Greene, Dr Velvl

Velvel Greene, chair of epidemiology public health and professor emeritus at Ben-Gurion University and director of the Lord Jacobovitz Center for Jewish Medical Ethics, discusses science & religion.

In 1960, Dr. Velvl Greene began working for NASA as part of the Planetary Quarantine Division, which was charged with trying to find life on Mars. His conversations with the Rebbe took an interesting turn.

Professor Velvl Greene, former chair of epidemiology and public health at Ben-Gurion University, professor emeritus there, and director of its Lord Jakobovits Center for Jewish Medical Ethics, passed away at the age of 83.

The Rebbe thought deeply for a few minutes and said, “Keep looking. To sit here, and not look, and say there is nothing out there, is placing a limit on G‑d’s creation. That you can’t do!” . . .

"There's an old man in Brooklyn," the Rebbe said, "who thinks about you and invites you to come back on your 20th anniversary." To Greene, he seemed more like a loving uncle than the spiritual leader of the Jewish world...

Our interests included Jewish "things": JPS books, Chagall prints, and Jewish records. And that was enough for us. Until our visit to Warsaw

The following vignettes are from the recently released work, Curiosity and the Desire for Truth, in which a NASA scientist recounts his search for higher meaning and deeper understanding of purpose. Along the way, he encounters one of the greatest spiritu...

Dr. Velvl Greene is Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology and Public Health at Ben Gurion University. An original participant in NASA’s Exobiology program, he served as Professor of Public Health and Microbiology at the University of Minnesota for 27 years.

The Rebbe’s correspondence with Professor Velvl Greene.

By the Grace of G‑d 21st of Shevat, 5746January 31, 1986. Brooklyn, N.Y. Prof. Dr. Zeev Greene 2722 Vale Crest Minneapolis, Min. 55422 Greeting and Blessing: For various reasons, including an accumulation of correspondence in connection with Yud-Shevat, e...