Parashat Re’eh and the Double Slit Experiment

This passage from the Torah (Deut. 11:26) has one of the most significant statements in the Bible: "See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse."

In this passage, vision is discussed rather than fate. Human choice, not outside circumstances, determines which of the two possible versions of reality is displayed. The Torah encourages us to realize that the reality we experience and the way we see the world are linked.

A Glimpse into Physics: The Double Slit Experiment

Modern physics, surprisingly, offers a striking parallel. The Double Slit Experiment, first performed in the early 19th century and later refined through quantum mechanics, is one of the most puzzling demonstrations in science.

Here is the essence in simple terms:

• When a beam of light or electrons is shot toward a barrier with two narrow slits, and we do not observe their path, the particles behave like waves. On the screen behind the barrier they create an intricate interference pattern, as if each particle explored multiple possibilities simultaneously.

• Yet when a detector is placed to measure which slit each particle passes through, the wave-like pattern collapses. Suddenly the particles behave like discrete objects, choosing one path or the other.

The astonishing implication: the very act of observation changes the outcome. Reality is not fully determined until consciousness engages with it.

Torah and Science in Dialogue

Parashat Re’eh frames human life in a similar way. Blessing and curse are not rigid destinies imposed from above; they are potentialities laid out before us: “See, I set before you…” The choice lies not only in external behavior but in perception itself.

Just as in the Double Slit Experiment, the pattern that emerges depends on how one looks. Consciousness is not a passive witness—it is an active participant in shaping reality.

The Spiritual Insight

The Torah teaches us that the human gaze matters. To see life as a field of blessing is to summon blessing into being; to see it through the lens of despair or negativity is to allow curse to take form. Physics, in its own language, affirms that reality is not a closed mechanism but a tapestry woven in dialogue with the observer.

Thus, the meeting point between Torah and science is not in proving or disproving one another, but in awakening us to the mystery: that choice, vision, and consciousness are woven into the fabric of existence itself.

Takeaway: Parashat Re’eh and quantum physics converge on the same truth—reality is not handed to us fully formed. It is offered as possibility, awaiting the direction of our gaze and the power of our choice.

Bibliography

• The Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy 11:26–28.

• Richard P. Feynman, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. III: Quantum Mechanics, 1965. 

• Anton Zeilinger, “Experiment and the Foundations of Quantum Physics,” Reviews of Modern Physics, 1999.