Q&A: Is the Place of the Ark Really Not Included in the Measurement?
Is the Place of the Ark Really Not Included in the Measurement?
Question
A well-known miracle mentioned by the Sages is that when they measured from each side of the Ark of the Covenant to the walls of the Holy of Holies, there were ten cubits on each side. Since the total width of the Holy of Holies was twenty cubits, it follows that the Ark itself took up no space.
In the Rabbi's opinion, is this just aggadah, or could such a miracle actually happen? Is this a logical contradiction?
I once heard the Rabbi say that two different photons (more precisely, bosons) can be in the same place at the same time, and I thought maybe that is similar.
Answer
There is no physical explanation for this, and there is no point in looking for one. Either it is some kind of perceptual illusion or simply aggadah. I do not assume there was an actual distortion in space itself.
Discussion on Answer
I am very doubtful about that. At first glance this is a logical contradiction, and there are no logical miracles. I have explained here more than once that miracles can violate the laws of nature, but not the laws of logic. True, in this case we are talking about an application to the world, and I have also explained that when you apply things in the world, logic becomes physics, and then additional assumptions enter that can be changed. But regarding space itself, it is quite hard to accept. That would have to be some kind of curvature in space. Maybe, but it is unlikely.
A – What is the difference between a square triangle and the above case?
B – And what about "they stood crowded, yet bowed with ample space"? Is that a logical contradiction or a physical one?
A square triangle is a conceptual contradiction. But with concepts like area and volume, you can play with metrics. I will not get into that here.
A – So if I understand correctly, then the miracle that all of Israel stood between the two poles of the Ark is also possible.
B – In any case, then what did the High Priest see when he went in there? He has physical eyes.
And what did they see in the case of "they bowed with ample space"? Did the space expand? If someone was standing ten cubits from the wall at the time of the "crowding," did he move farther away at the time of the "ample space"?
And what did they physically see with the poles of the Ark, where between them there is only a width of a few cubits, yet inside it there were hundreds of thousands of people?
C – Where could you expand on metrics, and is there any connection to general relativity, to the dimension of space-time that can curve?
This is not the place for it. I touched on it in my column on logic and reality (50, 318).
I read both of them last night,
and still you cannot understand from there:
what did the High Priest see when he went in there? He has physical eyes.
And likewise, what did they see in the case of "they bowed with ample space"? Did the space expand? If someone was standing ten cubits from the wall at the time of the "crowding," did he move farther away at the time of the "ample space"?
And likewise, what did they physically see with the poles of the Ark, where between them there is only a width of a few cubits, yet inside it there were hundreds of thousands of people?
I would be glad for some insight.
I have no idea what they saw. With vision too, you can play around.
I am asking based on what you wrote regarding the rejection of the foreknowledge-and-free-choice trick:
that even if the Creator can know what I will choose, I as a human being cannot believe in both together; either I believe there is free choice and then He does not know, or He knows and there is no free choice.
So I am asking: what do you mean by saying that with vision you can play around?
After all, just as above, a person with physical eyes cannot see two contradictory things at the same time, like a square triangle.
Can the priest physically see both five cubits on each side of the Ark and also ten cubits total together with the Ark?
Physical eyes cannot see both the poles of the Ark with only a few cubits of width between them and also that inside it there were hundreds of thousands of people.
Physical eyes cannot see that if someone stood ten cubits from the wall at the time of the "crowding," he moved farther away at the time of the "ample space," while the place remained the same size.
Rabbi Michi, why are you not answering?
What do you mean by saying that with vision you can play around?
And what about his physical eyes?
Could this not simply be interpreted as, well, a miracle? Even if that includes a distortion in space, or other things.