Cosmology In Judaism

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Levi Kitrossky

Joshua commanding the sun to stand still

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Cosmology in Judaism


Levi Kitrossky

MotivationBecause those involved professionally in the propagation of Judaism consider their task to be of supreme importance, they will use practically any means to persuade people of Judaism’s superiority. Some of the communication—issued with the best of intentions—can be considered little better than propaganda with very little self-regulation. A plethora of religious seminars use tested techniques whose goal is to produce the maximum impression on listeners. Sadly, these techniques often go unexamined, because “quality control” is not really considered relevant. In some circles, those involved in these efforts have even earned the epithet “keruvnik” (one who tries to bring people closer by any means), which has clear negative connotations.

In my humble opinion (an opinion shared by various rabbis as well), real Judaism must not be allowed to be replaced by some convenient advertisement. We need, rather, to find and describe the real picture. Doing so may attract fewer people but in a more honest way.

That said, it is my intention here to deal in a straightforward way with one aspect of Judaism: Jewish cosmology, what Judaism teaches about our universe: The typical questions will be, "Is our universe infinite?", "What are movements of the sun, moon, and earth?", "How do we acquire knowledge of our universe?"

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My treatment will be historical, and it will reveal that the views of rabbis and of all Jews have changed and developed through the ages, in accordance with the general progress of mankind and science.

The current article was first published in Russian Wikipedia under the same title. After I contributed the original draft, the article received an unanticipated amount of attention and assistance from many whom I have never met. Some of this attention and assistance came from distant places with no connection to Israel or Judaism. There were also a few attacks and some vandalism, but their number was negligible, and they were suppressed by Wikipedia administrators and contributors.

After I saw that people wished to collaborate and were striving mainly for propagation of knowledge, I decided that it would be an appropriate article for our English edition of Chidushei Torah@NDS.

Jewish Cosmology through the AgesBiblical Period

The main difficulty here is how to read the Bible. Are we to approach the Bible only through the Talmud and Midrash? Do we need to collect some philosophic postulates first? Does Judaism have any dogmas that will influence our understanding? Maimonides did not include anything about cosmology in his famous Thirteen Principles of Faith.1 Are we allowed an allegorical understanding of the biblical text? What are the limits of permissible allegory?2 These are questions to which we shall return in the discussion of later periods when we discuss the views of the Talmudic Sages and later commentators. In any case, it seems that, whatever we do, we will see the Bible through some sort of spectacles.

So, what do we know straight from the Bible? The Genesis story is free of theogony, that is, how gods came into existence. The one God precedes the world, which was created by His will only. Nor does Scripture—at least in its plain meaning—mention any substance that was co-primal and co-eternal with the God.

In the multitude of created objects, we find the stars, the sun, the moon, the earth, and the skies. The most intriguing of all objects in Genesis is raki’a (firmament, skies), which “divides between the upper waters and the lower waters,” and also contains luminaries.3 Since raki’a is mentioned separately from skies (shamayim), it is unclear whether the two terms are synonymous or refer to different entities.4 What , then, is raki’a?

1 Hakdamah lePerek Helek, chapter 5.

2 Rashba forbade excessive use of allegory in his famous excommunication letter of 1305 (Responsa 1:416, 1:415).

3 Genesis 1:14.

4 Discussed already by the Sages in Bereshit Rabba 4:1.

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Regarding raki’a, most commentaries from the Talmudic and medieval periods are divided into two groups. One group sees raki’a as the very same firm sky as shamayim, and it is connected to the skies and their movement. In this group are Rashi, Ramban, Abravanel,5 and also certain Talmudic Sages.

The other group believes that, in spite of the indisputable existence of the firm sky, the word raki’a describes something else. For example, raki’a may mean space, or air between earth and the clouds. Advocating this view, we find Ibn Ezra and Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak).6 Maimonides is also usually put into this group.7 Abravanel, for example, understood that Maimonides saw raki’a as space and brought many arguments against this view. This caused Malbim to refute Abravanel’s arguments at length.8

Malbim summarizes the discussion, concluding that most of the commentators “built castles on a spider’s web,” because they thought that firm skies existed. “And the truth is that the stars are in ether.” Malbim himself has no choice but to accept Maimonides’ view with some modifications: that raki’a is not the entire atmosphere but rather its upper layer. 9

Later books of the Bible name many other celestial bodies, although their exact identification is difficult. It seems that they mention Venus, Saturn, the Pleiades, Orion, the Hyades, Arcturus, meteors, possibly also Jupiter and comets.10 The skies are described as a great tent,11 which also has windows.12

The Bible also mentions columns that support the skies13 — probably only a figure of speech. The same is probably true of the windows that open in the skies.14 The sun and the moon move through the skies and the greatest miracle was stopping them.15 The Earth is described as lying on waters16

5 Abravanel lists five possible explanations of Raki’a. One of them is: "All things that relate to skies."

6 Both in their commentaries on Genesis 1:6. The same view is advocated by the modern Da’at Mikra.

7 Guide for the Perplexed 2:30.

8 Sara Klein-Breslavi in her book Commentary of Rambam to Genesis cites several reconstructions of Maimonides’ position by Narboni, Sem Tov, and Ephodi. All of them thought that the Creation story in Genesis must correspond to Aristotle in Meteorology.

