This quote from Maimonides is in the final paragraph of his mganum opus, Mishnah Torah. It is from the last chapter, where he describes what the world will look like when Moshaich comes. The Rebbe has told us we need to open our eyes and we can see how Moshaich is here! Here is an article, that shows how since 1990 the amount of people in the world living in extreme poverty has fallen drastically! Where it used to be around 35% of the world population lived in extreme poverty, by 2019 it became less then 8% of the world population that lives in extreme poverty. In numbers, that translates to 2 billion people living in extreme poverty as of 1990 and to less then 500 million living in extreme poverty in 2019! By now 2023 we can assume the numbers have dropped even lower!
Israel is 5th safest country in the world for tourists - study December 7, 2022. This week in 1991 the Rebbe pointed out that we just have to open our eyes properly and see how everything is ready for the Geulah! One of the ways we can open our eyes is by seeing things around us and how they are connected to Moshiach. As we have said in the past when something in Torah fits with the narrative of the physical world it’s further sign of g-ds presence being revealed in the world. An intresting study came out yesterday that says Israel is the 5th safest place in the world! Interestingly enough the Torah teaches that Israel is the safest place in the world because g-d is constantly watching it. The rebbe pointed out many many times they Israel is the safest place in the world! Before this study people might have a perception that Israel is not safe, and one has to be reminded that the Torah says it is the safest place in the world but now we have reached a point where the “world” says that Israel is the fifth safest place in the world. now I know they’re not saying that it is the safest place in the world, but I think I will get there eventually. Just the fact that they are saying that it is the fifth safest place in the world, which seems surprising to many people is a sign that we are heading in the right direction.
When Moshaich comes, there will be the complete fusion of the spiritual and the physicial, we will see how the physical world is not at odds with godliness, but spirituality is part and parcel of this physical world, it’s just that until now it was hidden and now it’s being revealed. One of the ways how we see this taking place is how science (the world) is acknowledging the eternal truths found in the Torah. Whereas, until now, if you followed the Torah you were scorned for being old fashioned. Now there is an outburst of “discoveries” that seems to align with a Torah way of life, which brings health, wealth and blessings into a persons life. One such “discovery” is the function of sleep and dreams. In the last decade scientists have found that sleep and dreams (deep sleep, non -rem) act as a waste mangent system for the brain. It cleans the brain of toxins and helps our brain function better. Well what do you know, in the year 1817, in a discourse by the Mitteler Rebbe, the third Chabad Rebbe, (Shabbos Chazon Matzil Any) the function of sleep is explained, and why it’s needed. The Mittler Rebbe explaines that during sleep the intellect gets rid of its waste, by sorting the good from the bad, and this allows a person to think clearly after the sleep. And just like the body has a cleaning system in its external organs or faculties ( the digestive system) the body also has a cleaning system for its internel organs and facilities namely the intellect. He also explaines why exile is compared to a dream that just like in sleep and dreams we refine the intellect, the same things happens in exile, we refine and sort the good from the bed until the world is fully refined and ready for moshiach.
This quote from Maimonides is in the final paragraph of his mganum opus Mishneh Torah. Its from the last chapter where he describes what the world will look like when moshaich comes. Here is a an Intresting article that helps us see the possibly that even without miracles we can change people from being selfish into good and kind people. Where jelousy will not be an issue. Naturally we don’t know where the research will lead but the point we are making here is that even “nature” is starting to identify physical parts of the brain that control kindness and the like.
Study identifies neural connections that regulate prosocial and selfish behavior in mice
Coronal section of a mouse brain. In red the basolateral amygdala detected using a fluorescent marker Credit: Scheggia et al.
Humans and animals can exhibit a wide variety of behaviors when interacting with their peers. These include both prosocial behaviors, voluntary actions aimed at supporting or helping others, and selfish or opportunistic behaviors, which prioritize one's own needs or desires.
Several past neuroscience studies have investigated the neural processes involved in social connection, particularly in terms of the brain regions and neurotransmitters associated with bonding or intimacy. However, so far very little is known about the brain mechanisms underlying selfish or altruistic actions.
Researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and University of Milan have recently carried out a study aimed at filling this gap in the literature, by examining the activation and firing of neurons in the mice brain as the animals engaged in prosocial or selfish behaviors.
