11th of Teves 5712
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. Yehudo Meir Schechter
1271 Carroll Street
Brooklyn N.Y.
Sholom u’Brocho:
I’m in receipt of your letter of 29th of Kislev, in which you ask for an explanation of the Gemoro in Pesochim 94b, regarding the statement, “During the day the sun travels under the firmament, and during the night above the firmament, etc.” You also wish to be enlightened on the Gemoro in B.B. 25a, and how it can be reconciled with the fact that the Earth is a sphere, as stated in Tosefoth in Aovodo-zoro, based on the Jerushalmi.
In reply, please refer to Zohar, part III, 10a, where we find the following statement:
“The earth turns about like a ball, now this side up, now down; and all creatures differ from each other because of different climatic conditions... There are places on this earth where it is light, while it is dark in other places; day here, night there. There is a place where there is one long day, and where night comes only once in a while for a short time.”
The Zohar thus clearly states both facts: that the earth is a sphere, and that it turns around its own orbit.
As to the Talmudic passages mentioned above, various commentators have dealt with them, of who I would recommend the most easily accessible, the Maharal of Prague in his “Be’er Hagoloh” Be’er 6; also the ReMO in his “Torath Ho’oloh”, part I, chapter 2, where the Gemoro is explained
With blessing,
