Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

Regarding Jeremy Gordon’s “Playing Dice with Einstein: Reflections on God and the Nature of Suffering” that appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of Conservative Judaism, the fallacy in the author’s analysis lies in his confusing the macro world with the micro world. He assumes that cause and effect seem to be the only operant system in the macro world, while quantum theory is regnant in the micro world.

Even in the macro world, though, quantum theory is the true way the universe works! However, because the macro world is so large in comparison with the micro world, the effects of the workings of quantum theory in the macro world are infinitely small and so do not seem to appear or alternatively cannot be measured with the tools we have. Observing the macro world, cause and effect seem to be regnant.

The equations describing quantum physics absolutely do apply to the macro world! Nevertheless, the effect of the indeterminacy of the quantum description is so small in the macro world that it appears not really to apply. The effects are too small to be observed! But they are there!

In the world in which we live (the macro world), quantum theory doesn’t really make a difference since its effects are so minute. We live in a world where cause and effect really do seem to be regnant. The implication for Rabbi Gordon’s paper is that the issue of tzaddik v’ra lo and rasha v’tov lo remains a problem for those who believe in God and, hence, causality. There are, of course, many different Jewish responses to the problem.

Asher Bar-Zev
Palm Beach, Florida

To the Editor:

In his essay on autopsies in CJ 64:1, Avi Olitzky states “an autopsy is not a pleasant procedure.” I disagree. In my chaplaincy training, I witnessed an autopsy. It was as described, but to me the surgical cuts revealed the splendor of the human body and the miracle of God’s creation. I marveled how the many organs work together.

Nason Goldstein
Royal Palm Beach, Florida