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On
Rosh Chodesh Shevat, 5756 (1996), an international conference on Moshiach
and Science took place at Tel Aviv University. The conference, which
hopefully, B'ezras Hashem, will become an annual event, was a joint project
of the Agudah L'maan HaGeulah Ha'Amitis V'Hasheleimah and the Rabbi Yisroel
Aryeh Leib Research Institute on Moshiach and the Sciences.
The first part focuses on the visualization of Elokus (G-dliness) in the
Era of Moshiach while addressing many basic questions currently being asked
in the areas of Emunah (faith), science and the Era of Moshiach.
Part
I: Deeper Research
The declaration that we opened the conference with, "Yechi Adoneinu
Moreinu V'Rabeinu Melech Hamoshiach L'olam Voed," states the fact that
the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, is chai v'kayom - he is alive, one hundred
percent, a soul in a body and continues to lead the Jewish People through
the Geulah (Redemption) that we are already in. One of the manifestations
of this that we see on a daily basis is that we are able to write a letter
to the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, open up one of the Rebbe, Melech
HaMoshiach's volumes of Iggros Kodesh (holy letters), put the letter inside
and receive an answer - a prophetic answer - directly to the point of the
question we asked and sometimes even going beyond the question we asked. It
happened to me some weeks ago that I put a note in the Iggros Kodesh of the
Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. I then opened the sefer (book) to the place where
I had placed the note and saw the following words:
"Certainly you participated in the international conference on
research...."
At that time I didn't know of any international conference on research in
my field (mathematics), or in any other area. But I knew that I better keep
my eyes and ears open. The next morning at 8 o'clock the telephone rang. It
was a call from a Jew in Israel that I had never met before, Rabbi Zimroni
Tzik. He told me that he is organizing a conference in Israel for research
in the area of Moshiach, Geulah and Science. I knew right away that this
was the conference that the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was referring to.
This is one of many day to day events that are happening all the time to
all of us - not necessarily to Jews who are tzadikim or scholars but to all
Jews. Just like when the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, gives out dollars it is
open and available to every Jew, the answers, advice and miracles of the
Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, are now available to every Jew.
The
RYAL Institute
I am honored to represent the Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib Research Institute
on Moshiach and the Sciences which is named for the youngest brother of the
Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib was a great chosid who
was famous for his brilliance and dilligence in the study of Chassidus. His
profession was mathematical physics and he held a position in the Department
of Theoretical Physics at the University of Liverpool, England. He passed
away on 13 Iyar, 5712 at the age of 42. [1]
By the time of the 40th yartzeit of Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib, the Rebbe,
Melech HaMoshiach, had already announced, "Higia Zman Geulaschem!"
- that the time of our Redemption had arrived and that we were already in
the Era of Moshiach. All of our activities were to be directed to advancing
further into the Era of Moshiach. Thus, on Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib's 40th
yartzeit, 13 Iyar, 5752, I organized a conference in Minnesota (where I was
then living) on the theme "The Role of Science in the Era of
Moshiach". The featured speaker was the famous Lubavitcher
mathematician Professor Pesach (Paul) Rosenbloom to whom the Rebbe, Melech
HaMoshiach, had given a manuscript of a mathematical work of Rabbi Yisroel
Aryeh Leib to edit and publish some 20 years earlier.
By the next yartzeit, I had moved to Crown Heights and I asked the Rebbe,
Melech HaMoshiach, if I should organize another conference on Moshiach and
science for the 41st yartzeit. The Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, answered
"Yes" and we had an exciting conference on "Bringing
Moshiach Into the World of Science." The featured speaker was Rabbi
Dr. Naftali Berg, z.l., Director of Research of the Advanced Technology
Office of the Army Research Center at the Pentagon who spoke about the
Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach's statement that
the prophecy of Isaiah that "They shall beat their swords into
plowshares" had already begun to be fulfilled. Rabbi Berg brought
examples from research at the Pentagon which illustrate this fact.
