Opposition by Judaism to evolutionary theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Jewish views on evolution. (Discuss) |
 |
The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(December 2007) |
In the Jewish global community, some Haredi rabbis have remained staunchly opposed to certain teachings in evolutionary theory. In contrast with the literalist biblical interpretation of some Christian creationists, they express an openness to multiple interpretations of Genesis, through Jewish oral tradition and Jewish mysticism. They have also expressed an openness to evolutionary theory in biology, except where they perceive that it is in conflict with the Torah's account of creation.
Judaism has no creed or catechism that prescribes normative beliefs about evolution, or any other matter. In his Guide to the Perplexed, the medieval Sephardic rabbi Maimonides stated, "what the Torah writes about the account of creation is not all to be taken literally."
According to the Rabbinical Council of America, an organization of Orthodox rabbis, "Recent rabbinic leaders who have discussed the topic of creation, such as Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, saw no difficulty in explaining Genesis as a theological text rather than a scientific account."[1] Later, they conclude, "Judaism has always preferred to see science and Torah as two aspects of the "Mind of God" (to borrow Stephen Hawking's phrase) that are ultimately unitary in the reality given to us by the Creator."
Contents |
[edit] Moshe Feinstein
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986), a Haredi posek who was known for his opposition to evolution, was one of the most famed Orthodox rabbis and decisors of Jewish Law for the ultra-Orthodox community. Rabbi Feinstein (also known as "Reb Moshe") ruled that the reading of an evolutionary textbook is unequivocally forbidden, because belief in evolutionary history is tantamount to heresy (Shu"t Iggerot Moshe Y.D. 3:73). If a textbook was indispensable for other purposes, Feistein directed that those pages containing references to evolution be torn out and discarded.[2]
Judaism has a tradition of homiletic storytelling. Such stories are often told eponymously, in the name of a famous rabbi. One such homily, apocryphal and unverifiable by its very nature, is often told of Reb Moshe. According to the story, Rabbi Feinstein was traveling to Israel on an airplane with his granddaughter. He was seated next to a secular Zionist, a leader of Israel's left-leaning Labor Party, an avowed socialist.
The Labor leader noted that Rabbi Feinstein's granddaughter treated him with great gentleness and kindness, for he was by this time a very old man. "Rav Feinstein, your grandchild treats you with such reverence and respect," he told Feinstein. "How I wish my own family would treat me so well."
Rabbi Feinstein turned to him. "In my family we believe in the Torah from Sinai. To my granddaughter, even though I am old, I am two generations closer to Adam, God's creation." Feinstein continued, "But in your family, your grandchildren were raised to believe in evolution. To them, you are two generations closer to a monkey."
Rabbi Avi Shafran, a spokesman for Agudath Israel, writes a weekly column that is widely syndicated in the Jewish press. Shafran's comments on intelligent design illustrate the distinction that Feinstein was making, that there is an essential distinction between animals and humans that evolution does not uphold. He writes, "There is simply no philosophically sound way of holding simultaneously in one’s head both the conviction that we are mere evolved animals and the conviction that we are something qualitatively different. And no way to avoid the fact that when schoolchildren are taught biology, if they are taught to embrace the one, they are being taught to shun the other."[3]
[edit] Responses to Feinstein's ban
Torah MitZion is a religious Zionist movement in Israel that promotes Torah study together with service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The organization operates a yeshiva in Jerusalem where soldiers in the IDF can study Torah. According to Torah MitZion, the study of evolution itself does not present a conflict with Jewish Law:
