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    Aliens & the Torah – Ask the Rabbi

    Q. Is it possible that there are intelligent beings outside the earth that observe the Torah?

    A. Here are two answers by great modern thinkers:

    1. “I would say it’s impressive for God to have Martians on Mars. I would be perturbed if He gave them a different Torah, one with different commandments. We see the Torah as ultimate. So it’s not a threat unless a divine value system were given that contradicts the fundamental values of our Torah, because we have a God who is omniscient and speaks in absolutes. Would Jewish law apply to them? If they are humans or humanoid, it would be a matter of identifying the species. If on Mars there are people who have a mind and free will, then the exact same values should apply. And if the aliens aren’t Jewish? Then they would have to be bound by the Seven Noahide Laws, by universal ethics.” (Rabbi Moshe David Tendler)

    2. “The difference between human beings and animals is free will. You cannot give a commandment to a creature that doesn’t have free will. If we assume there are human beings elsewhere in space, it would be a contradiction. If they are human, then they have to have free will. That means they would have received the Torah. Now, they could either have a different Torah than ours, or our Torah. But since our Torah is the truth, they cannot have a Torah different from ours. And they cannot have ours because it would be irrelevant to them since our Torah was given at a specific time, in a specific place and to a specific people. We shouldn’t even assume such a possibility.” (Prof. Herman Branover)

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