Their paper, published in Nature Neuroscience, identifies a series of prosocial or selfish behavior-specific reciprocal connections between neurons in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, two brain regions associated with complex behavioral planning and emotional regulation, respectively.
"Over the past years, I felt a loss of the common sense of collectiveness, even before the pandemic, that contributed to self-centered concern and a disregard of others," Diego Scheggia, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told MedicalXpress. "Of course, recent physical distancing and quarantine policies further disrupted our daily social interactions and resulted in increased social isolation. The goal of my recent study was to understand the social factors and neurobiological determinants of altruism and self-interest."
To examine the neural mechanisms underpinning altruistic and selfish behaviors, Scheggia and his colleagues first designed a new experimental task that would encourage these different types of behaviors in animals. This social decision-making task offered animals two simple choices: sharing a reward with their peers or not. The researchers then used this task to perform an experiment on several adult mice.
"The task we used was modeled on the human game-theoretical paradigm known as the 'dictator game' in which a 'dictator' decides whether to share a reward with a conspecific," Scheggia explained. "In this task, we measured the neural activity of the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala that show substantial differences between prosocial and selfish subjects."
Magnification of the basolateral amygdala. In red the neurons activated during the behavioral task "dictator game." Credit: Scheggia et al.
Essentially, Scheggia and his colleagues found that the mice's decision to share their food reward with other mice depended on several factors. These factors included the mice's level of familiarity with their peers, their sex, previous social contacts, levels of hunger, hierarchical status and their emotional attunement.
Subsequently, the researchers used chemogenetics, techniques that entail the use of synthetic drugs to manipulate specific brain pathways, to silence the activity of some neurons. This allowed them to determine whether silencing specific neurons automatically resulted in more prosocial or selfish behaviors.
"We observed that silencing the neurons in the prefrontal cortex that are connected to the basolateral amygdala modulated choices guided by self-interest," Scheggia said.
The results gathered by this team of researchers highlight the role of neurons in the basolateral amygdala(BLA) in promoting prosocial decisions. Specifically, they suggest that BLA neurons projecting on the prelimbic (PL) part of the prefrontal cortex mediate the development of a preference for altruistic choices in mice. In contrast, the preference for selfish behaviors appeared to be mediated by the projection of neurons in the PL prefrontal cortex to the BLA brain region.
In the future, the findings of this study could pave the way for interesting new discoveries about the impact of interactions between neurons in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex on the nature of animal behaviors. The work by Scheggia and his colleagues also outlines a possible neurobiological model of altruistic and selfish choices, which could help to better understand the issues with social decision-making associated with some psychiatric disorders.
"As a result of the pandemic, more selfish and antisocial behavior have risen, thus threatening to multiply psychiatric diagnoses in the next few years," Scheggia added. "Unraveling the nature of brain mechanisms underlying social decision-making could represent a crucial step to suggest novel treatments for social dysfunctions and antisocial behaviorthat occur in several psychiatric conditions and neurodegenerative disorders. Building on the findings of our recent study, we are now exploring the role of previous experience and emotional memories on prosocial and selfish choices."
More information: Diego Scheggia et al, Reciprocal cortico-amygdala connections regulate prosocial and selfish choices in mice, Nature Neuroscience (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01179-2
As we come closer to the geulah we see how medicine, technology, and science in particular is "discovering" things that Torah speaks about thousands of years ago and now it has become easier for a skeptic to practice Torah and mitzovs both for himself and the people around him. Not that we need to science to confirm what is written in the Torah but when moshiach comes the world will be in in tandem with what it says in torah and nothing will look like it is opposed to the Torah view or not in perfect harmony. I believe we are seeing a host of interesting discovers that point int this direction.
In the article below the researchers found that many couples (30- 40%) have separate beds. On the contrary they are saying this leads to happier healthy marriage Now for many years a young couple got married and may have been embarrassed to tell their friends or family that are not aware of the Laws of family purity that they have separate beds. now not only don't they have be embarrassed they can show them this study. Again not that without this they should be embarrassed but its a lot easier to keep torah and mitzvos when the rest of the world "agrees" with you and is now finding that this is the way to go. We see this pattern with so many laws strewn across the code of Jewish law were modern medicine is finding how this things are beneficial. The closer we get the more and more we will see how "the world" is one with torah.
