Science and Torah

Some basic sources

Section A: The Medieval Rabbis - Rishonim

Source 1: Maimonides - Guide for the Perplexed 2:25

רמב"ם מורה נבוכים ב:כה

דע שהימנעותנו מלדגול בקדמות העולם אינה בגלל הכתוב בתורה שהעולם מחודש. כי אין הכתובים המצביעים על חידוש העולם מרובים מן הכתובים המצביעים על היות האלוה גוף, וגם אין שערי הפירוש בעניין חידוש העולם נעולים בפנינו ולא נמנעים ממנו, אלא היינו יכולים לפרש כפי שעשׂינו לגבי שלילת הגשמות. ואולי היה זה הרבה יותר קל והיתה לנו יכולת גדולה יותר לפרש את הכתובים ההם ולהוכיח את קדמות העולם, כפי שפירשנו כתובים ושללנו את היותו יתעלה גוף

Know that our shunning of the claim of the eternity of the world is not due to a text figuring in the Torah according to which the world has been produced in time. For the texts indicating that the world has been produced in time are not more numerous than those indicating that God has a body. Nor are the gates of figurative interpretation shut in our faces or impossible of access to us regarding the subject of the creation of the world in time. For we could interpret them as figurative, as we have done when denying His corporeality. Perhaps this would even be much easier to do… That God has no body has been proven, and from this it follows necessarily that everything that in its external meaning disagrees with this… must be interpreted figuratively, for it is known that such texts are necessarily fit for figurative explanation. However, the eternity of the world has not been proven, consequently in this case texts ought not to be rejected and figuratively interpreted...

Source 2: Nachmonides - Commentary on the Torah 1:1

2. רמב"ן בראשית פרק א פסוק א

ועתה שמע פירוש המקרא על פשוטו נכון וברור. הקב"ה ברא כל הנבראים מאפיסה מוחלטת. ואין אצלנו בלשון הקדש בהוצאת היש מאין אלא לשון "ברא". ואין כל הנעשה תחת השמש או למעלה, הווה מן האין התחלה ראשונה. אבל הוציא מן האפס הגמור המוחלט יסוד דק מאד, אין בו ממש, אבל הוא כח ממציא, מוכן לקבל הצורה, ולצאת מן הכח אל הפועל, והוא החומר הראשון, נקרא ליונים "היולי". ואחר ההיולי לא ברא דבר, אבל יצר ועשה, כי ממנו המציא הכל והלביש הצורות ותקן אותן:

... והחומר הזה, שקראו היולי, נקרא בלשון הקדש "תוהו"...

Now listen to the correct and clear explanation of the verse in its simplicity. The Holy One, Blessed be He, created all things from absolute non-existence. Now we have no expression in the sacred language for bringing something forth other than the word "bara". Everything that exists under the sun or above was not made from non-existence at the outset. Instead He brought forth from total and absolute nothing a  very thin substance devoid of corporeality but having a power of potency, fit to assume form and to proceed from potentiality into reality. This was the primary matter created by G-d; it is called by the Greeks hyly (matter). After the hyly He did not create anything, but He formed and made things with it, and from this hyly He brought into existence and clothed the forms and put them into a finished condition... 

This substance, which the Greeks call hyly, is called in the sacred language "tohu"...

Source 3: Nachmonides - Commentary on the Torah 9:12

3. רמב"ן בראשית פרק ט

(יב) זאת אות הברית אשר אני נותן - המשמע מן האות הזה שלא היה קשת בענן ממעשה בראשית, ועתה ברא ה' חדשה לעשות קשת בשמים ביום ענן...

ואנחנו על כרחנו נאמין לדברי היונים שמלהט השמש באויר הלח יהיה הקשת בתולדה, כי בכלי מים לפני השמש יראה כמראה הקשת, וכאשר נסתכל עוד בלשון הכתוב נבין כן, כי אמר את קשתי "נתתי" בענן, ולא אמר "אני נותן" בענן, כאשר אמר זאת אות הברית אשר "אני נותן". ומלת קשתי מורה שהיתה לו הקשת תחלה. ולכן נפרש הכתוב, הקשת אשר נתתי בענן מיום הבריאה תהיה מן היום הזה והלאה לאות ברית ביני וביניכם, שכל זמן שאראנה אזכיר כי ברית שלום ביני וביניכם:

It would appear from this sign that the rainbow in the cloud was not part of creation and that now G-d created a new thing by making the rainbow in the heavens on a cloudy day... We must perforce believe the words of the Greek [philosophers who maintain] that the rainbow is a natural result of the heat of the sun falling upon damp air, for even in a vessel containing water which stands in the sun there is the appearance of the rainbow. When contemplating the language of the scripture we will understand that it is so, for He said, "I have set my bow in the cloud". He did not say, "That I will put in the cloud", as he said, "This is a sign of the covenant that I will make". Moreover, the word "kashti", [which is in possessive form] indicates that he possessed the bow previously. Therefore, we will explain that the verse says, " The rainbow which I have set in the clouds from the day of creation will be from this day on a sign of covenant between Me and you; whenever I will see it I will remember that there is a covenant of peace between Me and you."

