Kabbalist dismisses gloomy Doomsday Clock
In three weeks, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is set to release its 2023 setting for the Doomsday Clock.
The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe as determined by a group of scientists who take into account threats to humanity from unchecked scientific and technological advances.
The clock is currently set to 23:58:20, 100 seconds away from doomsday, the closest it has ever been to midnight since its inception in 1947. And while the scientists warn that global threats have increased, one rabbi Kabbalist dismissed the scientific evaluation, explaining that “until God’s mercy ends, the world cannot end, no matter what men do.”
In January 2022, the report by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists cited several reasons that the election of Joe Biden was cause for optimism. It noted that the new administration had renewed strategic stability talks with Russia, was working to reinstate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, and had returned to the Paris Climate Accords The scientists on the board of the Doomsday clock lauded “the return of science and evidence to US policy-making in general, especially regarding the COVID-19 pandemic,” and “a more moderate and predictable approach to leadership”.
Nonetheless, eleven months ago, the report warned that the trends that threatened global well-being were not reversing.
“In view of this mixed threat environment—with some positive developments counteracted by worrisome and accelerating negative trends—the members of the Science and Security Board find the world to be no safer than it was last year at this time and therefore decide to set the Doomsday Clock once again at 100 seconds to midnight,” the report warned.
This assessment was echoed by President Joe Biden in October when he warned of the dangers of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“’We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis’ in 1962,” Biden said at a private fundraising event in New York. “[Russian President Vladimir Putin] is not joking when he talks about the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons. I don’t think there’s any such thing as an ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.”
One month later, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the globe was in imminent danger from global warming.
“We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing,” Antonio Guterres told the COP27 climate change summit. “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.”
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was set up in 1947 by a group of researchers, some of whom had participated in the Manhattan Project producing the first nuclear bomb. Cognizant of the destructive power of the weapons they helped create, the scientists set up the Bulletin as a means of reminding the public about the consequences of using them. In 1947, the Doomsday Clock was created to graphically illustrate the global threats of nuclear weapons and climate change.
The setting of the clock is the result of a complex evaluation of many factors. The Clock’s original setting in 1947 was seven minutes to midnight. It has since been set backward eight times and forward 16 times for a total of 24, the farthest from midnight being 17 minutes in 1991.
Throughout the year, the Bulletin gave mixed messages. In an update on “global warming”, the organization noted that despite record-high carbon dioxide emissions, the summer of 2022 was the fifth warmest year in recorded history. This was offset by $370 billion in subsidies for clean energy included in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Established by scientists, the bulletin touted technology as the potential savior of mankind from the threats that had originated from technology. Misinformation on the internet and artificial intelligence were listed as threats to mankind. The bulletin also listed the overturning of Roe v. Wade as an existential threat to humanity as it might lead to government surveillance of pro-abortion groups.
The Bulletin emphasized the increasing threat of nuclear war. Russia’s incursion into Ukraine increased the threat that Putin would become desperate and resort to nuclear weapons. At the same time, the possibility of an accident at one of Ukraine’s many nuclear facilities loomed imminently. In addition, despite the JCPOA signed with European countries, Iran has renewed its nuclear program which is clearly focused on producing a weapon.
Israel365 News spoke to Rabbi Yitzchak Batsri, a noted Kabbalist from Jerusalem, who was unconcerned about the global threats used to determine the doomsday clock. “While the world exists, it is through God’s mercy and not because of our merit. Therefore, until God’s mercy ends, the world cannot end, no matter what men do. Men simply do not have the power to destroy God’s creation against His will,” he said.
Rabbi Batsri described the concept of doomsday as it appears in Jewish sources. “The Rambam writes that the world will never be destroyed. But the Talmud says in Tractate Sanhedrin that the world will exist for 6,000 years, and in the 7,000th year it will be destroyed, as prophesied in Isaiah 2:11, ‘And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day’.”
Rabbi Batsri explained this seeming contradiction. “The Rambam explains that in the 7,000th year, there will be only a partial destruction of the world, that evil will be destroyed and only good will remain. Other sages understand this to mean that there will be complete destruction. According to all opinions, until the year 7,000 by the Hebrew calendar, there can be no total destruction, only in certain countries or regions.”
“And even when the world ends, the souls of those who follow God will remain here, flying above the earth, as it is written in Isaiah 40:31, ‘But they that wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles’,” Rabbi Batsri said. “So even when this world is destroyed, there will be a place above the earth, a different kind of existence.”
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