Here are some pieces from the article
Can separate beds be the key....
Sleeping in separate beds may have negative connotations for a happy couple, but new research has found that it can have beneficial results for both their relationship and their individual health.
According to a study from Ryerson University in Toronto, between 30 and 40per cent of couples sleep apart at night, and experts say the separation can actually help a relationship, rather than harm it.
Colleen Carney, the author of the study, told CBC: 'People will say they sleep better, but when we actually monitor their brains. . . they're continuously being woken up by movement or sound. It creates a lot of problems.....
Although the Torah does not say that couples should have separate rooms ( in fact it might be opposed to separate rooms -unless really necessary it is still interesting to see how the trend is growing.
The National Association of Home Builders has found that the need for privacy has even begun to influence home design. They report that since 1990, the number of requests for homes with two master bedrooms has increased, and that by 2015, up to 60 percent of all upscale homes will have dual master bedrooms and bathrooms.
Obviously if the couple keeps the laws of family purity, and respects its laws "privacy" is included in the package and there is no need for a separate bedroom.
As we come closer to the geulah we see how medicine, technology, and science in particular is "discovering" things that Torah speaks about thousands of years ago and now it has become easier for a skeptic to practice Torah and mitzovs both for himself and the people around him. Not that we need to science to confirm what is written in the Torah but when moshiach comes the world will be in in tandem with what it says in torah and nothing will look like it is opposed to the Torah view or not in perfect harmony. I believe we are seeing a host of interesting discovers that point int this direction.
Below is a synopsis of a study published in Current Biology.
Evidence that the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep
The author is saying that the study shows that humans are effected by the state of the moon I.E when there is a full moon people might not sleep as good as when there is a new moon. ( this could be a separate discussion as is explained that the new moon symbolizes the pinnacle or the rebirth of the Jewish people while still in exile)
what is interesting about this study is that The Talmud tells us that a solar eclipse is a bad omen for the entire world, which runs according to the solar calendar, and a lunar eclipse is considered a bad sign for the Jewish nation, who calculate the duration of months according to the cycles of the moon. The Jewish sages of old all have known for a very long time that eclipses are natural events that can be predicted thousands of years in advance. Thus we can be quite certain that their statement does not mean that eclipses are results of ill behavior. Rather, an additional result of the celestial positioning that causes an eclipse is that certain people are especially prone to sin and punishment. This is not unlike the Talmudic teaching that people born under certain Zodiac signs are likely to follow certain paths. These factors do not take away of free will, but they do give us a propensity that we can and must overcome.
Now obviously the Talmud is not talking about this study but its interesting to note how science is telling us that the moon has an effect on people once a month or more, and when someone sees that the talmud says when there is a solar eclipse or lunar eclipse it has an effect on people here is a good place to start.
here is the overview of the study.
Endogenous rhythms of circalunar periodicity (∼29.5 days) and their underlying molecular and genetic basis have been demonstrated in a number of marine species [1,2]. In contrast, there is a great deal of folklore but no consistent association of moon cycles with human physiology and behavior [3]. Here we show that subjective and objective measures of sleep vary according to lunar phase and thus may reflect circalunar rhythmicity in humans. To exclude confounders such as increased light at night or the potential bias in perception regarding a lunar influence on sleep, we retrospectively analyzed sleep structure, electroencephalographic activity during non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, and secretion of the hormones melatonin and cortisol found under stringently controlled laboratory conditions in a cross-sectional setting. At no point during and after the study were volunteers or investigators aware of the a posteriori analysis relative to lunar phase. We found that around full moon, electroencephalogram (EEG) delta activity during NREM sleep, an indicator of deep sleep, decreased by 30%, time to fall asleep increased by 5 min, and EEG-assessed total sleep duration was reduced by 20 min. These changes were associated with a decrease in subjective sleep quality and diminished endogenous melatonin levels. This is the first reliable evidence that a lunar rhythm can modulate sleep structure in humans when measured under the highly controlled conditions of a circadian laboratory study protocol without time cues.
