Avraham = 248 = E8
By HaRav
Aryel Nachman ben Chaim – 21 Tammuz 5782
Chacham Asher
ben Mordechai,
As we were
discussing in our study of the Bahir, when Avram's name was changed to Avraham
the significance was that his name now included the 248 structures of the human
body. However, is there
a deeper significance to this? We already know that the 248 also parallels the
248 positive mitzvot.
As the Sages
tell us, that all was created for B’nei Yisrael, which begins with Avraham. As we have learned from our study of
Bereshit, , bringing from tohu to bohu giving it substance but no attributes.
From there G-d spoke and gave it a name and its attributes.
Therefore,
Avram was bohu until G-d added the hey to his name; Shemot 17: 3 And Abram fell
on his face; and G-d talked with him, saying: …. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but
thy name shall be Abraham… Thus Avram = 243 to Avraham = 248, giving Avraham
mastery over all the parts of his body, enabling him to have children with
Sarah.
However, did G-d
have more in mind than just enabling Avraham to have mastery of his body?
In the
theoretical physics world, there is the theory called E8 which simply explained
(very simply) is: “E8 attempts to describe all known fundamental interactions
in physics and to stand as a possible theory of everything.” (Paraphrased from the explanation by
Dr Antony Garrett Lisi). There is a graphic representation of the E8 lattice,
which has been called one of the most beautiful mathematical representations
ever. It took a group of MIT professors working 4 years with a supercomputer to
make this representation, which in fact is an 8-dimensional object.
All the
points or intersections on the lattice, as Dr Lisi has found, have a
relationship between the elementary particles, forces and elements in the
universe. However, there
is a problem. Science has found 224 elements and the lattice has 248 points! Dr
Lisi proposes that there are 24 additional elements (elementary particles) that
are yet to be discovered. He may have a valid hypothesis since the other
elements and forces and interactions can be found in the lattice. For example,
the lattice can show that photons interacting with leptons will produce
electrons, just as happens in the real world.
Additionally, the Hebrew word for
particle is chelkik (יקִ קְ
לֶ ח (which also
has a gematria of 248.
So, the question is now restated: Was G-d’s intent to just enable Avraham to have mastery of his body, or was G-d pointing to the physical blueprint of the universe which was created for the Jews by changing Avram to Avraham and the gematria of 248? Will Moshiach be the one who finally defines the undiscovered 24 missing elements giving us “An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything", as Dr Lisi put it?