9 Malbim, commentary on Genesis 1:7.

10 Isaiah 14:12, Job 38:7, Amos 5:26, Job 9:9, Job 38:31, Isaiah 65:11, Joel 3:3.

11 Isaiah 40:22.

12 Genesis 7:11.

13 Job, 26:11.

14 Genesis 7:11.

15 Yehoshua 10:12-14.

16 Psalms 136:6.

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or suspended in the void.17 Both images entered into the liturgy.18 The form of the Earth is “chug,” which seemingly means a circle, because “mechugah”19 is an instrument used by carpenters for creating round things.20

Our feeling is that the Bible addresses people, taking into account their level of understanding; this also seems to be the position of Malbim in the introduction to his commentary on the Torah. So, if the sun appears to rotate around the earth, the Bible tells that Yehoshua stopped the sun. So, it is not unnatural that the Bible uses imagery of a firm sky. That having been said, we must admit, that a definitive reconstruction of the biblical view is difficult. See the illustration below for one possible reconstruction by the astronomer Schiaparelli.

17 Job 26:7.

18 The first formula is found in the list of morning blessings; the second appears in poetic stanzas of the Yom Kippur prayer: “Toleh haAaretz al Blimah.”

19 Isaiah 40:22.

20 G. Schiaparelli Astronomy In The Old Testament, 1905 (authorized and corrected translation from Italian) London, Oxford: Oxford at The Clarendon Press, part 2, page 24, note 1.

Heaven, the earth, and the abysses, according to the writes of the Old Testament

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The foregoing is an attempted academic reconstruction of biblical cosmography by a known astronomer J. Schiaparelli.

ABC—Sky tent

ADC—Abyss

AEC—Surface of earth and seas

EEE—Earth

GHG—Supporting firmament

KK—Storage of winds

LL—Water above for rain

M—Air space

NN—Water under the earth

PQP—Place for the dead (sheol)

SS —Sea

xxx — Water sources below from the great abyss

Talmudic PeriodAlthough space does not permit us to introduce a detailed picture of ancient astronomy and cosmology, a bit of background is nevertheless important for an understanding of the environment in which the Talmudic Sages operated. As early as the fifth century BCE, Meton of Athens proposed a 19-year cycle for a lunar-solar calendar similar to the Jewish calendar. Aristotle argued convincingly that the earth is a sphere, because its shadow on the earth during eclipse is always a circle.

Hipparchus in the second century BCE summarized the data on eclipses that had been collected for several centuries in Babylonia and arrived at a rather precise value for the mean lunar month, which we will discuss later. His achievements are known mostly through the works of Ptolemy.

Ptolemy’s main and most important work was published in the second century CE. It describes a geocentric system using epicycles (see below), although ancient mathematicians already knew of an equivalence between epicycles and eccentric orbits established by a theorem of Appolonius of Perga (ca. third century BCE).

Eratosthenes measured the size of the earth in the third century BCE, while Aristarchus of Samos in third century BCE also measured the size of the earth and the distance between the earth and the

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moon. Most remarkable, however, was Aristarchus’s proposal that the earth orbits the sun and not vice versa.

The twentieth century brought a most unexpected development with the discovery of an ancient mechanical calculator based on a clock mechanism. Discovered in 1901 but not understood until decades later, the Antikythera mechanism is still subject to scientific investigation. The author of this article recommends the English Wikipedia article “Antikythera mechanism.” I personally heard about this find for the first time at an NDS developers’ conference in Athens.

