Prof. Ilya Leibovitch on the book The Science of the Torah / Yehuda Levy; The Higher School of Technology, Lev Institute, Jerusalem, Reuven Mass Publishing, 118 pages, NIS 50
Ilya Leibovich
An illustration from the "Canon of Ibn Sina", a medical treatise from the 11th century
The illustration on the cover of the book shows the conventional sign of an atom, the one that symbolizes
Often the modern physics of the 20th century. The symbol is seen on
On top of a Gemara page, or inside it, in the classic format of the Talmud. The illustration depicts
With the help of visualization the title of the book and its trend. Part of this trend was well expressed
The one who recommends the book, Rabbi Yehoshua Neubirt, in the "approval" he gives
To the book, which is presented on its opening page, he writes to the author: "I passed over most
His words he wrote (...) in order to prove the truth of the sage's words." the author
Although he does not explicitly say that this is his intention, Rabbi Neubirt was not wrong
In understanding the spirit blowing in the book. For example, on p. 68, following a discussion of the contradiction
Between the words of sages and contemporary scientific truths, and after trials
different to settle it, says the author, with a sigh of relief, "and there is no need anyway
To say that the Sages were wrong".
However, the idea that is already expressed in the title of the book and the illustration on its cover, as if
That the veil spread by the Torah of Israel also includes science, or at least
Science (without the knowledge), in its fundamental error. And this, not in the sense that they were not
The sages of Israel who were well versed in the wisdom of science of their generation, and not in the fact that there is none
To find in Torah discussions and considerations that can be considered scientific. the mistake
In an attempt to show that science is also included within the entirety of the Torah, is laid at the foundation
Much deeper. Originated from misunderstanding or blurring (not necessarily intentional)
of the fact that there is a fundamental incompatibility between the brain activity that takes place
by a person when he is engaged in studying a scientific chapter or in scientific research, and
The brain activity of a Jew who studies Torah or engages in keeping its mitzvot.
The book "The Science in the Torah" largely illustrates the inconsistency, or the
This contradiction, sometimes in a touching way, despite his explicit intention
of the author to show the opposite. Such an intention is formulated in three sections
In the beginning of the introduction (p. 11), as well as in the book's manifesto, which appears on p
66-65 under the heading "The advantages of each approach and summary". The book is also
An interesting personal document. It is a kind of window through which a glimpse emerged
of the author's soul, which is torn by the same contradiction between the commandment of the Torah, as it is
understands him, and his scientific knowledge. The book shows that these two factors
They are important foundations of his spiritual world, and the book is an effort, for poverty
I don't think it's good to break up this contradiction.
The word "Torah" is used in different senses. Sometimes it is used to indicate five
The Pentateuch of "Torat Moshe". Sometimes it means all the books of the Bible. use
Another common use of the term, which is also used in this book, is as a term for the entirety of all literature
Jewish, beginning with the book of Genesis in the Torah of Moses, through the prophets and the scriptures,
The Mishnah, the Talmud, the interpretation of the Bible and the Talmud, the literature of the Shu'at up to the latter
Halachic judges nowadays. The Torah that this book talks about is called
Sometimes also called the "Jewish bookcase", and many people use the word
"Judaism" to denote this array. The fact that one dress or one expression
Pointing out the system rule is perhaps one of the reasons why many people
It is believed that such a dress really indicates one monolithic entity, a single essence
well defined, named "Torah" or "Judaism". According to popular belief
This, there is a worldview and a certain understanding of physical reality
and the spiritual, as well as certain principles of ethics and morality, which are shared
and unite this whole system of the "Torah".
Although the book does not state this explicitly, there is no doubt that this is his perception
The author, and he tries to examine what is the status of machine cognitions and theories
Scientism within this Torah system. Of course, the author does not ignore my differences
Opinions, divided and conflicting opinions on various matters that are sometimes heard
close within the Torah. Nevertheless, like many others, he is
Assumes, both explicitly and implicitly, that the Torah is desired from the outside and locked
From the inside by internal bolts of beliefs, principles, worldviews
and dialectics that are common to the entire theological system.
The Torah is a human creation that was made over about 3,000 years of
history
It is permissible to question the sharpness of vision that perceives "Judaism" as a being
Monolithic, and it is worth at least critically checking the belief that it is possible
To find in the "Torah" a stable and fixed systematic approach regarding some matter
in the world After all, the Torah is a human creation that was made over about 3,000 years
Years of history, and tens of thousands of people participated and are participating
in its composition. As a matter of fact, the assumption that there is even one thing in the world about it
All of these will agree, seems unthinkable. It's easy and there isn't any
Reason to assume that it is possible to find general agreement even on one thing, among all
Half a billion (or more) humans who have ever lived on planet Earth
The land under the name Jews.
