Skip to main content
The Nexus of Science and Religion: Searching for a Divine Fingerprint in Creation
Description
The foundations of modern science, as we know it today, were laid in the seventeenth century during the Scientific Revolution. The prevailing image of this development is that science emerged through a constant conflict with religion and the religious establishment, with the trial of Galileo becoming the ultimate symbol of this clash. In reality, however, the leaders of the Scientific Revolution were mostly people of faith who saw religion and science as complementary. Nevertheless, the tensions between these two domains exist and warrant our careful consideration. Jewish thinkers have also pondered the relationship between understanding the natural world and knowing God, and the questions that troubled them continue to preoccupy many of us today. Here are a few examples of such questions: Can we identify God’s "signature" within creation, such that science can lead us to acknowledge the existence of a Creator and Designer? Does the existence of an omniscient God negate human free will? Conversely, do the laws of nature discovered by science rule out such freedom of choice? The lessons in this series will explore questions regarding the relationship between faith and science through the study of classical and modern Jewish thinkers, ranging from Maimonides to Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz.
Original title
הממשק בין דת ומדע | שיעור 2 – האם ניתן לזהות את טביעת אצבעותיו של האל בבריאה? | פרופ' ימימה בן מנחם
יסודות המדע המודרני, כפי שאנו מכירים אותו היום, הונחו במאה השבע עשרה, בתקופת המהפכה המדעית. הדימוי הנפוץ של התפתחות זו הוא שהמדע צמח תוך כדי קונפליקט עם הדת והממסד הדתי. משפטו של גלילאו הפך לסמל שמבטא את הקונפליקט הזה. ואולם למעשה, מובילי המהפכה המדעית היו ברובם מאמינים שראו את הדת והמדע כמשלימים זה את זה. עם זאת, המתחים בין שני התחומים קיימים וראויים לעיוננו. גם הוגי דעות יהודיים נתנו את דעתם על היחסים בין הבנת העולם והכרת האל והשאלות שהטרידו אותם מעסיקות רבים מאתנו עד היום. הנה כמה דוגמאות לשאלות כאלה: האם אנו יכולים לזהות את חתימת ידו של האל בבריאה, כך שהמדע יכול להוליך אותנו להכרה בקיומו של אל בורא ומתכנן? האם קיומו של אל יודע-כל שולל את הבחירה החופשית של האדם? ומנגד, האם חוקי הטבע שהמדע מגלה שוללים בחירה כזאת? השיעורים בסדרה זו יעסקו בשאלות הקשורות ליחסי אמונה ומדע תוך קריאה בכתבי הוגים יהודיים קלאסיים ומודרניים, מ הרמב"ם ועד פרופ' ישעיהו ליבוביץ.
Video transcript
This video has no captions on YouTube.
You can generate an approximate AI transcript from the video metadata.
