Comets, Cosmic Order, and Divine Providence in Jewish Thought

Our sages taught in Tractate Shabbat (89b): “Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Our father Yaakvo deserved to descend to Egypt in iron chains, but his merit caused it to happen differently, as it is written: ‘I drew them with cords of man, with bands of love; I was to them as those who lift the yoke from upon their jaws, and I bent down to feed them’” (Hosea 11).

Yosef went down to Egypt first, and through him the entire family of Israel, seventy souls, was later brought there, in order to fulfill the decree of exile that had already been spoken to Avraham at the Covenant Between the Pieces. As Yosef himself said: “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the land and to keep you alive through a great deliverance” (Bereishit 45).

All of Yosef’s trials and suffering were therefore not random events. They were part of the Divine plan to fulfill the decree announced at the Covenant Between the Pieces, a process that would ultimately lead to the Exodus from Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and afterward to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the central event not only in the history of Israel, but in the history of all creation.

One Chain of Events, One Guiding Hand

Each event in this chain is connected to the one before it, and the entire sequence reveals God’s providence over His creatures. Yet His providence does not apply only to human beings. It extends to every part of creation, to every detail, whether in the inanimate world, plant life, animals, or human beings. All are subject to His supervision.

This is the simple principle of the unity of creation: every part of reality behaves only within the framework of an event that belongs to a much larger chain of events, itself contained within a greater plan.

These events may occur among animals, plants, and people, but also in the inanimate world: a volcanic eruption, an earthquake, storms and rain, and even heavenly events such as the eruption of stars or the movement of comets.

All of these are part of the greater design, and they affect one another across a long chain of connections.

The Narrowness of Modern Scientific Thinking

Anyone who separates some events from others simply because he does not see the intellectual connection between them is displaying narrowness of vision and, in effect, deliberately ignoring what exists in reality.

Sadly, this is often the way of modern science. Scientists tend to connect only what they can currently understand, and they dismiss with confidence whatever does not fit their present reasoning or whatever cannot be perceived through the instruments they themselves have devised.

Were it not for this narrowness, the full secrets of creation might open before them. They would then truly see the vast cosmic order that shapes the natural laws they discover in laboratories and observations, laws that are only the smallest visible edge of what exists in our world.

This blindness among scientists is what ultimately leads to the great crises that erupt in science every few centuries. The scientific foundations of each era are too narrow to support truly universal theories.

The Search for a Unified Theory

In truth, physicists have already recognized that there is a need for unified scientific theories that can contain all the laws of nature within a single understanding of the universe. This is what they call the search for a unified theory, one that would explain electrical and magnetic phenomena, gravity, and atomic theory.

Although that effort has not yet succeeded, it does show that scientists themselves recognize, at least in principle, that there is one underlying design from which all natural laws emerge without exception.

There is also a fascinating cosmological principle widely used among physicists known as Mach’s principle. According to it, phenomena in our immediate surroundings, even at the atomic level, may be determined by the distant galaxies of the universe.

This illustrates that physicists already acknowledge, at least to some degree, the unity of nature and the existence of a vast cosmic order. What they have not yet fully recognized is that man himself, as part of creation, is also subject to the influence and providence of the whole of creation, just as the sages taught: a person does not so much as move a finger unless it is decreed from above.

Human Life as Part of the Cosmic Order

And yet, for some reason, and against plain reason, they remove man from this all-encompassing order and from the influence of God upon him.

But just as the movement of an atom from place to place is the product of the influence of the whole creation, so too Yosef’s descent to Egypt was the product of that same providence. In the same way, volcanic eruptions, the movement of comets, and all other events are parts of one long chain within the great cosmic plan, guided by one single power, the same truth Avraham our father revealed to the world nearly four thousand years ago.

Only a comprehensive understanding of creation, that is, recognition of the unity of the Creator and of His providence, can provide the correct basis for proper scientific activity and understanding.

The comets that occasionally visit our skies are not merely isolated physical events. They too are part of the great cosmic plan expressing the will of the Creator, not just the influence of one isolated part of nature upon another.

Heavenly Signs and Human Response

To ignore the connection between the appearance of a comet and the design of the cosmos in all its spiritual dimensions is not intellectual sophistication, but pitiful ignorance, the product of narrow minded science lacking faith and reverence for God.

Since ancient times, heavenly events have filled mankind with awe. The movement of the sun, moon, and stars is itself a wondrous display of Divine order and design. But among all such phenomena, comets, especially the one known today as Halley’s Comet, have always inspired a unique mixture of reverence and fear among the nations.

