Is the creation of time, gravity or other natural orders discussed in the the Torah or rabbinic literature? I was thinking that bereishit could infer a beginning to time. Is this correct? If so are there other phenomenon that can be inferred from the Torah?
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Time was created right at the beginning.– shmoselSep 19 at 16:28
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Precisely how we know it was created!– ShababnikSep 19 at 16:40
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@Shababnik I don't think any one knows. All we can know is that God was some how involved with the creation.– Turk HillSep 19 at 16:57
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Just thinking, doesn't this have to do with the three elements? Sefer Yetzira talks about them– ShmuelSep 19 at 17:15
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There is a gemara or midrash where some heretics mock the idea that Hashem created the universe, claiming "if He is eternal, why did He create it when He did, and not before?" and they are answered that Hashem created time itself, so there was no before.– Rabbi KaiiSep 19 at 17:24
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2 Answers
According to Rav Nachman, time was created immediately after the "tzimtzum" occured. Refer to Likutei Moharan, 64:4:
Know, too, that dispute is the aspect of Creation. For the world was created mainly by means of the Vacated Space, as explained above. This is because without it there would have been nothing but Ein Sof, with no place for the creation of the world, as explained above. He therefore contracted the Light to the sides, and the Vacated Space was made. Within it He created the entire creation—i.e., time and space—by means of the spoken word, as explained above: “By the word of God the heavens were made….”
This seems to align with the words of the Rambam, in his Moreh Nevuchim (Part 2, 30:2).
The Universe has not been created out of an element that preceded it in time, since time itself formed part of the Creation. For this reason Scripture employs the term “bereshit” (in a principle), in which the beth is a preposition denoting “in.” The true explanation of the first verse of Genesis is as follows: “In [creating] a principle G-d created the beings above and the things below.” This explanation is in accordance with the theory of the Creation.
So, according to the Rambam, time itself was included in the creation of the universe.
The Rambam mentions "time". He does cite some sources, I think in Chullin, but I am not sure where he got it from. He says:
We find that some of our Sages are reported to have held the opinion that time existed before the Creation. But this report is very doubtful, because the theory that time cannot be imagined with a beginning, has been taught by Aristotle, as I showed you, and is objectionable.
[...] I told you that the foundation of our faith is the belief that G-d created the Universe from nothing; that time did not exist previously, but was created: for it depends on the motion of the sphere, and the sphere has been created.
See also the commentary "Crescas" on this Moreh Nevuchim by Rabbi Asher ben Abraham Crescas where it also echoes the idea that time itself was part of the creation of the universe:
כי הזמן מכלל הנמצאות, ר"ל שהוא נברא בהבראות הגלגל שהוא מתנועע:
When it comes to natural order, one should not limit oneself to what the Sages said. The Talmud itself tells us this:
The Jewish Sages say [this about an astronomy matter] and the sages of the nations say [that]. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: And the statement of the sages of the nations appears to be more accurate than our statement. [Pesachim 94b]
The Midrash adds:
If someone says to you: ‘There is wisdom among the nations,’ believe it... [If:] ‘There is Torah among the nations,’ do not believe it. [Echah Rabbah 2:13]
answered Sep 19 at 20:21
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There is an entire book with adaptations from teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on evolution, science etc... The Rebbe would say: Anyone who follows the developments in the secular scientific world in recent generations will notice that the conclusions of secular science are progressively converging to the conclusions of our Torah Igrot Kodesh, vol. 16, p. 26. Isn't the natural order also created by G-d!– ShmuelSep 19 at 20:27