The Torah is Not A Science Book – or Is It?

BS”D

1) Hashem created human beings in His image.

2) Scientists have found a strong possibility of an altruism gene which manifests itself in human beings as early as 18 months of age.

What is the connection between these two sentences?

Well, it all depends. To a supposedly rational scientist out to prove that human beings are just advanced apes with instincts programmed into them which ensure survival, then sentence 2) is the ultimate truth which proves sentence 1) false.

But for we who believe in Hashem and His Torah, sentence 2) is just a scientific way of stating part of sentence 1). And even when we deal with the findings of such a gene in animals, we have no problems, for we know that Hashem created an orderly world in which all species are commanded to reproduce and fill the world, so that destroying one’s self is not the proper path even for animals that live solely by instinct and have no free will (bechira chofshis).

Indeed, when we, as Torah Jews, look at much scientific research through the G-d given lens of Torah, with which we understand the entire world, we can easily see that scientists are often proving Torah, albeit by showing the mechanism via which Hashem’s creation proves the very Torah that is the blueprint for this creation.

On the one hand, the Torah is not a science book.

One of my closest friends is a baal korei, and I do not envy him as he has to lain Torah in a loud shul full of people who B”H are making their first steps toward Yiddishkeit and often do not understand that it is not proper to talk or leave during krias haTorah.

Now, if he had to read out loud every scientific process, in loshon hakoidesh, that Hashem used to create the world, as well as the scientific processes behind, say the 10 makkois, he and I would not be friends anymore because I would leave and talk during kriah too instead of my politely trying to get people to listen to his laining!

But, on the other hand – hafoich bo vehafoich bo vekuloi bo also means that the Torah is the blueprint and the guide for every science book out there that is worth anything, and the blueprint for every scientific discovery that explains how creation works in such a way that it helps us truly act betzelem Elokim – in Hashem’s image – by showing us how we can replicate the processes of creation and take advantage of the greatness of human creation to improve society, to cure disease, to invent things that in essence show that Hashem is truly “mekadesh betuvoi kol yom maaseh Bereishis”.

We are supposed to be partners in creation, and when science is examined properly with a Torah viewpoint, it only proves Torah correct. Of course, there are discrepancies – evolution as now understood does not mesh with Torah, and there is debate as to the nature of a “day” and therefore the age of the earth.

But this does not matter so long as science is harnessed to create and not to destroy. If we understand how Hashem made a cell divide so perfectly, we can rise to the challenge of an improperly dividing cell, whether that happens for a reason only Hashem can understand at present or whether it actually turns out to be our own improper creations, such as pollutants and radiation, that cause the uncontrolled cell division which is behind the most insidious disease of today.

On the other hand, if people, and particularly am Yisroel, look to the findings of science as a way of chas vesholom disproving Torah, and/or scientists concentrate on methods of destruction or fleeting pleasure (such as L”A atomic bombs, or resources being directed to superficialities such as adding yet another scent to those now available for laundry bleach or air freshener), then science is falling very short of its true nature, which is the ultimate service of Hashem through better understanding His creation so as to allow humankind to renew it, and instead is being misdirected to serve the sitra achra, the yetzer horo.

While we bnei Torah may not be in the forefront of science, we can play an important role by understanding and explaining science not as chas vesholom a contradiction to Torah and Hashem, but as the way in which bnei Adam can best understand and therefore contribute to the process of creation as is meant to be our goal on Earth.

It is only when the world serves Hashem through creation that we are serving our purpose on this world. And by making the world, and especially our fellow Jew, understand that science only proves the power and creation of Hashem, we are filling the world with knowledge of Hashem.

And when Hashem sees us doing a good enough job of that, it will bring Moshiach here one step faster, and then it will be very clear that the Torah is not just a science book, but the ultimate science book of all science books.