EVOLUTION, COSMOLOGY AND TORAH

By Rabbi Amiram Markel

And

HaBachur HaTamim, Shimon Markel

In regard to recent attempts to synthesize Torah with the theory of evolution, and other current scientific speculations on cosmology, it must be pointed out that even according to the scientific method these are just theories and cannot be regarded as fact.

Firstly, The Torah recognizes limited adaptation within species, such as the lighter and darker skin pigmentation that developed within Mankind.

Indigenous populations residing in climates subject to greater exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays developed darker pigmentation. Populations in cooler climates with lesser exposure may have lost some of their original pigmentation, etc. In no way though, does the Torah recognize or agree that one species evolved from the other. On the contrary, it categorically rejects any such notion.

In the Torah account of creation, it states in regard to the creation of vegetative life on the third day,

“And G-d said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind etc. And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind.”

On the fifth day of creation the Torah states,

“And G-d created the great sea serpents, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind.”

On the sixth day of creation the Torah states,

“Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind. And G-d made the beasts of the earth after their kind and cattle after their kind and everything that creeps on the earth after its kind.”

Time and time again the Torah reiterates that each species was created individually, and that there was no development of one species to the other. To say otherwise, is to try to force a round peg into a square hole.

Furthermore, cosmological speculation, by its very definition, extrapolates backwards, and is therefore nothing more than speculation. This being the case, any conclusions that may be arrived at, are questionable at best, if not downright false. This is because the scientific method is only capable of examining conditions as they are at present. No methodology exists to examine the past. Science is incapable of conducting experiments to prove that there was a past, let alone informing us about it. This is especially true when science attempts to inform us not only about the past, but about how it caused the present.

By its very nature, an effect cannot comprehend its cause. We, being the effect, are incapable of comprehending our cause. The scientific method, therefore, is limited to examining the effect (the universe as it is), but is incapable of examining the cause (the source of the universe). The only conclusion that retroactive scientific speculation may lead to, is that there is an ultimate source to the universe, which, of necessity, must be absolutely beyond any of the definitions and limitations of the universe, and thus ungraspable to us. Since an effect cannot grasp its cause, the only true possibility for us to have any knowledge of how the universe came about, is if the ultimate cause informs us about it. Though, due to our limitations, we cannot grasp this knowledge by ourselves, the ultimate cause, being unlimited, is capable of giving it to us.

Almost four thousand years ago, the ultimate cause (G-d) did just that.

At Mount Sinai, approximately 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 Jews experienced a direct revelation of G-d and received the Ten Commandments from Him. Moshe then ascended the mount for forty days and forty nights and received the Torah in its entirety. This included the written Torah and the oral Torah, which includes the Mishna, Gemara, Midrash etc. as well as the teachings of Kabbalah, which are the secrets of the Torah, and explain exactly how the universe came into being from G-d. It also included the teachings of Chassidus, which are the secrets of the secrets, and give insight into G-d himself.

The exodus from Egypt and the subsequent revelation at Mount Sinai fifty days afterwards, are historical fact that are not subject to serious historical debate. All accepted history is based on the fact that the event was witnessed by many people at the time and that there is an established tradition amongst their descendents that the event actually occurred. To the degree that there are no variant traditions that either negate or modify it, it is accepted as reliable historical fact.

A case in point is the American Revolution. Today, there is not a single living human being who witnessed the events of the American Revolution. This being the case, how do we know that it actually took place?

Certainly, it is not because it is written about in history books, for there are history books fabricated out of whole cloth, such as The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, or The Book of Mormon. What makes the American Revolution reliable history is the fact that millions of people actually witnessed it at the time and that there is an unbroken tradition, amongst their descendents that it took place. Its reliability is further strengthened by the fact that there are no variant traditions amongst descendents of people who lived in the colonies at the time, who claim that American emancipation was achieved differently, through the peaceful withdrawal of British troops and a benevolent granting of independence by the British crown. The same principle holds true in regard to any other historical event.

Every year on Passover, Jews around the world gather together at the Seder table. The sole purpose of the Seder is specifically to recall and to transmit the events of the exodus from Egypt to the next generation. This has been taking place in an unbroken tradition, year after year, all the way back to the very first Seder which took place in Egypt as the events were happening! Furthermore, there are no variant traditions amongst Jews that differ in their account of what happened. There are not, and there have never been, Jews who claimed that they received a tradition from their fathers, going all the way back that the events were different! (Reform or Conservative Jews, who may contest this, do not do so on the grounds that they have received a different tradition. Rather, they will be the first to admit that they are a break from tradition. It is specifically for this reason that their claims hold no water.)

No other nation on the surface of the earth has kept such a strong tradition of transmitting its history, its teachings and its heritage, to the coming generations, as the Jewish nation. With this in mind, it must be concluded that this is a most reliable history. We can accept as incontrovertible historical truth, the account of the exodus from Egypt and the receiving of the Torah, directly from G-d, fifty days later.

With the above in mind, we can state with confidence, that even though the effect cannot understand the cause, and we cannot, through our own devices, understand the origin and development of the universe, nonetheless, G-d, the ultimate cause, who is not limited by these constraints, can and did inform us in this regard. This he did through the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The Kabbalah, as stated previously, is part and parcel of the Torah. It is for this reason that it is called Kabbalah, which means “The received knowledge.” We may conclude that in order to understand science properly, it is absolutely incumbent that a person be thoroughly versed in the true teachings of Kabbalah, so that he will be able to differentiate between what is true or false in current scientific thinking.

We may also conclude, that one who writes articles or books attempting to accommodate Torah to current scientific thinking, rather than visa versa, is not a true kabbalist but rather a dabbler in kabbalah. What he writes is not a tradition he has received from his teachers. His understanding is confused, so he must resort to theory and conjecture, and will apply kabbalistic principles incorrectly. He will, therefore, not be able to differentiate between true and false.

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