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"IN
THE 600TH YEAR OF THE 6TH [MILLENIUM] THE GATES OF WISDOM ABOVE WILL OPEN
UP AND THE FOUNTAINS OF WISDOM BELOW, AND THE WORLD WILL BE SET TO ENTER
THE 7TH" (Zohar I, 117a)
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SEEING THE GEULAH THROUGH THE EYES OF SCIENCE PART V
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"CREATION
YESH ME'AYIN"
Editor's
note: This article, which is in part a critical analysis of Dr. Berg's
speech in Part IV of this series <1>, shows that the big bang theory has
nothing to do with creation yesh me'ayin. The question is then raised: Can
an incorrect theory still play a role in preparing the world for the
revelations of the Era of Moshiach?
by: Prof.
Shimon Silman, Director, RYAL Institute on Moshiach & the Sciences
The
cosmological concept of "creation" discussed in Dr. Berg's speech
<1>should not be confused with the Torah concept of Creation Yesh Me'ayin.
Lets
define the difference between the two. In the cosmological concept of
"creation" associated with the big bang theory, all the matter of
the universe is reduced to an initial infinitesimal point. While this seems
to come pretty close to creation from nothing, it actually violates the
principle of Jewish Faith which deals with creation. The reason for this is
that the initial point of the big bang theory would constitute a
"chomer kodum" (an initial pre-existing material), chas v'shalom.
To understand the issue here, let's look at the 4th Principle of Rambam's
13 Principles of Jewish Faith. Rambam writes, "The 4th Principle is
Kadmus (being before anything i.e. being the first) - that we should
believe that this One G-d that we talked about is absolutely before
anything...." This is also the Halacha with which Rambam open Mishneh
Torah: "It is the foundation of foundations and the pillar of wisdoms
to know that there is a First Being...." Historically, those who
didn't believe in this principle (such as the Greek philosophers) believed
that the whole universe was always here. But it makes no difference if one
were to conceive of the chomer kodum as being an infinite mass or an
infinitesimal point. Once he assumes that there was some entity that was
always there with Hashem, even he he believes that Hashem made the universe
out of this entity, he is assuming the existence of a chomer kodum and is
violating the 4th Principle. Thus there is no difference between the big
bang theory and the "steady state universe" theory discussed by
Dr. Berg. They both violate the 4th Principle of Jewish Faith.
To
appreciate the seriousness of this note the following quote from a letter
of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, "A person who says that there is only
One G-d (so that this person observes the Torah and Mitzvos) but he says
that G-d is not exclusively the First Being because there is an initial
pre-existing material (chomer rishon kodum) from which He created the
universe - this person is a "min" (nonbeliever),just like one who
worships avodah zarah." <3>
It is
also important to note that creation yesh me'ayin is a continuous act as
the Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya, at the beginning of Sha'ar HaYichud
V'HaEmunah, not a one time event as in the big bang theory.
At this
point the question naturally arises as to whether or not there may be
another cosmological theory that models creation yesh me'ayin. The answer
is no. In fact, as we shall explain, B'Ezras Hashem, it is not possible for
any cosmological theory to model creation yesh me'ayin. But first, we make
the point that we insist on referring to these theories as cosmological
theories instead of scientific theories since cosmology, the attempted
study of the origin of the universe, is by definition not scientific since
no observations were made of the origin of the universe, the hypotheses of
the theories cannot be tested by experiment, the origin of the universe
cannot be duplicated in the laboratory, etc.
Creation
yesh me'ayin cannot be modelled by a cosmological theory because it is
completely beyond comprehension. As the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya, Sha'ar
HaYichud V'HaEmunah, "...the creation yesh me'ayin which is higher
than nature and more wonderous than the splitting of the Yam Suf" (ch.
2), "This attribute is the praise of Hashem only, for no creation has
the ability to create yesh me'ayin and to maintain it. Also this attribute
is higher than the intellect and comprehension of all the creations. It is
not within the power of the intellect of of any creation to conceive of or
to comprehend this attribute and ability to create yesh me'ayin and to
maintain it.... it is not within the ability of the intellect of any
creation to comprehend the essence of the creation yesh me'ayin." (ch.
4)
In Tanya,
Iggeres HaKodesh (ch. 20), the Alter Rebbe explains that the aspect of
creation yesh me'ayin that is incomprehensible is the fact that something
comes into existence without any cause preceeding it. To get a full picture
of the issue we quote the Rebbe Rashab from his famous Ma'amar Samach
T"Samach where he explains this statement of the Alter Rebbe while
comparing creation yesh me'ayin to the cause and effect process of ela
v'alul which can be comprehended:
"The
very coming into being from nothing into something is an extremely
wonderous matter. The created being cannot understand or imagine at all the
creation of something from nothing. This is what is meant by saying that
creation is in the realm of the Creator and not of the creations, for among
the creations, the creation yesh me'ayin is not to be found at all. The
development process of cause and effect, however, is to be found among the
creations. For example, [the transition from] intellect to emotions to
thought, speech and action is a development process. From this one can
extrapolate to the development process of cause and effect as it is above.
