Blessed are You, Adonai, our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and has permitted us to engross ourselves in the words of Torah. Please, Adonai, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouth. May we and our offspring know Your Name and study your Torah for its own sake.
About a month ago I found a bookstore on the Net – Adlibris.com – that will ship my orders in the mail and let me pay the purchase in the post-office when I pick up the parcel. And they keep basically the same stock-pile as Amazon.com!
I started a wish-list and decided that I would buy the books on that wish-list one or two books at a time. The very first book I ordered was “Heavenly Torah” by Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Today I got it:
I had no idea it was such a BRICK – it’s THICK and I love it – I love BRICKS.
The Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy boys basketball team in Denver qualified for the regional championship, but won’t be able to play because the game was scheduled to take place on Shabbat. The Colorado High School Activities Association governs the league the boys play in, and has refused to move the game to a time when the team could play without breaking Shabbat, claiming that rearranging the schedule on the regional level would be too complicated.
One of the comments on this story is from a Ali Eteraz, who said:
Wasn’t Lieberman nearly Vice President while observing Shabbos? I don’t particularly see why creating exemptions for those that observe it is necessary. Isn’t there a principle of darura (arabic for necessity) in Orthodox Jurisprudence as there is in Islamic? A rabbi should just say “necessity requires that these boys kick ass on shabbos — one time exception!” Why do we like to pretend that religions aren’t flexible? (My bold)
What is significant about this post and the comment is that it illustrates how Jews and Muslims actually agree on something as intimate as religious practice. It also illustrates how both Muslims and Jews face difficulties in terms of having consideration taken to their religious practice.
Zahra – 2 hours ago – ynetnews.com
Right-wing rabbis pass on small letter to be delivered to US president on his upcoming visit which asks leader to free convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, declare Israel belongs to Jews, urge American Jews to make aliyah…
This to me is utterly outrageous. The Jewish Right seeking out the Christian Right to bring about something that is basically in G-d’s hands. It is also utterly hypocritical.
1. No Sanhedrin exists, and has not existed since 358 and it’s last Nasi, (prince) Gamaliel VI was strripped of his rank and killed in 425 by Emperor Theodosius II, so Rabbi Steinsaltz cannot be the “president” of a Sanhedrin. I used to admire Rabbi Steinsaltz for his work translating the Talmud in to English, but I must say, that I am deeply disppointed. Rabbi Steinsaltz may be an excellent translator of Talmud, but he is no, nor will he ever be a Nasi.
2. This proposed unholy alliance, between the Christian Right, represented by one of the bloodiest Presidents in US history and the Jewish Right, represented by a bunch of Rabbis, who honestly shouldn’t be called Rabbis, is just that – UNHOLY. Words like blasphemy, heresy, apostasy and other like words pump thorough my mind right now. It will not seve the Peoples of trhe Middle East simply because it’s contrary to what G-d has promised.
3. These people are trying to bring about something that is G-d’s job, not ours. People should make Aliyah because they want to, because they have a deep desire to live as Jews in Israel to return from exile, not because an American President forces them to.
Am I so arrogant that I dare claim that I know the pshat (plain meaning) of Torah and Tanakh better that a Rabbi? Yes, I am and I do. What he is attempting is in it’s very nature a violation of Torah. The only way for the Jewish People to “re-gain” the Land Promised to Avraham Avinu is by repenting and return to Torah (note that the People has NEVER been in possession of what G-d promised then in it’s entirety). There has never been another way. It’s in the Covenant, it’s in what every Jewish male bears in his flesh. So Rabbi Steinsaltz is teaching Chilul Hashem – Shaming the Name.
I am a Theistic Evolutionist, a Evolutionary Creationist. This means that I make one assumption which is squarely planted in Faith as a matter that cannot be scientifically proved – G-d exists. Other than that I accept the Evolutionary Account of the Origins of the Universe and everything in it. I am not a scientist. I am theologian with an interest in science, and especially in reconciling Science with Faith, hopefully without making the mistakes I think many people of Faith have made, in such a manner that it becomes clear that there really is no conflict between Faith and Science.
