A great new site is coming out with a way to get affordable nook books!

A lot of nook users have been frustrated with being unable to find the low priced ebooks. It turns out, Barnes & Noble have buried the low cost ebooks in a way that makes them difficult to find. Enter “Nook Lovers!” They’ve garnished the best, most affordable nook books with the links to get them on Barnes & Noble all on one site.

Soon, my book The Torah Codes will be featured on Nook Lovers! Check them out!
http://nooklovers.blogspot.com/

HILARIOUS POST:

Cleaning my files today, I stumbled across an e-mail correspondence I had with master storyteller Dan Brown before he wrote The Da Vinci Code. He had published Digital Fortress and on his website mentioned how part of his inspiration came from reading an article about a priest. (Possibly an urban legend.)

The priest held a bake sale and was so impressed by the home-baked brownies offered by teenagers at the bake sale, that he took a photo of the brownies and sent out an email to his sister. The problem was that instead of typing “teenagers baked brownies, he accidentally typed “teenagers naked brownies.” Anytime an email has an image accompanied by the words “naked brownies,” a secret government computer is alerted to make sure that no child pornography is going on. You can imagine the priest’s surprise when he was visited by a task force!

Anyhow, that story stuck with me and opened my eyes to Echelon, the place where emails are searched for national security issues.

The correspondence between Dan Brown and I started with an offer for a free bookplate for anyone who deciphered the code on his website. I decoded the cypher and sent the results to the indicated email address. (My pen name was Scissors.)

Ezra (November 1998)

The plaintext:

We are watching you

(Wow! I savored writing each letter!)

-Scissors

“Susan Fletcher”

Dear Scissors,

Congratulations on breaking the code! Savored writing each letter, eh?

Since you broke the code, if you’d like me to have Mr. Brown send you a signed/personalized DF bookplate for your copy of the novel, you can email me your snail mail address (which I do not keep) and I will have him send one out to you as soon as he can.

Nice job again on the code.

Without wax,

Susan Fletcher

Ezra

Dear Susan,

How’s David? And has Strathmore been treating you well? Anyhow, could you ask Dan Brown if he’s heard of the Bible Codes? And I’m not talking about those bogus codes that have a P=0.9, I’m talking about the Great Sages experiment where a fully refereed test done with an apriori hypothesis, controls, and all that jazz suggested that the Bible was written by someone who knew intricate details about the future. It was published in Statistical Science:

Statistical Science
1994, Vol. 9, No. 3, 429-438

Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis

Doron Witztum, Eliyahu Rips and Yoav Rosenberg

Abstract. It has been noted that when the Book of Genesis is written as two-dimensional arrays, equidistant letter sequences spelling words with related meanings often appear in close proximity. Quantitave tools for measuring this phenomenon are developed. Randomization analysis shows that the effect is significant at the level of 0.00002. [Ezra's note: P=0.00002 means that the likelihood of finding those codes -- the ones they found in the Book of Genesis -- was as coincidental as if I succeeded in picking the solitary Ace of Spades from a deck of 50,000 cards. In other words, the codes must have been intentionally written into Genesis.]

Key words and phrases: Genesis, equidistant letter sequences, cylindrical representations, statistical analysis.

***

Anyhow, naked brownies just wondering. Could you have naked brownies the personalized bookplate say, “Scissors, ON WITH THE REVOLUTION! As though I were your friend, Dan Brown.”

Here’s my naked brownies address:

Scissors
[old address]
Oakland, CA
94611

Some advice: When drinking soda, never burp through your nose.

ON WITH THE REVOLUTION!!!

-Scissors

Dan Brown (summarized for legal reasons)

Dan Brown congratulated me for breaking the code and said that Susan Fletcher forwarded him my letter. He said he hadn’t heard of the Bible Codes or the Great Sages experiment unless it relates to the book, The Bible Code. He asked me to clarify whether what I requested was how I really wanted the bookplate to read.

Ezra

Dear Dan, Spinster of the Cyphertext Slogans,

Yes! You are correct, sir! That is exactly how I want my bookplate to read. And what would be very nice (though not expected) is if you sent along a can of vegetarian soup. I get hungry every so often. You know how it is.

As for the Great Sages Experiment, the book “The Bible Codes” does indeed talk about it but it also mentions a lot of untested codes and sensationalizes the whole thing. I don’t recommend it. The more scientific/objective book about the codes is called “Cracking the Bible Code” by Jeffrey Satinover.

Thank you so much for writing DF. I’m writing a short story now and a small part of it involves the government’s cryptography methods. Your book was not only a page-turner. It was a wealth of information (along with your web-site) condensed into one area. Hopefully I’ll be done with my story before April (in April I’ll be in Eastern Europe–a Russian-speaking country–through the Peace Corps). Perhaps you’d like a copy of the story?

