Parshat Bereishit

THEN THE LORD GOD SAID TO THE SERPENT, "BECAUSE YOU DID THIS, MORE CURSED SHALL YOU BE THAN ALL THE CATTLE AND ALL THE WILD BEASTS: ON YOUR BELLY SHALL YOU CRAWL AND DIRT SHALL YOU EAT ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE.

(Bereishit 3:14))

 

 

The Serpent's Curse

Rabbi Asi and Rabbi Hoshiya said in the name of Rabbi Aha:

God told him: I made you king over domesticated animals and wild beasts, but you did not want it.

I made you to walk erect like a human, but you did not want it - on your belly you shall crawl.

I made you to eat food like humans, but you did not want it - and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.

You wanted to kill Adam and marry Eve - and I will put enmity between you and the woman.

So - that which he wanted he did not receive, and that which was in his possession was taken from him.

And we find this also by Cain, Korah, Bilaam, Doag, Ahitofel. Gehazi, Avshalom, Adoniyahu, Uziyahu, and Haman; that which they wanted they did not receive, and that which was in their possession was taken from them

(Bereishit Rabbah 20:5)

 

It would appear that the phrase, on your belly shall you crawl and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life may be understood as a blessing. It removes the need to toil, since food is always available - no need to search or even to raise one's head to fulfill one's basic needs!

The problem is that when there is no need to search or make an effort, or even raise one's head - then you remain close to the ground, and do not rise above it. There is in this an abandonment of human purpose and of the searching hat is necessary for any development.

(From the thought of Menahem Mendel of Kotsk)

 

 

First Failures, New Opportunities

Nahem Elon

 

One may find a short history of humanity in parashat Bereishit - not in the form of a dense summary, but rather, to borrow a term from painting, a minimalist sketch. Or it might be seen as a dense literary text that invites explication and enlargement, although the principle elements and lessons of the story already wait latently in its original words.

The main turning points result from new insights, most of which derive from critical evaluations of what is and what is not, of the real and the ideal. When it becomes clear to God that it is not good for the man to be alone (2:18), a dramatic development takes place - the creation of woman. The wording of the chapter's concluding verses hints - even without calling for a specifically feminist reading of Scripture - that woman's presence is a necessary condition for the completion of the man's maturation, and not only in its sexual aspect.

The eating of the fruit brings about Adam's self-consciousness. From now on, self-consciousness will make humans uniquely human. Alongside emotions such as fear and embarrassment (3:1, 10) the eating of the fruit and God's reaction to it makes Him relate to Adam and his wife as adults - from now on they will be required to shoulder the burden of responsibility for their actions and failures, and they will be expected to sustain themselves (3:19,23).

This tendency intensifies in the next story, in which Cain kills Abel. That tale emphasizes how emotion precedes reason (4:5), while simultaneously revealing the ability and obligation of people to control their emotional drives (4:7). To translate this into psychoanalytic terms, it appears that the super ego has, for the first time, demonstrated the possibility of its overriding the id. The phenomenon of avoidance of responsibility makes its first appearance ("Am I my brother's keeper?") and is immediately dismissed, while Cain is offered a second chance. It turns out that it is worthwhile to argue with God, and Cain is granted protective sign, the "mark of Cain."

Cain is punished to wander the earth, but that gives rise to a supremely important cultural development - and he built a city (4:17). Later in the chapter, three additional important developments are mentioned: the domestication of animals - the father of those who dwell in tents as herdsmen (4:20), the improvement of human material conditions through the invention of tools - forged all implements of copper and iron (4:22), and the beginnings of art - the father of all who play the lyre and the pipe (4:21).

Adam first encountered a second chance that granted him a restitutive experience- And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, meaning, "God has provided me with another offspring in place of Abel (4:25). (I have only hinted at some of the explanations of the names of the children of Adam and Eve, and other issues discussed in Yitzhak Oren's fascinating Me'hahel ve'ad Kalah, Jerusalem, 1987, pp. 43-55).