If biology is so prized a discipline, then so must be evolution — a central pillar of the life sciences. It is indisputable that organisms adapt to the environment via natural selection, as is evident for instance, by the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antiretroviral-resistant HIV. Further indisputable is the fact that the same DNA which encodes the blueprint for simple organisms also encodes the blueprint for higher organisms (including human beings) with exquisitely minor variations, demonstrating that evolution need not be limited to microbes. Hence, one might expect on the basis of the foregoing that Halacha would welcome the study of evolution with open arms.[4]
Torah MitZion resolves this conflict between Feinstein's responsa on evolution and the observations of science by distinguishing between "evolution that we can observe" and "evolutionary history." Its resolution of the matter allows for the study of evolution as a science, but forbids its use to "extrapolate backwards in time" to speculate on matters of creation:
Evolution that we can observe and measure with our senses is certainly part of the science curriculum that ought to be encouraged. But to extrapolate backwards in time on the basis of circumstantial evidence to so absurd an extent as to supplant the account of the creation of life given by the Torah with that of unverifiable human speculation is not a question of science but rather a revision of history.[5]
[edit] Slifkin affair
In 2004-2005, three popular books by Rabbi Natan Slifkin (Yiddish, Nosson) were banned by a group of Haredi rabbinic authorities on the grounds that they were heretical. Known to his admirers as the "Zoo Rabbi," Nosson Slifkin was the author of The Torah Universe, a series of books on science and religion that were widely read in Orthodox communities until they were suddenly banned. "The books written by Nosson Slifkin present a great stumbling block to the reader," the ban declared. "They are full of heresy, twist and misrepresent the words of our sages and ridicule the foundations of our emunah (faith)." The ban, which prohibited Jews from reading, owning, or distributing Slifkin's books, prompted a widespread backlash in the Orthodox Jewish community.
Jennie Rothenberg, reporting on this ban in the secular Jewish journal, Moment, asserted that the incident represents a major breaking point within ultra-Orthodox society. Rothenberg interviewed several rabbis who wished to remain anonymous. According to one of them, "Over the past 15 years, the rabbis of Bnai Brak and the more open American ultra-Orthodox rabbis have been split on a number of important policy decisions. The Slifkin ban is a huge break. It’s a kind of power struggle, and those who didn’t sign the ban are outraged right now. I’m talking about rabbis with long white beards who are furious about it." Slifkin’s views, according to this rabbi, are shared by countless figures within the ultra-Orthodox community. "He’s saying out loud what a lot of people have been talking about quietly all along. To those people, he’s a kind of figurehead." [6]
[edit] References
- ^ Rabbinical Council of America. Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design.
- ^ Parshat Bereshit (Torah Commentary on Genesis). Torah Mi-Zion.
- ^ Menken, Yaakov (Dec 22, 2005). Rabbi Avi Shafran on Intelligent Design.
- ^ Parshat Bereshit (Torah Commentary on Genesis). Torah MitZion.
- ^ Parshat Bereshit (Torah Commentary on Genesis). Torah MitZion.
- ^ Rothenberg, Jennie (Oct, 2005). The Heresy of Nosson Slifkin. Moment Magazine.
[edit] Sources
- Carmy, Shalom. "A Religion Challenged by Science — Again? A Reflection Occasioned by a Recent Occurrence". Tradition, A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought Volume 39:2 (Summer 2005).
- Cantor, Geoffrey and Marc Swetlitz, (editors). Jewish Tradition and the Challenge of Darwinism. University of Chicago Press. 2006. ISBN 9780226092768
- Feinstein, Moshe. Iggerot Moshe. (Brooklyn, NY: Yoreh Deah) 1959.
- Ginsberg, Joanna. "An Animal-Loving Rabbi Seeks to Reconcile Science and Torah." New Jersey Jewish News July 7, 2005.
- Greenberger, Josh. Human Intelligence Gone Ape. (New York: Orthodox Union) 1990.
- Rothenberg, Jennie. "The Heresy of Nosson Slifkin." Moment Magazine (October 2005).
- Slifkin, Natan. The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology, and Evolution. Zoo Torah, reprint edition (2006). ISBN 1933143150
- Slifkin, Natan. Man and Beast: Our Relationships with Animals in Jewish Law and Thought. Zoo Torah, reprint edition (2006). ISBN 1933143061
