Moving Forward When You Can’t Go Back
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What does quantum entanglement teach us about Jewish unity? More than you might think.
Everyone loves talking about Jewish unity. We're one people. Love your fellow Jew. We share a destiny. Our actions ripple through the entire community.
But are we actually one?
Look outside your window. See those two trees? Each one takes up its own space. They might both produce oxygen, but at the end of the day, they're just two separate trees doing their own thing. So what makes Jews "one people" instead of just a bunch of individuals who happen to share some traditions?
What makes Jews "one people" instead of just a bunch of individuals who happen to share some traditions? Physics gives us a surprising insight.
Physics gives us a surprising insight.
Until the turn of the 20th century, people believed that any two objects, any two people, were truly separate. They were like trees, each operating on their own. They might have a relationship to one another, but only by chance, by biology, or by imagination.
In walks modern physics. All of a sudden, two objects can be in two places - and yet can truly be one.
We observe a phenomenon called “fermionic pressure.” If you put a bunch of electrons in a box or even neutrons in a box, they will repel each other – not due to their charge, but due to a quantum mechanical symmetry.
We can never know whether the mathematical way that we describe a phenomenon represents reality. But if it does here, this means that all electrons in the universe are fundamentally indistinguishable. That is, when we describe an electron, it is only an approximation. To truly describe it, we must include in the calculation every single electron in the universe in a symmetrical way. That is, all the electrons are one entity. They are all intertwined, despite there being light years between them.
Quantum entanglement experiments verify this idea. We observe a phenomenon that some call ‘spooky action at a distance’. Measuring one particle will instantaneously affect another particle miles and miles away. This occurs despite the fact that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. Either our understanding of nature is deeply broken, or the particles are fully intertwined at their essence. Again, oneness.
All this physics may help us understand another special attribute of Jewish unity – all Jews are guarantors for each other, “kol Yisrael areivin zeh ba’zeh.” This bold idea means that the actions of one Jew impact the entire Jewish people. When we do a good act, when we do a mitzvah, it is not only good for us – it is good for our families, for our friends, for the entire Jewish people. How can our prayer in America impact an Israeli soldier on the front lines? Because we are one – we are like entangled, indistinguishable particles.
This is why one person can say a blessing over wine and another can just answer "Amen" and it’s considered as if he made the blessing as well — because they're essentially the same person with a shared obligation having the same experience.
To extend this idea even further, Judaism promotes another concept called ohev es habrios—loving all people. Not just Jews. Everyone. The same divine spark — the human soul that reflects the image of God — unites all of humanity.
How can we be one with something that is different from us? Who would ever conceive of such an idea, of such a radical oneness?
In 2023, physicists have now discovered entanglement even among non-identical particles. They smashed protons together at Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and observed a characteristic interference pattern on the detector – between two different quark-anti-quark pairs.
Do we see ourselves as individual particles, or part of one unified, entangled whole?
This is a sign of unity, strongly supporting the idea that all matter in the universe is inseparable. That is, a single, universal wave function describes a unified state of all particles. Any action in any part of the universe evolves this wave function and instantaneously affects the whole universe.
Do we see ourselves as individual particles, or part of one unified, entangled whole?
Modern physics is painting a picture that echoes ancient Jewish wisdom: beneath the surface diversity of the world lies a profound and unbreakable oneness. Just as quantum entanglement reveals that particles remain inseparably linked across vast distances, so too does the Jewish concept of unity teach that every Jew, and indeed every human being, is deeply interconnected. Our choices, prayers, and deeds reverberate across this great web of existence, touching lives we may never meet, reminding us that to care for another is, in truth, to care for ourselves — for we are all threads in the same indivisible tapestry.
Based on the author’s new book Emunah and Physics, a bold, brilliant response to centuries of skepticism. The book offers a framework for reclaiming faith with precision and depth. Whether you're a student, a teacher, or someone navigating a spiritual crossroads, this book offers a rare combination of rigorous logic and soulful insight. Read it—and rediscover the truth hiding in plain sight. Click here to order: https://mosaicapress.com/product/emunah-and-physics/
מה רבו מעשיך השם!
It should follow, then, that this is not just Jewish unity, but human unity.
Fascinating article on Jewish thinking and physics. Totally makes sense 🙌
Totally?
I too am a lover of physics. However, though I found the author's attempt at making an analogous comparison between people (more specifically Jews) and the idiosyncratic tenets of quantum mechanics fairly charming, I nevertheless find the article lacking of any substantial syllogism. Unfortunately, we Jews are presently akin to a conglomerate of individual trees rather than a distinct forest. And have been as such ever since the beginning of the great diaspora. An era spanning nearly 2 millenia! And this has only been further (even if only subconsciously) entrenched within the psyche of the jew without his realization! I urge the author to contemplate the variances between the terms unity, uniformity and unification. And respectfully suggest that only the latter most will lead to geula
It has been suggested that the quantum entanglement goes back to the original singularity prior to the “big bang”. Likewise despite outward differences the “Jewish entanglement” can be traced back to Har Sinai. We need to reach out and feel the reverberations in one another.
It is unwise to conflate the physics of nature, be it on the quantum scale or general relativity, with some sort of grandiose spiritual intertwined kismet.
Does this not discount the effects of resonant frequency in entirety?The impact of which is witnessed time and again throughout quantam mechanics. The laws of cause and effect are not limited to earth.Are they not equally applicable throughout the known universe? How does one come to discount soooo much?
See comment above
AH...But the wisest of men are able to reconcile that indeed quantum scales, laws of nature and physics, are mere witnesses, as are mere mortal men, to the diviness, oft unexplicable phenomenon known as spirtuality.
Dear Rami,
Thank you for your comment.
Unity need not mean uniformity. One electron circles around an iron nucleus which is part of a missile flying through the air. Another is trapped between two water molecules, bonding together the water that flows across the Nile. Another was just set loose from a helium atom in the sun. While each electron is fundamentally identical and linked, they are still enwrapped in different activities and environments.
So too in the comparison. One Jew is wearing a tallis and praying at the kotel for his ill mother. Another is wearing an IDF uniform and sprinting across the streets of Rafah. Another is reclining on a couch in Tel Aviv laughing at a joke while taking a break from his studies. Yet, each soul is connected and part of one unified whole.
Loved this article, so uplifting. I have a special love for the science of physics! My son, Nils, is named after the physicist Nils Bohr. He loved the article too!
Great article!!!