I look forward to receiving the book plate and hope to also receive the can of vegetable soup. Send my regards to Susan.

ON WITH THE REVOLUTION!!!

-Scissors

Dan Brown (Summarized)

After letting me know that the bookplate was on its way, Dan Brown cheerfully said he feared the vegetable soup would leak out of the envelope so he wouldn’t be sending me any.

As much as he loved the idea of reading my work, his agent advised him against reading unpublished works to avoid lawsuits. He told me to publish it so that he could read it.

Ezra

Dan, Captain of the Codes Clad in Cyberspace,

Ah! A challenge! I will indeed try to get the story published so that you may read it. Please do not read the following phrase. “All I’m saying is…” Thank you for not reading the previous phrase as it was a quote from my story and had you read it, a lawsuit would ensue.

Since I won’t send you my story, maybe I’ll send you some vegetable soup. Now how does that sound? You get hungry at times. I know how it is. And maybe your agent would also like some vegetable soup. I’m convinced he would like some. I don’t care what the press says about agents’ digestive tracts, agents get hungry too. I should know. I was hungry once. And then I had a nice can of vegetable soup. And look at me know! I’m winning bookplates! You know, your agent sounds like a great guy. He really does. You should give him a bookplate. I think it would be a nice gesture. I’ll send him the can of vegetable soup, you send him a personalized bookplate, and he can sit in his living room and enjoy reading your book while eating the vegetable soup. Yes. I think he would appreciate that.

Well, Dan, I look forward to receiving the bookplate. Especially since I haven’t a clue what a bookplate is or how it works. My roommate thinks it’s something that heats up your book and keeps your book warm so that you can go to bed with a warm, cozy book.

ON WITH THE REVOLUTION!!!

-Scissors

Ezra

Dan! Hey! Master of the Mind Menaces!

Thanks for the bookplate! I now know what one is! Wow! Every sentence I’ve written so far has exclamation points after them! How absurd!

As for the lack of vegetable soup in your package, no problem. People don’t always eat vegetable soup. I know how it is. What was I thinking?! I rarely eat soup, much less vegetable soup! The idea of you sending me soup was utterly absurd and ridiculous. I apologize.

Could you send me some popcorn? People always eat popcorn. They eat it in their movie houses, in their living rooms. They eat it in their front porches and outhouses. The eat it when they carry furniture to and fro, when they type newsletters and love letters, when they’re participating in parades with giant, red floats. And they carry popcorn around with them everywhere they go. I like to carry my popcorn next to my beeper. My beeper doesn’t get much use but, boy, do I eat the popcorn!

I look forward to your email reply and I keep my fingers crossed for an attachment of popcorn.

ON WITH THE REVOLUTION!!!

-Scissors

Dan Brown (Summarized)

Dan Brown’s email stated that the email was good for a large bag of popcorn should we ever meet face to face.

Thanks Dan for being such a fun email correspondent!

It’s official! The Torah Codes is a best-seller in the UK. In the Torah category, The Torah Codes placed #85. A stampeding herd of buyers pounded at Amazon’s doors to get their own copy. No penguins were harmed in the stampede.

The Torah Codes won Honorable Mention at the 2011 Hollywood Book Festival. In fact, not only did The Torah Codes win, but my wife’s Young Adult Fantasy book Henrietta: The Dragon Slayer also won Honorable Mention!

Beth and I went to Hollywood to the awards ceremony and we received our awards and got to speak at the ceremony. In my speech, I spoke as if I was Nathan, the protagonist in my book. He’s a direct kind of guy, so I announced, “If you don’t read The Torah Codes, you’ve wasted your life.”

Beth and I put our books up on the display table for people to browse through. And guess what? Mine was stolen! Someone took my copy of The Torah Codes right off the display table! Best. Compliment. Ever.

I just finished watching the very first X-Men film on TV with my bride Beth Barany. I had seen it before, have you? If so, remember near the beginning when they show Jewish families being led to the concentration camps? Apparently, there will be a lot more mention of the connection between losing one’s family and getting revenge as a man with super powers. (I am purposely being coy to avoid spoiling it for those who don’t know the story.)

The reviews are mixed; from 3 out of 5 stars to an 89% out of 100%. Still, no matter what the reviews, I’m curious to see it. Is this a movie on your list to see? Have you seen the previous X-Men films? What did you think? Leave a comment below!

Alas! My blog has been getting cobwebs and bunny droppings. (Out here in California, you know the neglect of a place is bad when it’s infested by bunnies.) And there’s no excuse for the neglect, either! Actually, my book has been kicking major butt, lately. I have so much good news to share that I don’t know where to begin!

