Community Magazine June 2019

iyar - SIVAN 5779 june 2019 107 Efraim Harari The Jewish World of Wonders Productions can be contacted at: JWorldofWonders@hotmail.com Peleh The Boy Wonder Is Presented by: IF YOU HAVE a QUESTION for PELEH the BOY WONDER, send it to: Ask@Communitym.com Today, thanks to very precise and sophisticated technology, scientists know that the average lunar cycle is 29.53 days. But thousands of years ago, way before the satellites and atomic clocks were around, our Sages already knew that the average lunar cycle was 29.53 days. In the Gemara ( Rosh Hashanah 25a), it states: Rabban Gamliel said to them, “So have I received from the house of the father of my father: The renewal of the moon is not ever less than 29 and a half days (12 hours), and 2/3 of an hour, and 73 portions of an hour.” The Rambam writes that an hour is divided into 1,080 portions. Therefore, according to the Gemara, the average lunar cycle is exactly 29.530594 days! TORAH TALK The Lunar Cycle The moon seems to follow you because it’s so far away. This may sound strange; after all, how could something so far away seem to be following you? It has to do with how your eyes andmind work together. When you are riding in a car, close things seem to move by very fast as you pass them. A tree or house near the road starts out ahead of you, but then comes up fast, and in a few moments, the object is way behind you. Objects that are far away, however, do not seem to move very fast. If you can see a faraway mountain from a moving car, notice how long it takes for it to “pass” by. The moon is so far away that the motion of your car doesn’t change its position enough for you to notice. So, the moon just seems to follow you wherever you go. Why does the moon seem to follow me wherever I go? The Earth’s tides are largely caused by the gravitational pull of the moon. Hi, Tide! Leaving a Mark Because the moon has no atmosphere, the footprints planted on its surface by astronauts will always remain visible.