6877 —השקפות מדעיות על תנועת השמש והארץ

Shalom u'Vrachah! [25 Iyar 5719]

In response to your letter from the 27th of Tishrei, in which you write that you heard from someone—apparently, as your letter suggests—as if it is a scientific conclusion, clearly established, that the earth revolves around the sun, etc., and not according to the opposite view, which supposedly has been disproven by several proofs. You ask for clarification on this matter.

Since it seems from what was said that you want to know first and foremost what is the opinion of scientists—over the past decades, all scientists working in this field have concluded that there is no definitive decision on whether the sun or the earth is stationary and which revolves around the other. Moreover, they have determined based on several scientific considerations that science can never bring proof or evidence in this matter. According to science, anyone can hold whichever view they wish: either that the earth stands still and the sun revolves around it, or vice versa, or even that both revolve around each other. As is well known to those involved in current scientific developments, this is attributed to the theory of relativity. As mentioned, this is currently the most recent and absolute conclusion of all scientists in our generation.

Based on this, it is understood that all verses speaking about the sun's movements around the earth, etc., should be understood literally, and there is no difficulty with this at all.

Summary

The Rebbe clarifies that contemporary science does not definitively determine whether the sun or earth moves; both perspectives are valid within scientific theory. Therefore, Torah verses describing the sun's movement can be taken literally without conflict with modern science.