J1: Science & Judaism

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Ice Breaker

Do a short play of an academic scientist talking to a Rabbi. To make it fun you can do caricatures of both of them. They could discuss the origins of the man and the universe. Here is some sample dialogue:

Academic: Surely you must bow to the superior and obvious facts of Darwinian evolution, even if you are obviously not that evolved yourself!

Rabbi: I was always taught that anyone who thinks that they descended from apes probably did!

This is simple but effective one : Ask your audience to raise their hands if they accept as true everything they are taught in their science classes. If that's too black and white, give them three options: All true/some true/none true. Then ask two or three of them to explain how they decide what's true and what's not. This can lead to an interesting discussion about faith in science. After all, should you believe as unquestionable fact everything you are taught in school?

Personal approach

You may be knowledgeable about a few of the scientific issues discussed in this chapter. If you are interested in investigating and working out the Jewish approaches to these or other scientific issues (e.g. age of the universe, origins of life, life on other planets etc.) then go ahead. You could talk to a science teacher about it. Don't feel you have to convince your audience about your theories. You can just present them as interesting ideas where Judaism and science meet.

The four approaches

Use a copy of the diagram below to explain the four approaches. Are there any other ones? Which ones do you or your audience prefer? What are the dangers of getting stuck in one approach?

Discussion: Science and Morality

The mutually exclusive approach (no.3) states that science is nothing to do with morality i.e. it is amoral. Is this really true?

Can science be immoral? How about making bombs or chemical weapons or the horrific experiments that some Nazi 'doctors' performed on inmates of the concentration camps. Is this a fault of science?

Can science be moral? How about medical cures from fatal diseases or machines for the convenience of humans? Is this 'good' science?

Man's uniqueness

Do a comical impression of a mousse having a telephone conversation about the weather, or a dog philosophising about his existential relationship to cats, or a lion having a guilt complex over killing a zebra. These are examples of animals communicating, being curious or having a conscience - expressions that only humans are actually capable of doing. This is a light way of introducing the concepts. You can ask your audience why the impression/s are so absurd. Could they guess what you were doing? Will animals ever be able to achieve these three abilities? All humans are made "in the image of God", how God-like are these three abilities?

The Two Adams

If you analyse the differences in the first two chapters of Genesis for yourself and you prepare well, you could hand out and teach from printed translations of bits of each chapter. Read the texts aloud and ask your audience to spot the major differences. Discuss them and explain the ideas of Rabbi Soloveitchik. Do they see how the concepts come out of the text?

Give some life examples of the two Adams: A1 - Studying chemistry or fixing a bike, A2 - Saying a private prayer or telling a close friend how you really feel. Ask your audience for some too. Do they realise that Judaism encourages both aspects of the human condition?

A bit of humility

What makes us feel insignificant in the greater scheme of things? Can we really ever understand the nature and function of the entire universe? Do we ever sit and wonder about just being alive? How often do we take note of these simple feelings? You could give an honest personal speech about your thoughts on this. The Torah begins with the creation of the world to teach us to put our lives in perspective. Wonder is a precious feeling which is not the sole property of children.

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