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Is it a contradiction to the Torah that there can be life on another planet? I think I once heard from a Q and A with R,Avigdor Miller that it’s not.
Over Yom Tov, I was reading the R’ Moshe Feinstein Hagaddah from Artscroll. One of the stories in it said that when man landed on the moon, R’ Moshe said he knew they’d find nothing there. He said that in all his learning, he never found any reference to life on other worlds, so it must not exist!
There are millions of aliens in the US. Including, approximately, eleven million illegal aliens.
Life on other planets fully comports with the narrative of Bereshit. There is no reason to think that “shamayim v’aretz” is limited to the sky above our heads and the land under our feet. This is one of the biggest problems that Orthodox Judaism has in its relationship with the rest of creation. Too many frum Jews limit Hashem’s reach. Hashem is infinite. More infinite than the human mind can fathom. Hashem is the Creator of Earth, Mars, and those galaxies 11 billion light years away. He created the black holes and pulsars and asteroids. He moves galaxies and universes, not just mountains and streams. While Hashem created and controls the impossibly vast and infinite universe, he is also concerned with the moment-to-moment existence of each living creature right here on Earth. And among the 7 billion people on Earth that he takes care of, He has a vested interest and concern for YOU, personally. Contemplate THAT.
The Tiferes Yonasan in Parashas Noach on the Dor Haflaga says that they wanted to escape to the moon. being afraid of another flood, as it is a known fact that the moon is inhabitat.
Why shouldn’t there be aliens? Hashem is Master of the Universe and the creator of all living creatures, not just Jews. Hashem could easily have created creatures on other worlds, who also perceive Him.
Hashem created everything from energy containing strings of energy, in effect Hashem resides in everything, through the two forms Heaven and Earth created the first day, with the Bing Bang.
I’ve never heard that story about Rav Moshe before. If it’s true, the quote proves that while extraterrestrial life is unlikely to exist, there is nothing in the Torah that precludes the possibility that it does.
yup the amout of aliens swamping the the us increasing on a daily basis
The Torah doesn’t mention it so it doesn’t exist?
Does that mean I don’t exist (because the Torah doesn’t mention me)?!
Does that mean that black holes, icebergs, volcanoes, electricity, and kangaroos don’t exist because the Torah doesn’t mention it?!According to our own sources, pre-dating modern sciences, the multiverse includes many places where intelligent extra-terrestial beings exist. As these extra-terrestials lack American citizenship, if they come to the USA they will be “aliens” (though presumably they are citizens of their home worlds).
look in shoiftim perek hey posuk chuf gimmel with rashi
Choosid – Oh course there are. I saw many videos online.
They even have a place in Nevada, where they come to visit.
I think it’s called Area 57.
They come here because it’s like going to the Zoo.
We are so behind in Technology.
The only thing we Humans have over them – is we have the Torah.
So in Area 57 – the aliens are teaching the Americans how to make planes that are Anti – Gravity.
That’s how they come light years away in 20 minutes.
But I’m sure the Americans can’t understand the technology.
Just like some people Don’t Vax!Health: You mean Area 51. You’re probably thinking of Passenger 57, with Wesley Snipes.
5T
He’s more likely thinking of the documentaries he has seen online. like ET and Men in Black
Area 51 holds creatures like hitler, bin laden (btw he’s still alive and the USA is gonna fall so stock up on gas and food)
5TR -“Health: You mean Area 51.”
I stand corrected.
But the fact that Governments keep the fact that Aliens exist a secret, is appalling.
Well I take this back.
When more than half the country believes Biden won the election, they can’t even Comprehend simple things.
So when the US Air force shot down an alien plane, the Government was too scared to tell e/o.
They must have thought that maybe they were out to destroy Mankind.
If this was the case, Humans had no way to defend against any attack.
We didn’t even have Nukes at that time.In reality, they came – like we go to Zoos.
Humans are so far behind in intelligence – they pose no threat to these Aliens.
They’re probably one step behind Angels.We say בשביל לי נברא העולם if there was no reason for them in regards to us they don’t exist
Health, area 57? It’s called area 51. Now go get your facts straight and get the vaccine while your at it! And if you already got the vaccine, get it again.
