Ramban’s comments on the meorot (heavenly luminaries) and rakia (firmament; or sky…) connect to the Earth’s early history…
Tag: Genesis
Bereishit and the Nobel Prize
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star” can help understand a midrash on Bereishit…
Abraham and the First Planetarium
In Parshat Lech Lecha, we find Genesis 15:5, a great verse for astronomical commentaries and homiletics, for fairly obvious reasons: וַיּוֹצֵ֨א אֹת֜וֹ הַח֗וּצָה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַבֶּט־נָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וּסְפֹר֙ הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם־תּוּכַ֖ל לִסְפֹּ֣ר אֹתָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ כֹּ֥ה יִהְיֶ֖ה זַרְעֶֽךָ׃ He took him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count…
Midrash & the Making of the Moon
Shemot Rabbah on Parshat Hachodesh and Barchi Nafshi helps explain difficulty on the Moon in Genesis…
The First Mitzvah, The First Month
Astronomy is a prerequisite for the first mitzvah, which we read about in Parshat Hachodesh…
The Thirteenth Month and the Constellation Ophiuchus
The thirteenth month, Adar, and the thirteenth Zodiac constellation, Ophiuchus. what is the connection?
The First Festival of Light
Chanukah is often referred to as the Festival of Light(s). But it is not the first Festival of Light in the world, as the Talmud tells us.
The First Light
Conflict between Genesis and modern science?
Ancient rabbinic midrashim already have an understanding in consonance with modern scientific ideas!
AstroRav: Torah & Astronomy 