Three Rabbinic Perspectives on Science and Religion

Usually, when people speak of the relationship between science and religion, they have in mind the conflict between scriptural narrative—especially regarding creation, the origins of mankind, and miracles—and modern scientific findings. But in Judaism there is an entirely separate realm of conflict, when rabbinic laws based on natural reality are contradicted by scientific understanding of the same realities. The most important case involves the cycles of the moon, on which the sacred calendar depends. Ron Ennis contrasts the approaches to this problem of three rabbis: Moses Maimonides (1138–1204), Judah Loew ben Betzalel of Prague (a/k/a Maharal, 1520–1609), and Moses Isserles (Rema, 1530–1572).