I choose to do it “from Scripture to Science” i.e adapting Scripture to Science, rather than the other way around, which seems to be the manner of f.i Intelligent Designists and Literal Creationists, who invariably try and adapt Science to the Scriptural Account, and in my opinion fail horribly and only manage to perpetuate a conflict that really doesn’t exist.
In order to harmonize the Biblical Creation Account with existing Scientific Evolutionary Facts, we have to understand the Biblical TEXT and how it works. It is fine to just see the Biblical Creation Account as an allergory that gives the basic answers to the questions of Who? and Why? from a religious perspective and stop there. This assumes of course that one wants to have such answers, this is not necessary, one is perfectly fine without those answers. However, I don’t think it’s necessary to stop at a mere allergory. I think that if we look at the actual Text of Bereshit/Genesis Chapters 1 and 2, and are willing to read beyond what Tradition teaches, we will see that there is, within the very text, support for a pure scientific understanding of “How it All Came Into Being.”
“In the beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis/Bereshit 1:1
Apart from the fact that this verse works like a head line in a newspaper article, simply summarizing the contents of what is to follow, this verse is interesting. In English or most other languages is just says “In the beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth.” In Hebrew, the Original Language of Torah, there is a textual elememt that implies that the Author was aware that Creation is an on-going process, and not something that is finished. It actually says: “In the Beginning of G-d’s Creating Heavens and Earth.” Which leads to a quite startling discovery, which I will get to after this brief message:
This verse makes 2 statements.
1. It all began somewhere in Reality, timed or timeless. This has been established by Science. The Universe is not without beginning. Bereshit 1:1 concurs with Science on this point. The existence of a Universal Beginning can be Scientifically observed and verified.
2. G-d did it. This is a statement of pure Faith. This cannot be verified by Science, it can only be believed. We might be able to deduce from findings within Science, that the Idea of G-d as Creator would be viable if we put Him out-side Time and Space.
“Actually, the latest understanding of the origin of the universe indicates that prior to the Big Bang, time itself did not exist. Without the existence of space produced by the Big Bang, time had no meaning. And without time, references in space have no meaning. So in a sense, the theological idea that God as Creator exists outside space and time makes perfect sense.” (Dale Husband)
This however would be by deduction only. We cannot establish that He actually did it. For all we know, from a perspective of Science, He might as well be non-existent, at most a non-active Spectator of a Random Event that took place 13.7 billion years ago without His intervention or participation.
“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.” Genesis/Bereshit 1:2
This verse makes another 2 statements:
1. At one time, most likely just prior to the Random Event that took place 13.7 billion years ago, Matter/Mass had no form, it was free-floating out-side Space and Time. This can be verified by scientific observations. Bereshit/Genesis 1:2 concur with Science. Here we get to the startling discovery through the realization that the Biblical Account speaks of Creation as an on-going process. Contrary to what Popular Theology, both Xian and Jewish teaches, this verse makes very clear that G-d did not Create “ex nihilo” (out of nothing) God had access to matter/mass. Something was present from which He created.
“In 1952, George Gamow, one of the founding fathers of Big Bang cosmology, proposed that the period before the Big Bang be called the Augustinian era,[1] after the philosopher Saint Augustine, who believed time was solely a property of the God-created Universe. Even though one could philosophically argue over the meaning of the phrase “to create”, through the theory of general relativity space and time can be related to each other. The phrase “Augustinian Era” stands as a testament to the fact that the known laws of physics break down in a gravitational singularity of a geometric point at the time zero of the Big Bang and that, before then, time as we know it is meaningless.” From Wikipedia
So far our our Biblical Account confirms what Science says.
2. G-d was present prior to a Random Event that took place 13.7 billion years ago. This cannot be verified scientifically, therefore must remain a matter of Faith.
