Big Bang

Torah starts with two words – Bereshit bara… Bereshit in Hebrew means “in the beginning” and bara means “created.” What is interesting is that both words begin with the same letter Bet pronounced as “b”.

Another expression made of two words that describes the process of creation is Big Bang. And these two words also start with the letter “b”.

It could, of course, be a coincidence, but not according to Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi know by his acronym as the Ramban, 1194–1270). Here is Nahmanides’ description of initial moments of the creation:

…At the briefest instant following creation all the matter of the universe was concentrated in a very small place, no larger than a grain of mustard… From the initial concentration of this intangible substance in its minute location, the substance expanded, expanding the universe as it did so. As the expansion progressed, a change in the substance occurred.

To me, this reads like the description of the Big Bang.

I do not suggest that British astronomer, Fred Hoyle, who in 1949 coined the phrase, Big Bang, had in mind Hebrew Bible beginning with Bereshit bara. However, Divine Providence (hashgachah pratit), saw to it that Big Bag hints at Bereshit bara (or the other way around, if you prefer).