12
votes
Accepted
Why are Oats Chametz if oats cannot rise
There is no special Talmudic dispensation regarding oats.
The Mishna lists a grain called שבולת שועל as able to become Chametz. Most Rishonim don't identify that grain with what we call oats. Some ...
- 97.2k
12
votes
Accepted
The Netziv on Evolution
I believe it is referring to Ha'amek Davar to Bereishit 7:23, although note that he ultimately rejects this view and believes that the fossils are of antediluvian creatures belonging to our "world", ...
- 41.6k
11
votes
Who is worthy of reciting the blessing "שנתן מחכמתו לבשר ודם" on?
R' Eliezer Melamed, in an essay about this blessing and a related one for Torah scholars on the Beit-El Yeshiva website, formulates the standard thus:
חכם מחכמי אומות העולם שידוע כחכם וגאון באחד מן ...
- 47.7k
10
votes
Accepted
Source for Seforno that the Earth was tilted at the time of the Flood
The Seforno (c.1500) writes this in is commentary to Genesis (8:22):
עוד כל ימי הארץ זרע וקציר וקור וחום וקיץ וחורף ויום ולילה לא ישבותו. "לא ישבותו" מלהתמיד על אותו האופן בלתי טבעי שהגבלתי להם אחר ...
- 35.4k
10
votes
Building a Mikva Upstairs
There is no Halachic issue
SA YD 201.7 Rema
הגה: מותר לעשותו על הגג ובלבד שלא יהיה תוך כלי או אבן אחת שחקקו ולבסוף קבעו אבל חבור אבנים הרבה לא מקרי כלי (תשובת הרשב"א סימן ת"ת):
Its allowed ...
- 22.7k
9
votes
Is it heresy to read the Bible literally?
the quote about what Rav Saadia Gaon believed regarding literal vs. non-literal interpretation is correct but incomplete. After he writes "it is a well known fact that every statement found in the ...
9
votes
Searching for a story with the Rav's comment about the scientist
From here:
I once heard a great story about Rav Solovetchick, from R’ Motty
Berger of Aish. Isidor Rabi developed a theory in the 30’s that was a
harbinger of the Big Bang theory. Arno Penzias ...
- 49k
9
votes
Is there any evidence that Chazal knew what caused eclipses?
I found discussion of eclipses in the g'mara, but not of the science of them. On Sukkah 29a the g'mara first discusses eclipses as omens (all bad). It then turns to causes:
The Sages taught that on ...
- 56.4k
8
votes
How did they breathe during the plague of darkness?
I'll assume from your comments you will find the following a possible answer.
Torah Temimah in chapter 10 #2 raises a few points.
Chazzal said the darkness was as thick as a dinar. What can that ...
- 33.3k
8
votes
Do the Torah codes offer scientific proof that the Torah is supernatural?
I think there’s a bigger problem with Torah Codes than the one Al Berko mentioned; namely, even if we were guaranteed accuracy in our Sifrei Torah, we would have this problem.
That problem is that ...
- 34.1k
8
votes
Accepted
“As many as the stars in the sky”- literally or allegorically?
As I wrote in this answer:
According to Ralbag (Commentary to Parshas Lech Lecha), the promise was not that Avraham's descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Rather the promise was that they ...
- 49k
8
votes
How can constant creation of new stars explained theologically?
They are not created, they are formed by means of the natural laws from preexisting matter. This has nothing to do with yesh mai-ayin (creation from nothing) which occurred at the very beginning.
...
- 42.9k
8
votes
Believing Universe to be older than 6k years K'firah (heresy)?
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, wrote a series of letters to one of his students, Dr. Moshe Zeidel, regarding Torah and science. In letter 91 (numbering per ...
- 24.8k
7
votes
Is it heresy to read the Bible literally?
I wrote to Rabbi Sacks and he said that he believes the story of Adam and Eve to be true, but that he did not have the time to explain it to Richard Dawkins in the debate. He, therefore, suggested ...
- 1,246
7
votes
Gr"A stating that Africa is [at] the South Pole
In my Mikraos Gedolos, I see the following quote (it's in his commentary to I:1:4):
שם נטל חלק שליש במזרחי והוא אפריקי. וחם ויפת חלקו המערבי לשנים: חם נטל חלק הדרומי והוא אזיע, ויפת הצפוני והוא ...
