"When a woman will conceive and she gave birth to a male child..." [Vayikrah 12.2]

"Is it not the custom that when a man discreetly deposits a packet of silver with a friend, and the friend returns a load of gold publicly, that he be thankful [to the friend]? So, too, the Almighty. The creations deposit a drop of seed discreetly, and the Almighty returns to them fine whole souls publicly. Is this not praiseworthy?" [Vayikrah Rabbah 14.2]

The nature of modern science and technology is that with each problem solved, new problems arise. Advances in the medical and physical sciences have brought on the dangers of radioactive waste and nuclear threat. Industrial progress has harmed the ecological balance. Man seeks to better his existence, yet contrary to his intentions, the fruits of his labor and intricately linked to the horrors of disease, destruction, and war.

It is hard to comprehend how man does not realize the insignificance of his mastery over the worrld around him. How can he be so blond as not to see that a power far greater than he can ever imagine governs all of creation to perfection?

How can man, with all of the knowledge that he has amassed, deny the obvious? Even if man uncovered all the secrets of the universe and understood the workings of everything in his surroundings, even then he would only be discovering, not creating. Man did not conceive. Man did not invent. Man did not create. Man can only wish to comprehend bits and pieces of a far greater whole that God created long before man stood on earth. How then , can the great minds of science not look with astonishment at God's work?

And one need not look far to see God's wonders. We need only to look at ourselves, at the miracle of childbirth, as in the words of Job (19:26): "And from my flesh, I see God."

Our rabbis in the Midrash so beautifully describe the miraculous partnership between God and man, leading to a child's birth: "Is it not the custom that when a man discreetly deposits a packet of silver with a friend, and the friend returns a load of gold publicly, that he be thankful [to the friend]? So, too, the Almighty.

The creations deposit a drop of seed discreetly and the Almighty returns to them fine whole souls publicly. Is this not praiseworthy?

In our generation, so many people are searching for the truth and purpose of their existence. Young people travel to far-off lands to find answers that ultimately leave them lost and empty. Yet the answers are close to us. They are within us, within ourselves, and our existence, and they testify to the eternal truth and God's praise.