Friend's comments on Feb. 22 post

Mitch, my friend and colleague and mathematician extraordinaire had this to say about numerology in his phenomenal website adler-n-substract.com. "My guess is that-like acupuncture-numerology is something that has been taken very seriously in the East (by this I basically mean Asia), and has only recenlty started to be taken seriously in the Western Hemisphere. I suspect it is only a matter of time before it takes on as much respect here as elsewhere-even if it is integrated as only one ingredient to consider among many, like when a patient goes for a second or third opinion, and then weighs very different options for procedures before deciding which route to take. Finally, I'd like to point out that numerology has VERY close relatives, so to speak, in cultures as different from the Asian ones as one can imagine. The Hassidic Jewish community, which is one of the most ultra-orthodox sects of that releigion (and can be found in virtually every major city throughout the world, distinguished by their long black coats, black hats and full beards), have long integrated a form of nuerology into their own belief system, and plays a vital role in the Kabbalah, which is their ancient book of mysticism."