Brookwrite

Columns - 2013

    Sine of the times

    by Doug Brook
    Southern Jewish Life columnist

    It's the time of year when almost several of you hear the Book of Deuteronomy at Shabbat services every week. If some of this fifth book of the Torah feels redundant and repetitive, its name reveals why.

    Deuteron is Greek for "second," alluding to the numerous greatest hits from the exodus and wilderness that are revisited throughout the book. Hence, Deuteronomy means "the second law."

    Deuteronomy was commonly referred to as the Mishneh Torah ("repetition of the Torah"), until Maimonides appropriated the name for his code of Jewish law -- which he got away with because on the Sixth Day (and for a long time thereafter) the Big G neglected to create the Copyright Office.

    However, the recently discovered Mishnah tractate Bava Gump makes clear that Deuteronomy was not alone. There was another book, a "third law," which was ultimately omitted from the Torah and considered to be more complex and incomprehensible than the rest of the Bible. This third book is, of course, the Book of Trigonometry.

    It's little wonder that this book once struck a theological chord. After all, it details more fundamentals about the creation and nature of the universe than the first chapter of Genesis.

    But thousands of years ago, this addition to the Torah was deemed too tangential, which led to a long division among the Sages that continued to multiply until it was resolved by subtracting the book from the canon.

    As with most questions for which there are two possible answers, the Book of Trigonometry has led to three prevailing rabbinic opinions: Those in favor of it, those opposed to it, and those who do not care to ask. Like most debates, this triangle is inscribed with people on each side whose beliefs come in varying degrees.

    Naturally, everyone in this debate thinks they have the right angle, which is what makes the discussion so bleak. Some of them are truly obtuse, though one of the younger advocates is a cute one. And, while you might never have heard the Book of Trigonometry discussed, for that great debate I suss a lease on life has been renewed.

    While its omission indicated that all books are not equal, the book persisted, and many debated how its pure teachings should be applied.

    The Torah itself deals with topics that some ascribe to mythology, but everyone agrees that the Book of Trigonometry is about mathology.

    Despite the lack of clarity about its theistic identity, respect for the function of the book was a constant. While some rabbis felt it was highly derivative, many secular scholars thought the inverse -- that its teachings were integral to expanding the human mind. Most people today decry any biblical origin for the Book of Trigonometry. But it could account for why so many Jews over the centuries have been accountants.

    Similarly, most people think that ascribing any theological significance to the book is irrational. However, both Trigonometry and Judaism are -- each in their own ways -- explorations in solving, or finding the meaning of, the intangible known as "i."

    This search is exemplified in the Book of Trigonometry's best-known phrase, "secant ye shall find."

    Through the centuries, allegiance to the theological relevance of Trigonometry has come in waves. While today the book's advocates are a fraction of what they once were, the volume of its supporters covers a wide area, to numerous places worldwide.

    Mathematicians do not typically teach any religious aspects of Trigonometry, but some inquisitive students join the theological quest, becoming what the book calls "cosecants."

    One would think that the subject matter of Trigonometry would fall under the sphere of one of its Torahtic predecessors, the Book of Numbers. But while these books were nearly adjacent, the opposite is true. The story arcs of the two books are not complementary, and most expressions of their similarity are not merely exaggerations, but truly hyperbolic.

    Unfortunately, through the centuries, most direct theological references have been removed from the book. The most glaring omission is a once-lengthy divergence about the vessel containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments -- alluded to today only by the name of its omitted section: the arctangent.

    Doug Brook is a writer in Silicon Valley who will one day reveal the other, equally controversial and forgotten "third law," the Book of Trigematriya. For past columns, other writings, and more, visit http://brookwrite.com/. For exclusive online content, like facebook.com/the.beholders.eye.

    Copyright Doug Brook. All rights reserved.