Art vs. Science – a Post-Chanukah Lesson

I’m a sports fanatic, particularly basketball. I’ve always been fascinated by athletes who consistently win big as well as those who come from behind and shatter expectations.

It never ceases to amaze me when some of the worst sports teams or players beat the absolute best. While it seems like a normal occurrence nowadays, I think there is a deeper reason, and it begins and ends with “science.” On paper, these results simply shouldn’t happen because the science says so. Yet as we know, art also plays a major role in life. And it’s thanks to art and its allowance for us to move around more freely, that we can mold our futures into something greater even when our past dictates otherwise.

We recently ended a chag where expectations were shattered. The few beat the many and the light burned for 7 extra days. Science said no when art said yes! I believe this lesson of being able to persevere in the face of nature’s expectations is what we need to take with us into these cold and dark winter months where things often seem bleak with no light at the end of the tunnel.

Something I posted years ago ironically resurfaced right around Chanukah time. It reads: “The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion. The tunnel is.” I think when we put all our marbles in science, there leaves no room for Hashem to work His magic. We end up losing out because if 1+1 always equals 2, then many of us are doomed to failure if we haven’t yet experienced the taste of victory. Then again, if we put all our marbles in art, we are ignoring the data that came from “fact” and essentially failing to learn from our past mistakes. It seems that it would be worth our while to strengthen our belief that both science and art are not mutually exclusive. Learning how to live with them side by side may be a balancing act, but a very worthwhile one that could accomplish worlds, more so than sticking to one over the other.

We live in a time where instead of using these two precious commodities in harmony, we’ve been matching one up against the other as if we are awaiting the winner of a Superbowl of wits. What we need to recognize is really what we already know–that when all is said and done, we really don’t know. We as individuals are taught to utilize our guf and neshama in harmony as each play a major role in accomplishing our purpose. We as a nation are taught to avoid channeling our energy at each other, and instead aim it outwardly in unison, as teamwork is what gets us from point A to point B and ultimately to point Z. Getting back to basics in utilizing both science and art together in harmony by acknowledging the potential in each of these wonderful blessings, might very well be our best bet. In doing so, we allow Hashem to demonstrate His purpose in creating these two disciplines and the impact one has over the other.

May the light of Chanukah carry us through the cold winter months and out of this exile called COVID, Delta, Omicron, BDS, white supremacy, etc, and into the land of the free, Yerushalayim, where we are greeted by Mashiach swiftly and speedily in our days. Shabbat Shalom!