- 34.1k
7
votes
Websites or books about the Torah and history of the world
The Challenge of Creation by R. Natan Slifkin
Torah, Chazal, and Science by R. Moshe Meiselman
These two books contain very different approaches; in fact, the latter may be considered largely a ...
- 49k
7
votes
Why did Rambam include scientific explanations in the first chapters of Mishne Torah?
The Rambam addresses the reason for the first 4 chapters at the end of chapter 4:
וְעִנְיְנֵי אַרְבָּעָה פְּרָקִים אֵלּוּ שֶׁבְּחָמֵשׁ מִצְוֹת הָאֵלּוּ
הֵם שֶׁחֲכָמִים הָרִאשׁוֹנִים קוֹרְאִין אוֹתוֹ ...
- 1,978
7
votes
Believing Universe to be older than 6k years K'firah (heresy)?
Definitely not. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a single rishon who was a Young Earth Creationist.
The Ramban says that Bereishis 1:1 describes creation yeish mei'ayin (ex nihilo; something ...
- 9,368
7
votes
Accepted
Chazal contradicting science
This is a very broad and complex topic, with multiple opinions in every direction, and the practical halacha depends on the topic being studied. Entire books have been written on it, so it is not easy ...
- 47.5k
6
votes
The Plague of Darkness
I have no backing for this novel idea, but here goes:
Modern science of the past century has taught us that light consists of photons. These are packets of energy that act like particles in many ...
- 322
6
votes
Accepted
Seeking a particular book on Science vs. Halacha
You are probably looking for Challenge: Torah Views on Science and Its Problems, edited by R' Aryeh Carmell and Dr. Cyril Domb in association with the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, ...
- 47.7k
6
votes
Is Science/Scientism a form of Idolatry?
Forgive me for a short preamble, but it is necessary to establish what scientists (i.e. practitioners of science) mean with ‘unscientific’ before exploring how it differs from what believers of ...
- 1,936
6
votes
"Sound can be heard better at night then by day"- Rashi
I can't say how much Rash"i might have been influenced by science in his statement. However, it is scientifally true that sound waves do travel further at night.
Excerpt from here:
Actually, sound ...
- 70k
6
votes
Becoming Chametz at 18 mins
The 18-minute rule is one of a few heuristics offered by the Talmud for determining whether a dough has become chametz. These are summarized by the Rambam in Hilchot Chametz Umatza 5:13:
כל זמן שאדם ...
- 47.7k
6
votes
How is "magic" defined for the purposes of the prohibition against kishuf?
R. Menachem Meiri (Beis Habechirah Sanhedrin 67b) writes as follows:
כל שהוא נעשה בפעולה טבעית אינו בכלל כשפים אפילו ידעו לברא בריות יפות שלא מזווג המין כמו שנודע בספרי הטבע שאין הדבר נמנע רשאים ...
- 49k
6
votes
What observable phenomena show that we live in the pre-Messianic era?
Sanhedrin 98a
ואמר רבי אבא אין לך קץ מגולה מזה שנאמר (יחזקאל לו, ח) ואתם הרי ישראל ענפכם תתנו ופריכם תשאו לעמי ישראל וגו'
And Rabbi Abba says: You have no more explicit manifestation of ...
- 41.6k
6
votes
Is there a concept of "peer review" in Rabbinical Judaism?
Some of the disagreements in earlier answers seem to stem from different understandings of peer review. From the definition stated in the question, it seems totally reasonable to think of ...
- 171
6
votes
How did Gdoley Israel react to the landing on the Moon?
Rav Menachem Kasher wrote the first sections of his האדם על הירח in response to this event. Throughout the work he discusses the moon landing from hashkafic and halachic perspectives.
- 34.1k
6
votes
How did Gdoley Israel react to the landing on the Moon?
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky and the Moon landing
אמת ליעקב פרשת בראשית
ודברי רמב"ן אלה הם שעמדו לי בשעה שראינו איך שבני אדם יורדים מעל המטוס ע"י סולם על גלגל הלבנה, וחשבתי בלבי מה יענה כעת הרמב"ם ז"ל ...
- 4,892
6
votes
Why don't humans have the best version of organs?
Humans have the perfect version of organs and systems needed to complete their mission on earth.
Each person and their mission.
In the rare case where you need an improved version - you're a detective ...
- 42.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible