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A Religious Look at Looksmaxxing - Why It's NOT Fine In recent time a new dangerous and wrongful trend has emerged from social media and it is called looksmaxxing . It revolves around "maximizing" one's own physical attractiveness via different and often dangerous methods. One such method is braking the bones of one's face with a hammer or another tool with the intention to eventually modify one's facial features. In this article we will focus on this practice specifically, as it already involves braking of several religious Laws and the several related topics. Harming oneself Here we can see an obvious form of self-harm in the form of braking one's own bones. The great Jewish religious scholars eqate harming oneself to harming another person. Therefore when someone harms themselves they brake the Commandment to not harm others given to us in Leviticus 19:18. No one expressed it as directly as the Rambam: It is forbidden for person to injure...

Can your Gen Alpha kid read and write? In the last two a large number of people have voiced their concerns regarding Gen Alpha's declining reading and writing abilities. But, what can actually be done in order to fix that? We have the asnwer! Just go and read with your children! What to read? Read the Holy Scriptures! You don't need to read the entire Bible with your kid in a single setting, of course. You can simply read a small portion of the Bible with them each night. In fact, we have a series of articles providing you with such Bible portions, each coverring a separate event described in the Holy Scriptures. In order to find them you can scroll across our website or use any of the special study materials we have prepared for you to help you ( like this one ). We hope this publication has been helpful to you and we wish you a good and blessed day.

The World Before the Fall of Man (Study Materials) Here we have prepared for you a chronologically ordered set of publications with which you can study the Holy Scriptures in an organized and systematic way. The list, of course, starts with the Creation of the World and finishes with the Fall of Man and the expelling of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. We have also added subentries for specific shorter parts of the Sifrei Kodesh which are of big importance. Such is, for example, the 1.1. subentry about Shabbat, the verses of which also appear in the publication about the Creation (1.) but are so important to study, they need to be given attention separately. List: 1.  The Creation of the World (Genesis 1:1-2:4) 1.1. The Seventh Day (Shabbat) (Genesis 2:1-3) 2. The Creation of Adam and of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:5-15) 2.1. The Four Rivers flowing from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:10-14) 3. What God Spoke to Adam (Genesis 2:15-17) 4. Adam Names all Animals ...

The creation of Eve (Genesis 2:21-25) Here we will present you with the story of the creation of Eve as is in the Book of Genesis (Bereshit). The event, it should be mentioned, takes place after the events of the Lilith's creation by God, our Lord, and her rebellion which we coverred in our article on the portion of the Alphabet of Ben Sira . Genesis/Bereshit 2 21. So the Eternal God cast a sleep upon the Human (Adam); and while he slept, [God] took one of his sides* and closed up the flesh at that side. 22. And the Eternal God fashioned the side that had been taken from the Human into a woman, bringing her to the Human. 23. Then the Human said, "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called the Woman, for from the Man** was she taken." 24. Hence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh. 25. The two of them were naked, the Human and his wife,*** yet they felt no shame. *A...

The True Origins of Astrology (1 Enoch 8:5-8) Here we will show you where the pseudoscientific field of astrology actually originates from. This has been well known for centuries but has somehow went into obscurity in recent times. We deem it necessary to bring it back forth in front of people's eyes. The origin story of astrology is given to us in the First Book of Enoch in its eighth chapter. 1 Enoch 8 5. Bakrayal taught the observers of the stars; 6. Akibeel taught signs; 7. Tamiel taught astrology; 8. And Asaradel taught the motion of the Moon. The above-mentioned Bakrayal, Akibeel, Tamiel, and Asaradel are four of the fallen angels who rebelled against God, our Lord, and who took human wives and fathered some of the Nephilim. The portion of the First Book of Enoch present here consists of just a small part of the long list of things the fallen angels taught humans and which led to the corruption of humanity and the Flood. Medieval depiction of an astrologer.

