Comparing Apples and Figs

Arthur Yavelberg  Most people are familiar with the Biblical “Garden of Eden” story from the Book of Genesis.  The newly created Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge—which was likely a fig and not an apple—after which they realize they were naked, cover themselves and are exiled from the Garden. …

Passover and the Passion

Arthur Yavelberg People sometimes wonder about why the Jewish holiday of Passover often overlaps with the Christian celebration of Easter.  There are many explanations for this—such as both are carryovers from pagan fertility rites having to do with the “rebirth” in spring.  (Hence the use of “eggs” on the Passover seder plate and Easter egg…

Writing a Book That Starts a Movement

(an interview with Jake Frankel of “Authority Magazine”) INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:  As part of my series about “How to write a book that sparks a movement” I had the pleasure of interviewing  Arthur Yavelberg  A teacher and school administrator for close to 40 years, Arthur Yavelberg has dedicated his career to making complicated issues accessible to…

How Sweet Is It?

“I want to taste sugar. I don’t want to be sugar.” This was a philosophy professor’s point years and years–and years–ago in rejecting what he saw as the premise of mysticism: the dissolution of the self/ego into some kind of union with God. Since then, I have read many things to the effect that this…

A Beetle’s Wisdom

In the Ancient Egypt of the pyramids, the Pharaoh Akhenaten tried to institute a monotheism based on the worship of the Sun. The context was that every morning the star’s all powerful light conquered the dreaded darkness of night, thus announcing the daily assured victory of the good and rational over evil and ignorance with…

Faith or Reason?

(Published in The Arizona Daily Star, March 5, 2023) Consider the following scenario: there is someone you have known for years, practically your entire life. You love and trust this person who has always been there for you, no matter what, and has even saved your very life a time or two. As it turns…