So where exactly do you place aliens honestly? Somewhere between animals and Demons? Or more between demons and angels versus humans?
Based on the comments in the Coffee Room, not only are there aliens, but they live among us.
Case closed.
There are a bunch of aliens who are day laborers and just jumped into a pick up truck, my cleaning help are aliens who are paying off the smugglers who got them across the Rio Grande
Nit pick time.
1. Orech Din, something cannot be MORE infinite than something else.
2. Reb Eliezer, I thing you meant BIG bang, not BING bang.I have a recording of Rav Moshe Heineman SHLITA where he was asked this question. He quoted a Gemara in Berachos, which names stars that have a beracha because the residents of those stars came to help the Bnei Yisroel in a milchomo, as a raya that there can be aliens.
Lehavdil BChLCh, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm wrote an essay discussing this topic at length. It was published in a book called Challenge. He concludes that there are Rishonim who would accept that the existence of intelligent aliens is possible.
Redleg
“something cannot be MORE infinite than something else.”
while we are nit picking that is not quite true
There are degrees of infinity.
For example there are an infinite number of Numbers and there are an infinite number of Even numbers.
yet there are more numbers than Even numbers.Then of course there are an infinite number of numbers BETWEEN any two numbers
The different degrees of inifnity are represented by aleph-0 aleph-1 etc
My pending post is wrong
There are an equal number of cardinal (counting) numbers. so the number of numbers and even numbers is the same (if you take a list of numbers, double each you now have a lsit of even numbers just as long as original list) .
nonthless there are different llevels of infinity
see “Some infinities are bigger than others” From cosmos as well as the excellent ted ed video on the “hotel infinity” paradox (linked to there)
ubiquitin – there are indeed different infinities and some are bigger than others. It may be a cabbalistic concept introduced by George Cantor and labeled as Alef, mabye the only Hebrew math symbols in the sea of Greek letters [just found out that there is also a Bet[.
Infinity of real numbers (aleph_1) is higher than those of natural numbers (aleph_0). Maybe Georg Cantor introduced these numbers as a tribute to his semi-denied Jewish ancestors. He definitely felt that his theories of infinity relate to G-d.
Yep, Orechdin, there are infinities and then there’re infinities. The great German mathematician, Georg Cantor, created a whole new branch of mathematics called Set Theory that among other things deals with one-to-one correspondence of numbers in different infinite sets. Set Theory is one of the fundamental theories of modern math. There’s even (perhaps) an infinite set of infinite sets that is infinitely larger than the each infinite set contained therein. The problem lies in the word ‘infinity’ and the way we use it without making distinctions between different infinities.
Yesr123 –“I have a recording of Rav Moshe Heineman SHLITA where he was asked this question”
I remember seeing in the JP years ago, the original publisher wrote a Shailos V’teshuva Sefer.
He asked this question & he answered that there are!I really don’t know why this is even a question. We refer to Hashem as “Master of the Universe”. The Universe consists of untold numbers galaxies, stars and planets. Hashem is the creator of all of them. Why shouldn’t beings exist on other planets? Perhaps they acknowledge the existence of Hashem in their own way? Who is to say that WE aren’t the aliens being pondered by beings on other planets?
Hashem is the Master of the Universe. That means Master of everything.
Chassidus discusses the chakira which asks that if the world is physical and bound by the limitations of nature, then how could there be elements of infinite in it such as numbers that go on forever and space which goes on forever. I don’t remember the conclusions but it is a weighty topic. Everybody knows that when Moshiach comes, the Bli Gvul dimension of elokus will be invested in this physical world, a phenomenon which we can’t really understand without experiencing it ourselves.
It is possible, however, that some reflection of this idea can be found even now in regards to infinite in olam hazeh with numbers etc.Rav Yaakov Kamestsky said that there may or may not be living creatures (animals) in space but there can not be people like creatures with Bechira because Hashem would not have created people with bechira with giving them some sort of guidance and Zos H’Torah Lo T’hay Muchlefus.
