A number of years ago while visiting the beautiful Grand Choral Synagogue in St. Petersburg I got talking to an American tourist who told me that he was an orthodox Jew and a scientist. Then he proudly announced that he is able to compartmentalize. “What do you mean by that?” I asked. He explained that when in the synagogue he is a fully believing Jew and science does not figure, however when working as a scientist he is completely dedicated to that and Judaism loses its relevance. By compartmentalizing the different parts of his life, he claimed to be able to live in a harmonious intellectual manner. I was not convinced. Is this an honest, truthful or productive way to lead one’s life? I questioned.
The following rabbinic dictum, I believe, sheds light on this. "Rabbi Gamliel the son of Rabbi Yehuda the Prince said, “Torah study is beautiful together with the way of the land”” (Ethics of the Father 2:2). Rabbi Gamliel seems to be saying that “the way of the land” should be the central focus and Torah study works well as an auxiliary to it. But is this what he is really saying?
The Talmud relates that God created our negative inclination with a very powerful sway over us. Simultaneously, however He created the Torah that, through its study and adherence, enables us to overcome the compelling influence of the negative inclination (Kiddushin 30b). Since the Torah is the word of God as revealed to man its inherent divinity enlightens us to the truth that lies hidden within all existence.
As the Kabbalists explain, everything in the world has an external veneer and a deeper inherent truth. The study of science allows one to penetrate the depth of empirical reality. However, it is unable to move beyond the extremities of existence. Indeed this is where metaphysics and spirituality takes over.
Unfortunately because of the inherent difference in focus between science and spirituality many mistakenly believe that the two are incompatible. This could not be further from the truth. In fact these two disciplines complement each other. As a well-known scientist who is also a devoutly Chassidic Jew once remarked to me, “I love studying science because it continuously provides me deeper insight into the mystical teachings of the Torah.”
However, as long as a person compartmentalizes, closing their eyes to spirituality while studying science and to science while involved in spirituality the two disciplines will seem contradictory. This maybe what Rabbi Gamliel is really saying: “the way of the land” maybe referring to the study of the sciences which examine the empirical realities of the world.
Rabbi Gamliel is encouraging us not to compartmentalize. On the contrary, he says that by applying spiritual truths to the study of science and by utilizing scientific data in the learning of Torah one is able to become aware of the entire picture in all its beauty and glory.