A French-Israeli entrepreneur has announced his plans to partner with Google Lunar XPRIZE, a competition of shuttle builders, with the goal of placing an air-tight capsule containing a Torah scroll into the winning shuttle and launching it to the moon.
According to a press release from the initiative, they hope to celebrate the historical, moral, and cultural contributions of the Torah through the mission.
Haim Aouizerate, founder, explains his vision in the op-ed:
“Modernity has brought the significant blessing of technology to humanity. However, with this blessing, comes a loss of respect for the written word. Our goal is to reconnect people of all faiths with their identities, values, and roots by allowing the Torah, the world’s oldest code of conduct and law, to take center stage in a way previously thought unimaginable: a one-way, crowdfunded trip to the Moon,” said Aouizerate.
The effort has been incorporated as Torah On The Moon, TOTM, and is not a non-profit organization. Despite being a for-profit corporation, they will accept donations and crowd funding.
Do you think this is a publicity stunt or a sincere display of faith? Will you donate to their crowd-funded campaign? Any other holy texts you think would be well-placed on the moon?
Posted by David Streever