The Creation story and Science are compatible Many people think that the religious story of how God, our Lord, created the World is completely incompatible with modern science. In fact, this is a misconception based on extreme Christian interpretations of the Book of Genesis (Bereshit). Here we will bring forth two very important points which are rarely considered when talking on this topic. The Seven Days We need to consider that the first seven days were not the same as the usual seven days of the week we all know. As we know from the text of Genesis/Bereshit, the Sun and Moon did not exist until the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19). Aside from that, the boundary between the ending of one day and the beginning of the next day were not clearly defined up until the times of the rabbis of the Talmud (see Babylonian Talmud, tractate Sabbath). Therefore, we can say that the "day" (or Yom/יום, as is the original Hebrew term) in that earliest stage of the Universe's histor...

Lilith - her creation and rebellion (Alphabet of Ben Sira 23a-b) The figure of Lilith has been obscure, her story told and retold and sometimes made anew, with all being subject to numerous interpretations. Here we will present the story of Lilith as told in the Alphabet of Ben Sira. Alphabet of Ben Sira 23a-b When the first man, Adam, saw that he was alone, God made for him a woman like himself, from the earth. God called her name Lilith (לילית), and brought her to Adam. They immediately began to quarrel. Adam said: "You lie beneath me." And Lilith said: "You li beneath me! We are both equal, for both of us are from the earth." And they would not listen to one another. As soon as Lilith saw this, she uttered the Divine name and flew up into the air and fled. Adam began to pray before his Creator, saying: "Master of the universe, the woman that you gave me has fled." God sent three angels and said to them: "Go bring back Lilith. If she wants t...

Why can't Noahides eat this Korean dish? Usually the complex dietary laws regard Jewish observance, but there are also dietary laws in Noahide observance , even though their keeping is much easier and rarely comes to mention. One of the Seven Laws of Noah , which God have to Noah for all of his descendants (i.e. all humans) to keep, is: Do NOT eat flesh from an animal still living. This looks like a pretty easy commandment to keep, and it is, but you should be aware that in some cuisines consuming living animals does existing. Such is the case with Korean cuisine. In traditional Korean cuisine exists a dish called san-nakji  (or sannakji ) which consists of two main types: The first and more common one is raw chopped octopus; The second one, which we are concerned with, is a living octopus supposed to be eaten while still alive and moving. Two people eating living san-nakji. While the living variant of san-nakji is rarely served nowadays, it still does appear here and there...

Should religious people avoid doing yoga? Whether it is appropriate for religious people to practice yoga or not has been a question many people commented on in order to find the answer. Here in this article we will try to provide an answer to this same question. Yet, in order to do so, we first need to explain the origins of yoga, which are the most problematic part of the entire topic. Origins of yoga Yoga originated as a Hindu spiritual practice, strictly intertwined with the worship of differet Hindu dieties/idols. As we know, people who believe in the Lord, our God, the only true God, are not supposed to engage in pagan worship in any form. The Lord, our God, has commanded that not only to Jews (see Exodus 20:3) but to all of humanity (see the Seven Laws of Noah ). Therefore we should all be careful not to engage in idol worship of any kind. Hindu yogis (yoga practitioners) during a Hindu ceremony. Modern yoga Yet, the kind of yoga most people practice today is not reall...

What are the ShUM cities? You may have heard the term ShUM before, but what does it actually mean? The word ShUM (in Hebrew: שו"ם) is a Hebrew abbreviation for Shpayer, Wormeyza, Maintz . These are the traditional Jewish names of the cities known in English as Speyer, Worms, and Mainz, all located in Western parts of Germany. These three cities played a crucial role in the history of Ashkenazi Jews. In fact, their role is so important, it is not possible to put everything in just one article, therefore there will more articles about them in the future. All of the three cities are on the shores of the river Rhine, and more specifically in the province of Rhineland-Pfalz. They are all located along the ancient border between the Roman Empire and the polities of the various Germanic tribes who inhabited the region in Antiquity. The region on the Roman side of this border was the exact region where the Romans deported the ancestors of the Ashkenazi Jews after expelling them fr...

