Controversy
In 1994, a mathematical paper by Witztum, Rips, and Rosenberg describing the discovery of hidden codes in the Torah encrypting modern day events, dates and historical personalities was published in Statistical Science. Subsequently, best selling books and television documentaries have been produced describing the amazing Torah codes. Websites illustrating codes started appearing.
In 1999, another paper was published in Statistical Science purporting to prove that the 1994 discovery was a hoax. And websites purporting to show that Torah codes are not real started appearing. More recently, in 2006, seven peer reviewed scientific papers on Torah codes were published at the International Conference for Pattern Recognition establishing solid evidence that the phenomenon is indeed real.
There are a number of outspoken Torah code critics. Among them are
- Professor Brendan McKay
- Professor Maya Bar-Hillel
- Professor Dror Bar-Natan
- Professor Gil Kalai
- Professor Barry Simon
- Professor Avraham Hasofer
- Dr. Randy Ingermanson
- Dr. Dave Thomas
As we get time, we will summarize their arguments and provide our own counter arguments.