UniverseThe Talmud does not contain a systematic description of how our universe is structured, what the skies and stars are, or how exactly they move. It is possible that multiple theories existed and that these ranged from mystical through symbolic to practical. With the notable exception of Philo,21 it seems that Jewish thinkers of the time were not greatly influenced by Greek astronomy. It is certain, however, that Assyrian and Persian astronomy were influential, and this can be seen even in our names for the months.22

The Talmud describes the skies as a firmament. Celestial bodies glide on it,23 producing noise, and even dust. For this reason, we hear better during the night (the night being free of these celestial noises). Above the sky are “upper waters,” and, according to Rabbi Yehoshua, these waters pass through holes in the sky into the clouds and fill them with water. According to another version, water enters the clouds through evaporation from the seas (as we understand the phenomenon today). 24

According to the Talmud, the earth is round and surrounded by water. An aggada tells that, when Alexander the Great climbed to a high place, he saw the ocean as a great platter of water and the earth as a ball in it.25 The Talmudic Sages of blessed memory seem to have thought that the earth had the form of a ball with its lower part immersed in water.26 In the Talmud, the earth is also likened to an eye. The white part is an ocean, the black part is a place of human habitat, and the highest part is Jerusalem.27 Another image of the ocean is as a big plate with a cover.28

21 Here and in many further places the information comes from an article by professor Gad Ben-Ami Tzarfati .Tarbitz 1966, Vol. 35, pages 137-148 )הקוסמוגרפיה התלמודית( ”Talmudic Cosmology“ ,(גד בן–עמי צרפתי )

22 Yerushalmi Rosh haShanah 1:5.

23 Talmud, Yoma 20b and Rashi ad loc.

24 Ta’anit 9b.

25 Yerushalmi Avoda Zara 3:1.

26 Yerushalmi Avoda Zara 3:1.

27 Derech Eretz Zuta, 9.

28 Bereshit Rabba 1.

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This brings us to ask, Where does the sun go at night? The Sages compare two theories: their own and that of “the wise men of the nations.” The Sages suppose that, at night, the sun returns to its original place above the sky, whereas the wise men of the nations think that the earth returns to its place under the earth. The Talmud concedes that the wise men of the nations were closer to the truth. It is interesting to ponder the Sages’ final argument: The wise men of the nations are closer to the truth, because natural springs (i.e., water from the earth) are warmer at night than during the day.29 This shows that the sun somehow heats the water from under the earth at night. From this argument, we see that the Talmudic Sages did not grasp all the details of the geocentric model. Here, for instance, their reasoning shows that they did not understand the relativity of up and down on the spherical earth.

Elsewhere, the Talmudic model of the sun’s movement is described in greater detail. According to Rabbi Eliezer, the sun travels to the southwest corner of the sky, where there is a hole, and returns horizontally through the North. According to Rabbi Yehoshua, the sun travels upward and returns to its starting place above [opaque] skies.30 Since the sun rises and sets in a different place each day, Rabbi Yehoshua provides more detail: There are 365 windows for the sun—182 of them to the east and 182 to the west. And there is one more window, through which the sun was introduced originally at the time of the creation. 31

In a known series of Talmudic stories, Rabba bar bar-Khanna actually sees these windows:

"Once an Arab asked me if I wanted to see a place of meeting between the earth and the skies. I arrived there and saw windows. I put my basket on one of the windows and prayed. My basket disappeared. I wondered, if there were thieves there. But the Arab explained that the basket disappeared due to the rotation of the skies."32

Rashi explains that this story follows the opinion of the wise men of the nations: that the celestial bodies are embedded in the firmament and rotate with it, whereas the Jewish Sages thought that the celestial bodies move upon the skies. One of the skies is Raki’a, and it contains the sun, the moon, and the stars.33 But, in at least one place, the Talmudic Sages share the notion: “Stars slide over the firmament, which stays still. And some [of the Sages] say that it is the firmament moving together with the stars fixed on it”. 34

In short, although the Talmud puts the earth in the center of the universe, the Talmudic view differs from the Ptolemaic system in two respects: (1) the Talmud posits a different path for the sun, (2) The Talmud is unsure whether the sky moves together with the stars or whether the stars glide over it.

29 Pesahim 94-95.

30 Baba Batra 25a–b.



33 Hagigah 12b

34 Avot deRabbi Natan, edition bet, chapter 43 (Schechter edition, page 120).

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On certain points, however, the Talmud is more advanced than Ptolemy. The Talmud says that there are many worlds, as many as18,000. 35 The Talmud also mentions stars that give no light.36

Practical AstronomyThe main task that required the Sages to have an understanding of the cosmos was maintaining a correct lunar-solar calendar. This demands good knowledge of the mean length of the lunar month. In the standard version of the Babylonian Talmud, it is said that Rabban Gamliel the Second knew the Lunar period to be 29 days 12 hours and 793/1080 of an hour. Rabban Gamliel knew this by tradition handed down to him by his grandfather.37 The same value appears in Ptolemy and apparently before that in Hipparchus38 and even before.39 These astronomers explained how they managed to get this value. They took the time between eclipses.40

The Greeks and the Chaldeans expressed the value in a numeric system based on fractions of 60 as 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes 3 seconds and 20/60 (i.e., 1/3) of a second. It is quite easy to see that the number is the same:

793/1080 x 60 minutes = 44 minutes with a remainder of 1/18 of a minute

1/18 x 60 seconds = 3.3 seconds

Thus, 793/1080 of an hour = 44 minutes and 3.3 seconds

The Talmud does not conceal that Rabban Gamliel was permitted to study Greek wisdom.41 However, it seems that the Babylonians had arrived at the same value some 200 years before Hipparchus,42 who lived some 200 years before Rabban Gamliel and Ptolemy.

