Over רפואה מן התורה
Healing from the Torah
Healing from the Torah
Parashat Bereisheit
Genesis 1:1-6:8
By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
As we return to the beginning of our Torah
readings with Genesis, I’d like to talk about the power of family, something
that Rabbi Jonathan Sacks calls “the crucible of life.” The definition of family has to be more than
just nuclear (a couple and their
dependent children, regarded as a basic social unit), meaning a family can be a single
parent, biological or by marriage, but also a religious
community or any other type of meaningful group for that matter. The family is supposed to breathe life into
its members, offering a foundation and formation to help shape, guide, love and
give support, a sense of unconditional belonging and acceptance that speaks to their
purpose and human connection and life-successes, carried throughout life and
passed down from generation to generation. But family can also be a means of conflict,
unresolved dynamics because people are imperfect, with rivalries, inequalities,
unresolved tensions, unspoken disappointments or jealousy, in some cases they
can be a breading ground for misguided ideals such as injustice, racism, bigotry
or discrimination of some type. The
family experience can be exceptional and grounding but it can also be unfortunate
and rocky.
Regarding Family, then, I think we can say that the role of the family structure (however you define it) has everything to do with the good we experience in our society but I also think it has to do with the bad as well. A healthy family structure (with all its imperfections) on a micro level is a “crucible of life” that greatly impacts society on a macro level, which is why the family is the basis of tikkun, or repair. Truthfully, family dynamics as we know are never that simple, yet I think there is a reason why Torah begins with the story of Adam and Eve and their family. While we will not look at the entire parsha, Bereishit is broken into three sections that are joined together by the people of Adam and Eve. In this case, who Adam and Eve are and what they are is the question. Who they are; Adam and Eve are the first family, the first people of God who become the seed of what would become Israel, how they “do” life is dictated by the powers they have been given. What they are; they are part of a greater cosmic force that enters and serves the physical world to repair and maintain it, interconnected for the benefit of the whole. Let’s break that down.
The very first verse of Torah reads, בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Humankind (male and female) fashioned in equality, בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים, (B’tzem Elohim) in the image of God, are part of that creation. Later, Adam and Eve would represent the first physical man and woman of the Torah who were tasked with the chore to work and guard the garden (Gen. 2:15) as well as to name all the animals (Gen. 2:15). But Adam and Eve did not operate independently, they were a part of the universal order although they were unique within it. In other words, Adam and Eve had a job to maintain the garden, just as the sun had a purpose to give light and warmth, the dry land provided space where humankind and animals would live while the grass and the trees gave nourishment to those same people and animals alike, the entire creation was interconnected just like an ecosystem. In Torah, however, both humans and animals are referred to נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (nefesh chayyah), living beings (see Gen. 2:7 and 2:19). So upon the fashioning of humankind it says in Genesis 1:27 הָאָדָם, לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, “humankind became a living being,” whereas in Onkelos, the Aramaic translation of Torah, it says לְרוּחַ מְמַלְלָא בְּאָדָם, “humankind has the spirit of speech.” Onkelos defines a “living being” as a person of “speech,” differentiating Adam and Eve from the other living creatures.
Regarding Family, then, I think we can say that the role of the family structure (however you define it) has everything to do with the good we experience in our society but I also think it has to do with the bad as well. A healthy family structure (with all its imperfections) on a micro level is a “crucible of life” that greatly impacts society on a macro level, which is why the family is the basis of tikkun, or repair. Truthfully, family dynamics as we know are never that simple, yet I think there is a reason why Torah begins with the story of Adam and Eve and their family. While we will not look at the entire parsha, Bereishit is broken into three sections that are joined together by the people of Adam and Eve. In this case, who Adam and Eve are and what they are is the question. Who they are; Adam and Eve are the first family, the first people of God who become the seed of what would become Israel, how they “do” life is dictated by the powers they have been given. What they are; they are part of a greater cosmic force that enters and serves the physical world to repair and maintain it, interconnected for the benefit of the whole. Let’s break that down.
