Category: science and Torah
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The impossibility of extinction
According to many medieval Jewish sources no species of animal can ever become extinct. This was mainstream belief, held by (and shaping policy for) many of the world leaders up until the 19th century. In this class we discuss extinction, the reasons why it presents difficulty to theologians, and how damaging religious convictions can be… Read more
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Medieval Theory of Vision
This post may have relevance to a book I am working on, so if anyone has any ideas or comments or explanations I would very much welcome them. The ancient Greeks were basically divided into two camps of how vision works. One camp held with the theory of Emission (or extramission) in which visual perception… Read more
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Biblical Kangaroos
This post is inspired by the scientific writings of Dr Isaac Betech (pediatrician). The statement by YSO that Kangaroos were known by both the Torah and by Chazal confused me at first, because it seemed to pose a difficulty to the mishna. But Baruch Hashem, using scientific methodology we have been able to clearly resolve… Read more
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I came across this spoof letter today, purportedly addressed to Richard Dawkins: Dear Dawkins,Sorry I haven’t written for a while. I have been working on a theory that we are descended from pandas, rather than great apes. The evidence is pretty thin, to be honest, but next year I shall travel to China to view… Read more
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Last week was Albert Einstein’s birthday. He was a very smart man. One of the interesting things that I saw posted in honour of his birthday was this letter that he wrote regarding scientists and religion The Riverside Church January 19, 1936 My dear Dr. Einstein, We have brought up the question: Do scientists pray?… Read more
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Of Onions and Wine Barrels
Over at MentalFloss there is an overview of historical methods of testing for pregnancy. It seems that the ancient Egyptians were not wrong in their test, and a lot of rabbits had to die in the early part of the 20th century (whether they were pregnant or not). But it is clear that there is… Read more
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Is this Torah-true Judaism?
I was looking at Rabbi Zamir Cohen’s book The Coming Revolution today. In it he claims that Louis Pasteur developed his cure for rabies after first reading a French translation of the Talmud. Cohen writes: While living in Paris, Rabbi Dr Rabinowitz began translating the Talmud into French When his friend, Louis Pasteur, saw a… Read more
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Science and Chazal – three approaches
No chidushim in this post, but just another interesting example of different approaches to aggadata. I was learning Ein Yaakov with my daughter on Shabbat, and we came to the passage in Yoma 20b that speaks about the noise that the sun makes as it travels across the sky during the day: ת”ר אלמלא גלגל… Read more
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Vilna Gaon and the Eye Doctor
There is a story about the Vilna Gaon which I have heard many times about when he met an eye doctor. I’ll quote from the Artscroll book “The Vilna Gaon: The Life and Teachings of Rabbi Eliyahu the Gaon of Vilna” (p. 155): Another area in which the Gaon excelled was in his knowledge of… Read more
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Is there such a thing as rational Judaism?
Can religion really work with rationalism? There are many good books which try to bridge the gap between them (the ‘first and best’ of which was Challenge: Torah Views on Science and Its Problems, and of course there are the books of Rabbi Slifkin including The Challenge of Creation: Judaism’s Encounter with Science, Cosmology, and… Read more