Their remarks can be found at The New Atlantis. Jan Špaček and Steven Benner joined with Robert Zubrin, head of the Mars Society, today to describe how to search for life on Mars. On the fourth day of creation, God created the Sun, Moon and the Stars.July 22, 2022. The Biblical creation story in Genesis attributes the creation of the universe to God: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1-2). Many of our Jewish prayers start with, “ Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam…” (“Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe…”). Even if we were able to contact this extraterrestrial life, our species may not be developed enough on the evolutionary scale to establish communication that is meaningful, let alone of a spiritual nature.īut what about alien gods? This, too, would not be particularly worrisome or in conflict with our Jewish theology, just as we don’t find conflict with the multitude of gods people on Earth believe in. However, the likelihood of a successful direct contact with intelligent life on another planet is probably slim, as the evolutionary clocks of our separate planets are probably not in sync. We naturally join together in the face of danger and would more easily see ourselves as “human beings” rather than specific religious communities if life is discovered on other planets. So if we did find life on other planets, what would this mean for religion? Would those planets also have their own gods and theologies? From our perspective on Earth, the existence of life elsewhere may unite us – especially if this extraterrestrial life is threatening in nature. The possibility of extraterrestrial life is no longer just the domain of science fiction. The universe is so unimaginably vast, with billions of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy alone – and some may have conditions favorable to the development of life. Since the first one was detected less than 30 years ago, exoplanets in the habitable zone of stars have been found in ever-increasing numbers, which are now believed to be in the 10 22 magnitude. Max spoke about the discovery of exoplanets, which are planets circling other stars. Our outdoor picnic dinner was followed by a lecture from Professor Clare Max, the Director of the University of California Observatories at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Seeing the astrophysicists at work, and videoconferencing with the UCLA black hole research team, was a fascinating treat. We also visited the Shane 3-m telescope and others located at the facility. In the late afternoon sunlight, we toured the magnificent facility and learned about its history, which dates back to the late 1800s. To explore these questions, inspired by our Scientists in Synagogues event series, members of Shir Hadash Congregation braved the tortuous road up Mount Hamilton for an extraordinary evening together at the Lick Observatory, located in California’s Diablo Mountains Range overlooking the Santa Clara Valley in the Bay Area. How would alien life impact our special relationship to our creator? How would the existence of other sentient beings affect Jewish belief and understanding? Would the discovery of intelligent life on another planet change the way we think about religion?Īs Jews, our identity and spiritual heritage comes from the belief in an almighty Creator who sculpted the heavens and the earth from chaos, or ‘ Tohu va-vohu’. 2019-2021 Sinai and Synapses Fellows 19. 2017-2019 Sinai and Synapses Fellows 66.2016-2017 Scientists in Synagogues Selected Congregations 26.2015-2017 Sinai and Synapses Fellows 53.2013-2015 Sinai and Synapses Fellows 53.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |