By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – Halachic questions abound as Jews, among other people, push into space, according to Fiddler on the Moon: Judaism in Space, an intriguing half-hour long documentary now making the rounds of film festivals.
Before Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon on July 21, 1969, Jewish religious authorities were debating whether Jews were permitted to go to space. Naysayers cited Psalms 115:16 which is rendered by the Stone edition of the Tanach: “As for the heavens, the heavens are Hashem’s, but the earth He has given to mankind.”
Chabad Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, z”l, told journalist Shlomo Nakdimon that space travel was not only okay for a Jew, it was desirable. “The more that science and technology develop, the more the Torah’s truth becomes clear,” Schneerson said.
Jewish Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman flew into space during Passover in 1985 and during Chanukah in 1993. Weightless in space precluded taking matzos during Passover. When the unleavened bread is broken, crumbs are inevitable. They would fly around the cabin, posing an annoyance if not a safety hazard. During the Chanukah flight, Hoffman was able to bring a dreidel, which he spun. However, being weightless, the dreidel didn’t fall on any of its four sides, making the dreidel game unplayable — at least as it is played on Earth!
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson commented that in the future, rabbis will be challenged “to interpret revealed truth into realms and regimes that they never had to apply before.”
Israeli astronaut Elan Ramon, whose life tragically came to an end in the 2000 explosion of Space Shuttle Columbia, asked Rabbi Zvi Konikov of Chabad of Florida’s Space and Treasure Coasts how he might celebrate Shabbat while orbiting the earth every 90 minutes. They decided that he would follow the time and calendar of Houston, Texas, the point on earth from which at the Johnson Space Center his mission was directed. Although he didn’t cease from his labors on Shabbat, Ramon carried a Kiddush cup to remember and celebrate the Seventh Day.
Jessica Meir, the astronaut, said a photo showing her socks with a menorah design juxtaposed against a space view was the image that earth-bound Jews most appreciated. Sheyna Gifford, a researcher who lived for a year in a confined space preparatory for a mission to Mars, noted that she observed Yom Kippur in solidarity with her fellow Jews outside the enclosed environment.
When astronauts do try to live on Mars, it will be in communal quarters. A model for them to emulate will be the living and social arrangements of Israeli kibbutzim, according to the documentary.
Fiddler on the Moon: Judaism in Space is dedicated to the memory of Judith Resnick, the first Jewish woman astronaut, who died in 1986 in the explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger shortly after it was launched.
Upcoming dates for confirmed showings in California are the Oct. 21-26 Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles; Nov. 1-6 Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival, and the Nov. 13 Carmel Jewish Film Festival. According to a spokesperson for Ironbound Films, the company is seeking a San Diego opportunity, and in 2026 the documentary will air on PBS television stations.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor and publisher of San Diego Jewish World.