4409 —הסרת ספקות אודות הבריאה, האסטרונומיה וגיל היקום

B"H, 1st of Sivan, 5716.

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter from the 25th of Iyar, I was pleased to read that several doubts you had were resolved. As explained in our holy books, "safek" (doubt) has the same gematria as "Amalek," referring to the klipah of Amalek. Just as Amalek literally jumps into a boiling bath just to cool it for the Jewish people—as it is written "asher karcha" (see Midrash Tanchuma there)—so too is this a paradigm for all doubts mentioned, whose source is as stated above, and this should suffice.

Regarding what you wrote about reading in astronomy books that light from stars must travel much more than six thousand years before reaching earth, and you question how this fits with what is stated in Torah that we are now in the year 5716 since creation: Even if we assume that this calculation about stellar distances is correct (since even among astronomers there are differing opinions), it does not present a difficulty regarding the date of creation. Just as the stars were created, so too were their rays of light created. Just as Hashem can create a star that only then begins to shine, so too could He create a star together with its rays already extending from it. Especially according to what is said in the first parsha of our Torah: "And there was evening and there was morning, one day," while "let there be lights" was only on the fourth day—meaning there was already light before the luminaries were set in the sky.

Regarding what you saw in a certain book suggesting that the six days of creation were not days of twenty-four hours—and unfortunately such interpretations are found in other books as well—they distort Scripture because, with all due respect, they do not sufficiently know the "foundations" upon which various scientific hypotheses about the age of the earth are built. Knowledge and investigation into these foundations prove to any healthy mind that they are merely hypotheses and far from certainty; this is also the view of scientists themselves and is brought in their own books—though they conceal their doubts about these foundations in textbooks for beginners. There is no need to elaborate or point out the simplest proof: that the six days of creation were indeed twenty-four-hour days since observing Shabbat after six weekdays depends on this.

You surely know about the three universally accessible daily study portions instituted by my father-in-law, the Rebbe—Chumash, Tehillim, and Tanya—and at least keep them from now on, in addition to regular study of Chassidus.

With blessing.

Summary

The Rebbe explains that scientific theories do not undermine Torah's account of creation; G‑d could create stars and their light simultaneously. He encourages maintaining faith in tradition while engaging in daily Torah study and Chassidus.