This far I am startled by one single seeming fact: How Faith and Fact seem to be proposed by the Biblical account through its statements of description that can be verified by Science and its statements about a Creator, which can only be “verified” through Faith. It is as if the Biblical Account wants us to accept both in conjunction. I just marvel at those who refuse to realize that if one accepts through Faith that G-d exists, one must also accept that Faith is meaningless without sound Reason/Science. Faith cannot be proved. By the same token Reason cannot be believed. There is a “No-mans-land” between Faith and Reason that we have to cross, and interestingly enough it can only be traversed through a leap of Faith, in both directions, and the border crossing is guarded by Logic.
I’ll stop here for now. Next will be the actual Big Bang…
I am a Creationist. I strongly believe that what I choose to call G-d is the Creator of the entire Universe and Everything in It, including Platypuses and Pterodactyls (they are my favorite kinds of animals).
I can see how, the hair on Dale’s head is standing on end, and smoke is coming out of his ears… Has Silly Old Bear, one of his most staunchly religious members gone completely mad? No.
I am just tired of religious mad-men/women laying claim to a name, and dragging it through the mud of intellectual dishonesty, making it impossible for me to call myself a creationist, though that is rightly what I am and be proud of it. So now I am re-claiming it. Live with it. I hope Dale understands.
The proponents of Intelligent Design (and other forms of ‘Literal Creationism’) make some rather glaring mistakes that are not related to the scientific process of ‘Creation’. Their first mistake is to is to assume the existence of G-d as a FACT. They cannot prove G-d’s existence. It doesn’t matter how many more or less incredible theories (such as “irreducible complexity”) they come up with to insert G-d as a fact, His existence cannot be proven.
They, in various ways, claim that the reason they are ‘Creationists’ is what is written in Genesis/Bereshit chapters 1 and 2 and the claim that this is the Absolute Word of G-d. That is their second mistake, especially on the part of the ID believers. There is not one word in Genesis/Bereshit about any of the ideas expressed by their theories. Not one. In order to arrive at their conclusions they have to go beyond Genesis/Bereshit, and that places them squarely out-side the realm of the Biblical account. I.e they are Intelligent Designists, not Creationists. To be a Creationist, you have to accept the Biblical Account as is without any additions to the basic Text. Intelligent Design removes an element from the Biblical Account that not only needs to be in there, but which is imperative to the entire Text – the element of Faith, of Awe, of Humility, Understanding one’s place in the Universe and The Who Behind it all.
“Creationists sometimes argue that the idea of evolution must remain hypothetical because “no one has ever seen evolution occur.”
This statement, quoted in the book “Science, Evolution, and Creationism”, is ludicrous. By their own admission then, the idea of Creation must remain hypothetical because no one has ever seen creation occur. One have to wonder why they work so hard at claiming the truth of something when it, by their own logic, must remain hypothetical anyway?! That is their third mistake, and in my opinion, the most grievous, INTELLECTUAL DISHONESTY. You simply cannot make statements like “evolution must remain hypothetical because ‘no one has ever seen evolution occur.’” and at the same time claim that ID is factual and scientific and expect people to accept this, not unless you are 4.5 billion years old!
The Biblical Account of how Everything Came Into Being doesn’t say one single word about HOW. It only says “Everything Came Into Being and G-d did it”. Period. No additions, no “intelligent theories”. The fourth mistake ID Believers make is to assume that the Biblical Account needs to be “harmonized” with Science to be considered ‘True’. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Millions of G-dly, honest and ethical people from all over the Earth have absolutely no trouble considering the Biblical Account True without the “help of Intelligent Design”. In fact, we’d rather that Intelligent Design went away and stopped embarrasing decent, G-dfearing folk! The simple fact of the matter is that we have no need for Intelligent Design. The Theory of Evolution and the Biblical Account already provide us with a viable Theory of Intelligent Design, and one that is far better at harmonizing the Idea of G-d as the Creator with Scientific Evidence and Method.