The very first verse of Torah reads, בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Humankind (male and female) fashioned in equality, בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים, (B’tzem Elohim) in the image of God, are part of that creation. Later, Adam and Eve would represent the first physical man and woman of the Torah who were tasked with the chore to work and guard the garden (Gen. 2:15) as well as to name all the animals (Gen. 2:15). But Adam and Eve did not operate independently, they were a part of the universal order although they were unique within it. In other words, Adam and Eve had a job to maintain the garden, just as the sun had a purpose to give light and warmth, the dry land provided space where humankind and animals would live while the grass and the trees gave nourishment to those same people and animals alike, the entire creation was interconnected just like an ecosystem. In Torah, however, both humans and animals are referred to נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (nefesh chayyah), living beings (see Gen. 2:7 and 2:19). So upon the fashioning of humankind it says in Genesis 1:27 הָאָדָם, לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, “humankind became a living being,” whereas in Onkelos, the Aramaic translation of Torah, it says לְרוּחַ מְמַלְלָא בְּאָדָם, “humankind has the spirit of speech.” Onkelos defines a “living being” as a person of “speech,” differentiating Adam and Eve from the other living creatures.
Continuing, regarding the use of speech, in Genesis 2:19 Adam later
joined by Eve teamed up to care for the garden and name the animals, team work
and naming were about the power of their words, maintaining and speaking life
into the world around them. But in Genesis 3 Adam and Eve become aware of their shame after eating the fruit of the tree, only
to be asked by God, “where
are you” now
that your eyes have been opened unlike before?
In that interconnectedness Adam and Eve lived
unashamed, peaceful and secure, using the power of their words to help create
and maintain their relationship and surroundings, whereas after eating the
fruit they are fearful, have lost trust in each other and now actively redefine
truth, using their words this time to cause harm and deflect personal
responsibility. I just cannot read this
story and accept that one mistake had such great implications (what does that
say for us, yikes). In the Midrash
Aggadah it says, “God … has opened the way for him perhaps to return,”
but how? When God said, “Adam, where
are you,” it was not only about self-awareness but an opportunity. Although not in the same order the root consonants
are identical for the words שׁוּב (shuv),
return, and בּוֹשׁ (bowsh), shame. A linguistics expert would probably say the
words are
related, meaning the power of shame will cause t’shuvah, or repentance/return.
The text said Adam felt shame but when
confronted he did not do t’shuvah (tradition says t’shuvah is
hardwired into our spiritual DNA), but instead used that same power of speech to
bear false witness (see Gen. 3:12-13
Exod. 20:12). That interconnectedness to
his family impacted his wife Eve who did the same and was handed down to their
son Cain who shirked responsibility for killing his brother (Gen. 4:9). In fact, Genesis 5 and 6 is a genealogy
linking Adam’s family to Noah’s, perhaps meant to remind us that the good and
bad of Adam and Eve are just handed down. Adam and Eve were to bring tikkun to the
garden, but they choose a path that impacted everything that would follow, not
because of what they did, but because of what they would not do.
Because of Adam and Eve’s interconnection to the world around them the power of their words are that much more meaningful, just like ours. It says in Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue….” As such, Jewish tradition teaches that lashon hara (gossip, slander), sinat chinam (baseless hatred) and sinat habriot (hated of others) are a product of the tongue, but so is al t’shakeir (do not lie). Words are powerful and too often destructive. Adam and Eve made choices that had them removed from the garden, destroying the goodness of family and relationships, things that have plagued humanity ever since. I don’t think it’s unfair to say, just look around, that our society is broken, laced with words of hate and violence, insult and disrespect. You see a family’s respect, love and forgiveness, acceptance and tolerance, honor and integrity that begins in the “home” equips us to go into a world that we are universally interconnected to, with hopefully those same values, even though we are different. But if in isolation and in disrespect of others, accepting and tolerating the destructive powers of speech and action, can we fix what we see? This is why the family must be the cradle of tikkun.
Because of Adam and Eve’s interconnection to the world around them the power of their words are that much more meaningful, just like ours. It says in Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue….” As such, Jewish tradition teaches that lashon hara (gossip, slander), sinat chinam (baseless hatred) and sinat habriot (hated of others) are a product of the tongue, but so is al t’shakeir (do not lie). Words are powerful and too often destructive. Adam and Eve made choices that had them removed from the garden, destroying the goodness of family and relationships, things that have plagued humanity ever since. I don’t think it’s unfair to say, just look around, that our society is broken, laced with words of hate and violence, insult and disrespect. You see a family’s respect, love and forgiveness, acceptance and tolerance, honor and integrity that begins in the “home” equips us to go into a world that we are universally interconnected to, with hopefully those same values, even though we are different. But if in isolation and in disrespect of others, accepting and tolerating the destructive powers of speech and action, can we fix what we see? This is why the family must be the cradle of tikkun.
Shabbat Shalom
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