CAN THERE BE ALIENS??

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!

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.

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.

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.

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?!

look in shoiftim perek hey posuk chuf gimmel with rashi

Health: You mean Area 51. You’re probably thinking of Passenger 57, with Wesley Snipes.

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)

We say בשביל לי נברא העולם if there was no reason for them in regards to us they don’t exist

So where exactly do you place aliens honestly? Somewhere between animals and Demons? Or more between demons and angels versus humans?

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

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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

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..

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.

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.

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.