Ya’akov… Last year I would have written about how horrible Ya’akov is as a character – a cheat, a fraud, a sorcerer, liar, coward, thief a great manipulator in general and someone who uses G-d for his own ends. I would have been right. But describing him as an honorable sceptic, an agnostic, and a true believer would be just as right. Ya’akov in his basic make-up is extremely human.
“If G-d does this… I will acknowledge…” Bereshit 28:20-21
Ya’akov starts his adult life with a session of bargaining with G-d.
He is running for his life – from his enraged brother whom he, just few days earlier, has cheated out of his birth-right (enthusiastically assisted by his mother) – towards the homelands of his mother, uncle and grandfather. On the way there, according to the Sages, (Sanhedrin 95b) he is surprised by an early sunset and decides to go to sleep. Dream. Ladder. Angels. G-d making a speech. Grand Designs and Spiritual Experiences.
“Surely the Lord is present in this place, and I did not know it!” Shaken, he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.” Bereshit 28:16-17
Interestingly enough, Ya’akov’s exclamation isn’t specific about WHAT G-d he is speaking of. He is clearly aware that “G-d” is present there. This, however doesn’t convince him. To Ya’akov grand visions, dreams and spiritual incidents are not sufficient “proof” or reasons to accept G-d’s presence in one’s life. A far more prosaic G-d is what he will put his trust in. A G-d who keeps him fed, clothed and safe is what Ya’akov is looking for. He knows that spiritual experiences cannot do that. Although he acknowledges that G-d can be and is present in visions, dreams and grand spiritual events, what he will trust in is not visions, dreams and spiritual incidents, but a G-d who will take care of him on a daily basis.
“If God remains with me, if He protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father’s house — the Lord shall be my God.” Bereshit 28:20-21
Here’s the bargaining point, the matter which is more important to Ya’akov than the dream he just had – daily divine action as opposed to occasional divine revelation. He accepts the latter, but is seeking the former.
This point ask a question of us. Ya’akov, in all his complex humanity, asks US which is more important to us: Daily Divine action or Occasional Divine Revelation? What do we seek? Signs and Symbols or the Fatherly love and care expressed through having our daily needs met?
If we look closely at the story of Ya’akov we see that he gets his grand designs and spiritual experiences as a side dish to a main course of daily care. In fact when he finally accepts the G-d of his fathers as his own, he is not only fed, clothed and safe – he is fat, rich beyond belief and living safely in the midst of his large family.
A funny thing about Ya’akov is that while G-d is running on idle in the background, just making sure that events follow the plan approximately, Ya’akov is very much the maker of his own fate. He gets what he wants and needs through his own hard work, ingenuity and humility, backed by an unspecified trust that his bargain with G-d will pay off in the end. He doesn’t get fat, rich and safe by sitting on his backside waiting for grand visions, signs. He gets there through hard work and trusting a G-d he is not at all sure is his.
He puts in the legwork and lets G-d do His bit – the daily care.
1 The Lord said to Abram, Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make of you a great nation,
And I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you
And curse him that curses you;
And all the families of the earth
Shall bless themselves by you.”
7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your heirs.” And he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to the Lord and invoked the Lord by name.
I am going to be lazy this week.
On the surface this is the very start of the Jewish People – The Call of Avraham. Let’s leave that as it is and narrow this to a personal level. Our personal evolution as humans.
It basically all starts when we become adults – we move out and we set up a place for ourselves. That’s the easy part. What is not at all easy, is moving out of our family values and unwritten rules and create our own set of rules and create an adult relationship with our parents, ourselves and with G-d.
What?! Aren’t we to stay with the Torah our father and mother taught us? No. You have to re-examine those values, and make them your own – your way. It’s called growing up. Until you have done this you haven’t left home for real.
The values and unwritten rules you inherited from your parents may be just fine – but for you to have an adult relationship with your parents and with G-d, you have to re-examine them. You also have to re-examine the rules that G-d has given, and determine how YOU are to respond to them.
