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Space may be the final frontier when it comes to planning our holidays, but journeys within our minds are unlimited. We can even step outside of our own universe, and that is precisely what several eminent scientists have been doing in the last few years. They have suggested that our universe may be merely one of many that exist, and they have coined the term 'multiverse' to encompass this plurality of universes. However, some of their Orthodox Jewish colleagues strongly disagree with them, and at issue is the momentous question of whether God exists. Let us now look at the debate, and try to answer the question of whether multiple universes are compatible with Jewish belief.
The possibility of universes beyond our own is a relatively recent idea. One hundred years ago, scientists would have stated that space, and our universe, extended without limit in all directions, and that the idea of another universe was nonsensical.
However, early in the 20th century, Einstein turned our ideas about the cosmos inside out. Space and time were no longer infinite and no longer fixed. Mind-boggling concepts such as "Time stretching" and "warped space" became scientific realities. Then in 1964 scientists proved that our universe had a beginning, around 14 billion years ago, which they called the "Big Bang". They showed that the universe was neither infinitely old nor infinitely large. It left room for other universes to exist.
The argument that I alluded to in the first paragraph arose in 1999 when the Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, published his book "Just Six Numbers". In it he demonstrated scientifically that the universe appears as if were specifically tailor-made to foster life. He looked at natural phenomena such as gravitational and electrical forces and the density of matter in the universe, and found that if any of them were different by more than a slight amount, then life couldn't exist. For Nathan Aviezer, an Orthodox professor of Physics at Israel's Bar Ilan University, Rees' findings proved the existence of a Creator. For Aviezer, it was simply too unlikely that such a perfect universe could come into existence by chance, and the only other possible explanation was that the Universe was created by God.
Unfortunately for the Israeli professor, Rees has stated that Aviezer has completely misunderstood him. Rees' preferred explanation for our own universe's perfect suitability for life is the proposal of a multitude of universes. He points out that there could be billions of universes, and if even just one of them has a make-up that is conducive to life, then we are are bound to be in just that one, because patently we are alive. Rees writes in his paper "Other Universes - A Scientific Perspective":
"The cosmos maybe has something in common with an 'off the shelf' clothes shop: if the shop has a large stock, we're not surprised to find one suit that fits. Likewise, if our universe is selected from a multiverse, its seemingly designed or fine tuned features wouldn't be surprising."
By contrast, when I raised the topic with Aviezer at a lecture he recently gave at the Kinloss Learning Centre, he firmly asserted "There are no other universes," and would not discuss it further.
Aviezer's hostility towards multiple universes prompts one to ask whether Judaism itself must necessarily be opposed to the idea. To answer this question we can look to our prophetic literature and our liturgy, and we find that it is replete with references to a plurality of universes. Isaiah in the 8th century BCE entreats "Trust in the Lord for ever and ever, for the Lord is Tsur Olamim, the Rock of Universes" (Isaiah 26:4). The Rabbinic Commentary Bereshit Rabbah on the first chapter of Genesis mentions the idea that God created hundreds of universes before the present one. The siddur is full of similar references written at various times. A blessing in the Shabbat morning service, thought to date from early in the Common Era, ends "Melech El Chai Ha-olamim", "King, God, Life of the universes." A meditation Ribon Kol Haolamim, Master of all universes, is attributed to a Rabbi Joseph from the late eighteenth century.
The Shabbat Zemirot, dinner table hyms, generally written in the Middle Ages, often praise God as the creator of universes. Examples are: Yom Ze Mechubad, with refrain "This day is honoured above all days, because on it the Rock of Universes rested; Yom Ze Leyisrael, with the line "In six days You finished the making of universes"; "Menucha Vesimcha", containing "For in God the Lord is the rock of universes"; Ya Ribon, which begins "God, master of universe upon universe".
Some might choose to translate some of these references as 'worlds' or 'eternities' rather than 'universes'. However, it is clear that, for all their authors, God's works are multitudinous and unlimited. They would belong to the 'multiple universes' school.
As for my own opinions, I would contend that anyone who believes in God must surely believe that He exists in a realm outside of our universe's space and time. Immortal souls, if they exist, must also reside beyond our universe. This realm beyond our cosmos must certainly leave room for the possible existence of other universes.
I have tried above to present information from both sides of the theist–atheist divide. Ultimately we all make our own decisions over matters of faith and the unknowable. But I have attempted to show that the proposal of multiple universes is not a threat to a believer in a divine Creator. The world - or perhaps that should be the multiverse - is big enough for both believers and non-believers.
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