»
S
I
D
E
B
A
R
«
Nobel Prize Quantum Mechanics and Torah Wisdom
March 4th, 2009 by Elijah





Why did God choose to shatter the vessels of the World of Chaos in the first place? The sages tell us that God was not content with the way things stood, and wanted to start over again. Before we reached our present state of reality, God created worlds (other states of being) and then shattered them. Sparks from these shattered realities scattered, some of them ending up in unlikely places in our own present reality. As incomprehensible as this may seem, earlier realities were somehow just not right. But, in our reality, everything fits together perfectly. Still, God regrets having destroyed these alternate realities, because it led to the dispersal of the sparks of holiness to impure places. This description of God’s regret is one of the greatest secrets of creation.

Quantum Mechanics is a very powerful and rigorous theory, which has stood the test of decades of experimentation. Still, Quantum Mechanics is a non-Jewish theory, because it is only consists of a physical body. In translation to physics, this means that it only describes material reality, but it does not require or even include a conscious recognition of the Creator. Knowledge that is not imbued with Divinity is non-Jewish knowledge. It can be the best, most useful knowledge in the world, just as numerous non-Jews are good people, but it is still not Jewish. The first step in converting this knowledge is to realize that it is not Jewish.

Scientist who have studied quantum mechanics feels that it is incomplete at some basic level. There is an almost supernatural  desire amongst physicists for framing quantum mechanics into a grand unifying theory that will properly unite the four basic physical forces (the strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational). When a true Torah scholar reads a text on chemistry, he will not read it as every other student of chemistry will. He stands on a higher plane reaching down to uplift the findings of science. Without the feeling of separation, which to a large degree is indeed a feeling of standing above and over the object being converted, it is impossible to receive the inspiration needed to carry out the conversion.

The inspired Torah scholar reading the chemistry text would recognize that although there are over a hundred elements that appear in the Periodic Table, only 92 of them are naturally occurring. He would make a mental note of this because in his Torah studies he would have come across the fact that there are 92 unique roots used in the Genesis account of creation. He would then be inspired to create a parallel between the two, setting the stage for the total conversion, for example, integration of the Periodic Table into Torah study. Hence we have numerous medical and scientific discoveries amongst Torah scholars.

The possibilities of integrating quantum mechanics into Torah are endless. The normal order is that first, the external wisdom is integrated, providing new insight into Torah and only then can the Torah truly fertilize it. The reason for this is that the external wisdom, which represents knowledge from below, is relatively feminine, while the Torah, which is knowledge from Above, is relatively masculine. Their integration is known in Kabbalah as the unification of the higher and lower wisdom, or the marriage of the male and female waters. When male and female unite, the Torah tells us that the female awakens first. In other words, the external wisdom is first to awaken the Torah, providing new insight into Torah. Subsequently, the awakening of the lower wisdom from below prompt a similar awakening of the higher wisdom (Torah) from above to the lower wisdom.

When we have reached the stage that we can use quantum mechanics to attain a new interpretation or understanding of some topic in Torah, then quantum mechanics has truly been integrated. But, this also implies that the Torah should be able to reveal new understanding in the external wisdom. In other words, the Torah is able to shed new light on quantum mechanics.
Applying this to the integration of science with Torah, we expect that first science will reveal new insight into Torah. Only then will Torah provide new insight into science. In practice, in most areas that we have treated over the years, we have only seen limited examples of the second stage occurring, but when they do, they are truly powerful.



NOTE: Ads are automatically served – if you see one that is objectionable, please copy the URL and send it to us.


Leave a Reply

»  Substance: WP   »  Props: Template