Tradition teaches us that Avraham questioned his father’s polytheism, and built a personal relationship with ONE G-d. We have to do the same – question our parents’ relationship with G-d, and create our own personal relationship with G-d. This doesn’t mean that we throw Torah out the window or that we distance ourselves from the Community, but we HAVE to start relating to G-d and the community from our own point of view, from our understanding of Who G-d is and what our place in the community really is.
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.- Deuteronomy 24:16
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8
Conclusion: PAUL WAS A TRAITOR TO THE TORAH! And NO Christian can claim to be a true spiritual descendant of the ancient Hebrews!
This ties in with my last post here – the claims of being the rightful heir to the Jewish Legacy. Regardless of Paul and his views, it is impossible to hold both believes. If one believes that each and every one of us die for our own sin, one cannot logically, credibly also believe that another person, demig-d or not, has died for our sin. And the other way around. Those two are mutually exclusive.
Now, there is nothing wrong with the idea that some demig-d dies for the sin of humanity, many have believed that prior to the Xians, but it is not compatible with the Faith of either the Ancient Hebrews or the Faith of Modern Judaism.
The author of the above quoted Blog, is quite right when he calls this “The ultimate conflict between Judaism and Christianity”, because this is exactly where Judaism and Xiansim part ways on the Tree of Religion.
But to the wicked, God said, ‘To what purpose do you recount My decrees and bear My covenant upon your lips?’ For you hate discipline and you threw My words behind you….These have you done and I kept silent, You thought that I was like you – I will rebuke you and lay it clearly before your eyes…..He who offers confession, honors Me; and one who orders his way, I will show him the salvation of God.
Let’s do a modern take on this passage:
But to those who say My Torah has been ‘fulfilled’, God said, ‘To what purpose do you claim to know my decrees? What’s this new covenant on your lips? Give me a break. You hate the discipline of following Torah and claim it’s all been done away with in the past. You did this and because I didn’t knock you up side the head you thought I was cool with what you were doing. Not hardly. Why don’t you go back and read Torah again without all your preconceived ideas of what it says? All I require is confession from your mouth and following mitzvot. All who do this will be shown My salvation [which is NOT your version of it!].
One thing more than anything annoys me with most, if not all Xians. How they claim to know better than us Jews what Torah means. How they claim some sort of interpretational ownership of OUR Holy Scriptures. It’s so arrogant, and condescending. Like some distant second cousin they come and lay claim to the Jewish Birth Right, that without even offering a bowl of lentel soup for it. They just step into OUR house and says: “All this is mine – now get lost” (literally).
Then it turns out they don’t want it, they just want bits and pieces here and there, that they fancy to be true, the rest they just flush down the toilet, like so much crap. They don’t care about Shabbat, or Family Purity, or about Kashrut, they just want what is “comfortable” and that fits with their Greek religion.
I don’t know how many times I have argued with Xians over Isaiah 7 – how that is not some messianic prophecy, how it’s a prophecy for a specific Israeli King at a specific time, and how the words in Hebrew don’t even match their interpretation, and how that specific prophecy was actually fullfilled in the time it was given, but no, I am Jewish, so I am blind, I can’t see straight, I, in my evil Jewish heart (if I have one) am so corrupted by my denial of their truth, that I, and all my ancestors, must have mis-read, mis-understood and must be so evil that I am deliberately spreading lies, because that is in my nature as a Jew.
Now, I do know a lot of Xians who don’t see it this way, who are respectfully trying to learn and accept the Jewish interpretation of the Tanakh, and even live by it – I can respect that – but the rest – Pffft.
