Far too long ago, the utmost tiniest of things was discovered—the atom, the building block of everything and everyone. But what was so fascinating about it? What drove people so utterly insane at the discovery of this mere particle? What was thought before? Did people think we were made up of nothing? Zilch? Nada? Why was this new concept so easily believed by everyone? Simple answer, science. Our society readily accepts anything backed up with any sort of scientific reasoning, without question. Don’t get me wrong, science proves a lot, but it also extenuates people’s belief in faith and in Hashem himself. But sometimes, science isn’t enough. Everyone has beliefs that cannot be scientifically proven, and that’s okay as it allows for some faith in the world.
Allow me to explain. Let’s begin with the creation of the world. Is the theory of the Big Bang true? I don’t know. What about evolution? Possibly. Is it easily believable? Yes, for it is backed up with science! Now, does Hashem exist? Of course. Is it easily believable? No. Why would someone immediately trust what they can’t see or prove? Truth is, it’s abstract and it’s difficult to understand, but that little piece of Hashem in all of our Neshamot (souls) leads us to believe in him.
Everyone has beliefs that cannot be scientifically proven, and that’s okay as it allows for some faith in the world.
Even though religion and scientific explanations seem so far off from each other, Judaism, or rather Hashem, perfectly correlates it all. The Torah says that Hashem made the earth throughout five days, the sixth being the day he rested. Who’s to say that he didn’t create a “big bang,” which led him to create everything else? As it says in Bereshit, Perek Aleph Pasuk Gimel: And Hashem said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Maybe Hashem created a big bang to cause this light to appear.
What about evolution? Hashem created Adam and Chava, who then procreated to eventually form what is now the Jewish nation. So who’s to say we didn’t so to speak “evolve” from them? Evolution itself is not enough to explain our being, for it is flawed and still lacking in pure belief. Knowing that there is a divine being who created us all is comforting, and it teaches us that faith is just as important as scientific reasoning.
So while science can help to explain much of our world, it is important to embrace that little spark in your Neshama (souls), and have Emunah (faith) in Hashem and all his doings.
Bella Rudoy is a rising sophomore at Westchester Hebrew High School in Mamaroneck, NY.
