Q&A: What the Torah Can Teach Us
What the Torah Can Teach Us
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In a number of places you have argued that the Torah cannot teach us facts, only norms. However, in "Two Carts," you argue that one can derive philosophical assumptions from the Torah (such as that causality is brought about by only a single cause), meaning that it does in fact teach us facts about the world as well.
From this it would follow that the only subject that cannot be learned from the Torah is the natural sciences?
Answer
First, the Torah does teach us facts such as the creation of the world or the revelation at Mount Sinai. Beyond that, the assumption that a cause is a necessary and sufficient condition does not come from the Written Torah but from Jewish law, and even there Jewish law assumes this exactly as any other person would. Therefore I do not think it is correct to say that Jewish law teaches us this.
I think it is more accurate to say that there is no authority with regard to facts; that is, if I accept a fact, I will not retract it because of the Torah, and vice versa.