Because a Friend Asked on G+

[gnomi]

...does anyone know of ultra-observant Jewish groups that say that humans should not explore space, based on Tehilim (Psalms) 115:16 (הַשָּׁמַיִם שָׁמַיִם לַה' וְהָאָרֶץ נָתַן לִבְנֵי-אָדָם -- "The heavens are heavens of the Lord, but the earth He gave to the children of men")?

Comments

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I cannot answer your question.

But you icon made me curious. According to Wikipedia ("I know nothing: together we know everything, kinda"), Jon Stewart never went to yeshiva. He went to a public high school, and attended "William and Mary", which was founded as an Anglican college.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

The quote on my icon was from an interview that Stewart did with Reggie Miller in 2005 (the clip is here (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-4-2005/reggie-miller)).

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I have fallen into the Stewart Trap! He is not fact-based, he is funny-based. :-) Got it.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Is the Stewart Trap anything like the Colbert Bump (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_The_Colbert_Report#The_Colbert_Bump)?

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Nope.

It is the common forgetting that Jon Stewart is a COMEDIAN, not a reporter, and that things about him are not supposed to be true: but funny.

The best example of which (YouTube - long) is his appearance, many years ago, on Crossfire: "the show that leads into mine is puppets making crank phone calls".

[gingicat]

I do not know, but I'd put it in the same category as declaring broccoli traif due to potential insects.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/frozen-broccoli-and-halacha-insects

[fjm.livejournal.com]

good grief. And I tout Judaism as relatively sensible!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

To be fair, it is not a mainstream opinion that it is not kosher. There are a number of methods for cleaning broccoli to make sure no bugs are present.

[gingicat]

My point was that this is the sort of thing which is far enough out of the mainstream that frum people I hold dear (such as gnomi) shake their heads at it.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I've heard of the broccoli psak. I don't hold by it, but I've heard of it.

[dhole.livejournal.com]

I've seen someone claiming that the moon landing was faked, because the sefirah of fire is between us and the moon, so any spaceship would have been burned up. But this isn't so much an "ultra-observant Jewish group" as it is, "one crazy dude on the internet."

[cellio]

I don't know, but you could ask on Jewish Life and Learning (log in with OpenID from pretty much anywhere).

[batyatoon]

I don't know about groups, but I have been told this by an individual, citing that exact line. It depressed me beyond belief.

[bibliotechie.livejournal.com]

There is a book "אם אסק שמים : קיום המצוות בחלל = (Im esak shamaim : mitzvah observance in space) " by R' Levi Yitzchak Halperin Published by מכון מדעי טכנולוגי להלכה Institute for Science and Halacha. that deals with practical halachaic questions of outer-space from an Orthodox perspective

[valancy.livejournal.com]

I'm completely fascinated. I know it's an ultraconservative viewpoint, but even so, I think I find it weirdly charming. Which perhaps is more a comment on me...