Adam Names all Animals (Genesis 2:18-20) In the follwing verses from the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) we will see the origins of all animals' names. Genesis 2 18. the Eternal God said, "It is not good for Adam to be alone; I will make a fitting counterpart for him." 19. And the Eternal God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called each living creature, that would be its name. 20. And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but no fitting counterpart for a human being was found. This is how the names of different animals came to be, and they are still preserved as Adam gave them in the Hebrew language.

God Speaks to Adam (Genesis 2:15-17) Here in this part of the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) we will see what the Lord, our God, spoke to Adam before the creation of the first woman. Genesis 2 15. The Eternal God settled Adam in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. 16. And the Eternal God commanded Adam, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; 17. but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die." This is what the Lord spoke to Adam, the first human, while he was still the only human being on the world.

The Four Rivers Flowing from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:10-14) In the following verses of the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) we do see what are the four rivers flowing from the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2 10. A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches. 11. The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. 12. The gold of that land is good; bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli. 13. The name of the second river is Gihon, the one that winds through the whole land of Cush. 14. The name of the third river is Tigris, the one that flows east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. These are the verses about the four rivers which the Lord, our God, created and made to flow from the Garden of Eden into other parts of the world.

The Creation of Adam and of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:5-15) Here you will see the verses of the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) which cover the creation of Adam and the creation of the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2 5. when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because the Eternal God had not sent rain upon the earth and there were no human beings to till the soil. 6. but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth - 7. the Eternal God formed a Human* from the soil's humus,** blowing into his nostrils the breath of life: the Human became a living being. 8. The Eternal God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the Human who had been fashioned. 9. And from the ground the Eternal God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad. 10. A river issues from Eden to wat...

Who is Javan (Yavan)? We read in the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) that Javan (in the original Hebrew: יון) is a son of Japheth and a grandson of Noah. (Genesis 10:1-2) Javan is believed to be the progenitor of the Greek people, because of which the country of Greece is called Yavan (יון) in Hebrew.

Genesis 2:1-3 - The Seventh Day (Shabbat) Here you will read the part of the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) in which is told of the Seventh Day, also known as Shabbat, Shabbos, Sabbath, or Saturday. Genesis 2 1. The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. 2. On the seventh day God finished the work that had been undertaken, ceasing on the seventh day from doing any of the work. 3. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy - having ceased on it from all the work of creation that God had done. This is the story of how the Lord, our God, blessed the Shabbat/Saturday. *We also want to clarify something here, in the Hebrew calendar Shabbat/Saturday is the seventh day of the week and Rishon/Sunday is the first day of the week.

Genesis 1:1-2:4 - The Creation of the World Here in this portion of the Book of Genesis (Bereshit), you will see the story of the Creation of the World translated into the English language. Genesis/Bereshit 1 1. When God began to create heaven and earth - 2. the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water - 3. God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5. God called the light Day (Yom/יום) - and called the darkness Night (Laylah/לילה). And there was evening and there was morning, a first day. 6. God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, that it may separate water from water." 7. God made the expanse, and it separated the water that was below the expanse from the water that was above the expanse. And it was so. 8. God called the expanse Sky (Shamayim/שמים). And there was eve...

How to kickstart your religious studies? A lot of poeple who want to start learning the Holy Scriptures get lost in and overwhelmed by the massive amounts of materials and topics to study. This is completely normal and understandable and one should not feel any shame if they are in such a situation. Here are some pieces of advice for the ones who find themselves in such discomfort. Where to start? People say that the beginning is the hardest part of anything. The best option for beginning your study of the Scripture is actually the simplest one - start with reading the Book of Genesis. It does not have to be in Hebrew; any normal translation will do good enough work for a beginner. Therefore, pick up a translation written in a language you are very comfortable with (preferably your mother tongue) and start reading throughout the First Book of the Torah. How should i continue afterwards? After you are finished with reading the Book of Genesis, you will be ready to procee...