מַה־גָּדְל֣וּ מַעֲשֶׂ֣יךָ יְהוָ֑ה מְ֝אֹ֗ד עָמְק֥וּ מַחְשְׁבֹתֶֽיךָ׃
How great are Your works, O Eternal, how very profound Your designs!
Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said in the name of bar Kappara: Anyone who knows how to calculate astronomical seasons and the movement of constellations and does not do so, the verse says about him: “They do not take notice of the work of God, and they do not see His handiwork” (Isaiah 5:12). And Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From where is it derived that there is a mitzva incumbent upon a person to calculate astronomical seasons and the movement of constellations? As it was stated: “And you shall guard and perform, for it is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations” (Deuteronomy 4:6). What wisdom and understanding is there in the Torah that is in the eyes of the nations, i.e., appreciated and recognized by all? You must say: This is the calculation of astronomical seasons and the movement of constellations, as the calculation of experts is witnessed by all.
(ז) ודע - כי הענינים הטבעיים גם כן אין ראוי לגלותם בלמד קצת התחלותיהם כפי מה שהם בבאור. וכבר ידעת אמרם ז"ל "ולא במעשה בראשית בשנים"; ואלו באר שום אדם הענינים ההם כלם בספר יהיו כאלו 'דרש' לאלפים מבני אדם. ולזה הביאו הענינים ההם גם כן בספרי הנבואה במשלים ודברו בהם ה'חכמים ז"ל' בחידות ומשלים להמשך אחר דרך ספרי הקדש בעבור שהם ענינים ביניהם ובין החכמה האלוקית קרבה גדולה והם גם כן סודות מסודות החכמה האלוקית: ולא תחשב שה'סודות' העצומות ההם ידועות עד תכליתם ואחריתם לאחד ממנו. לא כן אבל פעם יוצץ לנו האמת עד שנחשבנו יום; ואחר כן יעלימוהו הטבעים והמנהגים עד שנשוב בליל חשך קרוב למה שהיינו תחלה...
(ח) ...כאלו החכמים והיודעים נמשכים אחר הענין הזה ברצון האלוקי כמו שימשכום עניניהם הטבעיים: הלא תראה - כי האלוה ית' כשרצה להשלימנו ולתקן עניני המונינו בתורותיו המעשיות - אשר לא יתכן זה אלא אחר דעות שכליות תחלתם - השגתו ית' כפי יכלתנו - אשר לא יתכן זה אלא בחכמת האלוהות - ולא תגיע החכמה האלוקית ההיא אלא אחר חכמת הטבע כי חכמת הטבע מצרנית לחכמת האלוהות וקודמת לה בזמן הלמוד כמו שהתבאר למי שעין בזה - ולזה שם פתיחת ספרו ית' ב'מעשה בראשית' אשר הוא חכמת הטבע כמו שבארנו; ולעצם הענין ויקרתו והיות יכלתנו קצרה מהשיג עצם הענינים כפי מה שהם הגיד לנו הענינים העמקים ההם אשר הביא הכרח החכמה האלוקית להגידם לנו במשלים וחידות ובדברים סתומים מאד. כמו שאמרו 'ז"ל' "להגיד כח מעשה בראשית לבשר ודם אי אפשר לפיכך סתם לך הכתוב "בראשית ברא אלקים וגו'" - וכבר העירוך על היות אלו הענינים הנזכרים 'סתומות'. וכבר ידעת מאמר שלמה "רחוק מה שהיה ועמק עמק מי ימצאנו?" ושם הדברים בכל זה בשמות המשתתפים בעבור שיבינם ההמון על ענין כשעור הבנתם וחלשת ציורם ויקחם השלם שכבר ידע על ענין אחר:
(7) Know that also in Natural Science there are topics which are not to be fully explained. Our Sages laid down the rule, "The Ma‘aseh Bereshit must not be expounded in the presence of two." If an author were to explain these principles in writing, it would be equal to expounding them unto thousands of men. For this reason the prophets treat these subjects in figures, and our Sages, imitating the method of Scripture, speak of them in metaphors and allegories; because there is a close affinity between these subjects and metaphysics, and indeed they form part of its mysteries. Do not imagine that these most difficult problems can be thoroughly understood by any one of us. This is not the case. At times the truth shines so brilliantly that we perceive it as clear as day. Our nature and habit then draw a veil over our perception, and we return to a darkness almost as dense as before....
