Religious Awe in Florida

The Universe and the Ocean

I’ve got a lot to catch up on. Over the past weekend I was speaking at several communities in South Florida. While I didn’t have much free time, I was able to briefly visit a truly extraordinary place: The Frost Museum of Science in Miami. Much to my surprise, many Jews in Florida have not visited this amazing institution.

The Planetarium at the museum was a breathtaking experience. One of the things that I’m struggling with at my own museum is how to create an exhibit that conveys the scale of the universe, as per the pesukim: “When I behold the heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You established; what is man, that You are mindful of Him?” (Psalms 8:4-5). The problem is that the universe is so mindbogglingly vast that it’s impossible to convey it. But the amazing video at the Planetarium, projected into the vast dome, really gives that sense of wonder and awe at the enormity of the universe.

It also occurred to me that the awe that people traditionally felt at the universe is lacking today for a very mundane reason: light pollution. When I’m in Africa on safari, the night sky is similarly awe-inducing, but in general we unfortunately don’t witness such a thing.

The other major exhibit at the Frost Museum is the aquarium. This includes many exhibits of extraordinary marine life. But it also includes an enormous single aquarium that is very different from any other that I have seen. You stand underneath it, and look up through an absolutely gigantic lens, a marvel of engineering weighing 60,000 pounds. Above your head, schools of fish, hammerhead sharks and turtles swim by. It’s a sight as breathtaking as the planetarium, and it recalls how the famous pasuk of Mah rabu ma’asecha Hashem is actually stated in conjunction with marvelling at the wonders of ocean life.

If you’re ever in Florida, I strongly recommend visiting this wonderful place. Meanwhile, I would love to return to Florida next February, and possibly do one of our legendary (and legendarily expensive) exotic banquets there. If you’re interested in arranging for me to speak or participating in such a banquet, please be in touch.