Torah Codes and Kiruv

Torah Codes and Kiruv Rechokim By Rabbi Daniel Mechanic

Dr. Barry Simon has chosen to publically attack both the scientific Codes research and the integrity of Aish HaTorah's presentation of Codes in their ongoing Kiruv Rechokim efforts. Although the answers to his questions and concerns can be found in Mr. Witztum's accompanying article and at the Torah Codes website, there is still a need to clarify a number of other important issues.

Authoritative Sources for Codes

It is important to emphasize at the outset that neither Doron Witztum nor Dr. Eliyahu Rips discovered the fact that Hashem deliberately inserted ELS Codes (Equidistant Letter Sequences) in the Torah. That information is hidden in various ways within the words and letters of the Torah is a well-known and established part of our Mesorah. The Rokeach (Hakdamah Al Hatorah) and the Ramak (Pardes Rimonim, Shaar Lamed) mention the phenomenon here under discussion, of Hashem encoding hidden information through the "skipping of letters". Furthermore, Rabbeinu Bachya in Bereishis (Chapter 1, Verse 2), Rav Avraham Abulafia in his sefer Imrei Shefer (Aseres Hadibros), and the Ramak all asserted not just the simple fact that deliberately placed ELS Codes exist, but provided explicit examples of them. It is clear from their specific comments, as well as the general context of their discussion, that their assertions were not merely poetic metaphors, but reflective of an authoritative and legitimate methodology. In more recent times, the students of the famous Rav Michoel Ber Weissmandl, Zt'l published a sefer called Toras Chemed that contains many compelling examples of ELS Codes found by their teacher.

The fact that Hashem placed Codes in the Torah is therefore not something new. What is new is Doron Witztum's and Dr. Eliyahu Rips' carefully-developed procedures for assessing the phenomenon scientifically, taking advantage of high-speed computers and modern statistical methods.

Rabbinical Support for the use of Codes

A number of contemporary Gedolim and Torah sages have repeatedly given their strong support for the use of Codes as a Kiruv Rechokim tool. Included in this prominent group is the renowned Jerusalem Posek and Rov, Rav Shlomo Fisher. In addition to his own 1989 Psak Din stating that "it is a Mitzvah to teach Codes," Rabbi Fisher recently issued a public letter wherein he states that he met with Doron Witztum and Dr. Rips on several occasions, together with Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Zt'l. He testifies that Harav Auerbach not only gave his unequivocal approval of the Codes research but also strongly encouraged the use of this material in Kiruv Rechokim efforts.

Numerous prominent Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbonim have personally sat through Codes presentations at our Discovery seminars. Among those who have attended - and gone on record as supporting the use of Codes for Kiruv Rechokim - are Rav Yaakov Weinberg, Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky, Rav Moshe Heinemann, and Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan. In fact, Mr. Harold Gans, a former senior cryptologic mathematician with the United States' National Security Agency for twenty-eight years, has had a number of long discussions about the Codes with Rav Moshe Heinemann. Despite the recent controversy surrounding the topic, Rav Heinemann remains emphatic in characterizing the Codes as "absolutely part of our Mesorah, and a Kiddush Hashem to teach."

In addition to consulting with Poskim, we have been scrupulous, of course, in obtaining confirmation of the ongoing research by independent scientific experts. The presentation of this material to the public has been handled with a high level of integrity, objectivity, and professionalism. In light of these facts, we continue to receive approval for the teaching of Codes from universally recognized Gedolim and Torah authorities, who are themselves intimately involved in all aspects of Kiruv.

The Effect of Codes in Kiruv

Dr. Simon asserts that "Torah Judaism has so much richness to offer" to the potential Baal Teshuvah besides the Codes which are "peripheral to Jewish values and practice." Dr. Simon's unfortunate choice of words contributes to the perpetuation of the myth that Aish HaTorah convinces secular Jews to become frum because of the Codes. Let us therefore again set the record straight concerning the purpose and goal of Discovery in general, and Codes in particular. Codes are one class out of a one day or weekend-long Discovery seminar that explores the many rational bases for belief in a G-d-given Torah. As such, the Codes are presented in the context of a whole system of classes that examine various aspects of that claim - historical, philosophical, psychological, scientific, etc. If someone finds the evidence for the Torah's veracity compelling, they will then want to examine its content in depth. Discovery - and Codes - has been overwhelmingly successful in breaking through the enormous barriers that prevent secular Jews from seeing the richness and depth of Torah. It has served as a potent catalyst for secular Jews to open their eyes and take the reality of Torah seriously. The Torah is a mansion; the Codes are but one of many doorways. Discovery - like 99.9% of its participants - has never made the mistake of confusing an entrance for the home itself.

