibble is with Dr. Satinover's personal conclusions, which, as an honest presenter, he forthrightly and clearly states. Dr. Satinover tells us that he believes that the Codes themselves are content-free – in other words, there's no message. (There is no predictive quality to the name-date correlations. They can only be noticed after the fact.) Instead, they serve as a "watermark" that attests to the Divine authorship of the Torah. This is certainly a legitimate opinion, and it is certainly justified by the current evidence. In my personal opinion, however, it is not likely to be entirely correct. I believe it is more likely that the Codes do contain real and important content, but that the content most assuredly is not Nostradamus-like predictions, and it is not even literal. Instead, the Codes appear to me to be due to the fact that the Torah was literally woven of its letters. (Computers and statistical analysis are not required to see "stripes" woven in a rug, for example.) My understanding of the evidence suggests that they are primarily of a geometric nature, and related to the construction of the Temple, the Temple furniture, priestly garments, Levite dances, and meditational exercises – as those who have perused elsewhere on this website have no doubt already noticed.

The bottom line is, if you want the facts on the codes, if you want to understand the codes, if you want an honest and competent assessment, and if you want to enjoy reading about it, pick up a copy of Dr. Jeffrey Satinover's Cracking the Bible Code.

Stan Tenen
October, 1997


 


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