Mysticism and science in Malbim's theory of creation

The reverberations from the collapse of the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic Weltanschauung were not felt in Jewish traditional scholarly circles in Europe until the last decades of the eighteenth century. This delay was primarily due to its most prominent exponent, Maimonides, whose philosophic and scientifi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Subtitles:הבריאה באספקלריית המלבים
Main Author: Rozenblom, Noaḥ H. (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:Hebrew
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Published: College 1986
In: Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Jewish philosophy / Maimonides, Moses 1135-1204 / Malbim, Meʾir Leyb ben Yeḥiʾel Mikhaʾel 1808-1879
RelBib Classification:BH Judaism
VA Philosophy
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Summary:The reverberations from the collapse of the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic Weltanschauung were not felt in Jewish traditional scholarly circles in Europe until the last decades of the eighteenth century. This delay was primarily due to its most prominent exponent, Maimonides, whose philosophic and scientific views dominated Jewish thought for many centuries. With the beginning of the Enlightenment and the infiltration of some of the new scientific views into the Jewish world, it gradually became apparent that the world-view of the Stagirite, considered immutable for over a thousand years, was supplanted by that of Copernicus, Galileo, Bruno, Descartes, and Newton. It was only a matter of time for the enfeebled Maimonidean superstructure, built on the old defunct science, to be considered moribund. Perplexed by the new scientific theories and apprehensive of their possible deleterious implications, Jewish traditionalist scholars avoided this domain altogether. This evasion is particularly evident in the treatment of the biblical account of creation, which had been interpreted, heretofore, by Maimonides and his followers in Aristotelian-Ptolemaic terms. Rabbi Meir Leibush Malbim (1809—1879) was unique among his nineteenth century contemporaries who audaciously ventured into this uncharted minefield. Having some rudimentary knowledge of the new scientific theories, culled from secondary and tertiary sources, he resolutely endeavored to explicate the cosmology chapters in Genesis in terms of modern science. He boldly dismisses the Maimonidean-Aristotelian-Ptolemaic theories of the existence of heavenly spheres and a supernal quintessential substance. In the new theories of light by Newton and Huygens, the corpuscular and the undulatory, Malbim finds a plausible explanation of the biblical view that primordial light antedated the creation of the luminaries. The immense heat generated by the primordial light, which had a supernatural origin, accelerated the evaporation of the primeval magma, separated the basic elements air, water, and solid matter, and hastened the emergence of the land masses and seas. While prudently avoiding the acceptance of the Copernican theory, Malbim admits heliocentricity, not unlike Tycho-Brahe, with regard to other planets. He likewise affirms the existence of the Milky Way, the vastness of the universe, and the countless extra-terrestrial galaxies floating in it. This fascination with modern science, however, did not preclude his interest in Kabbala and medieval thought with which he interlaced his exegetical works and underpinned biblical cosmology. With his extraordinary acuity, he criss-crossed the invisible demarcation lines of several universes of discourse endeavoring to bridge the unbridgeable.
ISSN:0360-9049
Contains:Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion