The most incredible 3 lb. lump of flesh in the world has to be the human brain. By way of analogy, the brain is equivalent to an orchestra made up of millions and millions of instruments and musicians, working together in perfect harmony to produce a symphony of breathing, walking, talking, smelling, touching, thinking. The human brain is composed of 100 billion neurons, and each neuron makes between 10 - 15,000 connections with other neurons, totaling 100 quadrillion synapses. A typical supercomputer weighs about a thousand times more than our brains, with a volume 10,000 times greater, and requires a million times more energy than the brain. Even so, it can't approach the capabilities of even a small child in the area of learning, vision, or hearing. The brain is able to make 10 to the 16th power operations per second!
To posit that this incredible piece of matter was formed by chance is a bit audacious to say the least. This would be like looking out your window one day and seeing billions of wires and cables flying through the air, positioning themselves as a gigantic telephone switching station that connects communication between America and Europe.
But let's on a very interesting phenomenon: Vision occurs when electromagnetic waves reach the retina in the back of the eye and are translated into electrical impulses that travel in the optic nerve to the visual cortex. The brain uses this information to construct a 3-dimensional color motion picture. But here comes the big question: Who is watching this movie? Is it the brain itself? But the brain is just an advanced computer that decodes neuron signals. Does a computer screen "share" the experience of the viewer? This aspect of the human self is called the mind. In Judaism, the belief is that "the mind" is the soul each of us possess. "The Neshama (soul) rests upon the brain" (Kabbalist Rafael Moses Luria). When you say "I think that this is right or wrong," that's your soul. The brain is just a robotic processor; the feelings of mercy and hope stem from something greater.
May we use the incredible brains we were given to think and study Torah and Divine wisdom, and utilize our minds eye to understand the depths and mysteries of God's world.
Shabbat Shalom!
-Rabbi Daniel
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