Let us build a small mathematical model for Judaism. Though it is full of Mitzvah’s, regultaions and edicts, the mathematicians among us will notice immediately that even if those are many, there is a finite amount of them. Altogether, we shall name them ‘rules’ and call the set of rules by the letter P. Since it is finite, we can assign sequence numbers to its members (the rules), 1 through n, thus turning the set into a “sequence” of rules.
Note two specific members of this sequence. First, there is the famous prominent rule that deals generally with observing the Sabbath – let us assume it has the sequence number i. Then, there is another famous rule delaing with saving the life of a jew – let us assume it has the sequence number j.
In order to enrich our model a little bit, we note that all those rules carry with them some considerable importance, at least from a religious point of view, since God is supposedly checking us on a daily basis for keeping them. At this stage of the model we still do not know the amount of importance assigned to each rule, so let us use a mathematical function called v to mark it. For example: v(j) is the importance of the rule that deals with saving lives.
Now let us remember some Jewish statements about the importance of these rules. One of them claims that “saving a life overrides keeping the Sabbath”. Using our notation:
(1) v(j) > v(i)
Another famous statement claims that “observing the Sabbath is equivalent to all the other rules combined”. Using our notation:
(2) v(i) = SUM [k≠i] v(k)
Now, from joining (1) and (2) together we conclude:
(3) v(j) > SUM [k≠i] v(k)
Since j≠i, we can subtract v(j) from both sides and get:
(4) 0 > SUM [k≠i,j] v(k)
Thus we arrived at a partial sequence of P, which is not empty, and whose sum of members’ importance is negative. Hence there exists at least one member of P, call it m, for which:
(5) v(m) < 0
Or, using the terms of our model, it is important not to follow the religious rule number m.
You have been warned!