Hypocritical Scientists and Sukkot
by Rabbi Shlomo Ezagui
It is ludicrous to claim that the universe has no intelligent Creator. Even in the face of evidence and logical feasibility, scientists have taken a rigidly religious attitude and rejected the existence of a Divine entity.
Personal experience, compelling logic, and rational arguments support Jewish faith and convictions. In contrast, scientific enthusiasm is founded on arrogance and the attitude that if I can’t see it or measure it, it doesn’t exist.
And even that is not true since the 95 percent of dark energy/matter that scientists “believe” MUST be there, no one has ever seen, and quantum fields are the foundation of the standard model of particle physics no one has ever seen, just to offer two examples of their hypocrisy.
The unwavering rejection of the notion of a creator by certain scientists contradicts the fundamental essence of science, which claims an open mind to explore all possibilities. Instead, they are compelled to entertain convoluted theories to sidestep this possibility.
Scientists will not consider the imperceptible reality of a God because then they must submit themselves to a higher authority, and their arrogance and ego will not allow them to do that.
Let’s use the Rubik’s Cube as an example to demonstrate what I mean. There are an incredible number of possible disordered configurations in this puzzle—43,252,003,274,489,856,000, to be exact. However, there is only one particular configuration in which the cube is perfectly arranged. The possibility of discovering this single right arrangement by accident or through haphazard movements is incredibly remote. It is safe to claim that a Rubik’s cube will never be able to solve the 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 conceivable combinations of wrong outcomes by chance alone and random movements.
Let’s apply this concept to an object of an enormous number of particles with a complex structure and a wide range of interdependent possibilities, such as a child’s growing body. Think about the likelihood that these components will naturally arrange themselves into a relatively orderly structure without deliberate conscious involvement. For all intents and purposes, that possibility is zero. It is impossible to find anything in our complex daily lives without a deliberate effort to be what it is.
So, how do scientists seek to overcome this conundrum when considering this universe’s highly precisely ordered character? Their investigation has led to some bizarre ideas.
One response is based on the anthropic principle, initially put forth in 1957 by American astronomer Robert Dicke, which comes from the Greek term “Anthropos,” meaning “man.”
According to the anthropic principle, our universe’s laws are required because if life were impossible, there wouldn’t be any living things to observe, making it impossible to know. To put it another way, a universe where life can exist must exist, and as a result, the rules and constants controlling that universe must “allow” such a possibility.
The anthropic principle states that the universe appears to be how it is to assist the creation of life and intelligence, leaving us to wonder why the cosmos has these particular qualities as opposed to something different. The evolution of sentient life would not have been possible if the laws of the universe were different. Therefore, the answer to the question “Why isn’t the universe different?” is that we would not be here to ask it if it were different.
Concerning the second law of thermodynamics, it is asserted that the initial, relatively low entropy state of the cosmos is favorable to the emergence of life, rendering the question of why the universe has this condition irrelevant. The asker establishes the reality that the cosmos merely exists as it does.
This contentious premise “excuses us” from looking into questions we need answers to, but nothing was offered in response to our initial query. How did the cosmos manage to avoid the trillions of different ways things may have gone wrong and become exactly as we see it today?
Ludwig Boltzmann, an Austrian physicist, and philosopher, postulated that the elements of the cosmos go through high and low entropy cycles and that we are the result of a favorable cycle that allowed our existence to materialize.
The numerous ways things could go wrong that would need to be conquered for us to appreciate the beauty and harmony in our current universe are all left unanswered or addressed by this proposition.
If you share my opinion, you are not alone in your skepticism that neither explanation adequately addresses the statistical improbability that the cosmos, with its complexity, could come up exactly as it is without any conscious, intelligent, and purposeful guidance.
In addition to being miraculously delivered from Egyptian servitude, our ancestors spent 40 years in the desert being led, fed, and protected. God led our ancestors with a pillar of fire and clouds in front of, behind, and all around them, and we have been celebrating Sukkot to remember this occasion for THOUSANDS of years. God gave us food and water, the Torah, and an invitation to enter into a covenant and connection with the universe’s creator.
How do I have absolute knowledge of all this? This story has been recorded in a book (the Torah) handed down in writing by MILLIONS of individuals over thousands of years in a language we know precisely what it is saying.
The books of the Prophets, the books of Writings, the Mishna, and the Talmud all corroborated and substantiated these stories and accounts in subsequent hundreds of generations.
As Jews, we can say with absolute conviction that God exists because it makes sense we are intelligent people and because of all our personal experiences and historical testimony. Yes, I will agree that many times it is a challenge to have faith and accept what this God does, despite our limited minds finding it challenging to understand each of His choices.
The Sukkot holiday allows us to reflect on our miraculous past and extraordinary “present,” especially while inside the Sukka. We get an opportunity to ponder and grow in our faith and confidence in our unique relationship with the universe’s Creator during the Sukkot holiday as we remember the many miracles of our existence and survival.
