Q&A: Science Based on Verses
Science Based on Verses
Question
The Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 8a brings a dispute between the tannaim about when sheep conceive (with a practical implication for the New Year for tithing animals), and the tannaim bring verses as proof. (The discussion is then rejected because of a difficulty.) Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: on the first of Tishrei. Rabbi Yohanan said: and both expounded the same verse, as it says (Psalms 65:14), “The flocks are clothed in the meadows, and the valleys are Wrap it in a bar; they shout for joy, they even sing.” Rabbi Meir held: When are the flocks clothed in the meadows? At the time when the valleys are Wrap it in a bar. And when are the valleys Wrap it in a bar? In Adar. They conceive in Adar and give birth in Av; their New Year is Elul. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: When are the flocks clothed in the meadows? At the time when they shout for joy and even sing. When do the stalks sing? In Nisan. They conceive in Nisan and give birth in Elul; their New Year is Tishrei. Why learn this from a verse and not ask a shepherd?
Answer
Simply speaking, there is no single date for conception and birth. It is spread out over several months among different animals. Therefore, the question under dispute is not factual but halakhic: where to draw the line. And on that, shepherds cannot help.
Usually, disputes about reality in the Talmud are of this type: where some line passes along a continuum. Even the rule that for a girl of three years old, her virginity is restored, is not really about the exact age of 3. It is a line that the sages drew. And there are many more cases like this.
Beyond that, sometimes verses are brought as support for a reasoning or for a known fact. It is only for rhetorical flourish or as a mnemonic device (an asmakhta). Especially here, where these are verses from the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), which certainly are not a Torah-level source. At most, this is just an indication of the matter.
Among the medieval authorities (Rishonim), there are different approaches to the relation to reality. Tosafot not infrequently bring verses to prove factual claims (for example, proof that there are many stars from the Covenant Between the Pieces). The Spanish medieval authorities are more connected to empirical science and to reality (for example, the Ran in Sukkah: one should not deny what is perceptible to the senses).