gek@ihu1j.UUCP (glenn kapetansky) (10/17/84)
This is at least third hand by now, but I heard that Rabbi Goren
was asked whether Judy Resnick (y'know, the Shuttle Specialist)
was obligated to light Shabbat candles on her flight.
His answer was "No", because there is no way to reckon days in space
(relative to Earth, for which the Torah was written?). I'm told
this was in an article in Monday's (10/15) Chicago Sun Times, if
anyone cares.
What's the story? Is this true? What are the ramifications?
--
glenn kapetansky
"The time has come", the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things..."
...ihnp4!ihu1j!gek yiri@ucf-cs.UUCP (Yirmiyahu BenDavid) (10/19/84)
I read the story in the paper and (though I can't say I remember which rabbi it was), the story read essentially as you say. Regarding the consequences, my feelings are that this is another example where religious myopia has bumbled into the logi-scieintific arena. There seems to me to have been several instances (particularly in the Jerusalem Post over the past year) where the orthodox have taken an almost anti-intellectual position on matters of scholarship, logic, and science (which I regard together as inextricably interrelated). I am for the orthodox from the point of view of strong commitment to observance, but I'm skeptical of blind acceptance of such views as this. A related question might be: how much of Judasim is earth-bound? Is Judaism irrelevant in space? If there is life somewhere else, has the Creator founded another religion there? Is such inconsistency contradictory to perfection and immutability? Etc. ad infinitum.
robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (10/24/84)
Because of wording in the Torah (sorry, as usual I lack the reference), it is clear that virtually all of the commandments are related to the LAND. If you are land-based, on land, temporaily offland (as when jumping or flying), or even in a boat (water in this sense is land I think), you are bound by the commandments. But in orbit, or on another planet, I believe most commandments, and therefore most of halacha, no longer apply. - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison or: decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison or (emergency): princeton!eosp1!robison
ecl@hocsj.UUCP (10/26/84)
Reference: <125@ihu1j.UUCP>, <1190@eosp1.UUCP> As usual, science fiction has even thought about such questions as these. Jack Dann has two anthologies of Jewish science fiction, WANDERING STARS and MORE WANDERING STARS, which have stories that deal with the question of whether alien animals are considered kosher (if killed correctly, of course), etc. (As I recall, Silverberg's story in the first anthology was along these lines, but the Ellison story was even better.) Go read them; they're fun. Evelyn C. Leeper ...ihnp4!hocsj!ecl
smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (11/06/84)
> From: gek@ihu1j.UUCP (glenn kapetansky) > Subject: Frummies in Space > Message-ID: <125@ihu1j.UUCP> > Date: Wed, 17-Oct-84 11:44:05 EDT > This is at least third hand by now, but I heard that Rabbi Goren > was asked whether Judy Resnick (y'know, the Shuttle Specialist) > was obligated to light Shabbat candles on her flight. > His answer was "No", because there is no way to reckon days in space > (relative to Earth, for which the Torah was written?). I'm told > this was in an article in Monday's (10/15) Chicago Sun Times, if > anyone cares. Back in the mists of time, I used to ask my (orthodox) Hebrew school teacher similar questions. (She seemed to think I was harassing her...) Anyway, as I recall she said that someone on a temporary trip would observe the calendar of their base location -- probably Houston in this case. A colonist would use GMT, or some similar standard time. (Jerusalem Standard Time?) She said that similar questions had already been answered for Arctic explorers, where day and night are similarly blurred around the solstices. I never did get answers to some of my stranger questions, like what would Martian colonists do (they'd probably live by the local 25 hour day), or folks in a starship traveling at relativistic speeds -- who would consequently end up out of sync with earth if/when they returned.
robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (11/07/84)
Applying halacha to space is diffeent from applying halacha to the North pole. In space, one is not ON the earth (nor hopping along the earth, as in a plane), and much halacha no longer applies. - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison or: decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison or (emergency): princeton!eosp1!robison
phil@ucla-cs.UUCP (11/08/84)
I recall seeing in GEO magazine in a doctor's office a few months ago
a blurb on a Jewish Congress in Jerusalem that discussed issues about
Jewish Astronauts. It said that the consensus was that commandments
associated with time should be observed according to Jerusalem Standard
Time. I think the magazine is still in the office, so I will check it
out next time I get a chance.
Vie zu machen gelt, zeit ihr a meyven. Ober, vie zu schnorren, bin ich
a meyven.
Phil
ARPA: phil @ ucla-locus.arpa
UUCP: {quad1,lcc,cepu,ihnp4,randvax,sdcrdcf,trwspp,uclaea,ucbvax,
ucivax,ism780,silogic,ati,muddcs,ucla-cime}!ucla-cs!philphil@ucla-cs.UUCP (11/16/84)
I found the article I referred to in an earlier message. In the July 84 issue of GEO magazine, in the GEOSPHERE section in the end, there is a subsection called LOCAL NEWS FROM ALL OVER. I quote from the article: Israeli Astronauts Are Excused From Prayers
phil@ucla-cs.UUCP (11/16/84)
Lets try again -- (my 10 month old is done pounding on the keyboard)
I found the article I referred to in an earlier message. In the July 84
issue of GEO magazine, in the GEOSPHERE section in the end, there is a
subsection called LOCAL NEWS FROM ALL OVER. I quote from the article:
Israeli Astronauts Are Excused From Prayers
Jewish astronauts are now required to pray only at sunrise and sunset,
Jerusalem time, according to new tennets set forth at the recent Annual
Congress of Israeli Astronomers. Prayer poses a considerable problem
for Israeli astronauts - who have yet to make a space flight - because
under rabincal law, a believer must pray every time the sun rises or
sets. Since this happens almost continually in orbit, a devout
astronaut would spend most of his waking hours in prayer. The congress
also exempted astronauts from the requirement to pray facing Jerusalam
because that would be extremely difficult to do in the topsy-turvy world
of space.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next to the artilce is a painting of an astronaut in a space suit.
Floating next him is an open Torah. I wonder what devout muslims would
do, they pray facing Mecca 5 times a day. Of course, there is the
problem of the definition of what direction one is facing while in
space.
Phil
ARPA: phil @ ucla-locus.arpa
UUCP: {quad1,lcc,cepu,ihnp4,randvax,sdcrdcf,trwspp,uclaea,ucbvax,
ucivax,ism780,silogic,ati,muddcs,ucla-cime}!ucla-cs!phil