Related Videos
43:24
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Quantum Cats and Mind Games: Einstein, Bohr, and Schrödinger Facing Reality
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהThought experiments and cats: Einstein, Bohr, and Schrödinger grapple with quantum reality. This lecture by Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem of the Hebrew University examines the questions and debates sparked by quantum theory, from its introduction in 1925-1926 by Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger as a groundbreaking framework for describing the structure of matter, to its modern philosophical and technological implications. The lecture explores scientific and technological evolution through the lenses of both theoretical and computational physics.38:29
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Yemima Ben-Menahem, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהThe Revo-Devo debate in the history and philosophy of science International Workshop, BGU, 10-11 December 2025 Are there Scientific Revolutionaries? Scientific, Historical, and Philosophical Perspectives on the Problematic Concept of Revolution in the Sciences Dedicated to the memory of Eric Davidson, 1937-201544:41
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
God in the Eyes of Spinoza and Einstein with Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהThe foundations of modern science were laid in the 17th century, but do science and religion necessarily clash? Despite historical conflicts—such as the trial of Galileo—many scientific thinkers were believers who viewed science and religion as mutually complementary. This series, hosted by Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem, explores the tensions and inquiries surrounding the relationship between faith and science. It tackles profound questions such as: Does science prove the existence of God? Does divine omniscience contradict free will? And how do Jewish thinkers perceive the connection between understanding the physical world and knowing the Creator?38:30
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Science and Religion: Doubt and Belief with Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהThe foundations of modern science, as we know it today, were laid in the seventeenth century during the Scientific Revolution. The common perception of this development is that science emerged through a continuous conflict with religion and the religious establishment, with the trial of Galileo becoming the ultimate symbol of this struggle. In reality, however, the leaders of the Scientific Revolution were mostly believers who viewed religion and science as complementary. Nevertheless, the tensions between these two fields remain real and worthy of our examination. Jewish thinkers have also meditated on the relationship between understanding the natural world and knowing God, and the questions that troubled them continue to preoccupy many of us to this day. Examples of such questions include: Can we identify God's "signature" within creation, such that science might lead us to recognize an intelligent Creator and Designer? Does the existence of an omniscient God negate human free will? Conversely, do the laws of nature discovered by science rule out the possibility of such choice? The lessons in this series will explore questions regarding the relationship between faith and science through a close reading of the writings of various thinkers.44:34
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Determinism and Free Will: Choice, Responsibility, and Science with Prof. Yemima Ben-Menahem
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהThe foundations of modern science were laid in the 17th century, during the era of the Scientific Revolution. Despite the common perception of a conflict between science and religion, most of the revolution's leaders were people of faith who viewed the two disciplines as complementary. Nevertheless, tensions do exist and merit close examination. Jewish thinkers have also long grappled with the relationship between understanding the natural world and knowing God. This series will explore these fundamental questions: Does science lead to the recognition of a Creator? Does an omniscient God negate the existence of free will? And do the laws of nature themselves preclude the possibility of such choice?44:10
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Science and Religion: Falsification and the Nature of Evidence with Prof. Yemima Ben-Menahem
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהThe foundations of modern science were laid in the 17th century, the era of the Scientific Revolution. The common perception is that science emerged from a direct conflict with religion, with the trial of Galileo serving as its ultimate symbol. In reality, however, the leaders of this revolution viewed religion and science as complementary disciplines. Tensions between these fields certainly exist and merit deep examination: Does science prove the existence of God? Does divine omniscience contradict free will, or is it rather the deterministic laws of nature that negate it? This series will explore these questions of faith and science through the lens of Jewish thinkers and their writings.1:18:34
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Yemima Ben-Menachem: The Nature of Scientific Resistance – May 12, 2025
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהA scientist proposes a new explanation for a natural phenomenon or a fundamental law of nature. In response, critics argue that the proposal fails to offer a truly new explanation, as the underlying premises already presume the desired outcome. This lecture will examine this objection through two or three specific case studies. The analysis will highlight the gap between natural phenomena and regularities and the mathematical language used to represent them. This divergence may have significant implications for traditional views on scientific explanation, as well as questions regarding the mathematical structure of the physical world.1:36:06
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Yemima Ben-Menachem: Was Ecclesiastes an Atheist