Scripture hints very darkly at an additional development. Chapter four ends with the verse, And to Seth a son was also born, and he called him Enosh, then began calling in the name of the Lord (4:26). It is impossible to understand what it was that happened in Enosh's time from these words, and whether it was a positive or a negative development. The RaMBaM believes this verse marks the introduction of idolatry to the world (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Avodah Zara 1:1). He was building upon a line of thought that goes back to both the midrashei halakhah (Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Horowitz-Rabin edition, Jerusalem 5730, Mesekhta De'Ba'Hodesh, Yitro, parasha 6, pg. 223: Sifrei Devarim, Finklestein edition, N.Y. 5729, piska 43, pg. 97) as well as the midrash aggadah (Targum Yonatan ben Uziel ad locum, Ginzburger edition, Jerusalem 5734, pg. 10).

Earlier we encountered Cain's murder of Abel (4:8), and indirectly Lemekh's murder of Cain (4:23), but chapter five establishes death as a natural part of human life.

However, the biggest surprise is saved for the end of the parasha. It is difficult to piece together a coherent narrative from the opening five chapters of the Torah. It is no wonder that through the ages biblical exegetes have invested great efforts in the interpretation of parashat Bereishit - and yet, many issues remain unresolved or open to various directions of explanation even after so much impressive exegetical work. (see, for example, the commentaries of Avraham ben HaRamBam, RaMBaN, Rabbeinu Behayei, and the NeTziV of Volozhin (Ha'amek Davar)). Chapter six opens with a myth-like story about the Sons of Elohim and the daughters of man, followed by the dismal conclusion: The Lord saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was saddened (Bereishit 6:5-6). Had something in God's plan gone awry? And what are we to understand from the emotive language used by Scripture to describe God's attitude towards events in His world? Even if "The Torah speaks in human language," human language offers many avenues of expression. It appears that these emotive words were chosen deliberately.

The parasha ends with the curt statement, but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (6:8). This is a double surprise: At the revealed level - how is Noah strong enough to stand firm against all of humanity, which was condemned very harshly just three verses before, causing God to regret having created the world? At a hidden level, the biblical narrative employs a stylistic ploy to increase our astonishment. The form ve'Noah matza (but Noah found) is rarely used by the Torah - usually the verb precedes the subject. The form used in our verse - subject followed by verb - signals the far past, past perfect. When, then, did Noah find favor? The answer will come to light by stages in the next parasha, but this is the time to summarize the main lessons learnt from parashat Bereishit.

It turns out that failure is a fundamental human experience, but it does not signal an end, but rather serves as a beginning. Failure exacts heavy costs while simultaneously bringing people new insights and opening before them new opportunities. Our parasha also alludes to the power and danger involved in spontaneous developments: impressive cultural developments and total corruption go hand-in-hand. Finally, the parasha concludes with a re-shaping of Divine/human relations. Suddenly, God is in need of a restorative experience, for which Man serves as catalyst!

Parashat Bereishit surveys the beginning of the human story, the first time a human assumes responsibility for the events of this world, along with awareness of the complex and challenging connection between man and his God. The story's continuation and direction of development pose challenges to today's reader as well.

Prof. Nahem Elon teaches in the MA program in Jewish Studies at the Lander Institute in Jerusalem (established by Touro College).

 

 

Progress and the legal System do not Guarantee a Civilized World

Although Cain and his sons founded a city and a political collective, inventing laws and crafts for the management of society, never-the-less, if reason will not speak, and if there are not honest people who are by nature lovers of justice, laws will not help; for if a tyrant rises, he will laugh at ordinances, and plunder law and justice.

(Malbim Breishit 4:23)

 

After mentioning the inventions introduced to humanity by Cain and his sons, [the Torah] presents Lemekh's song, proving that material progress did not bring moral progress. Violence was rife, and those generations gloried in acts of violence. The traits hated most by God were precisely those most valued by men. In such a situation, it became impossible for the Judge of all the earth not to do justice. All achievements of material culture are worthless without moral virtue.