“And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bore Cain, and said: ‘I have gotten a man with the help of HaShem.’And again she bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto HaShem. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And HaShem had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell….[...]And He said: ‘What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground. And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. Then thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.’ And Cain said unto the L-RD: ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me.’ And the L-RD said unto him: ‘Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the L-RD set a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him. And Cain went out from the presence of the L-RD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. “
It’s pretty understandable, Kayin’s anger and depression. Who wouldn’t be angry and depressed if one’s best effort at showing appreciation and gratitude, was spurned? Kayin’s problem isn’t with G-d or with Hevel. Kayin’s problem is that instead of taking responsible for his own feelings and turn to G-s with a simple question: “Why, what’s wrong?” he looks down and inward, at his own anger, depression, feelings of rejection and fear of inadequacy, away from G-d. Because he feels rejected and inadequate, he feels lonely – to alleviate that loneliness he seeks out his brother. But instead of alleviating his pain, the sight of Hevel flips Kayin’s mind, and Hevel becomes the reason why he feels rejected by G-d. It’s more than he can bear and in his anger and fear, he murders his brother. Was Kayin’s anger and fear wrong? Or his offering? No. But the way he dealt with the situation was. Kayin went first – offering to G-d the best he had from his crop. Then Hevel did the same – only with a twist – to me the ‘he also’ implies that Hevel offered grain, fruit and such, just as Kayin, but then Hevel added to the offering of grain and fruit some of the “firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof”. Seeing Hevel’s offering, so much more abundant than his own, Kayin is suddenly struck by fear that G-d won’t accept his offering – this is the “but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect” – it’s all in Kayin’s mind!
To G-d Kayin’s offering was fine, just as fine as his brother’s, which to me is implied in the events that follow the murder. When Kayin realizes what he has done, he exiles himself from G-d “Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Thy face shall I be hid”. There was never any need for that, G-d never said that – He said that Kayin would be exiled from farming the earth, not from G-d’s presence. On the contrary, when Kayin adds to his punishment that he will be outlawed and that every man will be against him, G-d says ‘Not so, I will make sure that no one kills you for this!’ So in the eyes of G-d Kayin’s offering was ok, Kayin was OK. But to Kayin it wasn’t good enough. What he had to offer wasn’t good enough compared to Hevel’s offering, and the price Kayin paid for his low self-esteem was even more fear, the loss of his brother and the self-inflicted loss of his G-d.
Poor Kayin! Fearful and shame-ridden, he turns away from the only source that could have saved him and his brother – G-d – Had he turned towards G-d with his feelings of shame, fear, inadequacy, envy, anger and rejection, he would have found a G-d ready to say: ‘Not so, you are my child just as much as Hevel’.
The other side of the Story is that of Hevel – and the lesson of not shaming a fellow in public. By adding to his offering what was not inherently his to offer (the fruit of the earth) he shows off, and creates the implication that what he offers G-d is better than that of Kayin. The price he pays is steep, but on the other hand they say that shame is the killer of the soul – something that becomes quite clear through the re-actions of Kayin.
Did Hevel draw death upon himself? No, but he wasn’t an innocent victim either – his need to show-off, to be better, to best his brother, became his own downfall.
So where does this leave us?
From Kayin we learn that it’s better to look outward and upward when we feel downcast and doubtful, than inward and downward, we risk missing the loving and caring words and help from our Father and those friends around us. We are never so bad off that G-d doesn’t want us, that is just our stinking thinking that speaks. We are so much better of sharing with others what is on our minds than holding it in.
From Hevel we learn that showing off and besting others at their expense is just another expression of pride that goes before downfall. We also learn that using others to shine causes them shame, and shame is the #1 soul killer, and we might just end up in deep shit as a result. If we share our good fortune, try and make others part of our success, we will in the end be richer than before.
And the L-RD G-d took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the L-RD G-d 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.’ [...]Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman: ‘Yea, hath God said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’ And the woman said unto the serpent: ‘Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’
I have always found the traditional interpretation of this story fishy to say the least. It seems that Chava was set up here. First of all – she wasn’t present when the command not to eat of the Tree was given – in fact she didn’t even exist yet! Secondly G-d didn’t command her – He commanded Adam, who creates the first “gereizah” (fence around Torah) and adds “…neither shall you touch it…” when he passes the command on.
Chava really didn’t stand a chance. She probably has already tried touching before the snake creeps up and talks to her, and nothing happened, which is as it should be, since G-d never said “…neither shall you touch it…”, so how can she trust that the “eat and die” part is true – her only source of this is Adam – if the “no touching” just proved to be a lie? It turns out that it isn’t bollocks – but who is responsible and in what way?