Section B: The Modern Rabbis - Achronim

Source 4: Maharal, Netivot Olam, Netiv ha-Torah 14 pg. 59 (note: The Maharal lived during the controversy over the Heliocentric Theory of Copernicus)

We should pay attention to what the scholars of the world have said... because they were scholars of the natural world... but we should not pay attention to what they say regarding what is beyond nature... study of the sciences that focus on the reality and order of the world is certainly permitted... They are like a ladder to ascend to the 'science' of Torah.

Source 5: Maharal Be'er ha-Golah, be'er 6 pp. 105-41

The Rabbis do not comment from the perspective of the natural cause, since it is small and inferior. This is appropriate for naturalists or doctors, but not for rabbis, who speak from the perspective of the [final] cause which compels nature... [One should judge] the words of Torah alone and the words of science alone.

Source 6: Samson Raphael Hirsch, Collected Writings, vol. 7, p. 57:

Jewish scholarship has never regarded the Bible as a textbook for physical or even abstract doctrines. In its view the main emphasis of the Bible is always on the ethical and social structure and development of life on earth; that is, on the observance of laws through which the momentous events of our nation’s history are converted from abstract truths into concrete convictions. That is why Jewish scholarship regards the Bible as speaking consistently in “human language;” the Bible does not describe things in terms of objective truths known only to God, but in terms of human understanding, which is, after all, the basis for human language and expression

Source 7: Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik - The Lonely Man of Faith pg.9

I have never been seriously troubled by the problem of the Biblical doctrine of creation vis-à-vis the scientific doctrine of creation at both the cosmic and organic levels.

Source 8: Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook  - Orot Hakodesh pg. 537

The theory of Evolution, which is capturing the modern world, accords to the secrets of the world of Kabbalah, more so than all the other philosophical systems. Evolution, which follows a path of exaltation, provides the basis for an optimistic world view, for how can one possibly be discouraged when he sees that everything develops and becomes higher? When we penetrate into the essence of this evolutionary elevation, we find in it the Godly principle shining with absolute clarity, precisely the Infinite in deed, acting to bring into actuality that which is infinite in potential.

Source 9: Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook - Collected Letters

It is generally accepted that there were many earlier epochs preceding our recorded epoch. This was common knowledge among our early kabbalists, and is mentioned in Breishit Rabba, “he was building worlds and destroying them.” Indeed the Zohar on parshat Vayikra, it is written that there were other species of humans in addition to the Adam mentioned in the Torah. One must understand well these profound words which need very comprehensive explanation. Excavations may teach us that there were living creatures, including humans in [prehistoric] periods, but there is no proof that there was not in the interim a planetary cataclysm and a new creation. Rather it is just an unsubstantiated hypothesis that need not worry us.

But actually we do not need this, since even if it were proven true that the order of creation was through the evolution of the species, this would not contradict our calculation of time… The Torah certainly obscures the [meaning of] the act of creation and speaks in allegories and parables, for everyone knows that the stories of Genesis are part of the hidden Torah [kabbalah], and if all these narratives were taken literally, what secrets would there be? The Midrash states that, “to reveal the power of the act of creation to flesh and blood is impossible, and therefore the text, ‘In the beginning G-d created’ is worded vaguely.” What is most important about the act of creation is what we learn in regard to the knowledge of G-d and the truly moral life… At any rate there is no contradiction whatsoever between the Torah and any of the world’s scientific knowledge.

Source 10: Dr. Stephen Jay Gould - Nonoverlapping Magisteria, Natural History Magazine

The lack of conflict between science and religion arises from a lack of overlap between their respective domains of professional expertise – science in the empirical constitution of the universe, and religion in the search for proper ethical values and the spiritual meaning of our lives. The attainment of wisdom in a full life requires extensive attention to both domains – for a great book tells us that…we will live in optimal harmony with our fellows when we learn to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly…

If religion can no longer dictate the nature of factual conclusions, then scientists cannot claim moral truth from any superior knowledge of the world’s constitution.