(Prof. M.D. Cassuto, Me'Adam ve'ad Noah, pg. 130)

 

Man is Required to Respect Life

However, meat was not permitted to them until the time of the "sons of Noah," as is the opinion of our Rabbis. And this is the plain meaning of the verse. The reason for this [prohibition of eating meat] was that creatures possessing a moving soul have a certain superiority as regards their soul, resembling in a way those who possess the rational soul: they have the power of choice affecting their welfare and their food, and they flee from pain and death. And Scripture says: Who knows the spirit of man whether it goes upwards, and the spirit of the beast whether it goes downward to the earth? (Kohelet 3:21) But when they sinned and all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth (Bereishit 6:12), and it was decreed that they die in the flood, and for the sake of Noah He saved some of them to preserve the species, He gave the sons of Noah permission to slaughter and eat them since their existence was for his sake. Yet with all this, He did not give them permission regarding the soul thereof, and He prohibited them from eating a limb cut off from a living animal, and in addition He gave us [the children of Israel] the commandment prohibiting the eating of all blood because it is the basis of the soul...Thus He has permitted the eating of the body of dumb animals after death, but not the soul itself.

(RaMBaN on Bereishit 1:29, Chavel translation)

 

This is the record of Adam's descendants

Rabbi Nahmani says: How is it known that one human is equal in value to all creation? Since it says, this is the record of Adam's descendants [toldot], and there it says, this is the story [toldot] of heaven and earth when they were created (2:4). Before there was creation and doing, here too there is creation and doing.

(Avot De'Rabbi Natan 31:3)

 

And love your neighbor as yourself (Vayikra 19:18) Rabbi Akiva says: That is the great principle of the Torah.

Ben Azzai says: This is the record of Adam's descendants [- When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God] is a greater principle.

(Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:4, and in the Sifra)

 

But Ben Azai is of the opinion that our sentence, This is the record of Adam's descendents (Bereishit 5:1) is a still greater, more comprehensive principle. Here a much greater, much higher union of all men is given. This verse looks on the greatest criminal, the greatest degeneration, the greatest bestiality, all as Adam's descendents, as all developing out of the one Adam the one creation in the likeness of God...So ALL men are human beings, the divine likeness is never completely lost, that is the first Truth which stands at the head of the history of Man.

 (R. S. R. Hirsch on Bereishit 5:1, Levy translation)

 

Everyone is Created in God's Image

Man is beloved, having been created in the Divine Image (Avot 3:14)... this refers to every man, says Rabbi Akiva. This is the proof he brought that that it speaks of the sons of Noah, and not only the Israelites. Rabbi Akiva wanted to include all men, including the Noahides. The RaMBaM made a full statement about this in chapter eight (halakhot 10-11) of Hilkhot Melakhim: "Moses our Teacher was commanded by God to compel all human beings to accept the commandments enjoined upon the descendents of Noah. Anyone who does not accept them is put to death. He who accepts them is invariably styled a resident alien...A gentile who accepts the seven commandments and observes them scrupulously is a ‘righteous gentile,' and will have a portion in the world to come."...and so, I am puzzled why this became so distant to the commentators, who did not want to understand that Rabbi Akiva meant to speak regarding all humanity, and who think he was referring to Israel alone. They supported their ideas with the statement [of the Sages] of blessed memory, "you [Israel] are called adam, etc." - but this is building one derasha on top of another! Thus they forced their interpretation of the divine image, and of the verse they had brought as a proof text. I think that this is the broad and paved road which Rabbi Akiva wanted to smooth out for everyone in the world, as the RaMBaM says we were commanded by Moses of blessed memory to include everyone in the world. And if we were commanded to force them by the sword and destruction, we are certainly required to draw their hearts to the will of their Creator and to the desire of their Rock through words... And they are beloved, having been created in the Divine Image, their hearts readied for study. For this is the law of man - to follow the laws and statutes of God in recognition of His having commanded them, as the RaMBaM says, since they were beloved of their Creator, in His image.

(Tosafot Yom Tov on Avot 3:14)