Religion vs. Science: The coping of Medieval and modern Rabbis (XIX-XXIst Centuries) with the Question of the Existence of the Talmudic "Evolutionary Mouse"
The current paper focusses on the identifications and the approaches of the medieval and modern halakhic authorities to the existence of the Talmudic "evolutionary mouse" (a mouse that is half flesh and half earth). Rashi believed that this was a squirrel, and R. Israel Lipschuetz tried to...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[publisher not identified]
2021
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| In: |
Journal for the study of religions and ideologies
Year: 2021, Volume: 20, Issue: 58, Pages: 18-35 |
| Further subjects: | B
R. Yosef Kapach
B spontaneously generating B R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson B evolutionary mouse B Judaism B R. Israel Lipschuetz B R. Ovadia Yosef B modern halakhic authorities B jerboa B ancient zoological knowledge B omne vivum ex vivo |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The current paper focusses on the identifications and the approaches of the medieval and modern halakhic authorities to the existence of the Talmudic "evolutionary mouse" (a mouse that is half flesh and half earth). Rashi believed that this was a squirrel, and R. Israel Lipschuetz tried to prove by the contemporary zoological knowledge that this was the jerboa. R. Kapach demonstrates unusual opinion. Not only is he attentive to emerging news concerning nature in the modern world, he also held his own observations of the "evolutionary mouse". According to his findings this was not an "evolutionary mouse" but rather mice covered in mud. He also argues that there is no proof of this phenomenon in modern zoological books, showing that this is a legend and not reality. The experiments of Louis Pasteur proved that the comprehension of spontaneous generation is unfounded. The new empirical discoveries that refuted the spontaneous development of creatures are one of the many cases of the dispute between science and religion. In the 20th-21st centuries there are still halakhic authorities who hold the attitude of the ancient rabbis, such as R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and R. Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983. |
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| ISSN: | 1583-0039 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of religions and ideologies
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