One of Dr. Simon's justifications for publicly attacking Aish HaTorah's use of Codes is that he claims to have received reports that there are some people who were turned off to Judaism because of the Codes presentation. We have on file over 40,000 detailed seminar evaluations from our participants. These evaluations clearly show that Discovery has a positive transformational effect on the vast majority of its participants. Of course there are a few Discovery participants who were not impressed by the Codes. But after carefully reading these 40,000 evaluations--specifically for the purpose of responsibly determining what is and what is not effective and well-received--we found only an extremely small number of attendees who were not strongly impacted by the Codes. Letters, personal anecdotes, and reports from all the major Kiruv organizations in North America are received daily at the Discovery office describing secularized Jews' journey back to Torah that began with a Discovery Seminar.

To evaluate the legitimacy and effectiveness of Codes as a Kiruv tool off-handedly, and at a distance, is unwise and counterproductive. Dr. Simon surely realizes that opinions about such sensitive issues should not be based upon anecdotal evidence or second hand reports. We would have expected someone who has chosen to air his criticism publicly about, amongst other things, the rigor of the Codes researcher's methodologies, to have chosen a far more rigorous methodology himself before publicizing his attack. We invite anyone who is truly serious and responsible about determining what Kiruv tools are effective, to examine carefully the seminar evaluations and the hard data which is, in fact, available. Without such a careful examination, skewed conclusions are bound to be reached.

Another point Dr. Simon makes in his attack is his concern over the potential misuse of Codes by Christian missionary groups in their proselytizing of Jews. If we were to follow Dr. Simon's reasoning to its logical conclusion, it would lead all of us immediately to ban the Tanach from our homes and schools since for nearly 2,000 years missionaries have misused it as their single greatest proselytizing tool--far more successful than the Codes could ever be. Nevertheless, this concern was brought before the proper authorities. The Posek Hador, R' Shlomo Zalmen Auerbach Zt'l, explicitly said to continue the Codes research and teaching, and not to worry "Lo Lelaitzim Velo Lanotzrim" - "Pay attention to neither scoffers nor Christians."

Furthermore, Jews for Judaism, the largest counter-missionary organization in North America, reports that they are unaware of a single Jew who became a believer in J.C because of the Christian's misuse of the legitimate Codes research. In fact, Jews for Judaism reports that subsequent to reading the two articles I authored demonstrating the Christian's fraudulent tactics and claims regarding the Codes, several Jews for J. returned to Torah and Mitzvos.

Misinterpreted Quotations

Dr. Simon asserts that we are overselling our claims concerning the Codes on the Discovery website (www.discoveryseminar.org). In fact, as will be demonstrated, it is Dr. Simon who has oversold his interpretation of what was written and, by doing so, created exaggerations that he can then refute.

For example, in an attempt to diminish the rigor of the scientific research, Dr. Simon refers to a letter reviewing Mr. Witztum and Dr. Rips' work signed by four world-renowned mathematicians whom Dr. Simon attests to as having impeccable scientific credentials. But Dr. Simon refrains from quoting the letter for the readers, choosing instead to interpret it for them. He insists that the writers meant "nothing more " than that " they find the Famous Rabbis experiment interesting and worthy of further study." Dr. Simon is misleading the readers because, as he is well aware, the actual statement strongly affirms the rigor and integrity of both the scientific research and the researchers. Their own words are as follows:

"...[T]he author [Doron Witztum] and his collaborators make a rather convincing case for the predominance of equal - spaced occurrences of `meaningful' word pairs..... The present work represents serious research carried out by serious investigators." (Emphasis added)