(8)...These laws, however, presuppose an advanced state of intellectual culture. We must first form a conception of the Existence of the Creator according to our capabilities; that is, we must have a knowledge of Metaphysics. But this discipline can only be approached after the study of Physics: for the science of Physics borders on Metaphysics, and must even precede it in the course of our studies, as is clear to all who are familiar with these questions. Therefore the Almighty commenced Holy Writ with the description of the Creation, that is, with Physical Science; the subject being on the one hand most weighty and important, and on the other hand our means of fully comprehending those great problems being limited. He described those profound truths, which His Divine Wisdom found it necessary to communicate to us, in allegorical, figurative, and metaphorical language. Our Sages have said (Yemen Midrash on Gen. 1:1), "It is impossible to give a full account of the Creation to humanity. Therefore Scripture simply tells us, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Thus they have suggested that this subject is a deep mystery, and in the words of Solomon, "Far off and exceedingly deep, who can find it out?" (Eccles. 7:24). It has been treated in metaphors in order that the uneducated may comprehend it according to the measure of their faculties and the feebleness of their apprehension, while educated persons may take it in a different sense.
(כה) וַיִּצְעַ֣ק אֶל־ה׳ וַיּוֹרֵ֤הוּ ה׳ עֵ֔ץ וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֙ אֶל־הַמַּ֔יִם וַֽיִּמְתְּק֖וּ הַמָּ֑יִם שָׁ֣ם שָׂ֥ם ל֛וֹ חֹ֥ק וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט וְשָׁ֥ם נִסָּֽהוּ׃
(25) So he (Moses) cried out to the Eternal, and the Eternal showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water and the water became sweet. There was made for them a fixed rule, and there put them to the test.
ויורהו ה׳ עץ וישלך אל המים, “the Eternal taught him about a certain kind of wood, and he tossed it into the water;” although God had other means of making the water sweet, without using that kind of wood, God wanted to teach Moses some common chemistry, i.e. how to use natural products to sweeten something that only needs sweetening in order to make it drinkable or edible.
כשנעמוד על סדר הבריאה של הכדור הארצי שלנו ממקום שהתחילה התורה לספר, נמצא שהיה בלא סדר ומרוב הקיטורים והאדים העבים והלחים היה מלא מים וחושך. והצעד הראשון היה שנטהרו קצת האדים עד שהיה קצת אור שולט, אבל לא היה בהיר כל כך האויר עד שיהיה אפשר לראות ממנו גוף המאורות. אם כן רק האור נברא, לגבי כדורינו, ועצם המאורות אינם נחשבים לברואים מצדו, שאלו היה אדם עומד עליו לא היה מכיר כלל שישנם מאורות במציאות. אמנם בוקר וערב היה על כל פנים מסיבוב הכדור, ואחר זה בא האויר לציור הראוי להקרא בשם רקיע, אף על פי שהלחות היתה רבה מאד למעלה מחוג האויר, המורגשת בראיה אילו היה אדם עומד אז עליו. ואחר כך התכנסות מימי הארץ למקום אחד והתפתחות הכח של הצמיחה. ואחר כך זיכוך האויר עד למדה זו של ראיית המאורות יפה באופן הראוי גם כן להתפתחות שכלית לאדם לחקור על סיבוביהם. ורק אז נעשה האויר מוכשר לנפש חיה ונבראו בעלי חיים המעופפים שפורחים במקום שהאויר דק, ודגים שאינם צריכים לטהרת האויר כל כך. ואחר כך שנטהר האויר ביותר, ראוי היה ליצירת בעלי חיים הולכים על הארץ והאדם.
When we look at the order of the creation of our earth, from where the Torah begins to relate it, it appears that there was no order, and from the great amount of smoke and thick moist vapors, it was full of water and darkness. The first step was that the vapors dissipated somewhat, so that some light could penetrate. But the air wasn't yet sufficiently transparent to enable seeing the actual celestial bodies. Therefore, from the perspective of our planet, only light was created, and the actual stars were not considered to have been created from its perspective, for if a person had been standing [on Earth] he would not have discerned that there were celestial bodies in existence. Nevertheless, there was morning and evening, because of the rotation of the planet, and the air then became transparent enough that it could now be called a sky, though the moisture was still so great above the sky that one could discern it by sight, had a person been standing there at that point. Afterwards came the gathering of the waters of the earth to one place, and the emergence of vegetative growth. Afterwards, the air cleared up even more so that the heavenly bodies could be seen with sufficient clarity for [subsequent] intellectual development in humans to ponder their orbits. Only then was the atmosphere sufficiently refined for animal life. Birds were created, which could fly through the now rarefied atmosphere, and fish [were created], which do not require highly purified air. Finally, when the air reached its highest level of purification, it was now fit for the formation of animals that walk on land, and humans.
