He is also known as Ari and He-Ari ("The Lion") from the acronym for Adoneinu Rabbeinu Itzhak ("Our Master Our Rabbi Yitzhak"), thus Arizal with "ZaL" being the acronym for Zikhrono Livrakha ("of blessed memory" or literally "let the memory of him be for a blessing").
There are three main events that are described by the Ari. The first is tzitzum (contraction), the second is shebirah (breaking of the vessels) and the third is tikkun (rectification). One can only have a yodeah (knowledge) of these concepts but not a true understanding. We can hear them but we cannot fully grasp them, a physical representation of these ideas would misinterpret them even more as they are beyond physical notions.
The Ari describes before the creation of the world: he says the Ein Sof (Without Ending) filled the infinite space. When the Creation was decided upon, in order that God's attributes should manifest themselves in their perfection, the Ein Sof retired into God's own nature, or, to use the kabbalistic term, God "concentrated" (Tzimtzum) Himself. The Ein Sof withdrew into itself creating an empty space (tehiru or vacuum). The Ein Sof then emanated the kab ha-middah (cosmic measure), this light "concentrated" and penetrated the tehiru. There appeared in the centre an empty space encompassed by ten circles or dynamic vessels (kelim) called Sefirot. The ten Sefirot allow the infinite to channel into seperate and diverse parts, although in essence still forming an absolute unity.
The ten Sefirot parallel the ten sayings of creation in bereshis. I will not go into comprehensive detail of the sefirot and further reading is required to have some grasp of these deep concepts. The first three sefirot Keter, Chochmah and Binah (crown and left and right hemispheres of the brain) represent the hidden dimenions of the mind and are therefore beyond the physical universe. The next six Sefirot are Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Hod, Netzach and Yesod, these parallel the six days of creation and the six directions of space (up, down, left, right, back, forward). The final sefirah is Malkhut (kingdom), represents the shechinah and our world. Malkhut also corresponds to the seventh day of creation, shabbat. King David was seen as a character of Malkhut who completes Adams mission. Adam was destined to live for 1000 years (a divine day), but he gave his final 70 years to Kind David. Thereby completed the six days or six sefirot of creation and Adam with King David (Malkhut), signifying the seventh day (shabbat). This alludes to the Moshiach and the messianic age, the ‘Great Shabbat’.
I will now return to a deeper understanding of Alan Guth’s Inflation theory, involving what is called a false vacuum. This is a very difficult topic to grasp and again I refer the reader to further reading of Alan Guth’s book on Inflation. Empty space has been hypothesised to contain a field called the Higg’s field. This field in particle physics determines the properties of all the subatomic particles depending on the values taken by the field at any point in space.
The Higgs field is unusual in that when it is zero it is in a high energy state, but when it takes on a value other than zero its energy drops. This is counter to normal thinking as an electric field for example has a higher energy when the field has an increasing value above zero. When the electric field is zero (non-existent) then the energy of the field is zero also.
Therefore due to this unusual property the energy density of empty space with a Higgs field of zero is high. In fact converted to an equivalent mass density it would be around 1080 g/cm3 (ten with eighty zero’s after it). This is 65 orders of magnitude higher than the density of an atomic nucleus. The energy density of ordinary matter is dominated by its mass, therefore if the volume is increased then density and energy decreases as one would expect with a gas for example.
The Higgs field however has a constant energy density even when its volume is increased, this is as long as the false vacuum does not decay into a lower energy state by a process known as quantum tunnelling. When the volume of the false vacuum is increased the total energy of the system increases and this obviously requires an input of energy. (Hope you’re still with me). A zero Higgs field that is expanding therefore requires energy and this means that the “pressure” of a false vacuum is large and negative. A large negative pressure is like the inward pull of air onto an area of lower pressure, for example removing the air from a drinks can will result in a difference of air pressure between the inside and the outside of the can. This results in the can being crushed inwards.
General relativity dictates that a positive pressure (energy density) creates an attractive gravitational field. However a negative pressure creates a repulsive gravitational field. For however long the Higgs field remains at zero there is a gravitational repulsion that expands rapidly. The false vacuum (zero Higgs field) causes a very rapid inflation for a brief period in the very early universe until the Higgs field decays to a non-zero value – Inflation theory, see Fig. 7.1.
Parallels
One can see the parallels between the kabbalastic model and inflation. Hashem withdraws Himself leaving behind a “vacuum” very similar to the idea of a rapidly expanding false vacuum.
The upper three Sefirot, Keter, Chochmah and Binah could hold the light but as the light poured down to the lower six Sefirot, Chesed to Yesod, these lower six vessels shattered and were dispersed into the chaotic void of the tehiru. This is the Sherbirat-ha-kelim, “Breaking of the vessels”.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan1 refers to tohu and bohu as the two stages of the primeval Sefirot (Vessels). Tohu refers to the first vessels which were shattered, while bohu refers to the Vessels after they were restored and rectified. The original Vessels consisted of the ten Sefirot in their primitive form, a state in which they could not interact with each other; they could only receive from God. Rabbi Kaplan explains that in order to receive God’s light the Vessel must be connected to God, this occurs if the Vessels resemble God in some way. If the Vessels can only receive and God is the ultimate giver then they are absolute opposites. Hence in order for the Vessel to properly receive it must also give.
