The Torah in five words and forever Hillel was asked to distill the entire Torah by a gentile while standing on one foot. What he said is referred to as the Golden Rule. He said, "what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow; this is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary". My balance is not as good as Hillel’s, so I came up with: “Be a light unto others.” Let me explain how I got there and beyond. Genesis 1:3 - “And God said, ‘Let there be light’. This happens on the first day of creation.” Genesis 1:14 - “And God said, ‘ Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens….’” Genesis 1:15 - “And they shall be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shed light upon the earth.’” This occurs on the fourth day of creation. God creates light on “Day 1” and the sun on “Day 4”. How do you interpret the creation of two different sources of light? God intentionally separates the non physical creation of light (“let there be light) from the physical creation of light (let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens). God creates a separation between the non-physical (ie.spiritual) and the physical forms of being. A pattern that repeats itself shortly thereafter and in the same order. Genesis 1:26 - ‘And God creates man in our image, after our likeness…’ This occurs on Day 7. Genesis 2:7 - ‘And the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostril the soul of life, and man became a living soul’. The human being is created by God in two distinct stages - the first, the non-physical or spiritual creation and then physical creation of the body. Twice a day we are commanded to recite the Shema. It brings us together, once in the light (morning) and again in the darkness (evening). We say in the Shema, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” Here again, a distinction is made between the physical and spiritual. “With all your heart” - your physical essence. “With all your soul” - your spiritual essence. “With all your might” - is combining the two together, which is what humans are (both a body given to us by our parents and a soul given to us God). It is how we express our ability to exercise our free will, which is the foundation upon which all rests. Your might is your soul’s instructions to your physical body as to what to do. We are always doing something, even when doing something is doing nothing. It is a choice we make as humans - it is our soul telling our body to stay still. Let me jump now to God’s first covenant or bonding/binding with humans, the rainbow. Genesis 9:17: And God said to Noah: “This [rainbow] is the sign of the covenant that I have set up, between Myself and between all flesh that is on the Earth. How many colors do you see in the rainbow? The common, incorrect answer is seven (7). They are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. You are also seeing white light, the eighth color of the rainbow from which they are all refracted from. Eight is also the number of bonding between God and us. On the eighth day of a baby boy's life, he undergoes his circumcision. This marks his physical and spiritual connection with God. And regarding the rainbow, you can only see it at a 42 degree angle which is directly opposite the sun. The gematria 42 iis an allusion to both the oral and written Torah. When we look and see the rainbow, God's covenant with mankind, we see not only the entirety of the fractionated light into the white light, but all the rules and instructions being fractionated in the 613 mitzvot from the Torah. Light. Is a substance that does not degrade and cannot change forms. It can even form without any matter at all being present. Try naming something with the same characteristics as light. Light and the conservation of energy. [Biological] systems are always trying to conserve energy. Another way of expressing this is that [biological] systems always want to keep energy in its most useful form - highest “octane”. There is only one exemption from this rule that I am aware of. And it happens to happen at the exact moment of conception. There is a “zinc spark”, a flash of light when the egg is fertilized by the sperm cell. It is significant because it marks the moment when embryonic development begins. Here is a fact you may not be aware of. Humans emit light! During various biochemical reactions in our bodies, we radiate biophotons. And now we can complete the entire life cycle as it pertains to the Torah. God creates light and in doing so separates the physical from the spiritual. God creates man, and then becomes an integral part of every human being’s creation. A human being's physical entity is from their parents, and their spiritual essence is from God. And each human being created involves a miracle, a break in nature (the spark of life). We are then, individually in control of our physical and spiritual properties. Twice a day we are enjoined to combine both (with all my heart and all my soul and with all my might) to follow God’s commandments. To be a light unto others. During our life, the light each one of us creates radiates beyond our bodies. It, light, never degrades. It remains as a constant signal of our life; the same way a sun in a distant galaxy may physically die, its light shines on forever. The light we generate is our form of “communication” with God. God “sees” our light the same way we see a sun’s light. With or without the physical “body” intact, the light it produced remains intact. Forever. And if you are worried about the bandwidth of billions and billions of people radiating biophotons, multiple beams of light are able to occupy the same space at the same time - another very unique feature it enjoys. When the Messiah arrives, this is how God will resurrect the dead. Our bodies will be gone, but the light of our lives will remain and become the “blueprint” of our resurrection. And the degree to which we are resurrected will be determined by the light we create during our life. Standing on one foot, reducing the Torah and all our teachings to one sentence: “Be a light unto others”. David Berman david@docberman.com Jan 28, 2026

Never worry about making the “right” decision. Worry about making your decision, the “right” one. Wishes for a great day to all, Hugs and prayers too, David/

Good morning and what is your goal today? If you can’t answer that question, do not get out of bed. If you start your day without a goal, without a destination, you are going to be wasting it - a rudderless ship that lets the waves and the wind determine where you end your day. Whatever the goal may be, or the number of them, make sure your day today is spent navigating towards something. Put a rudder on your daily navigation through life and aim at a port (or two) that you want to dock at. And make sure that port is worthy of your time and efforts. Wishes for a great and meaningful day to all, Hugs and love too, David/