Silly Rabbi: Myths are for Kids.

If you read Roger Cohen's column in the NYT today, check out this similar story in today's Palm Beach Post.

Cohen has a bit of fun with those who see a miraculous hand at play in the Chilean triumph, poking at Christianity's relevance of the number 33:

LONDON — Jesus Christ, of course, was 33.

That’s not scientific, but it’s the age most people ascribe to the man Christians believe died on the cross for our sins. And, of course, there were 33 men trapped in Chile’s San José mine and it took 33 days to dig the shaft that rescued them.

From the moment they made contact with the surface, more than two weeks after being trapped, they were indivisible as “Los 33.” It is said the drill bit for “Plan B,” the one that reached them almost a half-mile below ground, was changed 33 times.

The first men reached the surface on 13-10-10 — or 10-13-10 for Americans — and that adds up to 33. No wonder there was much talk of miracles and God. “A grand miracle,” the wife of Florencio Ávalos, the first miner to emerge, said.

Let’s set miracles aside for a moment.
...
The real Chilean “miracle” was man-made. It lay in the redemptive solidarity displayed — below ground, by rescuers at the site and on a global level — at a time of shrieking polarization in the United States, rampant self-obsession and persistent division. I raise a glass to that — of Rolling Rock beer whose mysterious “33” on the bottle may refer to the year Prohibition was ended or to some deeper, unifying mystery.

And then we read of this "debate" in South Florda, by Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Lona O'Connor, with the Rabbi arguing for a 40-day ... leeway period in experimenting with human embryos, based on Biblical dictates:

According to Christian belief, it is clear when life begins.

"Life begins at conception," said Paul Copan, professor of philosophy and ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach. "When you have the union of sperm and egg, you have an entity that has its own genetic structure distinct from the parents. Given food and water and time and opportunity, it will come to full flowering."

Destroying an embryo to extract stem cells is depriving a human of life and therefore unacceptable, Copan said.

Judaism has a much different view of embryos, and therefore a different view of embryonic stem-cell research.

"The concern of Christian belief is that the embryo is a human being," Rabbi Dovid Vigler said. "We don't believe that."

Judaic law says that for the first 40 days after conception, the embryo has not achieved humanity. Therefore, using embryonic stem cells to treat diseases is not taking a human life. Furthermore, using those stem cells for research into disease contributes to the betterment of humanity.
...
Stem cells are created from unused embryos that would be discarded after in vitro fertilization. Extracting the stem cells destroys the embryos, which troubles many Christians.

Stem cells also can be extracted from adults, but many researchers consider them more difficult to manipulate in tests.

Copan says the Jewish 40-day argument for using embryonic stem cells is not compelling for anyone who believes that life begins at conception.

"Forty is a great biblical number," Copan said. "But it is metaphysically insignificant."

Vigler disagreed, pointing out that the number 40 has mystical significance and that is why it is used so often in Scripture: The flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights; the Jews spent 40 years in the desert; Moses stayed 40 days on Mount Sinai receiving the laws of God. In that and many other contexts, 40 signifies completion or entering a new dimension, Vigler said.

He added that the Bible offers a striking example of Scripture foreshadowing scientific discoveries. In Jewish tradition, there is a part of the body called the etzem luz, described as a bone that contains all the materials needed to reconstruct that person.

It is also possible to translate etzem as "essence" instead of "bone," Vigler said. "There's an essence that is indestructible. That is the stem cell. Not only do we support stem-cell research, we are 3,000 years ahead of modern science. We are constantly seeking to find harmony between science and faith."

Hubris.
Remind me again where that fits into the story?