Behold, it is not written in the Torah, “And God made on the first day", or “And God made on the second day", etc. Instead, it ordered all the actions in a sensible, gradual order, and at every dividing point, it states “And it was evening and it was morning, day one”, “...day two”, etc, which makes no difference for us whether we interpret the actions as taking place within the span of a complete day of twenty-four hours or [whether we interpret] that the Torah was does not actually indicate how long each stage of development took. The appropriate understanding is to depict in our minds that is that everything was arranged in an order, with intent, and adequate preparation for the purpose of God's wisdom and morality, that there should be an impact on the process of human perfection. Seeing as how the seventh day is holy, and devoted to remembering the work of Creation, therefore, the [Torah] understands these six general divisions as if they were six actual days. There is also nothing which prevents such an interpretation, neither from the standpoint of Scripture, nor from the standpoint of the obligation of [appreciating] the holiness of the Sabbath, which is intended to correspond to the inner workings of the human mind.
In this sense religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind, to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action: it cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships between facts. According to this interpretation the well-known conflicts between religion and science in the past must be ascribed to a misapprehension of the situation which has been described.
For example, a conflict arises when a religious community insists on the absolute truthfulness of all statements recorded in the Bible. This means an intervention on the part of religion into the sphere of science; this is where the struggle of the Church against the doctrines of Galileo and Darwin belongs. On the other hand, representatives of science have often made an attempt to arrive at fundamental judgments with respect to values and ends on the basis of scientific method, and in this way have set themselves in opposition to religion. These conflicts have all sprung from fatal errors.
Now, even though the realms of religion and science in themselves are clearly marked off from each other, nevertheless there exist between the two strong reciprocal relationships and dependencies. Though religion may be that which determines the goal, it has, nevertheless, learned from science, in the broadest sense, what means will contribute to the attainment of the goals it has set up. But science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion. To this there also belongs the faith in the possibility that the regulations valid for the world of existence are rational, that is, comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of a genuine scientist without that profound faith. The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
Awe is more than an emotion; it is a way of understanding, insight into a meaning greater than ourselves. The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe. Awe is an intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things not only are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme. Awe is a sense for transcendence, for the reference everywhere to mystery beyond all things. It enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine, to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple: to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal. What we cannot comprehend by analysis, we become aware of in awe.
Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.
It is said that science demystifies nature, but scientists on the frontier are awed by the elegance and harmony of nature. As science reveals the secrets of the universe and deciphers the cosmic code, it evokes wonder. Why is the sky blue? Among the wavelengths of light in the sun's spectrum, blue oscillates at the highest frequency and is, therefore, scattered effectively by molecules of air in our atmosphere. This turns the sky blue. To me, this seems more amazing than ancient Mesopotamian and biblical beliefs that the sky is blue because of all the water up there. What science shows us about the evolution of our universe and our selves is as awesome to me as Genesis or the Kabbalah.
Though some would say that science and faith are at odds with each other, the Jewish tradition teaches that, in fact, they are not. On the contrary, science and faith are complementary and even interdependent. Jews of all streams should take no issue with the scientific inquiry that is necessary to pursue settlement on celestial bodies because it is a way to preserve Judaism and the Jewish people. If an asteroid were to strike the Earth tomorrow wiping out humanity, Judaism would cease to exist. However, if we can help to make humanity a multi-planet species, then Judaism will be a multi-planet faith and the Jewish people will continue to survive.
...
Throughout history, the Jewish people have struggled to keep our traditions and rituals alive. With each threat to our existence, we triumphed. When Pharaoh denied us to worship freely, God delivered us. When Haman wished to exterminate us, Queen Esther saved us. When the Romans destroyed the Second Temple, the rabbis reformed Jewish practice. When the Nazis pictured a perfect world, devoid of Jews, countless nameless heroes preserved Judaism and its people for future generations.
Today, the Jewish people, and indeed all of humanity, are faced with many existential threats. One of the direst threats to humanity's existence is Global Climate Change. Most climate scientists believe we are past a point of no return, and humanity will experience drastic climate-related consequences. In response to this threat and countless others, visionary pioneers such as Elon Musk are catapulting humanity toward the heavens to ensure our survival. In fact, Musk plans to have a million-person colony on Mars within the century. It is likely Jews will be among the first off-planet settlers as many have been drawn to scientific endeavors. There would also probably be new economic opportunities for settlers, and Jews have always found ways to find economic niches in new economies.
The problem is how these "ExoJews", the term I will use in this thesis to refer to Jews who settle off-planet, will live Jewishly. How will living on another celestial body affect Jewish theology and halakhah?