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A few years ago, I met a man who had been a Rov in South Africa. An older man, he was quite the storyteller. One of the topics he brought up was that he never knew why water circled the drain the other direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The answer's simple I said: the world turns in a different direction in the Southern Hemisphere.

I explained the Coriolis effect, which also explains why hurricanes and tornados also turn in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere. If you look down at the North Pole, the Earth turns in a counter-clockwise direction. If you look down at the South Pole, the Earth turns in a clockwise direction.

He looked at me carefully and said, this is very important. Use this well.

Two weeks later, he left this world. I like to think that I eased his transition to the World to Come, maybe he was waiting for this answer before he was ready to leave. I'm not sure, but he did inspire me to apply this insight to the world of Torah.

It wasn't long before it hit me: the Coriolis effect is the instantiation of this in the world of Gashmius, and Eloo v'Eloo Divrei Elokim Chayim is the expression of this in the world of Ruchnius. Two diametrically opposed viewpoints with both 100% correct can only work if one if correct from one perspective, while the other is correct from the other. For some perspectives, we may have to leave this world to appreciate, but there is always a question of perspective.

Think of this question: do we go clockwise, or counter-clockwise around the Bima during Hakafos? Well, both answers are correct: clockwise when looking up from the ground, counter-clockwise looking down at the Bima.

Now, there is an example where perspective doesn't matter in both the world of Gashmius and Ruchnius. The speed of light is constant. It doesn't matter when you are approaching or receding from the light source, the speed is constant. The frequency shifts red when you are receding, blue when approaching, but the speed is constant. Similarly, Hashem is Good. It may appear favorable or unfavorable to us, but it is always Good.