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When Judaism Meets Science
Posts Tagged ‘fake news’
Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman Explores “When Judaism Meets Science”
RABBI GEOFFREY MITELMAN is the Founding Director of Sinai and Synapses. There he seeks to bridge “the religious and scientific worlds, offering people a worldview that is scientifically grounded and spiritually uplifting.” Believing that “we need both religion and science as sources of wisdom, as the spark for new questions, and as inspiration and motivation,” Sinai and Synapses provides “tools and language for learning and living to those who see science as their ally as they pursue personal growth and the repair of our world.” These tools include “classes, seminars, lectures, videos and writings, [which help] create a vision of religion that embraces critical thinking and scientific inquiry, and at the same time, gives meaning to people’s lives and helps them make a positive impact on society.”
Rabbi Mitelman’s interview of author Roger Price concerning the latter’s new book, When Judaism Meets Science, covers a wide range of topics, including COVID–19, public health, and fake news, vaccines and kashrut, and artificial intelligence and a Jewdroid. Running about twenty–five minutes, without commercial interruption, it can be seen and heard here: https://sinaiandsynapses.org/multimedia-archive/when-judaism-meets-science/
When Judaism Meets Science can be purchased from various etailers, including Amazon, and also from the publisher, Wipf and Stock.
Rabbi Richard Address Explores “When Judaism Meets Science”
RABBI RICHARD ADDRESS is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. There he develops and implements the Sacred Aging project which has been responsible for creating awareness and resources for congregations on the implication of the emerging longevity revolution that has begun to impact all aspects of Jewish communal and congregational life.
In winter 2018, Rabbi Address began hosting a weekly podcast, Seekers of Meaning. Rabbi Address’s interview of author Roger Price concerning the latter’s new book, When Judaism Meets Science, covers a wide range of topics, including creation, evolution, bio–ethics, fake news, the anthropic principle, a Jewdroid, and the Greenberg hurdle. Running about forty–five minutes, without commercial interruption, it can be heard here: https://jewishsacredaging.com/som-pod-roger-price-author-of-when-judaism-meets-science/
When Judaism Meets Science can be purchased from various etailers, including Amazon, and also from the publisher, Wipf and Stock.
The Battle for Jerusalem and the Origin of Fake News — 2700 Years Ago
Sennacherib Prism,
Oriental Institute, U. of Chicago
How can you tell what is true and what is not in the Hebrew Bible (the “Tanakh”)? How can you separate fact from fiction and fable? In some instances, science can help. For instance, both geological and archaeological records confirm that the whole earth was not submerged in flood waters during the last six thousand years, and evolutionary biology demonstrates that all land animals and birds do not owe their existence to creatures that were on a vessel floating on those mythical waters. Similarly, we know that the Sun did not stop in the sky for twenty-four hours during a battle at Gibeon, for that would have meant that the Earth ceased to rotate during that period of time, which, in turn, would have caused cataclysmic consequences neither reported in the story nor elsewhere. (See Gen. 7:6-8; Josh. 10:12-14.)
From a modern perspective, then, it is reasonably easy to identify some biblical stories that are not factually accurate. They may well contain worthy moral or other lessons, but as factual recitations of actual occurrences, they fail.
At the same time, there are other stories in the Tanakh that seem quite plausible, even contemporary in their nature. How can we tell if they are historically true or historical fiction or simply imagined? One such story concerns the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (pronounced Seh-NACK-er ib) during the reign of the Judahite king Hezekiah about 2700 years ago. read more