New (Old) Age of Science
In fact, a little-known meeting between Albert Einstein and Rav Avraham Kook took place in 1925 as the famed physicist visited Israel. He and the great Kabbalist spoke for hours, mostly about the [then] recent findings of Einstein’s relativity. Here is what they said of each other.
Behind the narrative of Genesis 1-3 lies a deep lesson for humanity that still resonates as deeply today as it did then. Reading at the level of Sod (Secret), the Jewish mystics uncovered the laws of universal consciousness between humankind (Adam), Chava (the essence of ‘Life’), and the Creator.
This tradition teaches us that humans have been created to live [with the perception] to recognize the connectedness of all things. Failure to achieve this understanding (of unification) brings calamity and disorder to ourselves and the world (see Genesis 3:17).
This is why, according to the kabbalists, Adam was born a perfect blend of both physical and metaphysical. In our original design, Humans had (and still have) the ability to traverse the bounds of physical and connect with the upper worlds through the power of the mind. The Talmud says:
The size of Adam the first man was from one end of the world to the other, as it is stated: “Since the day that G_D created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other,”…Chagigah 12a
So exalted were humans upon creation, the angels mistook Adam for the Creator (see Midrash Genesis Rabbah 8:10).
The problem is that we’ve misunderstood. For many centuries following the age of enlightenment, we have been taught that these abilities are squarely in the realm of make-believe, fantasy, or even delusion. Subsequently, we have abandoned our capacity for intuition and have opted to limit our perception to only that which is measurable.
A New Age of Science
However, through advances in technology, the immeasurable is now becoming measurable. A new era of scientists are discovering the universe acts in different ways than we had previously believed, and some key factors behind our existence are not within the realm of measurement. With findings that are dangerously close to being mystical, or admittedly “spooky” - Einstein has exponentially ushered in the age of Quantum physics. We are finding that scientists are arriving at the very same truths our sages spoke about long ago.
In fact, a little-known meeting between Albert Einstein and Rav Avraham Kook took place in 1925 as the famed physicist visited Israel. He and the great Kabbalist spoke for hours, mostly about the [then] recent findings of Einstein’s relativity. Here is what they said of each other.
Rav Kook said to Einstein,
“Your theories perfectly match the concepts believed by our people from the beginning. …your theories coincide with our beliefs, we were happy to hear that a man of science has uncovered in the physical, material world, things that have always been for us of the utmost spiritual importance. A scientist who deals with the laws of nature is, in fact, dealing with the spiritual world and spiritual laws, too.” -Jewish Mysticism, Scholem, Notes to Lecture 1, Note 18.”
Of Rav Kook, Einstein exclaimed,
“Rav Kook is one of the few people who understood his theory of relativity.
Perhaps we’re entering a new age, one from which we awaken to a new [old] collective capacity for elevation. With the humility of an adolescent who has just learned the hard way, we can take our seat next to the mystics upon the mountain who’ve been patiently waiting for us.