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהA fascinating conversation with Israel Prize laureate for philosophy, Yemima Ben-Menahem, covering a wide range of burning philosophical topics: the purpose of life, open questions, the power of science, the essence of freedom, determinism, Sabbath observance, Poincaré, Aristotle, the nation-state, death, quantum mechanics, and the concept of "vanity of vanities." Original air date: October 4, 202317:48
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Amit Carmon and Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem at the Free Will Conference
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהThe lecture "Wait and See: Is Lawless Determinism Relevant to the Question of Freedom?" and the subsequent panel discussion, featuring Amit Carmon and others, took place at the "Free Will" conference in Nazareth, September 2022.31:55
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
57:38
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Prof. Yemima Ben-Menahem: The Science Wars
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהThe Senior Civil Service Association is proud to present Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem in a fascinating lecture titled "The Science Wars: Between Enlightenment and Postmodernism." Speaker: Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem, Department of Philosophy, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Moderator: S. Simchovitz, Chairperson of the Association. Filming and Editing: Reuven Harmati. Lecture Date: October 28, 2022.1:27:16
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
No Cause for Concern: Indefinite Causal Ordering / Tool for Understanding Entanglement: Conversation
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהModerated Conversation with Yemima Ben-Menahem, Department of Philosophy, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Professor Elise Crull. Understanding the sorts of explanations and inferences that causal processes countenance is of course of great interest to philosophers and physicists (among others). But what can be said about physical processes that fail to exhibit classical causal structure? Indefinite causal ordering among events made possible by quantum correlations has become a fruitful arena of study recently, yielding new insights for quantum computing and communication, approaches to quantum gravity, and even for foundational issues in quantum mechanics. Professor Elise Crull focuses on how indefinite causal ordering may provide deeper understanding regarding the central property of quantum mechanics: entanglement. She then considers what this case study might imply regarding traditional philosophical views of cause as a relation between independent events.27:18
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Stars and the Moral Order: Beyond the Laws of Nature with Prof. Yemima Ben-Menahem
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהModernity, Reason, and Human Finitude A Conference in Memory of Professor Yirmiyahu Yovel on the First Anniversary of his Passing First Session: Modernity – Philosophical Aspects Chair: Dr. Pini Ifergan, Bar-Ilan University; The Spinoza Center at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute - 0:05 Speaker: Prof. Yemima Ben-Menahem, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - 2:24 The Stars and the Moral Imperative: Laws of Nature and What Lies Beyond In June 2018, we said our final farewell to Professor Yirmiyahu Yovel. Yovel was a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, recipient of the Israel Prize for Philosophy in 2000, founder of the Jerusalem Spinoza Center, and author of groundbreaking works on the thought of Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche. He also translated foundational philosophical masterpieces, including Spinoza’s *Ethics* and Kant’s *Critique of Pure Reason*. To mark the first anniversary of his passing, the Spinoza Center at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute is holding a memorial conference featuring leading scholars and intellectuals. The event will focus on Yovel’s innovative and rich philosophical legacy and his extensive body of work.56:48
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Information and Information | Prof. Yemima Ben-Menahem
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהInformation and Information−Processing in Science: Biology, Physics & Brain & Cognitive Sciences INFORMATION IN PHYSICS Prof. Yemima Ben-Menahem (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) The PBR Theorem: Whose Side Is It On? Monday ,30 May, 2016 to Thursday ,2 June, 2016 The 30th Annual International Workshop on the History and Philosophy of Science Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation To the full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHgwT2MoGd81SDAYeaEp_ZCjF2uIKVBp2 Join our mailing list: https://bit.lxOOy/3cSI To the Van Leer Institute website: https://www.vanleer.org.ilNo Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Cornerstones: Philosophy of Science - Lecture 2
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהProf. Yemima Ben-Menachem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem — Cornerstones course. Lecture 2 continues the discussion of the philosophy of science: truth, confirmation, causality and explanation, the Science Wars and the Sokal Affair, and the philosophical implications of Darwinism, relativity and quantum mechanics.No Subtitles
🇮🇱 Hebrew
Cornerstones: Philosophy of Science - Lecture 1
Credit: כל הזכויות שמורות לאוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - תכנית אבני פינהProf. Yemima Ben-Menachem, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem — Cornerstones (Avnei Pina) course. The first part addresses classic issues in the philosophy of science — truth, confirmation, causality and explanation — and the so-called "Science Wars" between modern and post-modern scholars that climaxed in the Sokal Affair. The second part discusses the philosophical implications of major scientific revolutions: Darwinism, the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.Cookies & Privacy 🍪
We use cookies to improve your experience
For more information, see our Privacy Policy