Choosid: I’m sorry, but such a Chulent will only exist in the time of Moshiach. Moshiach will be the true Great Uniter, someone whom every Jew from every walk of life will recognize as the Redeemer. The Moshiach is the only one who can create a Chulent that will be delicious to every Jew everywhere. Until then, there will be machlokes over how Chulent should look and taste.
Smerel -“Rav Yaakov Kamestsky said that there may or may not be living creatures (animals) in space but there can not be people like creatures with Bechira because Hashem would not have created people with bechira with giving them some sort of guidance and Zos H’Torah Lo T’hay Muchlefus.”
I wrote this above:
“Humans are so far behind in intelligence – they pose no threat to these Aliens.
They’re probably one step behind Angels.”The reason that Humans have Bechira is because they aren’t too smart.
Any being that has intelligence, knows that there is a Boray Oolam.
Yes, there are life forms in this Universe that aren’t Malochim or Shaidim.
And they actually come to visit in Area 51 in Nevada.Look I understand why the Government kept it a secret all these years.
Most people can’t believe that there is a Boray Oolam, let alone there’s creations that have intelligence.
Chazal say Niskotu Huh-Oolam, you see more & more lack of Sechel in this World.
How could a person become President when he lost an Election?
I understand countries like China, Russia, etc., where it isn’t a Real election, but the US was a Free country for White people for 200 years!
Hashem won’t allow this Country to continue with the Extreme Liberalism that is taking place after the first impeachment of Trump!sorry, no outside links.
Aish.com Judaism and Life on Other Planets
We say בשביל לי נברא העולם if there’s no point to them being around it means they don’t exist
There is a sevorah here: if there are multiple civilizations, then some of them will be more advanced than ours and they’ll figure out space travel and we would see something from them. An alternative is that they all ended somehow, whether in nuclear wars or floods, which seems to be supported by a midrash that Hashem created and destroyed worlds before ours
I can’t believe this hasn’t been raised yet. The notion of intelligent life contradicts the ideas of Hashem not creating something for no reason, the fact that zos hatorah lo segay muchlefes and that there will not be another Torah from Hashem.
There’s only one Torah, which was given here.
So what purpose would that intelligent life have? How would it fulfill the purpose of creation(to bestow upon creations olam haba) if they cannot have mitzvos, and have no way of figuring out the 7 mitzvos (since they’re not bnei noach)
Aliens appeal to a non earth-centrkc worldview, which ascribes no special value to humanity over anything else, and that life happened by chance cv”s. If it could “happen” here, it can happen there too.
Hashem created life for very defined reasons. There’s no secret of the cosmos that we’ll figure out empirically through discovery and space travel. Everything we need to know is in the Torah, and there it says the purpose of creation.
Beings with bechirah would have been created for nought, as there’s no torah anywhere else.
Animals and non-bechira individuals are definitely possible, as Hashem might want us to have resources (especially if there’s vegetables etc) or refuos, etc..
It should also be pointed out that the Torah DOES mention you, me, and every other Jew. We all have a “letter” in the torah, as there are 600k jewish neshoma roots, and 600k letters (how that works is discussed a lot) in the Torah.
For a chabad chossid i expect you to know that
I’m sure somewhere on a planet in another galaxy there is some ehrliche alien posting a question on their version of the CR asking whether its possible that there might be intelligent life on earth.
I don’t see any reason why other planets can’t have various forms of plant, animal, and microbial life, (as well as as minerals and other natural resources) put there for the use of humanity in some future time.
Avira > The notion of intelligent life contradicts the ideas of Hashem not creating something for no reason
As the first Beis symbolizes, we do not know everything that Hashem knows. There might be other worlds that we do not know of (or were as Midrash Rabba posits: אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהָיָה בּוֹרֵא עוֹלָמוֹת וּמַחֲרִיבָן, עַד שֶׁבָּרָא אֶת אֵלּוּ) and Hashem does not care for us to know of. If we were to encounter another civilization, then we will have more questions, but until then I would not worry too much.
can there be theoretically? Yes. are there B’poel? no
Dear Avira,
Wow! You posted some intense minus! I would suggest that the ‘Kan tofso haphilosophem’ gloss, was originally posted on this thread. After it was deleted,it ended up with other glosses on the SA.
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