RaYBaSH’s Torah Talks
Parashah #1 B’resheet – In the Beginning
Gen. 1:1-6:8
Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr
In this Torah Portion I will pair Scripture with
Scripture that compares us to the process of the created order.
THE
CREATION WEEK AND MANKIND
“In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters.” Gen.1:1-2
Just as the literal heavens and
earth were formless and void, so were we until:
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” Gen. 1:3-5
Just as light was created, so too were we enlightened.
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day… And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 1:29-31; 2:16-17
“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” Gen. 1:6-8
Just as water was separated from water, so too was blood and water divided.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth…And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Gen. 1:27-28; 2:18-23
“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.” Gen. 1:9-13
Just as sea, land and vegetation came forth so too from man who is soil and the blood of man the water, land and fruit came forth in the guise of offspring.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth… And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed… And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” Gen. 1:28; 2:25; 4:1-2
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” Gen. 1:14-19
Just as G-d created the cosmos and the heavenly bodies whose job it is to govern the passage of time, so too we rule time and allow it to pass as we live out life in our occupations.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so… And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it… And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” Gen. 1:26-30; 2:15; 4:2
“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” Gen. 1:20-23
Just as the sky and sea teem with life, so too do our minds teem with ideas and our lungs and loins teem with life and seeds of life.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth… And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it… And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him… And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” Gen. 1:26-28; 2:15, 20; 4:1-2
Just was we reign in the thoughts of our mind and the desires of our loins, so too do we tame and take dominion over sky and sea.
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Gen. 1:28-30
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Gen. 1:24-31
Just as creation comes full circle and the creation becomes the creator, so too for us.
“And
Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have
gotten a man from the Lord. And she
again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a
tiller of the ground.” Gen. 4:1-2
“Thus
the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And
on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the
seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God
blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested
from all his work which God created and made.” Gen. 2:1-3
As the Creator rests, so does all His creation, both
man and beast (2:21a) We as mankind are a representation of the whole of
creation in miniature. We mirror the macrocosm in ourselves as the microcosm.
MAN
AND BEAST
Adam named the animals by their characteristics and traits, for example; an ox in Hebrew is “aluph” spelled, Aleph-Lamed-Vav-Pey; meaning, letter for letter, “strength guided and yoked securely by its mouth.” As we know, an ox is led by its appetite (mouth) for grass and when domesticated can aslo be guided by a bit put in its mouth or by a yoke upon its neck. So too where all the animals named. Adam just didn’t look at a creature and exclaim, “Oh, you look like an ox to me, yeah, thae sound of that name seems to fit you.” No, each name Adam gave the animals had meaning and was based on its characteristics and traits.
“And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” Gen. 2:20
Adam, meaning “red earth” had no one to call “Chava (Eve)” meaning, “The mother of all the living (Gen.3:20).”
Even the designation man and woman have meaning:
“And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Gen. 2:22-23
Man in Hebrew is “Iysh” (Alpeh-Yod-Shin) meaning; Strength by the hand of Shaddi (The Almighty).” Woman in Hebrew is “Ishshah” (Aleph-Shin-Hey) which means; “Strength of Shaddi’s (The Almighty’s) Breath.” Women will mimic this by giving birth to children with the breath of life already in them. Chavah or Eve comes from the Hebrew word, “Chiam” meaning, “Life,” and thus Eve became “the mother of all the living.”
“And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” Gen. 3:20
“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Gen. 3:16
More accurately translated as due to our fallen
nature, “You will desire your husband’s position, yet he will rule over you.”
Though man and woman/husband and wife are co-equal
partners (2:22-24), HaShem placed the man as the head and with women’s lib and
gender equality Genesis 3:16 is true and rears its ugly head before our very
eyes in our society.
The place of man’s creation is a different location
than the Garden itself.
Rabbi’s believe that the Temple Mount is the spot
where man was created and also the cleft of the rock from which the Tablets for
the 10 Commandments where hewn as well as the place Moses was hid and Elijah
went to retreat from Jezebel and the prophets of Baal.
So the Garden isn’t as special and as sacred as the
place from which G-d created man and I find it a blessing in disguise and
merciful that we were banished from the Garden but not from the place we were
created!
THE
FALL OF MANKIND
I find it fascinating how Psalm 1 fits so well with
the Torah Portion:
Psalm
1:1-2 = Gen.1:29; 2:9, 16-17; 3:2
Adam and Eve
did not delight in the Law of YHWH but loitered in the way of the serpent and
fell.
Psalm
1:3-4 = Gen. 3:6-7
Adam and
Eve’s sinless glory fell and faded as the fig leaves they plucked to cover
themselves.
Psalm
1:5-6 = Gen. 3:23-24
Adam and Eve
could no longer stand firm in the Garden by the Tree of Life but was doomed to
die outside the Garden.
Desire or lust was the first sin to conquer and
mankind failed, this led to disobedience. The second set of sins fallen
humanity had to face was motive, jealousy and attitude.
If Cain had a pure motive of love in which to
sacrifice unto G-d his very best out of an attitude of gratitude, he would not
have become jealously downcast.
Before G-d judges, He confronts us with questions
that cause us to stop, think, reflect, face up to and admit what we had done
that makes us deserving of His fair and yet merciful judgement.
According to the Torah, Cain deserved death for
murdering his brother Abel, so why did G-d let Cain live and sentence him to a
life of exile? For the same reason the military will not draft 2 brothers, the
only children of their parents, so as not to have both die sons die in war so
that the parents would not be utterly bereaved and have no one to continue the
family line. G-d sentenced Cain to exile not for Cain’s sake, but for Adam and Eve’s sake. Why loose two
sons in one day!?
Shabbat Shalom,
-
Rabbi Yehudah ben Shomeyr