Therefore, the extensive use made by the author, like many others, in particular speakers of
Religious Judaism in our generation, in the term "Sage" that appears dozens of times in the book,
is largely misleading. This is, for example, one of the main questions he grapples with
The author - "Is it possible that the Sages were wrong about something scientific?" (p. 57) - loses
A large part of its aggravation is if you recognize the fact that "Sages" are not a monolith of
Judaism. Every saying of a "Sage" is a saying of one Jew, in time
in a certain and in a certain place. Although "all Israel are guarantors to each other", there is no such thing
There is no reason and no purpose for the assumption that all Israel agrees with each other. as in all
A large group of people, even in the Torah there are popular opinions, many of them
They are held, and there are opinions that belong only to a minority or a few.
The book has four parts. The first part, "Torah and Wisdom", is
A collection of some examples of discussing Israel's sources of scientific knowledge on the subjects
Different. The author tries to show with these examples that the sages of Israel were (per
the least) updated with all the scientific knowledge of their time, and according to him in cases
Many were ahead of all their contemporaries with their wisdom and knowledge. in large part
In some cases, this claim is extremely exaggerated, to say the least. for example,
On page 18, a Mishnah is quoted in Tractate Barakhot, from which the author concludes that Baal
The mishna, the Tanna Reish Lakish (or "our sages" as he says), knew (and) already in the century
XNUMXnd AD the number of stars in the sky, a number that only nowadays have succeeded
Astronomers determine it.
This statement of the author has nothing to rely on at all. The similarity between the product
of the numbers appearing in the Mishna and the number quoted from
The Encyclopaedia Britannica is purely incidental. If the book had been written before
70 years, the author would find a glaring contradiction between the number appearing in the treatise
Blessings and the astronomical estimates of that time. Also the assessment
The one quoted in today's updated issue of Britannica is far from it
definitive or well defined. In fact, according to the best current estimates,
The universe is infinite and the number of stars in it is accordingly infinite. garlic
A finite number is not a number close to infinity. It is clear from the subjunctive Sharish
Lakish adopted the language of poetry. He just used all the names he knew
to describe collections of objects, and his whole purpose was to say in the Maltese language
That the whole entire world, vast and numerous, was not created except for Knesset
Israel.
The second part of the book is called "Imagined Contradictions". Here the author brings
Examples of knowledge or scientific claims that appear in the Torah literature, which are visible
as contradicting what is known today on the respective subjects. The author tries to show,
Sometimes with the help of not necessarily convincing arguments, that the contradiction is not a contradiction,
Or the "scientists" are wrong and not the holy books.
In Part III, "Actual Contradictions", additional examples appear where there are none
Avoid admitting that there is a discrepancy between what is said in the Torah and knowledge
the scientific Here a difference stands out between a small group of sages that the author calls
To them "Rambom and his faction", who do not hesitate to stand up to the contradiction and see it
As it is, and the great majority of Israel's rabbis who are unable to stand
in so doing. These will side with the scriptures and deny the truths of science. some of them
And the author joins them, he will claim that wherever the contradiction cries out to heaven, it is clear
That the Sages did not mean seriously what they said. For example, on p. 31
The reference in the Hagiga tract to the salamander, an animal whose birth was in fire and she is
Spitting fire, explained as a purely literary device to indicate their virtue
of scholars. Part IV - "Reality and Halacha" - deals with the effects of
Science's opinion on Halacha.
If the author's intention was only to present examples of knowledge about the world (which today
We would call it scientific), which was in the hands of the people who wrote the Torah, because
Then the book would have achieved its purpose. But such a goal makes the book
to almost trivial, though not without picaresque. The reason is that since
that Homo sapiens began a walk on Earth, all humans of every age,
At any time and in any place scientific knowledge is acquired, used and applied,
and consider scientific considerations at every step. For what is known today
Knowledge or scientific research is nothing but a name for the process by which humans acquire
Knowledge about the world through a combination of experiment and observation of the world on the one hand,
and analysis and drawing conclusions from the observation data, with additional brain activity
called rational thinking, on the other hand. This process is performed, for example, by everyone
A boy who wins two marbles in a game with his friend and immediately after wins another
Two marbles, when he knows that in that meeting with his friend he won four
marbles.
Modern scientific research, which is about 300 years old, is not the execution of a process
My mind is different. The innovation of the spiritual father of modern science, Galileo
Galileo, we are not inventing a new technique for generating knowledge about the world.