The Tohu primitive vessels were incomplete and therefore could not hold God’s light. Since they could not fulfill their purpose, they were overwhelmed by the light and ‘shattered’, this resembling the concept of the ‘Breaking of the Vessels’. It is for this reason they are called Tohu which comes from the root meaning “confounded”. This parallels a person who perceives an idea that his mind cannot hold.
After being shattered, the Vessels were rectified and rebuilt into Personifications (Partzufim). These Personifications were able to interact with each other and become givers as well as recievers. In the rectified state, the Vessels were able to receive God’s light, this is called the Universe of Rectification (Tikkun).
The four worlds discussed in Kabbalah are Atziluth (world of causes), Yetzirah (world of formation), Beriyah (world of creation) and Asiyah (world of actions). The original vessels were now in the world of the Atziluth but the light from above penetrated the Sefirah Malkut; this shattered into 288 sparks which failed to return to the primordial source but instead fell through the worlds of Yetzirah, Beriyah and Asiyah and became attached and trapped in the broken fragments of the vessels which formed the Kelipot or “husks”. Thus the light or energy of creation fell and became trapped as matter.
Compare this stage with the description of what happens when the Higgs field at zero (high energy) decays to a lower energy state. At Higgs field of zero the energy density is high; as the energy drops there is a random choice of a non-zero Higgs field which breaks the grand unified symmetry. In this case the symmetry is broken spontaneously. See Fig.7.2 for an example of a Higgs field potential.
All the particles and sub-atomic particles are bundles of energy of vibrating fields and therefore interact differently with different Higgs fields. For example, the masses of particles are determined by their interaction with the Higgs field.
In a full grand unified field theory (simplest requires 24 Higgs fields) some of the particles are caused to act like electrons, some like neutrinos and others like quarks. Similarly some of the force-carrying particles will be caused
to act like gluons that carry the strong interactions, others will be caused to act like photons that carry the electromagnetic interaction and others like the W+, W- and Z0 of the weak interactions. Thus the distinction between all the particles above are caused entirely by the way they interact with the different Higgs fields. See Fig 7.3 for a table of the standard model of particle physics.
Therefore there is a parallel between the breaking of the vessels which result in the light forming into matter and the breaking of the Higgs field unified symmetry. This results in separating the four fundamental forces, and consequently the emergence of particles of matter containing mass.
It is of interest to note that there are currently 153 established strongly interacting particles made up from the elementary particles, quarks, and there are over a hundred other candidates that need experimental verification.
For a brief explanation of Fig.7.3. Leptons include the electrically-charged electrons, two similar but unstable particles that are heavier than electrons (mu and tau), and neutral particles called neutrinos. Two kinds of quarks, called "up" and "down", make up the protons and neutrons, but heavier, less stable quarks also exist. Gauge bosons give rise to the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces, which govern the interaction of the quarks and leptons.
The third event described by the Ari is still ongoing; Tikkun or “rectification” is the process of repair that must take place to restore sparks of light, which became trapped into the Klippot. This is why Tikkun Olam “repair of the world” is a main theme of Judaism, an attempt to restore the holy sparks back to Hashem; this idea is very deep and beyond the scope and subject matter of this book.
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1The Bahir Illumination, part II commentary, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, p.88.
Synopsis
I hope that I have given the reader of this book a comprehensive overview of the current scientific theory of the beginnings of the universe and life. I doubly hope to have shown that these scientific ideas far from contradicting the Torah are actually mirrored in its words.
In the grand scheme we all have to acknowledge that we have imperfect knowledge in science and in the understanding of Bereshis so our comparisons although not watertight show close parallels. I believe over time these parallels between Torah and science will come closer together as our knowledge increases and advances. Again I have not tried in this book to teach religious principles or make any religious rulings which I am not qualified to do. These ideas are from a reconciliation of the different principles which have a completely different language and focus, however looking beyond the words the underlying concepts do converge.
List of Figures
Figure I Balloon model of the universe, expansion of points on surface is analagous to the observed receding galaxies.
Figure 1.1 Standard model of the big bang showing the resulting formation of elementary particles from initial energy of the Big bang.
Figure 1.2 Formation of helium nuclei from elementary particles of protons and neutrons.
Figure 1.3 After about 10-35 seconds, there began a brief period of exponentially fast expansion, known as inflation, that ironed out any curves or warps in space and made the universe flat (because it became so large). Inflation also predicts a much smaller initial region, which is required for smoothing out the distribution of matter and radiation, only leaving behind tiny density fluctuations that match the observed spatial variations in the cosmic microwave background radiation and provide the seeds for galaxy formation.