Chava has traditionally been made to bear the guilt alone – both Jewish and Xian Traditions have in some way or other based a misogynist world view in this singular idea, that it was all Chava’s fault.
Tradition has made Adam an innocent victim of Chava’s “female viles”, and that according to the Story is simply not an accurate image. It turns out he played a very crucial role in this domestic drama. He sets himself up as the authority of the Law, and causes his wife to have reason to distrust what G-d has actually said, adding to G-d’s command in a manner that makes clarity of Torah difficult to reach.
Chava on the other hand does try the limits of what she perceives to be the Law – that it wasn’t the Law doesn’t change the fact that she tested it. She feeds her own doubt by not turning to G-d and ask for a clarification when part of what she thinks is the Law turns out to be untrue, instead she assumes that all she has heard is untrue, and throws out the baby with the bathwater.
Both are equally culpable according to the recorded events, and in the eyes of G-d they certainly are.
What’s in this Story for us?
Don’t mess up Torah – if it’s clear and understandable – don’t try and make it “clearer”, chances are you’ll just make a mess that causes someone else to stumble. Don’t make additions to Torah, It works fine as It is.
Check the facts for yourself, don’t trust Authorities blindly, just because you love them or they seem sensible. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater – yes, some things you hear may be nothing but bullocks, but that doesn’t mean everything similar is bullocks too.
“In the beginning of G-d’s creating…” that’s what the very first line of Torah says. Literally. This to us indicate two things:
Creation is an ongoing process and G-d didn’t create out of nothing.
G-d creates out of that which is already in existence. This is good news to us – this means that G-d can use whatever chaos and deformity we are at the moment to make something great out of, and that we don’t have to despair at being slow to learn or taking our time to “get it” – G-d’s creative work is an on-going process, so we don’t have to worry about a timetable.
“…with darkness over the surface…”
G-d starts out His creating in darkness and then He decides to make a counterpart to Darkness – Light.
This is important for us – because for most of us life up till now has been much on the Dark Side, we too started out in darkness. We need Light to counterpoint the Darkness of our unmanageable lives. So G-d creates Light, makes distinct lines between Light and Darkness to separate them from each other.
Notice that He doesn’t remove Darkness, He makes a special room for it – “Night”. Now, if He is G-d, then why on earth didn’t He just get rid of Darkness and go completely with Light? Perhaps because without each other Light and Darkness would be meaningless. Creation needs both to function, and so do we.
Darkness in our lives works much like Night in nature – it provides dew, moisture that feeds/waters nature, inspires it to grow. If nature never experienced Night/Darkness, it would very quickly be scourged to dry dust by the Light/Day. That same way we need to soak up “moisture” from Darkness in our lives in order to grow during the times of light. We too would be scourged to dry dust if all we ever experienced was light.
And G-d saw that it was good…
On the other hand – the Light that explodes onto the scenery in v.3 is a Light that leaves no shadows. To that Light we are totally transparent. That is good, because it means that G-d knows exactly what He has to work with, so that in the end we become exactly what we are supposed to be – not what we might have been if the Light had been just any other light.
So the to-and-fro between Light and Darkness has another function – every now and then we need to be completely transparent in order to find the areas in ourselves that needs working on. At those times, Darkness is the Sweet Shadow in which we can rest between turns at digging in ourselves.
Whether we are in Light or Darkness – we are exactly where we are supposed to be, in the middle of G-d’s Continued Creating
“Say to the Israelite people: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Feast of Booths to the Lord, [to last] seven days.”
“Sukkot reminds us that ultimate security is found not within the walls of our home but in the presence of God and one another. Indeed, there is a midrash that says that sukkot are not buildings at all but the glory of God. This holiday helps us understand that sometimes the walls we build to protect us serve instead to divide us, cut us off, lock us in.
