In this class, we look at rabbinic attitudes to scientific ideas and empirical evidence.
We begin by discussing the concept that all science and all knowledge ultimately comes from Torah.
Then we consider how the rabbis of the Talmud reacted to experiments that contradicted their ideas. And discover that all rabbis in the Talmud held of spontaneous generation, along with virtually everyone in the ancient world.
Then we look at a modern application of the confrontation between realia and Torah ideas — Copernicus’s heliocentric model of the solar system. Some rabbis accepted this based on evidence and proof, while others rejected it.