YOU TAKE THE G-D PARTICLE I'LL TAKE G-D
e-geress Vol. 1, No.9 March 24th 2000. 17th Adar II 5760
Publisher: Rabbi Yechezkel Fox
Editor: Rabbi Yisrael Rutman
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The Big Bang has reverberated once again, as word came forth recently from Geneva of the latest breakthrough in particle physics. A team of 300 scientists from 20 countries employed the Super Proton Synchrotron to smash together lead ions at almost the speed of light, producing a "Little Bang" fireball with temperatures 100,000 times higher than the center of the sun. The experiments produced just the kind of matter that scientists believe existed less than 10 microseconds after the Big Bang itself, thus confirming the theory of the origin of the universe. This matter is a quark-gluon plasma, in which the quark, thought to be the fundamental building block of matter, is set free from the protons and neutrons to which it is otherwise inextricably bound. Having re-created the creation, there is yet much work left to be done. The task of gathering more conclusive evidence will be taken up next year by the folks at Brookhaven Laboratories in the U.S., where the $600,000,000 Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has been built specially for this purpose. Of what use is all of this heavy duty experimentation? The short answer is: none. There is at present no known practical application for these discoveries. The scientists at Geneva and Brookhaven are fond of recalling Michael Faraday's witty replies to similar questions about his discovery of electricity. To a politician he said that "Sir, someday you will be able to tax it." To a mother he rejoined, "And your newborn baby, Madam, of what use is it?" Some answer in a different way. They suggest that we need not look for practical applications, neither in the short, nor the long term. Rather, we should appreciate these expeditions into the inner space of the universe as a kind of global cultural experience; the 21st century's equivalent of grand opera. (Accordingly, our ticket to this opera will wind up costing several billion dollars.) In the meantime, as we wait for the inevitable news of the first quark bomb project, we can utilize these findings to make a few observations: First, if the world can appreciate this kind of science, perhaps it can open the way to a greater appreciation of spirituality, as well. Indeed, they seem to have a lot in common. No one has ever seen a quark, free or manacled, yet many scientists are convinced that it exists. Likewise, although no one has ever seen G-d (and lived), it should be no impediment to at least admitting the possibility of His existence. And if the physicists at Geneva and Brookhaven are reliable enough for the veracity of their evidence, the tradition of our Prophets and Sages should be no less deserving of our consideration. People sometimes dismiss religion because it seems to them to serve no practical purpose. Yet we see that particle physics is defended in spite of its dubious utility. Like Faraday's electricity, it is assumed that someday it will pay off. We adhere to the tenets of Judaism because they are right, but there is also a payoff. If we keep the faith, we are promised the blessings of peace and prosperity. Then, there is also the cosmic payoff. Our Sages teach that the purpose of creation is for Israel to accept the Torah; without it the world would revert to null and void, or in the jargon of theoretical physics, a quark-gluon plasma. Understood in a moral sense, the Torah is the irreducible stuff of civilization; without it, we are heirs to anarchy. Nor is Judaism bereft of esthetic value. "One who never saw the Temple in Jerusalem never saw true beauty," the Talmud declares. The beauty of architecture, music (which was requisite for the Temple service) and literature has always been a part of the Jewish world. Creativity itself is a way of experiencing divinity. Furthermore, we are enjoined to conduct ourselves in such a way that is pleasing to all; our very lives should be a beautiful expression of Jewishness. (Ethics of the Fathers 2:1) Beyond utility and esthetics, there is something else on the agenda---cosmology. Scientists are unabashedly searching for the origins of the universe. More specifically, for the Higgin boson. It's the ultimate subatomic particle, which theoretically brought about the Big Bang and is the reason that you and I are here. Not for nothing is it called "the G-d particle." It is axiomatic in Judaism that one of the primary ways in which to come to know and love the Creator is by contemplating the wonders of His creation. And if we are in need of telescopes in space and atom smashers on earth to facilitate that contemplation, so be it. We can only hope that if and when scientists do succeed in isolating the Higgins boson, it will not be just another particle they discover, but along with it the awe of its Creator. by Rabbi Yisrael Rutman We have not here addressed the question of how or whether these scientific findings conflict with the traditional Jewish view of the creation of the universe. For that discussion see below: Recommended Reading: Genesis and the Big Bang by Dr. Gerald Schroder (CIS Publications) Permission to Believe by Lawrence Keleman (Targum Press) In the Beginning: Biblical Creation and Science by Professor Nathan Aviezer 
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