Does the Torah Believe in Aliens?

Was Hashem's sole purpose for creating the universe the existence of humanity?

R’ Aryeh Kaplan, The Aryeh Kaplan Reader

One of the unique aspects of Judaism is its far reaching universality. Not only does Judaism provide a lesson for every human being, its teachings extended to the very boundaries of the universe. It is an axiom of Judaism that the entire universe was created for the sake of man. In one place, the Talmud reckons that there are some [10 to the 18th power] stars in the observable universe, and explicitly states that they were all created for the sake of man. It goes further to state that all the angels and spiritual worlds also only exist for this purpose. Of course, this immediately raises a question that many find quite difficult. How is it possible that man, living on a dust mote called planet Earth, should be the center of the universe?

Opinions that view human beings as the sole reason for creation:

Opinions that view all of Hashem's creation having intrinsic value:

Rambam, Guide for the Perplexed 3:13

I consider therefore the following opinion as most correct according to the teaching of the Bible, and best in accordance with the results of philosophy; namely, that the Universe does not exist for man's sake, but that each being exists for its own sake, and not because of some other thing. Thus we believe in the Creation, and yet need not inquire what purpose is served by each species of the existing things, because we assume that G-d created all parts of the Universe by His will; some for their own sake, and some for the sake of other beings, that include their own purpose in themselves. In the same manner as it was the will of G-d that man should exist, so it was His will that the heavens with their stars should exist, that there should be angels, and each of these beings is itself the purpose of its own existence.

How do we balance the vastness of the universe and the importance of human beings?

Rabbi Norman Lamm, The Religious Implications of Extraterrestrial Life, Tradition, Winter 1965 Issue 7.4

Here a consideration of celestial grandeur points to man’s insignificance; yet man’s central worth is salvaged, and proof is adduced from his superiority over terrestrial creatures. What we are given here is not a hesitation, an uncertainty, but a marvelous paradox. Man is both important and insignificant, central and peripheral, worthy and trivial. In the context of the vast cosmos, man shrinks almost into nothingness; in the framework of his own habitation he is supreme, worthy, terribly important. Both are true… Man’s non-singularity does not imply his insignificance. Metaphysical dignity is not part of a number’s gam; there is nothing in logic or philosophy that insists upon it being in inverse proportion to the number of being who participate in it. Judaism, therefore, can very well accept a scientific finding that man is not the only intelligent and bio-spiritual resident in G-d’s world. But Judaism cannot draw the premature and utterly misleading consequence s that some have already done. Man’s non-singularity does not contain, contrary to Shapley’s self-assurance “intimations of man’s inconsequentiality. It is not because we “cherish our stuffness”, but because we cherish the cosmic meaningfulness of the Creator, impressed into all parts of His vast creation that we affirm our faith that G-d is great enough to be concerned with all His creatures, no matter how varied and how far-flung throughout the remotest galaxes of His majestic universe

Rabbi Chasdai Crescas (1340-1410 Spain), Or HaShem 4:2

Arguments in favor of alien life:

• Among them: However the world was created, whether by desire or requirement, why couldn't the desire or requirement include another world or worlds, beyond this one?
• Among them: According to our explanation that the world was created at [Divine] desire, to provide good and favour, it is clear that the desire to provide good has no stinginess, and adding worlds would add to the provision of goodness. It is possible, then, that there could be many worlds.

Arguments against alien life:

• Among them: Multiplicity exists only in entities which are vulnerable to deterioration, like animals and plants. This indicates that multiplicity is only to preserve species, which is why non-deteriorating entities do not have multiplicity. Since the world cannot deteriorate, this mandates that there be no multiplicity.
• Among them: The Creator of all existence is One, in the purest sense, and so it would be suitable for that which exists to be one. This is because of the accepted point that a pure One should only create a pure one. It is also because the great perfection of something which exists and is influenced is to resemble that which influences, to the extent possible.

Conclusion

Since it is true that none of the reasons we presented, positive or negative, are sufficient grounds to determine the truth, and what they provide is only the possibility of multiplicity, it is appropriate that we not distance the lesson of some of our Sages, from Avodah Zarah 3b, "This teaches that He travels among 18,000 worlds," meaning that His supervision travels among those worlds.

Sources that discuss the potential for alien life

The Shla, Rav Pinchas Elijah ben Maimar Horowitz of Vilna (d. 1821), wrote a book where he showed from various sources that we believe that there is life elsewhere. On the basis of the verse in Isaiah 45:18, he showed that there are creatures on planets other than earth: “For thus said Hashem, Creator of the heavens: He is the G-d, the One Who fashioned the earth and He is its Maker; He established it; He did not create it for emptiness; He fashioned it to be inhabited.” In other words, if there are other inhabitable planets, they were created to be inhabited.

The Shlaw refers to the passage in the Talmud (Mo-ed Katan 16a) which according to one opinion, the word meyroz in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:23), is a star or a planet. Oru meyroz, says the passage, “cursed be meyroz,” indicates that it was inhabited since it could only be cursed because of something its inhabitants did.