Hi I was learning the other day and came across someone who said it is forbidden to learn astronomy and theories that suggest a reality before the world existed. I did some research and found this.
Source:
“יכול ישאל אדם קודם שנברא העולם ת”ל (דברים ד) למן היום אשר ברא אלהים אדם על הארץ יכול לא ישאל אדם מששת ימי בראשית ת”ל לימים ראשונים אשר היו לפניך יכול ישאל אדם מה למעלה ומה למטה מה לפנים ומה לאחור ת”ל (דברים ד) ולמקצה השמים ועד קצה השמים מלמקצה השמים ועד קצה השמים אתה שואל ואין אתה שואל מה למעלה מה למטה מה לפנים מה לאחור Chagigah 11b.
What is the current halachic stance on such an issue. Is one permitted from a layman’s point of view.
Thanks.
Answer:
It is permitted to investigate the Creation in scientific terms. Today these issues are all around us, and simply “closing books” is not an option.
It is hard to know precisely what Chazal refer to when they say that one must not investigate that which is “above and below” and that which is “before and after.” Kabbalists explain this in terms of Kabbalah, referring to spiritual worlds that must not be investigated (worlds above Atzilus, for instance). Philosophers understand it as meaning theological inquiries concerning the existence of Hashem (see Rambam, Avodah Zara 2:4). Nobody explains it in scientific terms.
The general policy of “closing books” and assuming that science is wrong is and has been harmful. Some children are taught, for instance, that dinosaurs never existed etc. and when they discover that they did exist they are naturally confused, or worse. The Tiferes Yisrael, for instance (end of Sanhedrin) refers to dinosaurs in the context of “worlds that were destroyed before ours,” a concept mentioned in Chazal.
Of course, this is not a universal understanding, and there are a variety of approaches that are taken for this and for matters of dating the universe etc.
Best wishes.