Galileo's greatness was in identifying this technique, which was in use
Human since time immemorial, as the only technique that entitles man to useful knowledge about
the world, and that it is possible and should be used consciously and explicitly. Therefore, there is no
It is a wonder that among the tens of thousands of creators of Torah Israel one can find
Many who were good observers of the world, and many who knew how to use thinking
rationally and draw scientific conclusions about it.
The knowledge about the synodic cycle of the moon that Rabbi Gamliel had (p. 13)
It is truly impressive, and the degree of accuracy in determining its value truly exceeded that
which was in the hands of Hipparchus or Ptolemy, who are considered the greatest astronomers of
ancient times. Any Jew who wishes may be proud of this scientific achievement, as
Every Israeli can be blessed in his heart for every achievement of a Jewish scientist or
Israeli. As such, it is possible that Rabbi Yehoshua really preceded Edmond
Halley in about 1,500 years - in the astronomical information he had about a star
The one who ascends to heaven every 70 years - if indeed the story is in the treatise Hoorit (p. 18)
spin on Halley's comet. These stories are truly a testament to breadth of mind,
Wisdom and comprehensive world knowledge of individual Jewish sages. hall
The multiple appreciation that can be acquired towards these personalities is nothing to teach about
The status of science as a system within the totality of the Torah, or on a defined and consistent relationship
Some among them, since as mentioned all humans are scientists, to varying degrees
of sophistication and wisdom.
The discrepancy we alluded to above, between the Torah and science, is this
Among all the thousands who wrote the Torah, only a few reached recognition
The Galilean, that useful knowledge about the world can only be obtained through the method
the scientific This recognition penetrated the Western culture only in the 17th century and therefore there is no
It is a wonder that it is almost impossible to find its roots in the Torah of Israel as it developed until
for that century.
However, it is worth noting that there are a small number of exceptions, which in a sense
The scientific recognition, their stature rises even between the pages of the book in front of us. goddess
The sages already mentioned above, whom the author calls "Rambom and his sect".
It is true that a careful reading of the statements in the book raises the concern that in fact the faction
Distinctly includes perhaps only two members, Maimonides himself and his son Avraham.
On page 59, the author gives long quotations from the words of Abraham, who follows
his father, in which a view that comes close to perception is expressed
The Galilean. In the process of creating human knowledge, evidence from the world - ie
Observations, experiments and measurements - overriding every other input that reaches a person,
including what is written in ancient books or the words of sages that have been sanctified in tradition. If
Let's remember that Rambam and his son lived and worked in the 12th century, about five hundred years ago
Galileo, the appreciation for the strength of their spirit and the depth of their thought should rise much more
counters
The book mentions other sages whom the author associates with the Rambam faction. Having "fear".
Yitzchak", for example, quoted on p. 60, says: "Not every word they said
(The words that were said) in the Gemara are from the mouth of Kabbalah, but the sages of Israel also spoke
They are sometimes from the mouth of reason and human investigation." These are upcoming things
In the spirit of Maimonides, but not really.
The position expressed by "Fear of Isaac" is reminiscent of the well-known story of
The two gates to heaven. Above the first was a sign: "Gate for the men who were."
Subjected in their lives to the control of their wives", and in front of him stretched a huge line of
men. Above the second gate was written: "A gate for men who were independent."
in their lives", and in front of him stood one small Jew. When they asked him why he was standing
In front of the second gate, he replied: "I know? That's what my wife ordered me to do." So does
Most of the other members of the Rambam faction who are willing to rely on human evidence
The world, on experiment and on the human mind, because this is what our masters allowed or commanded
The ancient saints. The fact that the scientific approach, in its modern sense,
There is almost no trace of the Torah that predates the 17th century, it goes without saying. she is missing
From the Torah just as it is absent from almost all branches of Western culture. one
The crises that the Torah has gone through, and now it may be going through even more severely, is
Its almost total disregard of the Galilean scientific revolution. Contrast
to prominent representatives of Western culture and philosophy, including the Church
Catholicism - the main stream in the "Torah", and of all places it is the one that controls the state
Israel, did not in any way change its dialectic, according to which the source of knowledge
And the insight into the world is in holy writings or in the sayings of the sages of generations
Ancients, rabbis, righteous and accepted.
