And again we start (reading) from Genesis.
What can be said about this portion, which is so familiar? Who among us does not know the stories of creation, the sin of eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and Cain's murder of Abel?
Therefore, I would like to focus on a part of the portion, which is a little less known:
"This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." (Genesis 5:1-2)
These verses, in fact, repeat and summarize the creation story of chapter 1, which talks about the creation of a human being, which includes male and female (who are created together, in equality). The human species was created in the image of God, and receives his blessing.
The question arises: why are these verses repeated?
Commentators try to answer the question. One of the interpretations is that the repetition of this passage is intended to emphasize the importance of the creation of man, every man.
According to Midrash Avot D'Rabbi Natan 31:3, "Rabbi Nehemiah would say: Where do we learn that one person is considered as important as the entire work of Creation? Because it says (Genesis 5:1), “This is the book of the generations of humanity,” and prior to that it said (Genesis 2:4), “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.” Just as previously there was creating and making, so too here there is creating and making." Following the use of the root 'create', the Midrash draws an analogy between the creation of man and the creation of the entire world - from the heavens to the earth. The importance of man, every man, even one man, is weighed against every act of Genesis.
In the Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim 9:4:3 we read the famous debate between Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai: “'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' - Rabbi Akiva says, that is a great principle in the Torah. Ben Azzai says, 'this is the book of the descent of man' is a more important principle". The debate is expanded in Bereshit Rabbah on Bereshit portion 24:7. Rabbi Akiva's position is explained as follows: "That you should not say: Since I have been disparaged, let someone else be disparaged along with me; since I was cursed, let someone else be cursed along with me." And on this the midrash continues and says: "Rabbi Tanḥuma said: If you do act like that, know who it is that you are disgracing: 'in the likeness of God He made him'" (Genesis 5:1). That is: while Rabbi Akiva focuses only on the love of the neighbor -- my friend, Ben Azzai expands the scope, and Rabbi Tanhuma follows, and says that no person should be desgraded, since this is an action against God, who created man in his image. Ben Azzai opens Nezikin tractate in a similar way to the opening of the American Constitution or the French Bill of Human Rights: All human beings are created equal, all are created in the image of God, and therefore everyone has basic rights that must not be infringed upon.
We are already after Rosh Hashanah, but it is worth mentioning in this context that according to the Sages (Vayikra Rabbah 29:1), Rosh Hashanah also marks the creation of man: "It was taught in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, 'The world was created on the twenty-fifth of Elul'" -- the world was created on the 25th of Elul, and after six days, on Rosh Hashanah, man was created.
Let's conclude and say: in these days - of "Jewish supremacy", the exclusion of women and the distortion of the Torah - it is appropriate that we all remember Ramban's words about the phrase "book of the generations of Adam": "In my opinion, this alludes to the entire Torah, for the entire Torah is the book of the generations of Adam. Therefore, He says here 'book' and does not say, 'And these are the generations of Adam,' as He says in other places" (Ramban on Genesis 5:1). The Torah is the book of the generations of Adam, and he is the one that is in its center. And when we say "Adam" - we mean every person wherever he is, and not just the Jews. We mean for both men and women.
And what does this mean, that we were created in the image of God? According to Sforno, "'in the likeness of God made He him' -- a reference to man’s free will." (Sforno on Genesis 5:1:2). We have the ability to choose the main principles of our Torah - equality and humanistic approach for every person regardless of who they are - and to reject the bad distortions of the Torah. Even in these difficult days of fighting, we must continue to choose humanistic values in our relationship to every person, as they are human beings.
Naomi Shemer gives this idea a secular expression: man is also a creator, every day anew, and he or she can choose to create in the image of people. This is the choice that allows us hope and gives us the ability "to wake up tomorrow morning with a new song in our hearts", start from the beginning and continue to fight for our humanistic values.
To wake up tomorrow morning with a new song in our hearts
to sing it with strength, to sing it with pain
to hear flutes in the open breeze
and to start from the beginning
From the beginning
to create your world again in the morning
the earth, the grass and all the illuminations
and then from dirt, the image of man
to get up in the morning and to start from the beginning.
(Naomi Shemer / The Celebration Is Ending. Translation: https://lyricstranslate.com)
Hoping that the terrible war we are in will end, and we will be able to get up tomorrow morning with a new song in our hearts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Ph.D. Iris Yaniv, a secular-humanist rabbi and a rabbinical fellow at the Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis, has been teaching and studying the Bible and Judaism for about 35 years. The founder and leader of "Yahel" - liberal humanist Judaism - congregation in Haifa.