Furthermore, in the context of how he claims we present the general scientific community's opinion of the Codes, Dr. Simon references the following quote from our website. "The Codes phenomenon is real." (Dr. David Kazhdan of Harvard University.) Dr. Simon publically attacks our integrity by accusing us of both misquoting and of misusing Dr. Kazhdan's statement. The reality is that this statement is a word for word quote of Dr. Kazhdan taken from the Modesto Bee newspaper of November 4, 1995. Furthermore, we heard indirectly 10 months ago that Dr. Kazhdan was unhappy about this specific quote being mentioned on our website. We immediately removed it, leaving it only in an article I wrote refuting the claims of Christian Missionaries. It is mentioned there ONLY to demonstrate how the Christians manipulated the statement of Dr. Kazhdan about the legitimate research and deceptively applied it to their nonsense. In other words, this quote was not used as support for the legitimate research, as Dr. Simon insinuates, but rather as a demonstration of Christians' fraudulent tactics. It is unfortunate that in defense of truth Dr. Simon has allowed himself so much latitude with it. (The reader should be aware that Dr. Kazhdan is one of the four world-class mathematicians who signed the above-mentioned letter confirming the seriousness and rigor of the Codes research).

Finally, Dr. Simon references another quote from the same article. "Since its publication over two and a half years ago, world-class statisticians and Bible scholars have reproduced and verified these results." Dr. Simon insists that with this statement we are claiming that "the scientific community generally supports the notion that Witztum et al have proven that the codes phenomenon is real."

The reality is that that is not at all what was meant with that statement, nor ever claimed by us. This statement means exactly what it says: that other independent academics and scientists have reproduced the results of the Famous Rabbis experiment. Some of those that have replicated the research of Witztum and Rips are Dr. Brendan Mckay, a probabilist at Australia National University and a major critic of the Codes, and Dr. Alexander Pruss, a mathematician and probabilist at the University of Pittsburgh.1 Dr. Robert Haralick, Boeing Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington,2 and Harold Gans, a former senior cryptologic mathematician for the United States' National Security Agency,3 have likewise replicated the original results and extended it further as discussed below.4 5

Among those who have gone on record attesting to the seriousness and quality of the research, besides the four world-class mathematicians mentioned before, are: the renowned Israeli mathematician Dr. Robert Auman6, Dr. Andrew Goldfinger, a senior physicist at Johns Hopkins University and a senior member of the Space Computer and Technology Group, and Dr. Daniel Michaelson, a mathematician at the Weitzmann Institute. Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, previously adjunct faculty at Yale University and a former William James Lecturer at Harvard7, has written a book called "Cracking The Bible Code"8 that substantiates the seriousness and value of the research (and explains many of the misunderstandings that have recently arisen).

Slanderous Attacks by the Critics

Dr. Simon states that someone who is a "frum mathematician at Harvard and a Rav" wrote an article against Codes. Curiously, Dr. Simon omitted crucial parts of this story. He deliberately chose not to tell the readers that this mathematician wrote an article for the American Mathematical Society (A.M.S.) explicitly accusing Doron Witztum and Dr. Rips of knowingly perpetrating a "hoax" and a fraud. His assault was nothing less than deliberate character assassination, in public, of two frum ehrlicher Jews whose personal and professional integrity are well known. This professor provided no evidence whatsoever for his charges, and then went on to "shame"--his word--the same four world-class mathematicians that Dr. Simon praises so highly in his article, for having dared to go on record as supporting the quality and value of the Codes research. The just-then incoming editor of A.M.S. was so disturbed by this professor's attack that he sent a personal letter of apology to Dr. Rips prior to its publication (which he was unable to prevent). He stated how this professor's attack "is an embarrassment to him (the professor) and to the American Mathematical Society."

Dr. Simon recognized that this professor's public labeling of Witztum and Rips as hoaxters and frauds was appalling and strongly condemned it himself in a letter he sent to the American Mathematical Society. Furthermore, on September 14, 1997, in a letter widely distributed on the Internet, Dr. Simon described himself as "aghast" at this professor's personal attack on the researchers. Why now, in this forum, in an attempt to sway a frum, but mathematically unsophisticated readership, he would cite this same "frum Mathematician and Rav" at all, let alone without providing the above background, is inexcusable. Whatever mathematical credentials possessed by this professor, he has completely discredited himself as a dispassionate critic, so blatant is his personal distaste for the Codes--and for anyone who dares treat the subject with objectivity. In selectively referencing this person in his own attack, Dr. Simon comes close to discrediting himself as well.

