In this editorial, Dr. Billy Levin denounces corporal punishment and says children who misbehave need help, not punishment; especially children with ADHD.

Corporal punishment is degrading, embarrassing, painful, abusive and harmful to children and has no benefits other than relieving frustration in an inadequate and ignorant adult bullying perpetrator.

"Science does not prove that G..D is right. G..D proves that science is right". ("Genesis and the Big Bang" by Gerald Schroeder, a pious Jew with a double doctorate in science.) As a very religious person, he has no difficulty writing a book to resolve the age old conflict between science and religion. In fact, he states there is no conflict!

Whenever man has accepted the wisdom of G..D humbly and unconditionally because of his faith in a "higher being", man has never been disappointed nor let down. Eventually, sooner or later, science has proved the custom or law to be correct and valuable in every aspect. These are a few examples:-

In the Jewish faith, one is not allowed to have milk for a set period of time after having eaten meat. Milk reduces the effect of the gastric juices in digesting meat. There are also laws governing when and how and what meat may be eaten, that were known from Biblical times. Today these laws would be seen as very scientific and medically correct.

Jewish woman, who follow the faith strictly, will attend a communal bath (the Mikva) after their menstrual period has ceased. There is also a requirement not to have sex until the 14th day after the start of the menstrual period. This coincides with ovulation time thus insuring maximum fertility for conception. I am very certain the ancients did not know about the Physiology of conception. Devine intervention?

Bathing in (washing) running water as a means of reducing the spread of infection was practiced in Mose's times, yet surgeons only recognised this as a means of reducing infection at the end of the 18th century.

The age of bar mitzvah for a Jewish boy is 13. The bat mitzva for a girl is at 12 years of age. Girls are more mature. It is recognised that at approximately this age there is a distinct maturing from a cognitive point of view that would make the person more responsible for his actions. The very word "Bar mitzvah" has this very significant meaning.

Once again in the Jewish faith, the ritual circumcision (Brit Mila), is done 8 days after birth. Circumcision done at this age results in a dramatic reduction in cancer of cervix in that person's future wife. But even more significant, is the fact that Prothrombin and Vitamin K, both needed for clotting of blood the prevent serious haemorrhage and so discourage infection is at an optimum at 8 days after birth. Moreover the baby has all his maternal antibodies to assist him to overcome any infection that might result from this circumcision. At a later stage in his life his mother's antibodies that he still has in his own circulation as an infant(8 days old) would decrease to nearly zero. The child would not have had enough time to have been exposed to the various germs and developed his own antibodies yet. Thus there would be a greater risk of infection if the circumcision was done at a later stage. Who new of Vitamin K and Prothrombin in those days. Clearly Devine intervention.

All these are examples of strict ancient religious requirements having a very good scientific explanation when viewed with our modern knowledge of today.

Therefore, if science proves corporal punishment is harmful for children, G..D must have known about this harm long before man researched it. Therefore "PROVERBS 13, 24 (spare the rod and spoil the child), written by King Solomon must have been interpreted by man incorrectly. The learned sages warn that some of King Solomon's writings are notorious for being misunderstood. The bible is always right, man may make mistakes. Unless of course, science is incorrect!

Proverbs are attributed to King Solomon who was renown for his wisdom. He was a very aggressive and violent king, although many would use the words "harsh" and "strict". If he used the rod on his children it certainly bred much aggression in his son, …….. who succeeded him. Solomon's son on his succession to the thrown is quoted as saying "If my father lashed the people with lashes, I will lash them with scorpions" Aggression breeds aggression. History tells us that this King brought about the downfall of the Hebrew kingdom and the splitting of the nation with his ruthless rule. The people were eventually forced to rebel against his tyranny. What Solomon had built up he broke down. His aggression and harsh rule brought ruination . Therefore the wisdom of Solomon is instantly challenged, or perhaps more correctly the interpretation of his writings. In the case of the two mothers fighting about whose baby it was, did Solomon have the wisdom to know the real mother would not want her child divided in half, or was it Solomon's callous disregard for life, to get rid of two nagging women. If it was a callous suggestion, then it was G..D's wisdom that saved the child and Solomon saw the wisdom of G..D. Solomon, after all strayed from the Lord by praying to idols with his many heathen wives. He also married out of the faith which should be questioned. That he was harsh and cruel is well documented. It was this harsh, cruel and straying King who wrote the proverbs including Proverbs 13,24. Because of his tendency to use aggression during his rule, he might well have also used hash aggression and punishment on his own children and produced an even harsher and crueller ruler to follow him, who ruined the nation and provoked then into rebellion. Was this not the same situation with apartheid in South Africa resulting in the overthrowing of the government's tyranny, but the legacy of aggression lingers on. Corporal punishment in schools would certainly breed aggression long after it was banned in schools.

On the Festival of the Passover, it is obligatory to retell the story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to your children every year lest they forget. To the traditional "four sons", each with a different capacity for learning ranging from good to possibly very poor, there is not mention of corporal punishment even for the one who cannot learn. Only repetition.