 |
|
February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Jan. 16, 2004
/22 Teves, 5764
More things in Heaven and Earth
By Rabbi Avi Shafran
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
The puzzlement and surprise expressed by scientists attending the early January gathering of the American Astronomical
Society in Atlanta came just as the Jewish religious world was poised to begin its communal reading of the Biblical book of
Sh'mos, or Exodus. It was a timely confluence.
The astronomers' bewilderment was born of a report detailing how researchers, using data obtained from the Hubble Space
Telescope, had spotted a gathering cloud of galaxies at a distance from our own (and from all others, for that matter, in
keeping with the model of an expanding universe) where there should be no such things.
In the current scientific understanding of the cosmos, all that should be evident at a distance like 10.8 billion light-years are
structures much less developed than the long string of clustered galaxies that were perceived. The data, according to Dr.
Roberto Abraham of the University of Toronto and an investigator on the team that reported the observation, actually fits
better with astronomical theories held before the rise of current models.
"If we [had] presented this to astronomers 25 years ago," he said, "they wouldn't have been surprised."
Cosmologists aren't shifting paradigms just yet, but the unexpected results serve to remind us of how much better science is at
describing the present than at reconstructing the past.
Which brings us to Exodus, both the book and the event from which it takes its name: the Jewish people's liberation through
the hand of G-d from enslavement in Egypt — which was followed by the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Some might recall the Conservative rabbi in Los Angeles who, in a sermon in 2001, enthusiastically embraced what he
characterized as the consensus of archeologists maintaining that a lack of physical evidence for the Exodus and subsequent
events of Jewish history means they never happened.
Contrary to the rabbi's claim, there is no consensus to that effect at all among historians and archeologists, notes New York
University Professor Lawrence H. Schiffman. In fact, he stresses, there is "ample evidence that the Biblical account is entirely
plausible." What is more, as David Hazony writes in the current issue of Azure, "The assault on the traditional biblical narrative
does not bear the markings of good science."
Still and all, the Los Angeles rabbi chose to cast his lot with the nay-sayers, and to encourage his congregants to follow suit.
Whatever the reasons for his personal partiality for one set of archeologists over another, though, there is something he forgot -
and it is hardly a minor concern when it comes to calling into question the veracity of the Jewish historical tradition: there is the
science of what is, and the science of what was.
Disciplines like biology or chemistry or physics, in other words, where measurements can be made and suspicions tested, are
one thing
But scientific pursuits that depend on speculation — where theories cannot ever be conclusively confirmed, and ideas can only
be surmised, not known — are quite another.
A chemical compound can be placed under an electron microscope and its molecular structure perceived; its effects on an
organism can be observed and measured, and the experiment can be repeated without limit.
But, no less than the shards of distant galaxies, those of distant times here on earth can never conclusively prove anything.
The Exodus and revelation at Sinai, the "ground zero" of the Jewish faith, were witnessed by over one million people, who
solemnly entrusted their children with the account of their experience - and who swore them in turn to entrust it to their own
children, and theirs to theirs, down to our own generation. That is precisely what continues to transpire every time the book of
Exodus is publicly read, and at every Passover seder. And it is what undergirds the Jewish faith, Jewish law and the Jewish
people.
Whether or not science can corroborate the claims of the Jewish religious tradition, Jews who trust their heritage know well the
facts of their history, tragic, glorious and even miraculous.
And so, as Jews the world over prepare once again, as they have done for thousands of years, to publicly read the book of
Exodus, they might well pause to recall a line from Shakespeare to any of their rabbis who might consider themselves too
sophisticated to accept the Jewish historical tradition. The Bard has Hamlet tell Horatio:
"There are more things in heaven and earth... than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Rabbi Avi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.
To comment, please click here.
© 2004, AM ECHAD RESOURCES
|
