Jewish Law as Theoretical Physics of Multiple Worlds

Based on a few logical connectives used in Talmud.

Summary

  • case law for Talmud is facts;
  • more generally, theories of a period are facts for the next period;
  • Jewish law is the development of theories that explain (and unify) facts;
  • our theries do not contradict facts and have predictive power - just like physical theories;
  • our facts are real, just like the physical facts;
  • unlike the physical facts, ours are not empirical: we can not get new ones;
  • facts given us are minimal: there are no repetitions, just enough to reconstruct the theories;
  • disagreements between the sages; consistency for each sage;
  • disagreements are 1) valid; 2) a way of delivering information;
  • multiple unified worlds;
  • grand unification - coming of Mashiach.

Facts and Theories

When a case law (Mishna) is quoted, Talmud asks: "What is the reason for it? (Ma Taima)", i.e. - what is the underlying theory from which this law falls out? And they do not mean a surface pattern; they really mean a logical explanation ("svara"). So this is really a two-level discourse: case law is the foundational facts, and the theory is what explains and unifies those facts.

In fact, this is a multi-level discourse: theories formulated by a generation of scholars or a phase of scholarship - and the style they are expressed in! - are treated by the next generation as facts; see, for example, Toisfos' analysis of the questions not asked by Talmud.

Theories

When a theory is offered that explains certain facts, Talmud often asks: "Doesn't it contradict known facts or accepted theories? (Rminhu, Matkif, etc.)".

Our theories - also unlike many so-called "legal theories" - must be falsifiable: they can not contradict facts.

When two theries are offered that explain the same law(s), Talmud asks: "What is the difference between the theories? (Ma Nafka Mina)", i.e. - what is the situation where the laws that fall out of those theories are different from one another, a situation that is not a part of our facts (case law)?

Our theories - unlike many so-called "legal theories" - must have predictive power, i.e. they must produce the laws for situations other than the ones they explain.

Our theories satisfy requirements (falsifiability and predictive power) more stringent than many so-called "legal theories", and even than some so-called "physics theories", e.g. string "theory".

Facts

Our facts (case law), unlike secular law, and like physical facts, are real. For example, if food prohibited by the law was accidentally consumed with intention to use the energy of that food for holy purposes (learn Jewish books, pray etc.), and the intention was implemented, the energy of the food goes "down" spiritually (and drags the accidental transgressor with it).

We can not find out the case law that we did not recieve via the chain of tradition; we can not obtain knowledge of additional facts - e.g., what a Tana holds is the law in a case he did not share his position about.

Our facts, unlike the facts of physics, are not empirical.

We use the theories to extend the law expressed by the facts to cases not covered explicitly. This is why a person that knows all the case law but not the theories behind it can not decide the law.

In fact, each generation/phase finds deeper underlying theories behind the theories spelled out by the previous one.

Mishna does not spell out theories; it expresses them using only facts (case law).

When a case law opinion of a Tana is quoted, Talmud often asks: "Why say ... when ... was already said? It is neccessary ... (Lama Neemar... Kvar Neemar... Tzricho)". Tannaim did not repeat themselves; their statements are minimal: they say just enough for us to be able to reconstruct the theories they held.

(This minimality is specific to Talmud and does not hold even for Rishonim.)

Multiple Worlds

Talmud often addresses (seeming) contradictions between different statements of the same sage: "Question from r. X on r. X! (Kashya r. X a d r. X)". Like physics (or any meaningful theory), our law is consistent.

At the same time, Talmud is full of disagreements between the sages. And although Talmud tries to minimize disagreement: "Their disagreement is narrower. (Ad Kan lo kMipligi)"; "This can be explained for all opinions. (Ibait Eima leKulo Almo)." - very often disagreements can not be removed.

Our law is consistent only on the sage-by-sage basis! That is not a bug but a feature: different points of view expressed in Talmud are equally valid -"Those and those are the words of the living G-d. (Elu vElu Divrei Elokim Haim)".

More than that: it is by analyzing the contradictions between the sages that we make precise our understanding of their opinions - because they chose where to disagree to maximize knowledge we can derive from their disagreements.

Talmud simultaneously develops many consistent theories - one for every sage. It is physics of multiple worlds.

(Combining opinions of different sages on different cases can easily end up completely invalid: there is no world physics of which corresponds to that combination.)

The world of each sage is not just consistent (does not contain contradictions, negativelly cohesive); it is unified (positively cohesive): all the opinions of the sage can be derived from one unified theory.

Talmud often marks cases when opinions held by a sage on different subjects have a deeper connection: "He follows his way. (leShitoto)"; later phases of the development continued the quest for deeper unification (Hakiros, Rogachover, the Rebbe)

This is similar to physics, but there is a nuance: there, most - but not all! - physicists hope that such a unified theory exists; we know that it does - and it is not a theory, it is G-dly reality ;)

Great Unification

We are missing some facts. We are also missing some understanding: Tamud left certain problems undecided ("(Teku)"). We definitily are not yet at the level of the great unification, where we could trace every opinion of every sage back to some fundamental idea, and where it becomes obvious that the revealed (the law) and concealed (the "mysticism") are one.

All of this will come to pass with the coming of our righteouos Mashiach - speedily, in our days, omein!