MARCOS FRID
COMPUTER ENGINEER DEVELOPING WORLD- CLASS TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES
Marcos Frid was born and raised in Mexico City. A member of the Ashkenazi community, he attended a Jewish Day School which taught Spanish, Hebrew, Yiddish, and English concurrently. After high school, he spent a summer at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, assisting one of the research professors. Thanks to his parents' encouragement and sponsorship, Marcos attended Rice University in Houston, Texas, where he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering. He followed this with a Master's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Stanford University in California.
After finishing his studies, Marcos went to work for Hewlett Packard. He spent 17 years at HP, working in several of its research and development organizations. His projects included developing high-end computer systems, personal computers, pre-internet distance learning systems, embedded web- enabled devices, augmented experience for museum exhibits, virtualized dynamic computing servers, and more.
Marcos then found himself at the beginning of a technological revolution: the advent of electronic paper displays and e-book readers. His contributions to these technologies over the course of several years have earned him a worldwide reputation in the e-paper industry. He currently works at E Ink Corporation developing software for new products and in internal databases that scientists use to develop future technologies.
On the personal side, Marcos has been married to Carol for 30 years; they have two children: Miguel and Daniella. Their family is spread over California, Israel, and Mexico. Marcos is continuously involved in the study of Judaic texts, and is very active in his synagogue, where he serves as leader of services and gabbai.
Among the many wise sayings from his father of blessed memory, one that stands out and guides him is: "if we think that there is a contradiction between Torah and science in any aspect, even a small detail, it means that we are deficient in our understanding of them. God created the universe, and science is simply a way for us to understand His creation."
The Answer Is Up To You
MARCOS FRID
Can I prove to you that God exists? Of course not! Let’s explore the reasons, and maybe get you started on the way that you can prove it to yourself.
First things first: God is not what most people think. God is not a bearded man with a lightning bolt in his hand. God is not a star, a statue, or the Tooth Fairy. We only know a little about God, and that is by design. We know that God is beyond space and time, is the creator of the universe, and hides behind nature in order to give us free will and the opportunity to recognize God’s presence. (1)
Imagine this: Jews are forbidden from driving on Shabbat. If I start my car on Saturday and the engine blows up, it’s a random event. If next week it blows up again, well, that’s a coincidence. Third week in a row, I might not be driving on Shabbat any more. Is this good for me? Not really; I have lost some of my free will. (2)
We might think that we have a problem: If God is everywhere, is aware of everything I do, think, and feel, but is nowhere to be seen or heard, how the heck am I supposed to believe in God’s existence? Actually, the problem is in the question itself. How so? God reveals just a little bit of God’s presence in such a subtle way that we can choose to find God, or ignore God. A heavenly game of hide-and-seek. (3)
We close our minds to God’s existence by not paying attention to the wonders of the universe because we take it for granted. We watch the sun rise and set, eat food, breathe air, all without thinking about the myriad number of events that had to happen at the right place and the right time to produce our solar system, ourselves, and the yummy pizza that my wife made for lunch. (4)
We have all experienced that tiny, subtle revelation of God in our lives, but we choose to ignore it or forget it because the washing machine broke down and we need the laundry
done NOW! (5)
Life is like walking alone at night during a thunderstorm. We cannot see the landscape and don’t know where we are supposed to go. However, once in a while there is a flash of lightning, and for a brief instant, everything around us is clear. After the light is gone, we are back in the dark. But if we use the knowledge that we gained in that moment, we can confidently walk toward our destination. (6)
Were you present when your children were born? (7) Did your career benefit from an unlikely coincidence? Have you seen cells through a microscope? Hold on to those moments and find God in them. Every morning when you wake up, thank God that you have another day in this magnificent world. (8) You will be happier (9) and will lead a purposeful, meaningful life. (10)
Footnotes:
1. We know other things about God, but these are pertinent to this essay.
2. God wants us to take the initiative to follow God’s will; if God were revealed openly in the world, we would be overwhelmed and would have no choice but to do what God wants us to do. We would become robots, following instructions precisely without questioning, instead of human beings with free will. The reasons for this are deep and mysterious, and well beyond the scope of this essay.
3. More than a game, God is acting like a loving parent who lets go of the bicycle so that the child can ride on her own, even if it means that she will fall and get bruised a few times.
4. 4 May I suggest the following books, which elaborate on this topic: The Science of God, by Gerald Schroeder; and Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe, by Martin Reese.
5. In other words, we need consciously to take the time to pause and reflect on the wonders that surround us; but life has a way of constantly distracting us, doesn’t it?
6. I am paraphrasing a thought by Maimonides, the great Jewish philosopher, commentator, scientist, and physician who lived in the 12th century.
7. Of course you were present if you are a woman, but the question is still valid: were you in awe of what was happening despite the pain?
8. Upon gaining consciousness in the morning, before getting out of bed, may I suggest that you say the following, not just think it: “Thank you God for letting me live one more day, for my health, my family, and sustenance, <put your own addition here>.” If anything is lacking in your life, you can say “God, please give me <whatever I need>.”
9. Being thankful is not easy because it shows us that we are not in complete control of our lives. However, it is liberating to admit that God is the one in control of the results of our actions, especially when things don’t go the way we expected. I was laid off from a large electronics company, which put me in panic mode. However, this turned out to be the beginning of a much better career, which eventually led me to thank God for having lost my job. Other seemingly bad events are harder to explain, but we need to remain confident that in the end, we will realize that God had our best interests in mind.
10. Highly recommended further reading: Worldmask and Living Inspired by Akiva Tatz.