26 Aug-1 Sep

Q: Can instances of a quantum concept be found in the Torah?

ABSTRACT

There are a great many unsolved problems in science, in life, and in our understanding of the Torah. Yet, like our father Abraham rushing to the binding of his son, we must go forward with complete confidence in the ultimate clarification.

A: : In the Torah we find many instances of a quantum concept, for example, a quantity equal to the size of an olive of the pascal lamb had to be eaten. As a minimum to fulfill the commandment, an etrog less than the size of an egg is disqualified; a leprous spot less than half a bean does not make a person leprous. Why should we maintain that these laws are "ours" and not claim also as "ours" the laws which apparently decree that all matter, charge, and energy changes occur in small but discrete units? In the Shma, "Hear, Oh Israel, the L-rd our G-d is One," the word "One" according to Hirsch indicates that G-d is equally the Creator of both the laws of Torah and of nature.

BIO
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Alvin Radkowsky attended Yeshiva University, CCNY, George Washington University, and Catholic University, where he completed his doctorate in physics. From 1948 to 1972 he served as chief scientist of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Project. In this capacity he helped Admiral Hyman Rickover design the first nuclear submarine and invented a prize-winning method for prolonging the life span of nuclear reactors. During this time Radkowsky was active in the orthodox synagogue and Talmud study group in Summit Hill, Maryland. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Nuclear Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Engineering.

In 1972 Radkowsky made aliya with his wife and daughter and became a professor of nuclear engineering at Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion universities. His major project is a design for a nuclear reactor which does not produce plutonium and nuclear waste.

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