35 Avodah Zarah 3b.

36 Pesahim 2A.

37 Rosh haShanah 25a.

38 The astronomer Hipparchus is much less famous than Ptolemy, although most of Ptolemy’s teaching originates in the work of Hipparchus. Hipparchus was a Greek who lived in Egypt in the second century BCE. He was an astronomer and mathematician who made many precise measurements and learned for the first time how to predict solar eclipses. It seems he discovered the earth’s precession, made a catalog of fixed stars, and had many other achievements.

39 Bernard Goldstein, “Ancient and Medieval Values for the Mean Synodic Month,” Journal for the History of Astronomy, 2003, vol. 34, pages 56–74.

40 Encylopedia Britannica 1902.

41 Sota 49b.

42 Bernard Goldstein, “On The Babylonian Discovery of the Periods of Lunar Motion,” Journal for the History of Astronomy, 2002, vol. 33, pages 1–13.

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The most advanced astronomer in Jewish Babylonia was Shmuel, who even received the nickname Yarchinai, “the moon man.” Shmuel was able to compute the calendar 60 years ahead,43 discussed astronomy with Babylonians,44 and proclaimed that he knew the stars of the sky as he knew the palm of his hand, with one exception: zikin or kochva deshavit. He may be referring to meteors or comets.45 Other Sages of the Talmud proposed explanations for these phenomena, explanations such as “a light from the other side is seen through a crack in the sky.” This explanation shows that, in Shmuel’s time, the Sages (or some of them at least) still thought that the sky was a solid body and not transparent.

Shmuel’s teachings are known to us from “Baraita deShmuel,”46 which has data even for the year 766,47 which may mean that the baraita contains material added after Shmuel’s death.

The Talmud also provides an original explanation for lunar phases: Two clouds are located near the earth and periodically cover it.48 The Talmud contains other interesting astronomical hypotheses: that there are many stars,49 that some of them do not produce light,50 that the Pleiades cluster has some 100 stars (the modern value is 800).51 Rabbi Yehoshua also mentions a star that comes once every 70 years,52 which may be Halley’s comet.

Discussions between Traditional Talmudists and Scientifically Oriented Rabbis

Starting with the period of the Geonim (roughly 600 CE to 1000 CE) and later, Jews were greatly influenced by the flowering of Islamic civilization. All rabbis who studied the sciences and philosophy at the time, were well versed in “Almagest,” Ptolemy’s geocentric account of the cosmos. The list includes Maimonides, Gersonides (Rabbi Levi ben Gershon), Hasdai Crescas, and Yosef Albo. In the twelfth century, Ptolemy’s system was explained for the first time in Hebrew by Avraham bar-Hiyya in France. Incidentally, Avraham bar-Hiyya also wrote a mathematics textbook in Hebrew. This textbook gained popularity in Europe in its Latin translation.53

43 Hullin 95b.

44 Shabbat 156b.

45 Berakhot 58b.

46 Pirke deRabbi Eliezer, chapters 6–7.

47 Bernard Goldstein, “Astronomy and the Jewish Community in Early Islam,” Aleph, 2001, V. 1, Pages 17–57.

48 Yalkut Shimoni, Job 38:9.

49 Berakhot 32b.

50 Pesahim 2a.

51 Berakhot 48a–b, Rosh haShanah 11b.

52 Horayot 10a.

53 Colette Sirat, A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press (November 30, 1990), Chapter 3.

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Sa’adiya Gaon mentions views of Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Eliezer from the Talmud. These two Sages agreed that the opaque sky conceals the sun’s return to its point of origin each night. And Sa’adiya added: But nowadays it is usual to think that both the earth and the sky are like balls, and the earth is like a point inside the sky, and the sun is not seen at night because it is on the other side of the globe.54

Similar statements are found in the writings of Rav Shrira Gaon and Rav Hai Gaon.55 Rabbenu Chananel, on the other hand, remained loyal to the Talmudic view and states in his commentary to the tractate Pesahim that, “nowadays star gazers negate the Talmudic views, but we do not think like them and remain true to the Talmud.”56

More or less the same tendencies continued during the period of the Rishonim (eleventh to fifteenth century CE). Maimonides wrote:

“You must, however, not expect that everything our Sages say respecting astronomical matters should agree with observation, for mathematics were not fully developed in those days, and their statements were not based on the authority of the prophets, but on the knowledge that either they themselves possessed or derived from contemporary men of science. But I will not on that account denounce what they say correctly in accordance with real fact, as untrue or accidentally true.”57

Maimonides ascribed the friction—mentioned in the Talmud—of the sun against the sky, to the influence of the Pythagorean school of thought:

“The Pythagoreans believed that the sounds [generated by this friction] were pleasant, and, though loud, had the same proportions to each other as the musical notes. They also explained why these mighty and tremendous sounds are not heard by us. This belief is also widespread in our nation. Thus our Sages describe the greatness of the sound produced by the sun in the daily circuit in its orbit.”58

On the other hand, Maimonides supposed that ancient Jewish wisdom was lost, as the verse says of the sons of Issachar.59 One of Maimonides’ central ideas was that the truth can prove itself and that it is of no matter whether it was discovered by Jewish scientists or Greek scientists.60

54 Commentary of Sa’adiya Gaon to “Sefer Yetzirah,” Lambert edition, Paris, 1891, pages 49–50.

55 Otzar Geonim, Pesahim, p. 88.

56 Pesahim 94a–b.

57 Guide for the Perplexed, 3:14 in translation of M. Friedlander.

58 Guide for the Perplexed, 2:8 in translation of M. Friedlander.

59 1 Chronicles 12:20.

60 Mishneh Torah, Laws of the New Month, 17:24.

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Illustrations to Maimonides’ Code, "Laws of Month Sanctification." The name of the illustrator is unknown.

Phases of earth explained Movements by epicycles Eccentric movement instead of Kepler’s ellipses

Despite the spread of astronomical knowledge, some authors still held to the old Talmudic theory that the sun disappears behind the opaque skies. Some authors even applied this approach in detail, calculating the time necessary for the sun to pass through the tunnel in the skies until it is completely hidden. Such a notion was used for practical calculations by the most prominent of the Tosafists, Rabbenu Tam. He is cited also by Rashba (Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet),61 who also bore witness that the same views were held by Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman).62

Contradictions between the Talmudic views and the views of astronomers active during the time of the Rishonim were acknowledged by some authorities such as Rabbi Moshe ben Avraham di Boton, the author of the Lehem Mishneh commentary to Maimonides’ code “Yad haHazakah.” Rabbi Moshe ben Avraham di Boton wondered why Rabbenu Tam and his followers still used the theory of the twilight tunnel in the skies when the Talmudic Sages themselves had relinquished the theory.63

During the time of the Rishonim, Jewish scientists made many significant contributions to astronomy. Isaac ben Sid and Yehuda ben Moshe Cohen produced astronomical tables for Castilian King Alfonso the Wise. These tables were called “Alfonsinian tables” and were used extensively. Somewhat later, Avraham Zaccutto produced tables used, for example, by Vasco da Gama.64

In the mystical literature of the medieval period, we find a thesis that the earth is a ball, and people live on every side of it. Later some authors apologetically tried to ascribe to the Zohar the notion of the earth rotating on its axis, but historical studies do not support this attribution.65

61 Rashba, Shabbat 34b.

62 Mentioned by Maggid Mishneh (R. Vidal), on Mishneh Torah, Laws of Shabbat 5:4.

63 Lehem Mishneh, commentary on Laws of Shabbat 5:4. Similar criticism was also found later, for instance, by Rabbi Abraham Cohen Pimentel (?-1697) in Minhat Cohen, chapter “Mevo haShemesh,” 1:4: “Rabbenu Tam’s point of view is against reason and intuition, because the sun goes under the earth at night.”

64 J. Chabas and B. R. Goldstein, The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo, Springer, 2003.

65 Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Horovitz (1765–1821), Sefer ha-Berit .

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For and against AristotleFor all major religions, Aristotle’s system held a special place in the natural philosophy of the time. The most important proponent of these views was Maimonides, especially in his The Guide for the Perplexed. Maimonides supposed that the skies mentioned in the Bible are nine, a figure that corresponds well with the writings of the Greek scientists. The nine skies are: Shamaim, Raki’a, Zvul, Aravot, etc. Contrary to the Talmudic view, there is no space between the spheres.66 The substance of these spheres differs from all other materials on earth.67 The visible movement of the spheres is used by Maimonides to prove God’s existence:

“He controls the sphere with infinite and unbounded power. This power [continues] without interruption, because the sphere is constantly revolving, and it is impossible for it to revolve without someone causing it to revolve. [That one is] He, blessed be He, who causes it to revolve without a hand or any [other] corporeal dimension.”68

The spheres are one inside another and their hierarchy is associated with the hierarchy of angels. The spheres are animated, and each has a corresponding angel that moves it.