During that conference I received the brachah and consent of the Rebbe,
Melech HaMoshiach, to establish the Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib Research
Institute on Moshiach and the Sciences to carry out research and hold an
annual conference on Moshiach and Science.
Moshiach, Torah and Science
Our topic concerns one of the most fundamental prophecies of the Era of
Moshiach, the prophecy of Isaiah that, "The glory of Hashem (G-d) will
be revealed and all flesh will see [it]." This entails the fusion of
the infinite miraculous revelation from Hashem with the finite natural
world. With Hashem's help we will discuss this and its implications, and
present a mathematical structure to handle this paradoxical phenomenon.
Our starting point will be another paradox - the phenomenon that sometimes
a Jewish scientist may feel an internal conflict between the teachings of
the Torah and the teachings of his profession.
The truth is, however, that there cannot possibly be such a conflict. There
is a famous Mishneh in the Talmud which states that "Everything that
Hashem created in His world, He created only for His glory." This
includes not only material creations but also intellectual creations such
as science. This means that science was also created for Hashem's glory. So
how can there be a conflict between science and the Torah? There can't
possibly be a conflict between something which Hashem created for His glory
- science - and the glory of Hashem itself - the Torah!
The Talmud in Sanhedrin goes even further. It says that, "The world
was created only for Moshiach." This statement takes us beyond merely
resolving the conflict between Torah and science and tells us that science
was created not only for the glory of Hashem, but specifically for Moshiach
in whose time the full revelation of the glory of Hashem will be visible as
stated in the above quoted prophecy of Isaiah.
What role does science play in preparing the world for the Era of Moshiach?
This question is answered in a fomous Sicha (talk) of the Rebbe, Melech
HaMoshiach, which explains the statement of the Zohar that in the 600th
year of the 6th millenium (1840 c.e.) "The gates of wisdom above will
open and the fountains of wisdom below and thus the world will be set to
enter the 7th millenium" (similar to the opening of the windows of
heaven and the fountains of the earth in the 600th year of the life of
Noah, bringing the flood). The opening of the gates of wisdom above refers
to the extraordinary revelations in Chassidus at that time especially the
publication of the works of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi,
founder of Chabad Chassidus. The fountains of wisdom below refers to the
new discoveries in science and the development of new scientific theories.
It is clear how the revelations in Chassidus are a preparation for the Era
of Moshiach when "the world will be filled with the knowledge of
Hashem" (this is the subject matter of Chassidus), but what role do
the developments in the sciences play in preparing the world for Moshiach?
The Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, discusses several ways in which the sciences
prepare the world for Moshiach. The primary function of the new
developments in the sciences in preparing the world for the Era of Moshiach
is to demonstrate the unity that exists within nature. In earlier times it
was thought that there were many different, independent, forces in nature
and many different natural elements, but the more science advances, the
more it is realized that underlying the apparent diversity of forces and
elements there is a basic unity and that the various forces and substances
are merely combinations and rearrangements of a few basic forces and
particles. The awareness of this unity in nature is a preparation for the
revelation of the absolute unity of Hashem in the Era of Moshiach. [2]
Why then does there sometimes appear to be a conflict between science and
the Torah? To answer this, let's focus on a letter that the Rebbe, Melech
HaMoshiach, once wrote to a conference of religious Jewish doctors in the
United States. The Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach writes:
"True science whose purpose is only to seek the truth - its
conclusions cannot contradict the Torah which is the Torah of truth.
Rather, on the contrary, the more that [the scientists] will deepen their
research, the more they will increase their recognition of the truth of
both the principles and the details of our religion, the religion of
Yisroel." [3]
Thus if a Jewish scientist feels that there is a conflict between the Torah
and science, it's because his scientific research is not deep enough.
Creation
Yesh Me'Ayin
As an example, the various theories of evolution have caused a great deal
of confusion in the minds of some Jews who believe in Creation Yesh Me'ayin
(from nothing) as it is stated in the Torah. However, these theories are
not even scientific but are rather purely speculative in nature and will
eventually be rejected on both common sense and scientific bases.
Someone once wrote a letter to the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, asking for an
explanation of the proof that there is a Creator of the world. The Rebbe,
Melech HaMoshiach, responded, "The proof of this is very simple.
Certainly, if one saw a book containing a few printed pages, there would be
no doubt in his mind that it was made by a consious intellect, who arranged
the letters, printed them, etc., rather than it having happened by
accident, that a bottle of ink turned over on the paper, and as the ink
spilled it happened that the shapes of letters were formed composing lines
and pages in such a manner that they explain an intellectual concept etc.
Anyone who says that this happened by accident by the ink spilling from the
bottle, is not in the category of a man of intellect and not even in the
category of a small child. How much more so in the world which has a
wonderous order - many thousands and millions of times more than the order
of a book of a few pages...." [4]
This is a compelling proof which can only get stronger by doing more and
deeper scientific research because "the more that they will deepen
their research" the more structure becomes revealed in the natural
world on deeper and deeper levels (from molecules to atoms to neutrons,
protons and electrons to quarks etc.) Here we see very clearly how science
was created for the glory of Hashem since any advancement in science
necessarily reveals more of the complex structure of the universe thus
proving the existence of the Creator. A Jewish scientist who approaches his
profession with this mind set can never go wrong. His research will never
take him away from the truths of the Torah because the deeper he delves
into the depths of scientific research the more he will become aware of the
awesome wisdom of the Creator who designed, set up and maintains this
magnificient structure.
To llustrate this point, let me mention a personal experience. Ten years
ago, I was working as an applications consultant for a supercomputer
company (ETA Systems - a subsidiary of Control Data Corporation). I worked
in a consulting office at the University of Minnesota advising scientists
and engineers on the use of the Cyber 205 supercomputer. There were two
other consultants in the office, one black and one Chinese. The black
consultant would often ask me questions about Judaism. One day he said to
me, "I know that it says in those books over there," referring to
the Chitas (Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya in one volume) and Siddur that I
had on the shelf, "that G-d created the universe...." He went on
to say that a physicist friend of his told him that the universe evolved.
He wanted to know how one can prove that the Torah is right. (He was not
trying to challenge me but was actually seriously concerned.)
"Look," I said to him, "the universe has such a complex
structure. How could it have just evolved? Someone must have designed it
and set it up." He agreed that that made sense but wanted to know how
we could actually prove it. "Take, for example, the Cyber 205," I
responded, "do you agree that it is a very complicated computer?"
The entire purpose of our office was to explain the complexities of the
Cyber 205 to the users. "Of course!" he exclaimed. I then
continued, "What if someone told you that the Cyber 205 evolved. No
one designed it. No one built it. It just got there by itself. What would
you say?" To this he did not respond. He just burst out laughing at
the absurdity of such a notion. "So how much more so," I
concluded, "the entire universe - of which the Cyber 205 is just a
small part!"
In fact, as scientific research continues, the theories of evolution become
more and more discredited as they are shown to be contradictory, logically
inconsistent and absurd. As an example, data recently obtained from the
Hubble Space Telescope indicated a new value for the so-called Hubble
constant. The implications are that, according to current cosmological
theory, there are stars in the universe that are "billions of
years" older than the entire universe - which these stars are part of!
[5]
The recent tragedy of "Flight 800" clearly illustrates this
point. The entire area of the explosion has been searched, even the ocean
bed under the area has been searched and almost all parts of the airplane
have been recovered but the cause of the explosion is still unknown. A
simple question may be asked: If, with the full range of the science and
technology of the U.S. government at their disposal, they are unable to
determine the cause of an explosion that took place just a few weeks before
and just a few miles away, how can they presume to say that they know the
"cause" of the origin of the universe (the so called "Big
Bang explosion") that happened so long ago ("billions of
years" ago, they claim) and so far away?
