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November 3, 1959

Halachah in the Age of Science (1959)

Torah & Science Halachik Method
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Outline

Judaism and Science: A Review of Their Relationships (1953)

In considering Judaism and science, past relationships show that religion’s attitude towards science was mostly friendly in Judaism, unlike the often negative and oppressive stance of the Catholic Church in conflicts such as those over Copernicus and Darwin. The Talmud says “Ki hi chochmatchem u’vinatchem le’einei ha’goyim – tekufot u’mazalot,” Rav (Abba Arikha) studied animal anatomy for 13 years, Shmuel (Yarchinai) studied astronomy, medicine, and performed autopsies, Maimonides pursued medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and physics, Yehuda HaLevi practiced medicine, and the Vilna Gaon studied mathematics. In the 19th century, science’s attitude towards religion was often foolishly anti-religious, rooted in a mechanistic philosophy, but with the maturity of science most great scientists became devout religionists; Bertrand Russell was the last of the great scientific atheists, and even he now writes differently. Conflicts are usually aggravated by people who know little about science and less about religion, though three major fields of irritation are geology (earth millions of years old versus Jewish tradition’s 5713 years), evolution (common descent versus separate creation), and determinism (predictability versus free will). Some say religion and science have nothing to do with each other – religion deals with spirit and the supernatural, science with matter and the natural – but Judaism cannot accept this since it is this-worldly and halakhah addresses man’s relation to his natural environment (e.g., kiddush ha’chodesh, kashrut). Others claim religion and science are in mortal conflict and one must choose – equally un-Jewish, since Jews have always believed in harmony between reason and revelation, fact and faith, as in Maimonides’ harmony between natural science and the Bible. The acceptable approach is that religion and science have different functions but overlap – scientific advancement affects man’s welfare and spiritual status, discoveries testify to an…
Torah & Science

Interview

R. Lamm: Halacha Doesn't Change Like Fashion (1966)

Orthodoxy is not a movement within Judaism, no, it is Judaism itself. Orthodoxy is the sole legitimate heir of Judaism, and if it has any faults, these are not the faults of Orthodoxy as a movement but rather those of contemporary Judaism. Certainly there are faults. The chief fault lies with that wing within Orthodoxy which has run away from history, which has shut itself off from the world, which refuses to come to terms with changing reality, which has made “splendid isolation” its watchword while awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. Yet there is another wing within Orthodoxy, too, which proclaims that, although the Jewish people as a people does not indeed follow the ordinary course of history and is not subject to the standard laws of history, and therefore cannot be “normal” in the true sense of the term—nevertheless it should not decline to partake in history. This trend in Orthodoxy has grown especially strong in the United States. The great difficulty facing the Jew today is that of living in both worlds—a difficulty which has found concrete expression in the way of life of the State of Israel—but most Orthodox Jews in the United States have already learned how to live in both worlds, and the introduction of combined programs of secular and religion education is one proof positive of this.As for convenience—that is a relative notion. Personally, I find it very convenient to be an Orthodox Jew, because I find it convenient to be at peace with myself as a whole Jew. But he who defines convenience not in terms of making peace with himself but rather with the pleasures of the moment, with easy life, will doubtless find the Conservatives more convenient, and even more so the Reform. Convenience of this kind has been one of the great American principles (at least until three years ago), and, as Rabbi Yehuda the Pious used to say, “As is the custom of the Christians, so too is the custom of the Jews. . .”The success of the Conservative and the Reform is based mos…
Torah & Science Halachik Method

Correspondence

Exchange with Dr. Koppel about His Scholarship on Meta-Halacha (1995)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, First, I am happy to report that we expect to receive the Higayon book from the printer next week and I will be sending you 25 copies as agreed. Second, I was wondering whether you received the manuscript I dropped off with your secretary before Pesach. Do you have any comments? Are you willing to provide a blurb? Best wishes to you and your family for a חג שמח. בצפיח לגאולה שלמה, Moshe Koppel
Torah & Science Halachik Method