Rabbi Levi ben Gershon (Gersonides) was a prominent scientist, mostly famous as an astronomer and mathematician. He invented a new instrument, made many measurements, and even corrected Ptolemy. Gersonides also planned special measurements to check the correctness of theories, which was very unusual. He expressed agreement with Ptolemy and Aristotle, but in reality, Gersonides modified their theories considerably. Like Maimonides, he denounced epicycles,69 but he brought his own proofs against them: First of all, physics demands that there must be a body in the center of the epicycle; however, these hypothetical bodies have never caused an eclipse. Gersonides’ second refutation of epicycles holds that, if the earth moves by epicycles, we should see it from all sides, but we do not. On the other hand, Gersonides also rejected an attempt by Al-Bitrujji to build an astronomical theory on homocentric spheres only. The theory was invalidated, he argued, by the changes in the angular size of the moon and sun. So, Gersonides preferred a theory based on eccentric spheres. Maimonides describes the impossible picture of eccentric spheres with their centers in different places and no space between them. Gersonides supposed that there must be space between them, but since there could be no vacuum, the space was filled with primordial liquid, “substance that does not keep its form.” This liquid also isolates the movement of spheres. Gersonides also demanded that any valid astronomical theory must also explain changes in the brightness of celestial bodies. He put an end to the notion that astronomy is a part of mathematics only. Under Gersonides’ influence, astronomy was understood to also be a part of physics.70

66 Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Yesodei Torah, chapter 3.

67 Ibid., chapter 2.

68 Ibid., chapter 1.

69 Double rotating movement, when a body rotates around some point, which in turn rotates around another point.

70 R. Mancha and G. Freudenthal, “Levi ben Gershom's Criticism of Ptolemy's Astronomy,” Aleph: Historical Studies in Science and Judaism, Indiana University Press, 2005, vol. 5, no. 2, pages 35–167.

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Near Earth Universe according to Ralbag. Drawn by anonymous virtual friend from Wiki “Kaidor”—non-Jewish

and non-believer. Another amazing example of mutual help in Wiki. Creative Commons Attribution-Share

Alike 3.0 Unported

Jacob’s staff by Ralbag

Earth

Moon

Mercury

Subluminal fluid

Superluminal fluid

Lower layer of meteorsComets' layer

Lunar sphere

Sphere of Mercury

Punctured line meansLayers without movement betweenin opposite directionstreams of fluid

Legend

From the 17th century book for navigation. The main axis

points to one star, while the line AC is to another star. BC can

slide along the main axis, which has a scale to read angles.

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It is of interest that Gersonides discusses the possibility of the earth moving, though he brings a mathematical argument against it: The relative movement of the moon and the sun proves that there is a movement in the skies, so one cannot explain it by movement of the earth, as “some people thought.” In other words: Every month we see that the moon appears as a small orb behind the earth, moving in the same direction, but more slowly. As the month proceeds, the gap between the moon and the sun grows. After approximately 30 days, the moon is found in front of the sun, and then it disappears for one night and starts behind the earth again. Gersonides wrote in his Commentary to Torah that there is a moral lesson learned from movement of the skies: “Their movement prevents idolizing the sun and the moon, which would be possible if the earth were moving!”71

As a physicist, Gersonides also relinquished the Aristotelian notion that some elements have weightiness and some have lightness. He asserted that their order is determined by relative weightiness.72 He also gave an interesting estimation of distance to the stars; in our units, it is 100,000 light-years.73

These ideas passed to the next great medieval Jewish thinker—Rabbi Hasdai Crescas. Although Hasdai Crescas was a very sharp critic of Gersonides, Maimonides, and Aristotle, he differed from other Jewish critics of Aristotle in his complete command of Aristotle’s writings. Crescas uses Aristotle’s own weapons to attack him. Inter alia, Crescas arrived at many conclusions considered unorthodox for his time: that a vacuum can exist, that space and time preceded bodies and were not created by them, that space and time are continuous and infinite. Crescas was virtually alone in allowing multiple and even perhaps infinite worlds supervised by God in space and time.74 Later Crescas was criticized by followers of Maimonides.75

Copernicus and the JewsHistorically, Jews considered Greek de facto influence something undesirable and even dangerous. Such influences were sometimes on the brink of full prohibition. For example, in 1305, Rashba threatened to excommunicate anyone who studied philosophy before reaching the age of twenty five.76 This may explain why the Copernican theory (1543) did not initially meet resistance in the Jewish world—although there were those who found that it contradicted the Bible—whereas

71 Ralbag Commentary on the Torah, ed. B. Braner and Carmiel Cohen, 2000, vol. 5, pages 378–379 and note 59, also vol. 1, pages 327–329 (courtesy of Rabbi Baruch Braner, who is responsible for a new edition of Ralbag’s commentary published by the Yeshiva of Ma’ale-Adumim).