The work Seder HaDorot includes many extraordinary events throughout history, such as earthquakes, natural disasters, and the appearance of various comets. It relies in part on Tzemach David, whose author wrote in his introduction to the second part of the book that he wished to mention some heavenly signs, new stars, eclipses, and what followed them, in order to awaken the heart of the reader to the teaching of the sages in Tractate Sukkah, that when the luminaries are afflicted it is a bad sign for the world.

He cites Rashi on Kohelet, who explains that everything God made in creation was intended to remain fixed, and when He changes it, He does so in order that people should fear Him.

The author concludes that when such things occur, one should pray to God to remove the evil decree, for the sages taught that Israel is not bound by the stars, because through repentance and merit their destiny can be changed.

Josephus and the Signs Before the Destruction

On this same theme, Josephus, in The Wars of the Jews, wrote about the strange signs that appeared in nature before the destruction of the Temple. He lamented that people paid no attention to the clear warnings of the coming destruction. As he describes it, they were like people struck senseless, blind in spirit, ignoring the plain warnings of God.

He writes that at that time there appeared a star resembling a sword and a comet that remained visible for an entire year. This took place before the revolt and before the movement that led to war.

And yet, despite all such warnings, the Talmud in Sukkah says that when Israel does the will of God, they need not fear these signs at all, as it is written: “Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed by the signs of heaven, because the nations are dismayed by them” (Yirmiyahu 10).

The nations may fear them, but Israel need not, for Israel has the merit, and also the responsibility, to repent, pray, and overturn the decree.

What Are Comets?

The Talmud in Berachot (58b) asks: “What are zikin?” and Shmuel answers: “A shooting star.” Rashi explains this as a star that shoots like an arrow of lightning from place to place, long like a rod, appearing as though it splits open the heavens.

Indeed, a comet’s tail can stretch across a vast portion of the sky night after night for months. The sight is magnificent, and one can often distinguish different colors appearing in the tail.

It is important to distinguish between what people call “shooting stars” and comets. Shooting stars create only a thin bright streak in the sky that disappears within a few seconds. Comets, by contrast, have a large and broad tail.

Shooting stars are actually very small stones, often weighing only a few grams or less, known as meteorites, entering from outer space. Because of their speed, they become extremely hot as they pass through Earth’s atmosphere, burning up and producing the bright streak that we see. In other words, shooting stars are an atmospheric phenomenon and nothing more.

If the stones are larger, they are called meteors. They too burn in the atmosphere during flight, but part of them remains and may reach Earth.

The History of Comets

We will discuss this subject more fully, in this series of articles. Throughout history, many visits of comets were recorded in human chronicles. The Chinese and the Japanese were especially careful in tracking their movements against the background of the stars.

These daily records of a comet’s position in the sky are extremely important, and later articles will show how useful they are for researchers today.

In general, ancient peoples believed that comets were also atmospheric phenomena, events taking place in the upper reaches of our atmosphere. Only about four hundred years ago did the great astronomer Tycho Brahe determine, after many observations, that the comet he observed had to be located in outer space beyond the moon.

Some comets have bright, long, and spectacular tails, while others are barely visible to the naked eye. Some can be detected only in photographs taken through a telescope.

Usually their appearance is completely unexpected. Only a few are known to be periodic, meaning they return every certain number of years, such as Halley’s Comet. Some visit every few decades, others every few centuries, and some only every thousands of years.

Once a comet appears, one can follow it night after night and observe that it moves across the starry background. Each night it appears against a different pattern of stars.

In recent decades we have not seen especially dramatic comets, unlike the previous century, when several magnificent comets appeared. For example, in the years 1811, 1843, and 1858, three remarkably beautiful comets were seen. In 1910 there appeared a comet that was even more impressive than Halley’s Comet, which appeared later that same year. Even so, in more recent times, several comets have been visible to the naked eye, including those seen in 1957, 1970, 1976, and 1983.

The Nature of a Comet

At first glance, it is difficult to believe that the entire phenomenon called a comet is produced by a body only a few kilometers across.

This small body forms the head of the comet and is composed mainly of ice and dust that has accumulated along its journey. As the comet approaches the region of the sun, it grows warmer. The ice begins to evaporate and becomes gas.

This produces the long tail of gas, which may stretch for tens of millions of kilometers. The comet’s impressive tail is actually a thin gas that has evaporated from the icy body as it nears the sun.

Naturally, the tail becomes more dramatic the closer the comet is to the sun. This is why we generally see a comet in its greatest size and beauty in the direction of the sky where the sun is located. However, because the sun’s brightness is far greater, the best time to observe a comet is usually at twilight, either in the direction of sunset in the evening or before dawn in the east, in the region where the sun will rise.

There have even been comets visible during the daytime, such as the one that appeared in 1910 before Halley’s Comet.

In a future article, we will become acquainted with the paths of comets and with the theories concerning where they come from.