What can be said about this portion, which is so familiar? Who among us does not know the stories of creation, the sin of eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and Cain's murder of Abel?
Therefore, I would like to focus on a part of the portion, which is a little less known:
"This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." (Genesis 5:1-2)
These verses, in fact, repeat and summarize the creation story of chapter 1, which talks about the creation of a human being, which includes male and female (who are created together, in equality). The human species was created in the image of God, and receives his blessing.
The question arises: why are these verses repeated?
Commentators try to answer the question. One of the interpretations is that the repetition of this passage is intended to emphasize the importance of the creation of man, every man.
According to Midrash Avot D'Rabbi Natan 31:3, "Rabbi Nehemiah would say: Where do we learn that one person is considered as important as the entire work of Creation? Because it says (Genesis 5:1), “This is the book of the generations of humanity,” and prior to that it said (Genesis 2:4), “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.” Just as previously there was creating and making, so too here there is creating and making." Following the use of the root 'create', the Midrash draws an analogy between the creation of man and the creation of the entire world - from the heavens to the earth. The importance of man, every man, even one man, is weighed against every act of Genesis.
In the Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim 9:4:3 we read the famous debate between Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai: “'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' - Rabbi Akiva says, that is a great principle in the Torah. Ben Azzai says, 'this is the book of the descent of man' is a more important principle". The debate is expanded in Bereshit Rabbah on Bereshit portion 24:7. Rabbi Akiva's position is explained as follows: "That you should not say: Since I have been disparaged, let someone else be disparaged along with me; since I was cursed, let someone else be cursed along with me." And on this the midrash continues and says: "Rabbi Tanḥuma said: If you do act like that, know who it is that you are disgracing: 'in the likeness of God He made him'" (Genesis 5:1). That is: while Rabbi Akiva focuses only on the love of the neighbor -- my friend, Ben Azzai expands the scope, and Rabbi Tanhuma follows, and says that no person should be desgraded, since this is an action against God, who created man in his image. Ben Azzai opens Nezikin tractate in a similar way to the opening of the American Constitution or the French Bill of Human Rights: All human beings are created equal, all are created in the image of God, and therefore everyone has basic rights that must not be infringed upon.
We are already after Rosh Hashanah, but it is worth mentioning in this context that according to the Sages (Vayikra Rabbah 29:1), Rosh Hashanah also marks the creation of man: "It was taught in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, 'The world was created on the twenty-fifth of Elul'" -- the world was created on the 25th of Elul, and after six days, on Rosh Hashanah, man was created.
Let's conclude and say: in these days - of "Jewish supremacy", the exclusion of women and the distortion of the Torah - it is appropriate that we all remember Ramban's words about the phrase "book of the generations of Adam": "In my opinion, this alludes to the entire Torah, for the entire Torah is the book of the generations of Adam. Therefore, He says here 'book' and does not say, 'And these are the generations of Adam,' as He says in other places" (Ramban on Genesis 5:1). The Torah is the book of the generations of Adam, and he is the one that is in its center. And when we say "Adam" - we mean every person wherever he is, and not just the Jews. We mean for both men and women.
And what does this mean, that we were created in the image of God? According to Sforno, "'in the likeness of God made He him' -- a reference to man’s free will." (Sforno on Genesis 5:1:2). We have the ability to choose the main principles of our Torah - equality and humanistic approach for every person regardless of who they are - and to reject the bad distortions of the Torah. Even in these difficult days of fighting, we must continue to choose humanistic values in our relationship to every person, as they are human beings.
Naomi Shemer gives this idea a secular expression: man is also a creator, every day anew, and he or she can choose to create in the image of people. This is the choice that allows us hope and gives us the ability "to wake up tomorrow morning with a new song in our hearts", start from the beginning and continue to fight for our humanistic values.
To wake up tomorrow morning with a new song in our hearts
to sing it with strength, to sing it with pain
to hear flutes in the open breeze
and to start from the beginning
From the beginning
to create your world again in the morning
the earth, the grass and all the illuminations
and then from dirt, the image of man
to get up in the morning and to start from the beginning.
(Naomi Shemer / The Celebration Is Ending. Translation: https://lyricstranslate.com)
Hoping that the terrible war we are in will end, and we will be able to get up tomorrow morning with a new song in our hearts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Ph.D. Iris Yaniv, a secular-humanist rabbi and a rabbinical fellow at the Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis, has been teaching and studying the Bible and Judaism for about 35 years. The founder and leader of "Yahel" - liberal humanist Judaism - congregation in Haifa.