Did Scientists Discover the World of Beri'ah?

 

By: Sholom Kesselman

In medieval times, it was conventional wisdom that the universe had no beginning in time. It was believed to have always existed in one form or another. 

Even Aristotle who spoke of a Creator God as the “Primary Cause” or the “Unmoved Mover”, maintained that the universe always existed. Just as God always was, so too the universe which He created (by default) always was. 

The Torah view, on the other hand, is clearly not so. An integral principle of the Jewish faith is that the universe has a beginning in time. G-d, at a certain point, brought it into existence, and prior to that there was simply nothing. 

Some of the great Jewish philosophers like Saadia Gaon and Maimonides wrote extensive works attempting to prove (philosophically) the Jewish position. They cite proof after proof, arguing very convincingly, that the universe could not have always existed and most definitely had a beginning in time.

Science today has unequivocally demonstrated that indeed the universe has a beginning and did not always exist. 

Evidence of the “Big Bang” (the term used to describe the birth of the universe), is still visible in the sky. The Big Bang is the single moment in which time, space, matter and energy all emerged into existence. Prior to that, there was simply nothing; no space, no time, no matter and no energy.

Side note: While the Torah view differs greatly with science regarding the age of the universe; there is nothing inherently un-Jewish about the Big Bang theory. The Big Bang is a scientific theory that describes how the universe developed from it's earliest stages to the present day world we live in. So long as we are asserting that this was all orchestrated by G-d and that it happened within the six days of creation (not billions of years), we are well within acceptable and traditional Jewish / Torah beliefs. End side note.

However, science is yet to successfully answer the ultimate question of origin; namely what caused the Big Bang? 

If before the Big Bang there was “nothing”, what then caused the Big Bang and the spontaneous emergence of time, space, matter and energy? 

One theory that has been suggested in recent years (“A Universe from Nothing” by Lawrence Krauss) goes something like this:

Nothing isn’t really nothing. Quantum theory says that in a quantum vacuum state (a field in which there are zero particles; no matter and no energy), virtual particles and spacetime bubbles will spontaneously come into existence. "Nothing" is actually unstable, highly dynamic and is teeming with activity. 

Side note: I do not pretend to properly understand how or why this is the case, but from the research that I’ve done, there does not seem to be much controversy regarding the existence of this phenomenon. 

The “nothing” that preceded the Big Bang is in reality a “field of quantum emptiness”, which despite being completely void of space, time, matter or energy is very much “alive.” It is a dynamic state which contains, or better put - is, the potential for all the "something" which spontaneously emerges from it.

Krauss argues that it is therefore entirely plausible that the universe sprung into existence, simply out of nothing, without the interference of an outside cause or mover. “Something from Nothing” doesn’t require a creator, he says , because “nothing” inherently is already potentially something and will spontaneously generate it.

Absolute nothingness, he argues, the type which is inactive and does not include any potential for existence, is purely a philosophical concept that does not actually exist. The only “nothing” which exists in actuality (at least before the Big Bang) is the quantum vacuum state; and that “nothing” inherently can and does become something, even without outside interference.

 Of course, in reality Krauss has not answered the question of origin at all. He has just transferred the question from the moment of the Big Bang itself, to the quantum nothingness that existed before it. 

The question now is no longer, "what caused the Big Bang?", rather, "what created the quantum state that preceded it?"

Krauss will say, nothing created it; it simply always existed. This however, is obviously not a very convincing argument or answer, and the ultimate question of origin still remains.

The universe most certainly requires a creator and only G-d could’ve and did create something from (absolute) nothing.

Unbeknownst to Krauss (and Hawking, who also postulated such a theory); while they might not have solved the ultimate mystery of origin, they might however have stumbled across the Kabalistic world of Beri'ah.

Kabbalah speaks of creation as occurring in four stages. It speaks of four “worlds” which evolve from each other; beginning with a world of pure G-dly energy and culminating in the physical universe we find ourselves in at present.

The world of Atzilut is the highest. It is pure G-dly energy and it precedes any form of existence. It is a world of absolute nothingness. In it, there is no existence or even potential for existence; all there is, is G-d’s light and energy.

Next comes the world of Beri'ah. 

It is a world in which we have left the realm of nothingness but have not yet entered the realm of "somethingness". It is the potential for existence, without the actual thing. In it, the substance from which the “elements” emerge is created. (By elements we mean the building blocks of existence; the basic ingredients of which all matter is comprised). We do not yet have a "something" (actual existence) as the elements have not yet been created. Essentially then, we still have nothing; yet this type of nothing contains within it and is the potential for something. We have the "thing" from which the elements will be formed.

