After numerous correspondence with yidden struggling to accept the true account of Creation, the Rebbe made a letter public as his official response. “Science can only speak in terms of theories,” the rebbe wrote, “and I can tell you without fear of contradiction that it has not a shred of evidence to support it.”
In modern times, many Jewish people, scientists and laypeople alike, have struggled with their belief in the true account of Creation as described in the Torah, and its correlation to prevailing scientific theories and presumptions.
The question was posed to the Rebbe numerous times, with equally numerous letters written in reply.
Here we publish a letter, written in 5722, which was circulated at the time as the Rebbe’s official response, together with a follow-up correspondence.
This letter was released also as a press release from Lubavitch News Service on February 15, 1962. The press release reads:
In a letter made public yesterday by his secretariat, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneorson, leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, articulately speaks out on the congruity of scientific theory and Torah. In the letter there is reference to the problem of the age of the world as suggested by various scientific theories which are [irreconcilable] with the Biblical view that the world is 5722 years old.
The original letter was written to an individual who had sought the Rebbe’s opinion on this subject, but, according to a statement from the Rebbe’s office, “in view of its relevance to present day thinking and the confusion existing in the minds of many young and old due to the seeming conflict between science and religion” the content of the letter was made public.
The Rebbe states in this letter that “basically, the problem has its roots in a misconception of the scientific method or, simply, of what science is. We must distinguish between empirical or experimental science dealing with, and confined to, describing and classifying observable phenomena, and speculative ‘science’, dealing with unknown phenomena, sometimes phenomena that cannot be duplicated in the laboratory. ’Scientific speculation’ is actually a terminological incongruity; for ‘science’, strictly speaking, means ‘knowledge’, while no speculation can be called knowledge in the strict sense of the word. At best, science can only speak in terms of theories inferred from certain known facts and applied in the realm of the unknown”.
The letter explains at length that the speculation regarding the origin and age of the world comes within the scientific method of extrapolation, inferring an unknown antecedent from a known consequent, a method weaker than that of interpolation.
“It is small wonder” the letter states “that the various scientific theories concerning the age of the universe not only contradict each other, but some of them are quite incompatible and mutually exclusive, since the maximum date of one theory is less than the minimum date of another.”
“What scientific basis is there”, the Rebbe asks, “for limiting the creative process to an evolutionary process only, starting with atomic and sub-atomic particles — a theory full of unexplained gaps and complications, while excluding the possibility of creation as given by the Biblical account?”
“If you are still troubled by the theory of evolution”, continues the Rebbe, “I can tell you without fear of contradiction that it has not a shred of evidence to support it. On the contrary, during years of research and investigation since the theory was first advanced, it has been possible to observe certain species of animal and plant life of a short life-span over thousands of generations, yet it has never been possible to establish transmutations from one species to another, much less to turn a plant into an animal. Hence such a theory can have no place in the arsenal of empirical science. Even if the theory of evolution were substantiated today, and the mutation of species were proven in laboratory tests, this would still not contradict the possibility of the world having been created as stated in the Torah.”
The Rebbe concludes his letter with mention of the Mitzvah of Tefillin (phylacteries) and the specific manner in which they are donned, first on the hand — facing the heart, and then on the head — the seat of the intellect, indicating, among other things, the true Jewish approach: performance first (hand) with sincerity, followed by intellectual comprehension (head); i.e. na’aseh first then v’nishma, and the Rebbe expresses hope that this understanding would find expression in one’s daily life “for, the essential thing is the deed.”
This letter led to various follow-up correspondence with the Rebbe, including questions and comments. The later half of the booklet consists of a letter of critique and the Rebbe’s two separate letters of response, one strictly scientific and objective, and the other more personally directed.
Rebbe Responsa kindly requests anyone who may be in possession of letters of the Rebbe in English, to send them by email so that these unique treasures can benefit the public.
These selected letters are sourced from the extensive collection of over 5,000 English letters written by the Rebbe, accessible through the Rebbe Responsa app.
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Click here for PDF in booklet format.
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See also previous booklet on Sukkos and Simchas Torah.
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