Figure 1.4 A high resolution foreground cleaned CMB map from WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe). Different colours represent temperature differences of only 1/10000K. Taken from Tegmark et al 2003.
Figure 1.5 Dodecahedron. Space is finite, although without edges or boundaries, so that one can indefinitely travel within it. As a result, an observer has the illusion of space 120 times vaster than appears, made of tiled dodecahedra, which duplicate as in a mirror hall. As light rays crossing the faces go back from the other side, (J-P Luminet et al. 2003 Nature 425 593)
Figure 1.6 Time Line of the Universe
The expansion of the universe over most of its history has been relatively gradual. The notion that a rapid period "inflation" preceded the Big bang expansion was first put forth 25 years ago. The new WMAP observations favour specific inflation scenarios over other long-held ideas. (Credit NASA/WMAP Science team).
Figure 3.1 a) Stage 1 of star formation involves a dense gas clump collapsing, generating angular momentum and creating a rotating disc. b) Stage 2, the central region, is denser forming into a protostar and the nebulae disc forms slower to become a planetary system. c) Stage 3, in fall of matter, is stopped when the protostar begins thermonuclear fusion and generates a solar wind. d) Stage 4, formation of the proto-planetary disc. (Shu et al 1987)
Figure 3.2 A high-mass planet forming in a protostellar accretion disc produces a "tidal gap" nearby. Accreting material flows onto the planet along a pair of spiral arms stretching inward and outward from the gap.
Figure 3.3 Time-line of evolutionary eras with time periods scaled in proportion.
Figure 3.4 Reconstruction of the first three stages of cellular evolution showing the transition from First Common Ancestor to Last Common Ancestor. The phylogenetic tree is a summary of all experimental information that we have on the origin of the primary kingdoms, and can be regarded as a schematic but faithful description of the first steps of cellular evolution.
Figure 3.5 This evolutionary tree encompasses all living species on Earth. The common ancestor (the base of the tree) gave rise to three great branches: bacteria, microbes known as archaea, and eukaryotes (a group of species that includes us). The lengths of the branches reflect how much the DNA of each lineage has diverged from their common ancestor. They demonstrate that most of life's genetic diversity turns out to be microbial; the entire animal kingdom (shown at the upper right) is just a few twigs at one end of the tree. (NASA Astrobiology Institute.)
Figure 6.1 Phylogenetic tree showing how all the animals evolved from a basic ancestor which had split into the different animal kingdoms. (www.library.thinkquest.org)
Figure 6.2 Embryo drawings by Haeckel in 1866 for his Recapitulation theory. Reveals an example of the evolutionary process during the growth of an embryo through a range of animals from fish to human. Steps I, II and III represent stages of growth of each embryo. This shows the similarity of all embryos at stage I and differences only appear in stage II between the fish and salamander and human. By stage III most of the embryos look different with some similarities between the mammals. Embryonic growth of humans reveals the same timing, body plan and shape as the rest of the invertebrates revealing that we share a common ancestor.
Figure 7.1 Expansion of a false vacuum bubble in the first moments of the universe and its decay into a “true vacuum”.
Figure 7.2 3D graph showing two Higgs fields resulting in the “Mexican hat” potential energy surface.
Figure 7.3 Standard model of elementary physics showing the leptons, quarks and gauge bosons (force carriers). The Higgs boson (not shown) is postulated to exist (particle of the Higgs field) but has not yet been experimentally verified.
Index
Abba Arika
absorption spectrum
accretion disc
Adam
Alan Guth
Alan Guth’s
Albert Einstein
Alexander Vilenkin
Aliyah
amniote egg
Anthracosaurs
Anthropogene
Archaean
Archaeopteryx
archosaurs
Ari
Arno Penzias
arthropods
asah
Asiyah
Atziluth
bara
Bereshis
beriyah
Beriyah
Big bang
Big Bang
bikoret
biogenesis
blue shift
bohu
boker
Bronze Age
Cambrian
Cambrian era
carbon films
Carboniferous period
Charles Darwin
Chondrichthyes
Coelurosaurian
common ancestor
cosmic microwave background
Cretaceous
Cretaceous-Tertiary
cuneiform
cyanobacteria
deuterium
Devonian
diapsids
DNA
dodecahedron
Doppler effect
Dunkleosteus
Edwin E. Salpeter
Edwin P. Hubble
Ein Sof
embryo
erev
eukaryotic cells
Eve
ex nihilio
false vacuum
firmament
five-particle gap
fusion
Gemara
General relativity
genes
genetic drift
George Gamow
gluons
Golden Ratio
great oxidation event
H. neanderthalensis
Hadean
helium
Higgs field
Holocene
Homo erectus
hule
Hylonomus
Ibn Ezra
Indus Valley
inflation theory
invertebrates
ionised
Judah
Jurassic
Kelipot
King David
lithium
lobe-finned fish
The First Six Days Page 6