False Accusations of Data Manipulation

In his article, Dr. Simon cites the foremost "codes busters", Drs. Dror Bar-Natan and Brendan Mckay. He chose not to mention their colleague and anti-codes co-author, Dr. Maya Bar-Hillel. It is extremely significant to note the mindset of this "foremost codes critic." Dr. Bar-Hillel commenced her recent anti-codes presentation to academics and scientists at the Hebrew University with the following remarks: "Regardless of the evidence, the Codes phenomenon obviously cannot be valid because that would mean that G-d wrote the Torah."

The readers need to recognize that the major codes critics attempt to explain away the successful results of the Codes experiments in the following manner: the data waspreselected anddeliberately manipulated by the researchers in order to generate the extremely significant results that were obtained. In other words, after years of attempted refutation, the critics arguments all boil down to the following scenario: Mr. Witztum, Dr. Rips, Professor Havelin9 and others, are all frauds and belong to a fantastic conspiracy to perpetrate a hoax on the unsuspecting public. This scenario is exactly what the major critics are attempting to demonstrate through their fraudulent War and Peace "codes"10

However, anyone with an adequate understanding of how the Famous Rabbis experiment was conducted--aware therefore of the many constraints deliberately placed upon the selection of data--would realize that it was impossible for any data manipulation to have occurred. In his article and at the Torah Codes website, Mr. Witztum has dealt with this false accusation and described several ways to demonstrate the validity and integrity of the data selection.

Another one is as follows: Suppose we took exactly the same list of Rabbis' appellations (alternative names like "Chafetz Chaim" for R' Yisroel Meir Kagan) as in our "manipulated" Famous Rabbis experiment, and paired them not with dates, but with some entirely different piece of information. For example, what if in place of the Rabbis' dates of birth and death, we substituted the cities of their birth and death? If the experiment is repeated using exactly the same mathematical methods as in the original Rabbis experiment, there is no reason to expect the new list of cities to now show the same kind of closeness to the Rabbis' names as did the dates of birth and death since, the critics claim, the list of Rabbis' names was "manipulated" specifically to work with the dates. This is even more forcefully evident given that the idea of using cities was suggested by Harold Gans, at the time a wholly independent outside researcher (and at first a critic), years after the Great Rabbis experiment was completed and the list of appellations was made public. In fact, Mr. Harold Gans has already performed just this experiment using the cities, and has obtained very significant results11.

In a conversation Dr. Simon had with Harold Gans on June 24, 1997, Mr. Gans told Dr. Simon that he had successfully completed the experiment described above, and that the results were indeed highly significant. In a written correspondence immediately after their conversation, Mr. Gans reported that Dr. Simon understood the importance of this experiment, and understood that were it indeed found to be without flaw, it would unequivocally confirm that there could not have been any data manipulation in the Famous Rabbis experiment.12

Dr. Simon's public attack on this successful Kiruv tool is based precisely on the presumption that data manipulation must have occurred. But in light of his realization that Mr. Gans' experiment promises to provide confirmation that any type of data manipulation was not possible, Dr. Simon's attack is premature and deeply troubling, at best.

Conclusions

In our opinion, Dr. Simon's attack was profoundly wrong and irresponsible for the following reasons:

First, the essence of this debate is highly technical and requires a serious background in statistics and scientific methodology to begin truly to understand. Dr. Simon's article does not belong in a popular Jewish magazine such as Jewish Action. Doron Witztum and Dr. Rips's paper was published after proper peer review by professionals with the proper background in science and statistics. It is disturbing that Dr. Simon chose to bypass scientific protocol and present his arguments to a public that cannot be expected to provide its own critical assessment of the extremely complex scientific issues.

