7242 —ארבעה יסודות בתורה, במדע, ודעת הרמב"ם

Shalom u'Vrachah! [End of Adar 5720?]

On Tuesday of Parshas Tetzaveh I went... Among the conversations I said that every physical thing in this world is composed of four elements, and there are no more than four elements as explained in Chassidus. I said that this is also explained by the Rambam, but today it is accepted by all science that there are ninety-six elements. In any case, the Rambam said this according to the views of his time...

In the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos, negative commandment 179, according to his view if a prohibition is mentioned more than once but nothing is added, one receives lashes only once. It is explained among his words regarding a wasp that one receives six lashes. I said that the Rambam stated this as his view regarding spontaneous generation, and now in biology it is agreed that this is not true...

He agreed that I should ask from the Rebbe one thing: whether this matter of four elements is part of Torah, and if someone does not believe in it—what is his status.

1) [Four elements]—in the words of our Sages it does not mean they cannot be divided or split; rather they are the "foundational parts" from which everything is composed. This does not relate to the number of elements in chemistry. Some early commentators on our Sages explain "elements" as referring to their qualities: cold and moist, hot and dry, etc. This is not the place to elaborate. Therefore they are called in Midrash Teva'im (Midrash on Nature).

2) This was agreed upon fifty years ago, but now it is "agreed"—that each one of them consists of several parts. How many types of parts exist—they do not know at all yet. Some estimate there are four foundations: matter, antimatter, positive, negative.

3) And this is "the view" of Torah and it appears in many places from Tannaim (Torat Kohanim Shemini 11:44 etc.) and Amoraim (Shabbat 107b), and it serves as a foundation for several halachos.

4) All agreement is only conjecture; their words: since in a place of decay they found (with a microscope) tiny eggs, one can say these species came from them. There is no proof they were generated from decay as our Sages said; therefore we cannot say they differ from other living creatures.

5) For it is found in Bamidbar Rabbah 14:12; in Zohar countless places; and more.

Summary

The letter explains that Torah’s concept of four elements refers to foundational qualities rather than physical substances like those identified by modern science. The discussion highlights how Torah ideas can coexist with evolving scientific understanding while maintaining their unique spiritual perspective.