The other day I was tutoring a couple of girls from Stern in Statistics for Business and at one point I said, "Well, it's basically just the chicken vs. the egg." Needless to say, that sparked a little discussion about evolution which inevitably turned towards emunah. So here's my take:
We don't know if the chicken or the egg came first. We weren't there. From the religious stand-point it probably could've been either one. Hashem could have created an egg and He could have created a chicken. I can't see a reason to choose a side. But the question arises, do we hold of evolution? How does science impact our view of ma'asei bereishis?
I've recently grown fond of this subject after listening to a shiur by Dr. Gerald Schroeder. (Not to be confused with the piano-playing Peanuts character, who, by the way, I'm extremely envious of. I digress...) In the shiur, Dr. Schroeder discusses the first few pesukim in the torah and how to understand them from the view of a Jewish physicist. Although I'm pretty much taking his word for it on the mathematical formulas as well as the various mekoros he discusses, his ideas are very compelling.
I was trying to tell the girls a little about this when one of them said, "I don't like to get into these things. I just have emunah." And that made me think of a whole different shiur by Rabbi Akiva Tatz about emunah. Essentially the way he describes emunah has nothing to do with blind faith. In fact, he doesn't even translate it as faith, but rather as "faithfulness". The idea of being a ma'amin is living up to Hashem's expectation's of us. Doing that which we are supposed to be doing.
In his discussion of emunah, Rabbi Tatz says that emunah must be preceded by emes. You must have clarity of your mission before you can be faithful to completing it. And that is where I think the study of evolution can play a role. We aren't supposed to blind ourselves to science, nature, or anything really. The study of the natural world can lead us to a greater awe for Hashem, not detract from that awe because it's "natural" and "coincidental". As I once heard from Leuitenant Birnbaum, (longer story of who that is) "It isn't a co-incidence, it's a Kah-incidence!"
We are supposed to delve into life, see what tools Hashem has given us, realize what He wants us to do with them, and do it. That is emunah. It is not a blindness, it is a powerful realization of a purpose; it is seeing that purpose.
In another shiur, Rabbi Tatz says that Hashem said to Avraham, "Lech lecha." Literally translated this means, "Go to you." He was telling Avraham to become the person he was destined to be. Avraham wasn't unique in that Hashem spoke to him, Avraham was unique in that he actually listened and that was what made him a ma'amin. That call is constantly going out to each and every person. "Go to you. Become who you are meant to become through the tools Hashem has given you." That is the emunah we should be striving for.
We don't know if the chicken or the egg came first. We weren't there. From the religious stand-point it probably could've been either one. Hashem could have created an egg and He could have created a chicken. I can't see a reason to choose a side. But the question arises, do we hold of evolution? How does science impact our view of ma'asei bereishis?
I've recently grown fond of this subject after listening to a shiur by Dr. Gerald Schroeder. (Not to be confused with the piano-playing Peanuts character, who, by the way, I'm extremely envious of. I digress...) In the shiur, Dr. Schroeder discusses the first few pesukim in the torah and how to understand them from the view of a Jewish physicist. Although I'm pretty much taking his word for it on the mathematical formulas as well as the various mekoros he discusses, his ideas are very compelling.
I was trying to tell the girls a little about this when one of them said, "I don't like to get into these things. I just have emunah." And that made me think of a whole different shiur by Rabbi Akiva Tatz about emunah. Essentially the way he describes emunah has nothing to do with blind faith. In fact, he doesn't even translate it as faith, but rather as "faithfulness". The idea of being a ma'amin is living up to Hashem's expectation's of us. Doing that which we are supposed to be doing.
In his discussion of emunah, Rabbi Tatz says that emunah must be preceded by emes. You must have clarity of your mission before you can be faithful to completing it. And that is where I think the study of evolution can play a role. We aren't supposed to blind ourselves to science, nature, or anything really. The study of the natural world can lead us to a greater awe for Hashem, not detract from that awe because it's "natural" and "coincidental". As I once heard from Leuitenant Birnbaum, (longer story of who that is) "It isn't a co-incidence, it's a Kah-incidence!"
We are supposed to delve into life, see what tools Hashem has given us, realize what He wants us to do with them, and do it. That is emunah. It is not a blindness, it is a powerful realization of a purpose; it is seeing that purpose.
In another shiur, Rabbi Tatz says that Hashem said to Avraham, "Lech lecha." Literally translated this means, "Go to you." He was telling Avraham to become the person he was destined to be. Avraham wasn't unique in that Hashem spoke to him, Avraham was unique in that he actually listened and that was what made him a ma'amin. That call is constantly going out to each and every person. "Go to you. Become who you are meant to become through the tools Hashem has given you." That is the emunah we should be striving for.
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