In the opinion of Maimonides and his son Avraham, it is important to know in principle that the sages of Israel are not
But human beings who can make mistakes
Paradoxically, in recent generations the scientific method has actually been rejected
In the Torah system it becomes more strict and its expression becomes more blunt,
whereas adherence to orthodox dialectic is increasing. author
The book, the trust in the scientific method being a scientist (former rector and head
The Department of Physics/Electro-Optics at the Higher School of Technology
Lev Institute), although he himself cannot detach himself from this dialectic, he is not
It is also possible not to feel in this trend of distancing. And on page 61 he himself
Attests to this: "According to (...) Rabbi Shaira and Rabbi Hai, as well as according to Maimonides
And his son Avraham (...) it is important to know in principle that they (the sages of Israel) are nothing but
human beings who may err (...) (however) among the latter (rabbis of Israel
In later generations) this approach is extremely rare".
A blunt expression, but not uncharacteristic, of the anti-Orthodox attitude
Lately Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the political leader, has given science
and the spiritual of a central and dominant stream of religious Judaism. According to him, on the page
One of the Talmud has more wisdom, more knowledge and more truth than any
The sciences and all the scientists in the world. This is a quote from something he said not long ago
In front of TV cameras, not in their words but certainly in their spirit. Yosef
and his faction also manage a huge educational network in Israel, under whose wings they are sheltered
Tens or hundreds of thousands of children. Babies born in this supported network
With the funds of the Ministry of Education of the Israeli government, they are educated on the knees of
This ideology and worldview.
Another blatant example of the unscientific nature of the Torah, as it is taught and practiced
In recent generations, it is given in the book, in section 95 (pp. 93-XNUMX), which bears the
The name "laws whose rules are only from the Torah: Tzu'a Dakha". The author tries
To show through this example, that the halacha is able to change and adapt itself
to changes in reality that are required by science or that are studied with its help. however,
Anyone who reads this section in the book with unbiased eyes, and in particular you
The quotations given in it are from the words of rabbis and recent arbitrators regarding an injured person
Dekha, cannot help but see the whole affair as a mask bordering on the very absurd.
It turns out that people who are supposed to be settled in their minds, have the ability to investigate
the world, to understand processes that take place in it and to solve practical problems
and theories, invest their time, their thinking capacity and their energy
their psyche in studying the subject: can someone whose testicles are damaged or
cannot come in the crowd. And so much because of one sentence written by an author
Anonymous in the book, as important and sacred as it may be, 2,500 years ago. all
This phenomenon in itself is anti-scientific, anti-rational and in the 21st century
It is also largely anti-cultural. What purpose does such a discussion serve? Why
Should anyone with such a disability or deformity be excluded from the audience?
When the verse was written, "No wounded man shall come in the congregation of God", in the book
Deuteronomy XNUMX, most likely it served a medical purpose. According to knowledge
And the experience that the ancients had, a man with testicular defects gave birth
with a high probability of defective births. In the absence of discernment and understanding of them
At times, the Torah, which may have been ahead of its time, ruled that those with disabilities
Such will not stand for births at all. In this legislation at the time you can perhaps see
Influence of science within the Torah. But the ongoing debate hundreds of years later
Then on this topic, and the various phenomenological and pictorial characterizations of
Various testicular deformities that are made by halachic judges to this day we, what
To them and to science? If science had a real foothold in Poskey's considerations
The Halacha were those who say simply that in 2001 the decision if a man prevailed
The risk of a defect in his sperm will be allowed to pose and give birth if not entirely up to me
The family doctor, or by the specialist doctor who knows the patient and
Julio
Before concluding, it is worth commenting that the author should have interpreted the plurality of heads
The various boxes that appear in his book are for language expressions, for example for Panad
(p. 57), and of people's names, such as Rashbash (p. 27). Wonder which one
A percentage of the book's readers will know how to interpret them all correctly without help.
In conclusion, despite a certain lack of systematicity, both in bringing the examples and
In presenting the various theses, the book is quite interesting for those who knew the world of
He is interested in the sages of Jewish law. He testifies to a great proficiency of
The author, and the book can serve as a valuable source, and even entertainment, for anyone interested
on the subject. In my opinion, the main shortcoming of the book is the ideological undercurrent
Ground that flows under it, and not at a great depth. The author, following many others,
Trying to find in the Torah what is not in it.
Torah Israel is a great human enterprise. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of parts
certain of it to Western culture. The great contributions of Torah Israel
For humanity both in the field of philosophy, morals and ethics. There is no need
try to add to her credit what she doesn't have. Such experience does not add up
In honor of Torah. One of the important beliefs that feed you
This wrong ideology, in my opinion, is expressed by one
One of the last greats in Germany, Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, quoted on p.
61: The great ones (of sages) knew all the wisdom and sciences as they say
It was agreed in their time to tell the truth." Why do you need it?
Prof. Elia Leibovitz is the director of the Weiss Planetarium at the university
Tel Aviv