Next comes Yetzirah. 

Here we get the formation of the elements - the actual building blocks of all existence. The Kabalists spoke of fire, water, wind, and earth. A modern day physicist might call them quarks, or perhaps electrons, neutrons, protons and the nuclear forces which bind them into atoms. 

Be it as it may, in this world we get the basic ingredients for the forming of existence.

Lastly we have the world of Asi'ah. 

This is the last of the worlds in which the elements are combined to form the everyday world that we experience and sense.

The “Big Bang” (the moment in which time,space, matter and energy came into existence), is much like the world of Yetzirah, spoken of by the Kabalists. It is the stage at which the elements (basic ingredients and building blocks of the universe) emerge into existence.

What preceded this state? What was before anything existed? What is the nature of the “nothing” that came before the “something”?

The Kabalists knew the answer hundreds of years ago. 

Before there was something, there was the “nothing” of the world of Beri'ah.

The "nothing" which preceded existence, was no ordinary nothing. It was a special and unique type of “nothing”; unstable, dynamic, "alive" and containing within itself the potential to generate all future existence.

 

Science has now also discovered this remarkable idea. 

The quantum vacuum state, which preceded the Big Bang is as we said, a nothing in which virtual particles and spacetime bubbles spontaneously come into existence. It too is a dynamic and active nothing which generates all of the something which follows from it. It is the type of nothing which, in reality, is very much a something. 

Let us now ask the following question:

How is it, and why is it the case, that the world of Bri'ah exists and functions in such a mysterious and paradoxical manner? 

Why is it's existence in a state of nothingness? 

How did we get this phenomenon of a nothing which is a something and a something which behaves like a nothing?

Chassidus provides a fascinating answer.

It is its proximity to the world of Atzilut which is responsible for this condition.

Beri'ah is the very first step of creation; it follows and derives directly from the world of Atzilut. For this reason, it is wholly aware of, and fully in tune with, the state of nothingness that is it's source - Atzilut.

Atzilut, as we said, is a world in which only G-d's light and energy exists. It is the world of absolute nothingness. It is this light and energy which directly creates and brings the world of Beri'ah into existence. Bri'ah then, because of its closeness to Atzilut, is strongly subjected to its force and keenly senses the state of it's nothingness.

The nothingness of Atzilut is felt strongly in the world of Beri'ah, causing it to take-on characteristics of non-existence and to become totally nullified.

You see, existence in and of itself should never and can never function in a state of nothingness. It must either be or not be. Something cannot be nothing; and nothing cannot be something. 

Bri'ah is the way it is, not because those are its inherent properties; to be nothing and something at the same time is simply an absurdity. It is this way only because it is under the spell and influence of Atzilut. 

It is, and can only be, the imposed effect of Atzilut on Beri’ah, that causes its “something” to become “nothing”.

Perhaps, science can learn a thing or two from Chassidus.

The quantum vacuum state is truly a remarkable and mysterious phenomena. But how does it come to be? How can there be a nothing which is a something or a something which acts like a nothing? If there is truly nothing; how do particles spontaneously pop into existence? And if there really is something there; why does that something behave and measure as nothing?

We might now have the answer.

The quantum vacuum state is the very first step in the creation and forming of existence, preceding even the Big Bang. It is the closest thing there is to the creative force of G-d which brings everything into existence.

It is this proximity to G-d which is responsible for its peculiar and mysterious nature; a lively and dynamic something which measures and appears as nothingness.

This leads us to a remarkable shift of perspective.

The QVS, in truth, should not be viewed as being fundamentally and inherently nothing which then surprisingly and shockingly displays properties of existence. Quite the contrary. It should be viewed as being fundamentally and inherently a something (real existence), which then surprisingly and shockingly measures and appears as being nothing. This “nothingness state”, is not an inherent property of the QVS, rather it is an imposed effect. It is the creative force of G-d imposing itself on the QVS, that causes it's something to measure and appear as nothing.

Krauss argued that the quantum vacuum state explains away any need for a creator. I would venture to say exactly the opposite. The quantum vacuum state clearly demonstrates the existence of the creator and the effect His creative force has on the universe that He creates.

Is the QVS the world of Beri'ah? Perhaps.

Maybe more accurately put, it is the state of Beri'ah within the world of Asi'ah.

Science is yet to recognize the world of Atzilut. 

But we can be optimistic. 

If scientists managed to discover the world of Beri'ah, perhaps one day too, they will discover the world of Atzilut and the very real presence of G-d which creates and sustains all of existence.

"And the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the water covers the sea bed."