So let’s look at some reviews:

• “5 stars! I did not expect to enjoy this book so much as it isn’t my usual genre. I did read The Da Vinci Code so was curious about the comparison. I think Mr. Barany’s book was far better written. The story held my attention, loved his unusual humor. In fact, I had to force myself to stop reading last night. Would definitely recommend. A real plus is that part of the purchase goes to Bay Area schools.” Mackenzie Jones, Amazon customer
• “5 stars! This book has a compelling story line and was actually hard to put down. The essays at the end of the book were fantastic!” Troy B. Stengel, Amazon customer
• “4 stars! My husband and I read this out loud before bed for about a week. It was so exciting that we read two hours each night instead of our usual one hour.
  It’s a fun book to share with a special friend.” June Safran, Amazon customer
• “5 stars! Ezra Barany is an excellent writer and storyteller. Was a little concerned that this book was going to have an agenda about Torah Codes, but I was pleasantly surprised. Well crafted and interesting story with Ezra’s trademark humor included.” Stephanie Dangott, Amazon customer
• “5 stars! The book contains a healthy portion of suspense, action, and mystery. This book is a page-turner that I found very difficult to put down. The book has kind of a Dan Brown Da Vinci Code feel to it. The appendix is good reading as well as food for thought and should not be skipped. The author is donating a portion of the book sales to the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Schools. A good book and helping a good cause is a winning combination!” A.R. Cook, The Book Review

And here’s my favorite:

• “The visceral suspense is a framework from which the writer dangles a far more intriguing intellectual, even spiritual, carrot…Let me put this quite baldly: the question before us is not a fictional one. If The Torah Codes describes a real phenomenon, then we are talking about statistical evidence that the scriptures are indeed supernatural—that is to say, holy, inspired by a force with, at the very least, a god’s-eye-view of history. Including, one might presume, future history.” Ien Nevins, Berkshire Fine Arts book review

So far, my books been received well. And as they say in French: YAY!

And so much more has happened since the launch of The Torah Codes! I’ve been to NY, I’ve been on the radio,…but that’s another post.

Be sure to keep an eye out for my upcoming guest blog post on How to Create a Page-Turning Plot. It will be posted at Misc. Ramblings (http://tamis-ramblings.blogspot.com)!

Heather Smith, our cover designer, did an excellent job at completing the cover for The Torah Codes. Throughout the process, she was easy to communicate with and I always felt like she was on our side to get the cover looking the best way possible.

If ever you need a cover designer and have just the concept planned out, I recommend Heather to fullly actualize your conceptualization. (Wow! Them’s some pretty big words!)

I also like how the back turned out. It even has a QR code! Can you read it with your iPhone?

What do you think of the cover?

I’m on my way to jury duty. I’ve never been picked before. Either I’ve been excused before the jury picking, or I was found unsuitable to be properly coerced by the lawyers so they’d say, “We’d like to thank and excuse Mr. Barany.”

A lady I spoke with on the way to the courthouse said she’s never been picked because she doesn’t believe in the system. There’s a story in there somewhere. Maybe her son was wrongly accused and convicted. Maybe the blatant evidence supporting her or her family member’s case was not as convincing as the wry wit and ridicule of the opponent’s attorney, making the jury ready to side with anything and everything that clever attorney said.

Instead of being an author, I might have been a lawyer. As I grew up, I was intrigued by the laws in Leviticus. I loved studying the laws, the commentary on the laws, all with the purpose of tzedek tzedek tirdof, “justice, justice you will pursue.” I loved to see what people came up with as a way to make sure everyone gets what is fair, especially trivial things. For example, not responding to a person’s greeting falls under “thou shalt not steal” because you are stealing their day. I know what it’s like to be purposefully ignored, and yes, it does feel like my whole day is shot.

But for some reason, I never connected studying biblical law with studying to be a lawyer. I’m not sure why. Perhaps there’s always been a stigma against lawyers. After all, you never hear people say in conversation:

“I like the Beatles.”

“I like Lady Gaga.”

“I like Weisenthal and McCormick, attorneys at law.”

As much as I’d love to go through a whole jury process, I imagine I’ll be quickly excused today.

Hope so, anyway.

I wonder how well jury duty would have gone over during biblical times…

“Thank you, everyone, for coming in today. I know that 3000 BCE is not the easiest year to put down your hoes and leave your chickens, cows, and sheep, but we’ll be sure to let you out before the shadows of trees grow 20 cubits long. I hope everyone is excited as we move into the year 2999 BCE, a whole new millennium. Not sure what we’re counting down to, but who cares? We’ll be dead by then, right? Now to get started with jury selection. May the following people please follow the gentleman with a goat to the ‘courtroom,’ also known as Obediah’s hut (thank you, Obediah, for letting us use your space). And please forgive me if I mispronounce your name. These Biblical names are always tough to pronounce. Aaron, Azazel, Belshazzar, Charlie (Charlie? What the hell kind of name is that?)…”

The 40 men follow in single file the man with the goat to the courtroom. Once everyone is seated, the guy with the goat announces, “This court is now in session.” The goat says “Baa-ah-ah!” The stenographer with the chisel, hammer, and tablets wonders how to spell “baa-ah-ah.”