Second, the article is needlessly and unjustifiably damaging to Kiruv Rechokim. Anyone who sincerely holds the entire Kiruv Rechokim effort in high esteem, as Dr. Simon claims he does in his article, would have worked with us - not against us. The Jewish People are currently experiencing a spiritual Holocaust. That is why Aish HaTorah stands at the front of the battle against rampant assimilation and intermarriage. We would have hoped that before anyone decided to publically air grievances with such an organization, potentially casting doubt upon the integrity of all their efforts, at least to have discussed their concerns with us privately. We are convinced that all these concerns could have been addressed fully without causing unnecessary damage. Sadly, Dr. Simon never even made the attempt. Although he mentions meeting with Dr. Rips to discuss his questions, Dr. Rips characterized their meeting as extremely superficial. He was shocked to read Dr. Simon's later intimation that a thorough discussion of the issues had taken place between them. Dr. Rips later wrote me a letter describing his open-handed offer to Dr. Simon, with whom he proposed "to establish a dialog, and to discuss all questions that he may have in a thorough way, issue by issue, without hurry." But, unfortunately, "Dr. Simon declined my offer."

Dr. Simon can now be faithful to the Gemorah he quotes regarding seeking the "Truth". He knows the appropriate address for his questions and concerns. If Dr. Simon were to engage his considerable gifts in a serious and responsible investigation of the research, Mr. Witztum and Dr. Rips would then welcome and accept his contribution including the potential discovery of a previously invisible flaw, however painful that may be. But readers should understand that, at present, Dr. Simon is shooting from the hip.

Footnotes.

1 Neither Dr. Mckay nor Dr. Pruss subscribes to the methodology or conclusions of Mr. Witztum and Dr. Rips.

2 Dr. Haralick has published over 400 scientific papers. He is the developer of the Unix image processing system and is a Fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition.

3The National Security Agency employs more mathematicians than any other institution in the world. It devotes its resources almost exclusively to the making and breaking of codes.

4 Cryptologic mathematics is without question the domain of expertise most pertinent to assessing the Codes, and Mr. Gans is the recipient of the United States Department of Defense's second highest honor, the Meritorious Civilian Service Award. He received this honor for having led a team of mathematical cryptologists in cracking a problem that had been considered all but unsolvable. Almost all of his 180 published papers - as well as the work for which he received the above-mentioned award - remain classified by the government.

5 Gans and Haralick are two of the world's experts in the application of statistics to decoding and pattern recognition.

6 Dr. Auman is one of the world's experts in game theory, and a member of both the Israeli and U.S. National Academy of Science.

7 Dr. Satinover holds degrees from M.I.T., Harvard, and the University of Texas. Currently, he is studying physics at Yale University.

8 This book should not be confused with The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin. Unfortunately, Mr. Drosnin's book is a gross misrepresentation of the legitimate scientific research, and has caused a great deal of confusion as to the validity and proper use of the Codes phenomenon. Almost all of the examples in Drosnin's book were not generated using any legitimate scientific methodology and bear, at best, only superficial resemblance to the research of Mr. Witztum and Dr. Rips. Furthermore, Mr. Drosnin irresponsibly uses his so-called "codes" to attempt to predict future events, a premise rejected outright by all the serious codes researchers.

9 Professor Shlomo Zalmen Havelin, of the department of bibliography and librarianship at Bar Ilan University, is a widely known and respected Talmid Chochom. He provided the lists of Rabbis' appellations used in the Famous Rabbis experiment. His recently published Sefer was reviewed in the last edition of Jewsh Action.

10 The issue of the so-called War and Peace "codes" is effectively refuted in Mr. Witztum's accompanying article and at the Torah Codes website.

11 Another potential confirmation comes from another independent researcher: Dr. Robert Haralick. He repeated the Great Rabbis experiment using a totally different methodology. He, too, obtained very significant results. This is clearly something that Witztum and Rips could have no influence over since Dr. Haralick's technique was yet to be invented when they performed their original experiment. The results of this experiment are currently undergoing a rigorous evaluation.

12 Because of the extraordinary implications of Mr. Gans' successful cities experiment, Mr. Gans, as well as additional independent experts, are scrutinizing the data and findings rigorously. If the successful results of this experiment survive this rigorous second-level review, then it should silence all claims that the data was fraudulently manipulated or biased to create successful results. The results of that scrutiny will be released shortly.