Nobel Laureate Addresses Issues Of Game Theory and Torah

The Sy Syms School of Business hosted Dr. Robert Aumann, the 2005 Nobel laureate in economics and a professor at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, for numerous lectures on his specialty of Game theory and halakah on April 28.

Among the prime features of Dr. Aumann's day-long visit was his address to well over 160 students at Wilf Campus's Weissberg Commons. Dr. Aumann's lecture focused on what some people refer to as the conflict between science and Torah.

According to Dr. Aumann, who does not perceive a conflict at all, science and Torah are not related. "Science is one way of dealing with certain aspects of the world, and Torah is a way of dealing with different aspects of our world," he explained. "As observant Jews, it is not the same kind of activity as when acting as a scientist. One is an experience and the other is a way of explaining observations." Dr. Aumann admitted freely that these assertions contradict Maimonides' views on the relationship between science and Torah.

Before arriving at the Wilf Campus, Dr. Aumann spoke to students at the Beren Campus about the role game theory plays in areas like auctions and matching. Dr. Aumann also explained that game theory allows for a mathematical analysis of the elements and strategies involved in decision-making situation. Because the application of game theory to matching situations like marriages and college admissions processes is "precise," he chose to focus on this area.

Dr. Aumann described how he applies game theory in many situations, such as when using an algorithm to predict the coalition partners in the Israeli elections once all the votes have been counted. His calculations are not always accurate, he concedes, because they factor in only number, not ideology.

Dr. Aumann's choice to focus on game theory applications was especially appropriate since he shared the Nobel Prize with Dr. Thomas C. Schelling, Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, for the research they conducted in game theory.

After addressing students at the Beren Campus, Dr. Aumann traveled uptown to the Wilf Campus, where he joined President Richard M. Joel, Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, the Max and Marion Grill Dean of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), and the rabbinical faculty of RIETS at a luncheon.

Dr. Aumann discussed various games mentioned in the Torah, including Sarah's demand that Abraham ban Ishmael from their home to prevent his game-playing from influencing Isaac negatively. Dr. Aumann challenged the assertion some commentators make that Ishmael's games included idolatry, sexual rapacity, and murder, arguing that Judaism's founding father most likely would not have ignored such atrocities committed by his own son.

A RIETS rosh yeshiva mentioned in the discussion that followed that, according to the Tosefta, Rabbi Shimon ben Yokhai held similar doubts about these commentators' assertion and interpreted the games as referring to Ishmael's mocking Isaac's claims to his inheritance.

In addition to describing games in the Torah, Dr. Aumann explained how game theory can be applied to seeming discrepancies found in the Talmud.

"The luncheon," said Rabbi Charlop in press release on the Yeshiva website, "proved to be a fascinating meshing of Torah and Madda on the highest level."