Refleksja nad początkami wszechświata w traktacie Be-reszit Raba
Reflections on the Beginning of the Universe in the Treatise Bereshit Rabbah

Summary/Abstract: From the perspective of today’s scientific methodology, the Bible does not count as a scientific source, at least as far as the natural sciences are concerned. However, for many centuries biblical texts have inspired reflections — including those of a philosophical kind — on the beginning of the existence of all things. The treatise Midrash Rabbah, with its commentary on the Book of Genesis, is an example of such reflections. In spite of the fact that rabbinic interpretation focuses on practical aspects of the Mosaic Law, it often raises philosophical and existential questions, especially in the context of those discussions that involve the gentile philosophers referred to in the treatise. The analysis undertaken here seeks to highlight those rabbinic reflections that appear reasonable even from the perspective of modern science aimed at describing the world and its origin — even though the rabbis were not themselves engaged in any form of the natural sciences and based their reflections exclusively on biblical texts.

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