The walls of our sukkot may make us vulnerable, but they make us available, too, to receive the kindness and the support of one another, to hear when another calls out in need, to poke our heads in to see whether anybody is up for a chat and a cup of coffee. In contrast, our walls of concrete and steel can enslave us in our own solitude and loneliness. Sukkot reminds us that freedom is enjoyed best not when we are hidden away behind our locked doors but rather when we are able to open our homes and our hearts to one another.”From Kolel
“That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that G-d is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.” (Alcoholics Anonymous p83-84)
On Yom Kippur we had a close encounter of the third degree with G-d during which we looked at who we are, what we have been and how to go on, and now on Sukkot we are asked to trust that G-d is going with us into the New Year, just like He went with the People during the forty years of wanderings in the desert. In fact we are to physically build that trust as we build the sukkah, and dwell in it for seven days, eat in there and invite our friends into our sukkah to share with us. And we are to visit others’ sukkot and share with them.
The sukkah is a fragile building, but as it is made of tree branches it is also resilient. It gives some protection from view, but that’s it. Trust is the same, it does give protection – inner protection – because when we trust, G-d, ourselves and others we build strength and wholeness, we learn to deal with the past, let go of it and move on with our Program trusting that G-d will care for us like He took care of our ancestors.
In one of our Bed Time Prayers we say: “Spread over us Your Sukkah of peace, direct us with Your good counsel, and save us for Your own Name’s sake.”
There are many versions of this line – some have say “wings” others say “presence” – but I like this version best, because it indicates something tangible, a structure, and since it’s G-d’s it’s constant, it’s always there for us, to take shelter in and learn more about what trust and wholeness is.
“If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that G-d is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.” (Alcoholics Anonymous p83-84)
“This Phase” of course refers to working the 12 Steps of Recovery 1-9.
Note that it says, “before we are half way through…” – what’s half-way through 9? 4.5 – so perhaps we are teetering on the edge of Step 5 – what an excellent opportunity to do our 5th Step right before Yom Kippur, so that we can turn to G-d having cleaned out all that old shame, fear, guilt about what we have lived through! Regardless what we decide to do, the result will be a renewal.
Another angle:
“When you make any vow to the L-rd your G-d, you must pay it without delay…If you refrain from making a vow, that is no sin for you; but you must be careful to perform any promise you have made with your lips.” (Deut. 23:22)
I seldom make promises to G-d, but I sure make them to myself all the time – and somehow I think Torah here is talking about both kinds of promises. Promising things and not keeping them, forgetting that I made that promise – somehow I and G-d always end up with the shorter end of the stick in the Promise department. They get shuffled out as “not important”. But Torah says that they are. One reason for this is that broken promises, or non-fullfilled promises erodes our trust and our sense of self-worth. Constantly making little promises to oneself and not following through is demoralizing. Torah abhors broken people, so Torah creates a mitzvah – “Follow through also on the vows you make to G-d (and yourself).”
Yom Kippur has a very specific formula to take care of the erosion of our souls tha comes from making all those little promises, commitments and resolutions to ourselves and G-d that we failed to honor: Kol Nidre.
The Ashkenazi version, which has “from this Day of Atonement until the next (whose happy coming we await)” rather than “from the last Day of Atonement until this one”, in my mind is rather useless in terms of having any healing properties, so I will quote the Sefardi version:
“All vows, obligations, oaths, and anathemas, whether called ‘konam,’ ‘konas,’ or by any other name, which we may have vowed, or sworn, or pledged, or whereby we may be bound, from the last Day of Atonement until this one, we do repent. May they be deemed absolved, forgiven, annulled, and void, and made of no effect; they shall not bind us nor have power over us. The vows shall not be reckoned vows; the obligations shall not be obligatory; nor the oaths be oaths.”
This is said 3 times – so it should give us plenty of time to let go of all those failed promises made to ourselves and G-d, during the past year, so we can step into His Presence and get straightened out, so our recovery can continue unhindered, that we may be all we can in the time until the next Yom Kippur.
May our sealing be for life, goodness and healing!