Judge Deborah arrives and sits in her chair. She asks in Hebrew, “We’re going to have the court session be in Hebrew. Is there anyone here who doesn’t understand what I’m saying?” All 40 men raise their hands. Realizing what they’ve just done, they slowly put down their hands. Judge Deborah says, “Gotchya!”

She asks the potential jurors, “Does anyone here have a medical hardship?”

“Your honor, my name’s Belshazzar, and I have a polytheistic view that frequently gets me stoned. So I visit the hospital often.”

Judge Deborah says, “Belshazzar,-”

“Call me Belshazam.”

“Belshazam,-”

“But say it like this. Bel-SHAZAM!”

“Why?”

“I dunno. Just sounds powerful.”

“Okay, Bel-SHAZAM! We can accommodate you by putting a hospital bed over there. Your request is denied.”

The one called Ishmael says, “Your honor, I have plans to set out to sea and catch a white whale.”

“Yeah. Good luck with that. Request granted.”

Here’s a great primer on the Bible codes.

WARNING: Bible codes cannot be used to predict the future. Codes predicting assassinations, for example, are too statistically insignificant to be considered as being intentionally placed. Unless an experiment has been done involving an a priori hypothesis and replication with significant results (and there have been a few that were successful), codes found in the Bible are generally thought-provoking curiosities. The successful experiments are what prove the Bible codes’ existence.

I recommend ignoring the pop-up annotations the first time viewing the videos.

Bible Codes – Part 1 of 4

Bible Codes – Part 2 of 4

Bible Codes – Part 3 of 4

Bible Codes – Part 4 of 4

Unfortunately, there is no Part 5. I was as frustrated by that as you.

What are the Bible codes? I’m glad you asked. If you read every other letter of the Bible starting with the book of Genesis to Deuteronomy, you get Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code spelled out. Well, maybe not, but the idea is similar.

There are, in fact, many different kinds of codes in the Bible. One type is called “Atbash” where the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is replaced with the last letter, and the second letter of the alphabet is replaced with the second to last letter, and so on. This was seen prominently in Jeremiah where it mentions the city of Sheshach. There is no historical record of any city named Sheshach. There are, however, historical records of a place called Babylon, and if you apply the Atbash code to Sheshach, you get Babel, the Hebrew word for Babylon. Perhaps the author of Jeremiah was afraid of being persecuted by naming the actual city.

Other so-called codes are, in my opinion, actually beautiful ways of interpreting the words. For example, gematria is a way of turning the words into numerical equivalents. Reading into the numbers can create clever and wonderful interpretations. In the book of Esther, Esther promises money to Haman. The word for “money” has the same numerical value as the word for “gallows.” So was Esther actually promising a death sentence? Maybe the author intended that subtle innuendo, but maybe not. Either way, the code, intentional or not, gives an intriguing look at the text.

The codes that impress me the most, however, are the equidistant lettering sequences (ELS).

Huh?

ELS is when a word can be found in the text by skipping every 10 letters, or every 38 letters, or every 3 letters. This sentence holds an ELS. Every fourth letter spells “hen.” Not so impressive on its own. In fact, it wasn’t even intentional. I wrote the sentence and checked to see what word I could come up with, and out popped “hen.” I’ve done this enough to know that finding three-letter words is ridiculously simple. However, once you get into five, six, and seven-letter words, coincidence begins to drop down to intentional rather quickly. Can you imagine finding the name “Ezra Barany” spelled out in this paragraph every seventh letter? That would be stretching coincidence.

Better still, what if I found “Ezra Barany” and “Oakland” (the city of my birth) and “September 20th” (the date of my birth) all encoded as ELSs within one chapter of the Bible? Impossible, unless the author knew I would be born in the future. And yet this is precisely what a careful study found in the book of Genesis. Specifically, the names of over 30 well-known rabbis with their places of birth and their birth or death dates located near their names.

When I say a “careful study,” I mean that they followed the scientific method: observation, a priori hypothesis, experiment, conclusion, and replication. Five peer reviewers examined the statistics and (reluctantly) published the results in Statistical Science journal. The chances of the results happening by accident was something like 1 in 200,000. We are more likely to get hit by an asteroid this year.

To me, the results of this study shows that the author of the book of Genesis knew who would be born and when and where.And that’s the power of the codes. When codes can prove the existence of an all-knowing entity, there is reason to pay attention.

The codes got my attention. I wrote my book because of the phenomenon. I hope the significance of the codes get your attention, too.