Thus the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, completely rejects apologetics - the
attempt to smoothe over the differences between Torah and science by
reinterpreting statements in the Torah to make them consistent with current
scientific theories. This is absurd because what is going to happen is the
exact opposite. Deeper research in the sciences will lead to the
recognition of the truth of the Torah as the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach,
writes in the above letter. Now that we are in the Era of Moshiach this is
happening fast.
Implications
For Chinuch
This has far reaching implications for chinuch - Jewish education - and
this is one of the most important applications of what we are discussing.
Jewish children who study science in school are usually not being taught
science from the perspective of Torah but rather the way secular scientists
want it taught. They are being taught the scientific theories of the origin
of the universe, evolution, etc. as statements of fact rather than as
speculative theories that can't possibly be verified by experiment. No
scientist observed the origin of the universe and it can't be duplicated in
a laboratory.
The Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, is often asked why it appears to scientists
that the universe is billions of years old while in fact it is only 5757
years old. In many private audiences and letters the Rebbe, Melech
HaMoshiach, responded to this question. A typical example is the following
excerpt from a letter dated 1 Sivan, 5716 (1956):
"Regarding what you wrote that you read in the books of the
astronomers about stars whose light rays must travel for much more than
6,000 years until it reaches the earth, and you ask how this fits with what
our holy Torah states - that we are in the year 5716 after creation.
"Now, even if you want to say that the calculation of the distance of
the star is correct (for there are differences of opinion among the
astronomers on this), this raises no question regarding the date of
creation. [The point is] that just like the stars were created, similarly
the light rays were created. Just like G-d can create a star which will
first start to radiate light from the time of its creation and onwards, it
is equally possible that He would create the star together with the light
rays [already] radiating from it.
"This is especially evident when considering what it says in the first
parsha of the Torah: 'It was morning the first day,' while 'Let there be
luminaries' was not said until the fourth day. Thus we see that there was a
presence of light before the luminaries were placed in the heavens....
"A deep knowledge and an analysis of the principles [upon which the
conjectures of the scientists regarding the age of the earth is based] will
prove to the normal mind that these are merely conjectures which are far
from certainty. This is the opinion of the scientists themselves as is
mentioned in their books. Nevertheless, in the introductory texts studied
in the schools, they hide the doubts that they have in these
principles." [6]
In this letter the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, teaches us a basic principle
which can be applied to all questions regarding the age of the universe:
Hashem created the entire universe 5757 years ago as stated in the Torah.
If certain things in the universe appear to an observer to be older than
that, it is because Hashem created them to appear that way.
Once the children are taught the doctrine of evolution it becomes
integrated into their mind and its very hard to unlearn it. Even when they
do unlearn it, the initial impression is remains. Chinuch HaKasher (kosher
Jewish Education)and Chinuch al Taharas Hakodesh is one of the Rebbe,
Melech HaMoshiach's major projects. Jewish children should be taught
creation exactly as it is stated in the Torah - that Hashem created the
entire universe in six days. They should not be taught any theory of science
that is against the Torah and the teachers should not be afraid to say that
while the scientist may have a certain opinion at this time the Torah tells
us the truth and that eventually science will also recognize that the Torah
is right.
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NOTES:
1. See Beis Moshiach no. 60 pp. 46-48, no. 64 pp. 51-53 for a biography
and an analysis of Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib's method of learning.
2. See Beis Moshiach no. 58 pp. 99-101 for a full discussion
3. Igros Kodesh vol. 11, p. 202
4. Igros Kodesh vol. 15, p. 378
5. "Hubble Space Telescope Eyes a Younger Universe" in Science
News vol. 146
no. 18, p. 278; vol.148, no. 11, p. 166
6. Likutei Sichos, vol. 15, p. 478
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