DAVID BIRNBAUM SUMMA METAPHYSICA
DAVID BIRNBAUM PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Midrash:
God’s 100 Archangels
Before the beginning of form
Before the beginning of time
The God of Israel
Lord of Lords
King of Kings
gathered his 100 Archangels
from the far corners of the universe
They stood in a celestial phalanx
10 Archangels deep by 10 Archangels across
Each spanning a light year
Thus, by current measure, the celestial phalanx covered 100 square light years,
if such a comparison can even be made
facing the Divine
I have called you here, Archangels of the Universe
to advise me…
as to whether or not
to create
Heaven and Earth
Advise me, my celestial Archangels
Shall I proceed forward or not?
If I do not proceed, clearly you will never see realization
as more than Ideas
as more than Visions
as more than possibilities
interacting only with the Divine
But you must decide
I seek your celestial counsel.
One by one
the Archangels of the universe
stepped forth……
*
Do NOT create
admonished the Angel of LIGHT,
There will be too much suffering
Do NOT create
said the Angel of HOPE,
There will be too much suffering
Do NOT create
said the Angel of LOVE,
There will be too much suffering
Do NOT create
said the angel of BEAUTY,
There will be too much suffering
Do NOT create
said the Angel of VICTORY.
There will be too much suffering
Do NOT create
said the Angel of SPIRITUALITY,
There will be too much suffering
Do NOT create
said the Angel of POETRY,
There will be to much suffering
and so it went,
on and on
different Archangels
– but with the same utterance
Angel after Angel
quadrant after quadrant
with but one conclusion……
the Angel of the TIDES
the Angel of JOY
the Angel of CREATIVITY
the Angel of DREAMS
the Angel of ELEGANCE
…of EXPLORATION
…of FREEDOM
…of KINDNESS
…FULFILLMENT
…MERCY
…PASSION
…JUSTICE
one Archangel after another
stepped forward
to front–and–center
of the phalanx
faced the Divine
and said
each one almost verbatim
Do NOT create Heaven and Earth
There will be too much suffering
The 75th Angel, the 76th Angel, the 77th Angel…
the 85th, 86th, 87th…
moving towards unanimity…
…95th, 96th, 97th, 98th, 99th…
…up to the 100th Archangel
the one in the very back left quadrant/corner
of the celestial phalanx…
…..the Angel who BURIES the DEAD
and there was the slightest of pauses, almost imperceptible
as the Archangel shuffled his way forward to the front…in his patented trudge…….
stood before the Divine
stood silent for a few moments
then uttered very deliberately…
“UVACHARTA”
and thou shalt choose…
[the Angels of HOPE, LOVE and MERCY shifted slightly and coiled…]
“BA-CHAYIM”
LIFE
and, simultaneous with the utterance…
The God of Israel
King of Kings
Lord of Hosts
arose in all glory from his celestial throne
[all 100 Archangels bowed down]
the Divine stretching forth his right arm
…and in one grand majestic sweep…
IGNITED THE COSMOS
Creating the heavens and the earth
*