Comm 2 Mth 2:30-4 assignment

Instruction: Paraphrase the following paragraphs and post your answers on your blog.deadline is Sunday, 11:59p.m.

1. Time is also described in Chassidism as the flux of ratzo v'shov -- a continual positive/negative oscillation of creative energy that drives all phenomena of the cosmos. Just as hearts beat, lungs inhale and exhale, energy pulsates in waves, particles vacillate between negative and positive states, so too the very substance of the cosmos continually oscillates between a state of being and not-being. This oscillation, as well, "precedes" Time as we know it. The essential continuum of Time in our world is the eventual manifestation of this higher form (Tzvi Freeman, http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/74335/jewish/What-is-Time.htm
© 2011, What is Time)
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2. Why does creation necessitate ratzo v'shov? The standard explanation in Chassidism goes as follows: For anything to exist, two opposite processes are necessary. On the one hand, the object must be sustained by the will of its Creator. On the other, it must feel itself as a detached and distinct entity of its own. Ratzo v'shov is the artifact of this dynamic of conflict. In this way, it is the glue, or intermediary, between the creative force and the created being. In the words of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch (the "Tzemach Tzedek", 1789-1866), Time is the intermediary between the cosmic soul and space. Time is the process of being, as opposed to the content of being ((Tzvi Freeman, http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/74335/jewish/What-is-Time.htm
© 2011, What is Time.