Opinion & Comment
Seeing Ourselves from Outer Space

The tragic end of the space shuttle Columbia will not put an end to the American space program. Space exploration has always been the object of man's aspirations, whether out of curiosity or out of a desire to sense that man has the strength to break past any boundary. While this attitude is clearly a throwback to the Tower of Bovel, where mankind aspired to build a tower that would reach "to the heavens" and from there to make war against Hashem, it's interesting (although not too surprising) to note that those few individuals who actually do ascend to the heavens, describe it as being a spiritual experience.

Ilan Ramon, z"l, commented to President Moshe Katsav that when he was above Yerushalayim the words Shema Yisroel just escaped his lips. Neil Armstrong, the first man ever to walk on the moon, said the prepared phrase, "A small step for man, a giant leap for mankind," and then went on to quote the novi Yeshayah (40:26), "Lift up your eyes on high."

Recently Gene Cernan, the last astronaut to walk on the moon from Apollo 17, was interviewed by the Israeli media. When asked what he recalled from the journey, he replied: "It was an awesome picture. Unreal. From there everything seems so serene, peaceful. It's too beautiful. I thought then, and today also, that there must have been some Creator -- only He would have been capable of bringing about such a creation as the Earth. I'm sure that viewing the world from the moon only enriched me spiritually and also gave me a new vantage point on life . . . Anyone who walked on the moon had such a spiritual experience, similar to it or stronger."

When a man breaks free of gravity into the open universe, he has a new perspective on the world, on life and, most importantly, on the essence of man. There is almost no way to remain indifferent and a disbeliever when your vantage point takes in the entire world. Here, in our little world, one can allow himself to be deluded by "theories" that explain the creation without Creation. Up there, it all looks different.

Speaking with Prime Minister Sharon, Ramon mentioned that only from above is it possible to see just how thin is the slight layer of atmosphere that encompasses the world and provides the conditions that makes life possible.

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But it's a mistake to think that one needs to go to outer space to realize this. While it's a fact that in the wide expanses of space the recognition of a Creator comes easily, welling up unopposed from the depths of one's soul, nevertheless, the same realizations are possible down here as well, only they require a small amount of contemplation. One who does contemplate can reach this truth, provided he does not go about like a blind man in the dark.

In the light of the bitter end of the space shuttle Columbia, which has had the attention of the world, let's recall some words written 50 years ago about space research and the lessons we can learn from it and, although it may be a bit long, it is no less interesting and relevant today than when it was written.

HaRav Yechiel Tukatchinsky zt"l first published the work, Tekufas Hachamoh Uvirchosoh in the year 5685/1925, in preparation for the brochoh made when the sun returns to the point at which it began upon Creation. In the year 5712 (1952) it was republished for the next cycle (205th) which was in the following, with an introduction in which the mashgiach of Ponevezh, HaRav Yechezkel Levinstein zt"l, recommended that people read as a musar sefer. The son of the author prepared an introduction for the 206th cycle in the year 5741 (1981) that came after the dramatic advances in space research of the past decades, saying that professors had been amazed by the content of this work which bears out the Chazal that a chochom is preferable to a novi. In the context of this small article we can only give an abridged version of the original text.

"Three years ago (5709/1949) the largest telescope ever built was brought up to a high mountain peak in California. For more than 20 years it had been perfected while astronomers waited impatiently for it to be set up, so that it could decipher for them the expanses of space and enable them to penetrate into the makeup of space and take in the upper worlds. The day this instrument was put in place, close to 1000 astronomers gathered at the peak of the mountain and gave the telescope the name "Jacob's Ladder," because with it a man would now be able to stand firmly on the ground while his head and eyes could reach the heavens.

"And yet, once they were finally able to use their instrument, how great was their disappointment when they realized that all they had done was to take another step into a world of lack of information about man and the heavens.

"Ever since then, researchers are even more devoted to developing a rocket that will reach the moon, the closest celestial body to the earth, with the hope that afterwards man will himself be able to fly by rocket to the moon and then surely the gates of the heavens will be open before him and he will reach the apex of knowledge.

"While the execution of such a rocket has not yet been successful, before ever having actualized this idea of transportation to and from the moon, researchers are already dissatisfied with this plan and are aiming past the moon. They now aspire to reach beyond not only the moon, but also Mercury and Venus, until they reach Mars, which researchers say is a planet with a sandy soil, has clouds, snow, frost and air, too. The weather there is like weather in our colder countries. If so, according to their theories, it's possible that life can be sustained there.

"And so it was that in October, 1951, in London there was an international congress on aeronautics, in which over 60 astronomers took part. One of the head researchers presented a plan to reach the planet Mars. Aspiring to the possibility of flying to the stars, plans were brought up for establishing stations on the way to the planets that would serve as fueling stations . . . and then after having reached such heights, `then,' they said, `then, the secrets of the world would be revealed, what's in the heavens, too' and they will fathom the secrets of creation.

"Lets say that the research succeeds past the moon and onwards to Mars. Let's say even more--that they'll reach Jupiter and Saturn. Will that, then, be the apex?

"Let's imagine that the researcher won't be satisfied by even a Saturn station and will use even better instruments until he's reached stars and on hand will be a telescope billions of times larger than the one in California, so that through this, on the star, he can look down on the planets as if on little seeds, and among those seeds will be our planet Earth, like a small speck of dust, and then he'll recall that on this speck of dust there is molecule called America, and on that molecule there is a particle called California, and on one of the little bumps in California crawl around miniature creatures (in an upright position!) standing around what they call a huge telescope . . . Then -- then will he think that a man of the earth will reach the apex of knowledge?

"Looking from above on our world, lost among other worlds far greater in size, thinking that even if every one of the billions of people would stand one on top of the other not a trace of them would be visible; no different from a speck of bacteria . . . with what scorn he'll look upon the men of the earth and their aspiration to reach up to the heavens! He'll compare the astronomers crowding around "Jacob's Ladder" to the ants gathered around the crumb of bread (which for them is as crucial as the telescope). With pity he'll look upon the poor two-legged ants trying hard, running around, bumping into and fighting each other, all due to empty selfishness.

"`If you'll ascend like an eagle and if you'll place your nest between the stars, from there I will bring you down, says Hashem' (Ovadia 1). On leaving the lower atmosphere, as you go up, you break free of the tumult of life on earth and you have the possibility to reach the height of knowledge -- which is that all reality is too great a secret for anyone to ever know.

"The simple man knows only mother earth, who nurses him until his return unto it. He never delves into her deeds and wonders. The wise man, however, does seek out secrets, hidden things, but rather than unravel mysteries, his wisdom only reveals new layers of mysteries."

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In short, we have the bechira, the free choice, to realize the greatness of the Creation without reaching the high expanses of space. Each and every detail of the Creation teaches that there is a Borei. A man can choose to be blind to this, see only himself, become a slave to his desires and give himself honor such as is expressed in the verse "ani ve'afsi od" (Yeshayohu 47:8). But if we'll open our eyes we won't need to go to space. Mibesori echezeh . . . from my flesh I see Hashem . . . (Iyov 19:26).