72 R. Glasner, “Gersonides's Theory of Natural Motion,” Early Science and Medicine, 1996, vol. 1, no. 2, pages 151–203.

73 Bernard R. Goldstein, “The Physical Astronomy of Levi ben Gerson,” Perspectives on Science, 1997, vol.5, pages 1–30.

74 G. McColley, “The Seventeenth-Century Doctrine of a Plurality of Worlds,” Annals of Science, 1936, vol. 1, pages 385–430.

75 Warren Zev Harvey, Rabbi Hasdai Crescas (in Hebrew), Jerusalem, 2010, Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History.

76 Rashba, Responsa 1:415–416.

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Galileo was convicted by the Church of breaking the law when he asserted that Copernicus was right. Copernicus himself wrote his book very cautiously as if his heliocentric system was merely a model for making better calculations. In any case, the book appeared after his death so he himself was definitely out of danger.

The first book in Hebrew to mention a new system of cosmology was The Well of the Diaspora (1593) by Maharal of Prague. Maharal did not mention Copernicus by name but discussed the new master of astronomy who “turned it upside down.” According to Maharal, the appearance of a totally new system disproved the reliability of scientific knowledge altogether; even astronomy turned out to be incorrect!77

Geocentric System in Gans’s books with classic four elements and nine spheres

Copernicus was first mentioned by name in Hebrew by David Gans (1541-1613, Gans’s astronomical books are Magen David and Nechmad veNa’im) also from Prague. Gans, who held Copernicus in the highest esteem, worked together with Tycho Brahe, who remained a geocentrist but developed his own theory that other planets revolve around the sun, while the sun revolves around the earth. Kinematically, this theory worked as well as the theory of Copernicus, except that it could not explain the parallax of stars. But the parallax could not be measured before invention of the telescope. It is of interest that Tycho Brahe calculated orbits of several comets and arrived at a revolutionary conclusion that there were no solid skies or spheres since comets passed through them without any difficulty.

77 Here and further used an article by Noah J. Efron, “Jewish Thought and Scientific Discovery in Early Modern Europe,” Journal of the History of Ideas, Oct. 1997, vol. 58, no. 4, pages 719–732.

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Thus, Tycho even told Gans that the Talmudic Sages were more right than the ancient Greeks: It is not a sphere that drags stars fixed on it; to the contrary, the stars move by themselves.

Gans wrote the most advanced Hebrew book of astronomy of his time. There he describes all three known scientific systems: Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, and Copernicus. The reader is left to decide for himself which system is most correct. Gans may well have believed that science is a competition of ideas and that, from time to time, we must make choices.

The next Jewish author was Yosef Delmedigo (1591-1655, author of “Eilim”) who studied at the University of Padua and worked with Galileo himself. He even called his master Rabbi Galileo. In his books, Delmedigo was absolutely certain that only fools could not see that Copernicus was right.78

Subsequent Jewish literature is of the 18th century, and it is mostly positive towards Copernicus: Sefer Yeshua beIsrael of Rabbi Yacov ben Yosef of Rozhana, Netzach Israel of Israel Halevy, Giv’at ha-More by Solomon Maimon, and Amudei Shamayim of Baruch Shik. Shik did much for popularization of science in Hebrew, but Shik himself learned of Copernicus only when he arrived in Berlin from Eastern Europe. Shik’s late initiation to the Copernican theory seems to have resulted in considerable embarrassment.

Negation of Copernicus or restraint regarding his theory is still found in several books. Thus, Esh Dat by David Nieto, whose main target was sabbatian heresy, disproves Copernicus by an old argument that Yehoshua bin-Nun stopped the sun and not the earth. On the bright side, Nieto was ready to believe in extra-terrestrial life, such willingness being quite unusual.

Rabbi Raphael Halevy in his book Sefer Techunot ha-Shamaim (1756) still uses the Ptolemaic system, although he agrees that the new system is more convenient.

Another rejection of Copernicus can be found in the responsa of Rabbi Yaakov Reischer (1661-1733), who remarks in passing, “And not hear their [scientists’] views, since they think that the earth is a ball—against what is written in our Talmud in Hagiga, chapter 2.”79

Negative to the extreme was the attitude of Rabbi Tuvia Hacohen of Metz in his book Ma’ase Tuvia. He even called Copernicus “the firstborn of the Devil!” He based this opinion on the verse in Ecclesiastes (1:4) that “…The earth eternally stands.” The same author quoted also from the Sages80 that the Hebrew word for earth (eretz) comes from the verb ratz (run) because the earth runs to fulfill the will of the Creator. However, he was not certain how to explain this statement.