But creation yesh me'ayin is not to be found at all in the realm of the
creations....
"The
entire matter of something coming into existence is only in the power of
Hashem and there is nothing similar to it in man at all. Therefore it is
impossible for a person to formulate in his mind the concept of creation of
something from nothing. The mind, however, forces one to conclude that the
yesh is created from ayin. For when it observes the presence of a yesh, it
is forced to conclude that it was created from nothing because it's
impossible for [the chain of events of] a yesh coming into being from
another yesh to extend backwards without limit i.e. that one thing comes
from another in an infinite [chain of events] extending backwards.
Necessarily, [there must have been a starting point at which an initial
entity] came into being in a manner of creation - something from nothing....But
this very concept of creation yesh me'ayin is something which is far
removed from intellect and knowledge." <4>
The
Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, makes the point even stronger: "The fact
that there is no place in intellect for the coming into being yesh me'ayin
shows that from the perspective of the definition of the world, there is no
way for it to have come into being, and the fact that it did come into
being is only because of the will of Hashem." <5>
From
these quotes we see two complimemtary points. On the one hand, the
intellect cannot comprehend the actual coming into being yesh me'ayin so
there can be no cosmological or scientific theory that models yesh me'ayin.
Yet on the other hand, the intellect forces one to conclude that the
creation was in fact yesh me'ayin. Thus there must be scientific theories
that imply creation yesh me'ayin. These must actually be scientific - not
just cosmological - theories since the creation yesh me'ayin is continuous
at every point in time, not just an event from the distant past. The big
bang theory does not accomplish this at all.
While the
big bang theory is of no use as a theory of creation yesh me'ayin, however,
it may be of use in preparing the world for the revelations of the Era of
Moshiach. Recall the sicha in which the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, explained
that the scientific developments since the year 5600 (1840 c.e.) prepare
the world for the revelation, in the Era of Moshiach, of the absolute unity
of Hashem by showing unity in the natural world using the world's own terms.<6>
Now, a theory (such as the big bang theory) which attempts to reduce the
entire universe to a single infinitesimal point, must demonstrate alot of
unity among the components of the universe along the way. This would be the
case even if the theory itself was not at all correct. (The big bang theory
is obviously not correct because of the "billions of years" it
considers which contradicts the Torah which says that the universe is 5756
years old.)
While we
have discussed creation yesh me'ayin here, what we have discussed is only a
drop in the bucket, or an infinitesimal point in big bang terminology,
compared to what the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, writes in the sichos and
ma'amorim on the topic. We conclude with the point that further into the Era
of Moshiach we will be able to comprehend and even see the creation yesh
me'ayin as the prophet Yeshayahu says,<7> "The glory of Hashem will be
revealed and all flesh together will see [it], for the mouth of Hashem has
spoken," and as explained in many sichos and ma'amorim <8>of the
Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach - may we see him in a manner revealed to all flesh
immediately. Amen, kein yehi ratzon!
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NOTES:
<1>Beis
Moshiach no. 76, p. 61-63.
<2>Beis
Moshiach no. 76, p. 62.
<3>Igros
Kodesh vol. 2, p. 200.
<4>Ma'amar
Samach T'Samach, p.3 and p.7.
<5>Sefer
HaMa'amorim Melukat of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, vol. 5, p. 120.
<6>Likutei
Sichos vol. 15, pp. 42-48. See Part I of this series in Beis Moshiach no.
58, pp. 99-101.
<7>Yeshayahu
40:8
<8>See
eg. Likutei Sichos vol. 24, p.46 and the references in Part III of this
series, Beis Moshiach no. 64, pp.51-53.
It makes
no difference if one were to conceive of the chomer kodum as being an
infinite mass or an infinitesimal point. Once he assumes that there was
some entity that was always there with Hashem, he is assuming the existence
of a chomer kodum and is violating the 4th Principle of Jewish Faith.
"The
fact that there is no place in intellect for the coming into being yesh
me'ayin shows that from the perspective of the definition of the world,
there is no way for it to have come into being, and the fact that it did
come into being is only because of the will of Hashem."
On the
one hand, the intellect cannot comprehend the actual coming into being yesh
me'ayin so there can be no cosmological or scientific theory that models
it....On the other hand, the intellect forces one to conclude that the
creation was in fact yesh me'ayin. Thus there must be scientific theories
that imply creation yesh me'ayin.
Further
into the Era of Moshiach we will be able to comprehend and even see the
creation yesh me'ayin as the prophet Yeshayahu says, "The glory of
Hashem will be revealed and all flesh together will see [it]."
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