Ma’ase Tuvia was essentially the last attack on Copernicus, although later some authorities said that it did not really matter who was right since everything is relative. Nevertheless, there were still some

78 Here and later, the following article by André Neher was used: “Copernicus in the Hebraic Literature from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century,” Journal of the History of Ideas, 1977, vol. 38, no. 2 (April–June), pages 211–226.

79 Shevut Yaakov 2:20.

80 Bereshit Rabba 5:8.

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last Mohicans, like Hatam Sopher (1762–1839), who were not sure whether to be for or against Copernicus: “I have no evidence to disprove Copernicus or to disprove the opposite side, because there are strong arguments on both sides.”81

According to some sources, Hazon Ish was not sure which system was correct, but permitted acceptance of Copernicus’s view.82

Still later Rabbis sometimes hold that, according to relativity theory, there is no real difference between geocentric and heliocentric systems.83

Modern TimesNowadays, the Orthodox world can be quite critical of science. Nevertheless, virtually no one attempts to use the original Talmudic system. Bible verses with geocentric connotations are usually explained in allegorical fashion or mystically. Another important approach is that we must pay attention not to the details but to the main idea or the message.

Actually, the Talmud itself asserts that the Torah uses “the language of people.”84 In the period of the Rishonim, this principle was extended to anthropomorphic passages.85 In modern times, some thinkers have proposed extending it to all geocentric passages.86 Such an extension results in the thesis that the Torah does not propose geocentric views but uses such images illustratively, appealing to what people think.

Sometimes there are attempts to build a common picture of creation that can be harmonized with both the Bible and science. One of the latest examples is the book “In the Beginning” by Nathan Aviezer. Aviezer freely interprets the days of the creation as long periods. Raki’a can be interpreted as a space, elongation, or even gravity.

Some specific relics of geocentric views can be found in Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson’s views. His thesis is that the Torah is of central importance, and it is connected to our earth. As such, it practically excludes the possibility of human-like intelligence elsewhere. Since there are many reports of planets outside our Solar System, Rabbi Schneerson’s view may some day be verifiable.

81 Kovetz Teshuvot 26.

82 Chaim Rappaport 5769 ( אור ישראל ) ,והארץ לעולם עומדת, В. Nissan, 14:3. Cited by Rabbi Marc D. Angel, Maimonides, Spinoza, and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism, October, 2009, Jewish Lights Publishing, page 197.

83 Rabbi M. M. Schneerson, “Iggrot Kodesh”, vol. 7, p. 134 (letter #1996) (in Yiddish). Also “Likutei Sihot”, Additions to Bereshit, page 269, Letter of 14 Adar, 5717.

84 Nedarim 3a.

85 Guide for the Perplexed 1:26.

86 “Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Horovitz (1765–1821). Sefer haBerit in Our Times” lecture of Prof. Uriel Simon (courtesy of M. Kara-Ivanov).

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From time to time, a declaration is published whereby some contemporary rabbi still opposes Copernicus. Nevertheless, it seems that no contemporary authority has issued a full prohibition against believing that the earth circles the sun (for example, R. Ganot in Birkat Hachamah Betekufotehah attributes such a view to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky).

SummaryWe have surveyed how Jewish views on the universe developed through the ages against the backdrop and constant influence of their cultural environment and contemporary science. An ancient Assyro-Babylonian system was replaced by a Greek system, not without a struggle. And the Greek system was replaced with relative ease (relative to the Christian reception) by the Copernican system.

ConclusionThe history of Jewish cosmological views is an interesting story that reveals versatile and changing attitudes to “foreign” science. It seems that a close reading leaves no place for the myth of a vast, concealed, or lost body of ancient Jewish knowledge on the subject. In other words, we now know how to answer the “keruvnick,” and if we decide, nevertheless, to embrace the practice of Judaism we shall do it for the right reasons.

Levi Kitrossky was born on Moscow in 1958. He studied theoretical chemistry at Moscow

University. Levi's interest in Judaism was sparked during his life as a Refusenik. Levi has

been living in Israel from 1987 and is married to Miriam. They they have 7 children. He

is a cofounder of Machanaim - Jewish Heritage Center for Russian Speaking Jews. Levi

works in the SDS line of NDS. This is his seventh contribution to Chidushei Torah @ NDS.

[email protected]

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Cosmology In Judaism