To Serve and Protect - Wherein we discuss the formation of primordial Adam, and how this defines our relationship to our environment.
Genesis 1:26
God said, 'Let us make Adam with our image and likeness. Let him dominate the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock animals, and all the earth - and every land animal that walks the earth.'
The Torah employs an unusual phrase in the above verse, as the phrase let us make implies that God somehow had a partner in the creation of Adam. Rashi suggests that God was speaking to His “Heavenly Court” and including them in the decision so to speak. Even though of course He did not need to, God did so in order to teach us effective management, that the more powerful ask the “advice” of their inferiors. Ramban has a different view. He quotes the Midrash that God was speaking to all of the created world, so that the Adam that God created would be a combination of Himself, so to speak, and the rest of the world.
The body of Adam was from earth, Adam from the Adamah (the four elements of earth/wind/fire/water in classic thought). His animal spirit a composite of the spirits of the animal kingdom; and the infinite life-soul the breath of God. Adam was therefore a microcosm of this planet, which was necessary for his purpose in creation. Adams soul allowed him to identify with God (so to speak), and at the same time Adam was able to identify with the every creature and creation on earth. Adam was therefore a conduit for God-consciousness throughout this world. The human soul illuminated creation at large, as the verse illustrates “The soul of Adam is the candle of God.” This function of humanity was God’s first directive to Adam and Eve:
Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the world and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds in heaven and every living thing that moves on the earth.”
What was original intent of God for humankind to “subdue” and “rule” the earth? Humans weren’t permitted to eat animals until after the flood of Noah. So was the original idea of subduing a plan build a big zoo? A circus? To kill for their fur, when we didn't even need fig leaves yet? Or perhaps... killing whales for "scientific research?"
In the Garden of Eden we were vegans, and all of our needs were taken care of. There was no need to conquer the world in the conventional sense. The Hebrew word kivshua which is translated “subdue” is related to kivushim, pickles. A pickle is a cucumber which was been subdued by vinegar (or salt water). A more applicable translation of kivshua might be “permeated,” which would clarify the meaning of the verse. God commanded Adam to care for every fish, bird and beast, every flower, tree and patch of earth and give them the love they need, as a good gardener/shepherd does. Humanity’s green thumb would leave God’s fingerprints on Earth, so to speak, is what is means for humanity to be “good.”
The unity that Creation would become would be a crown Primordial Adam would have worn, had he submitted to only knowing good as would have been revealed to him by God. But as soon as he chose to know by himself via the tree, he caused the connectedness of creation to be hidden, from himself. From now on nature would become a stranger and a danger, to be subdued in the more normative sense of the word. But the original intent of Adam’s relationship to earth was to be a loving shepherd who respects the divinity of each creature, and brings the world into harmony. It was for this reason that Adam was created in the image of God, to be able to give light and goodness unto others. And by doing so, in return Adam would grow in his awareness of God, by acting like God.
This is still the task of humanity, only the garden has become something of a swamp and a wasteland. But as Rabbi Akiva says, the overall principle of the Torah is still “Love your neighbor as yourself, I am God.” In other words, move beyond yourself and give, that’s what God does. The more we are capable of love, the more we know God. This again, is not rocket science.
Genesis 2:15
And the Lord God took the Adam and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to serve and protect it.
“To Serve and Protect.” Odd perhaps to think that Adam and Eve were the first cops on the planet. But how were they serving exactly, and what were they protecting, and from what?
The Sages4 teach that to “serve” means to work in Torah, and to “guard” means keeping mitzvos.
In other words, we’re learning how the world works by studying it’s blueprints, and guarding it by keeping ourselves under God’s command.
In the next verse God says:
From all the trees of the garden you may surely eat, however from the tree that knows good and evil do not from it, for in the day5 you eat from it you will surely die.
Somehow within that pithy commandment resides all of the 613 commandments, in fact within that one concept lies the entire scope of human free-will as we know it.
To know something in Biblical Hebrew refers to intimate knowledge, like getting something into your kishkes (guts). Like eating something. To eat from this tree is to know the power of creation and destruction, as God says afterwards:
God said, 'Man has now become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now he must be prevented from putting forth his hand and also taking from the Tree of Life. He [can] eat it and live forever!'6
Now it says clearly in the verse “like” one of us, because really the power of the human is illusory. We have in reality very little control over the greater forces of nature and history. However we do control our own destiny, and that is enough for us. And because we have chosen to have independent egos that choose our own pathways, we must die. Why? Now we can appreciate why the Sages said that the verse “very good” (meaning mostly good) was referring to death. Because only with death are we released from the illusion that we exist independently of God.
Once we do exist however, what we will do to ourselves and our environment is indeed a true power of creation and destruction, for we in the end will have created or destroyed our own psyche. It is the self that we can make, that mass cumulative of all of our choices from which even death is no escape. Judaism forbids suicide, but not only because it considers it murder, which it does. But also, the soul is not destroyed with the destruction of the body. And so - whatever torment the victim is suffering now will not be eased through the illusion of escape. There is no escape, there is only forward movement, only moving forward.
The Ramban7 quotes the Sages as to the effect of having eaten from the tree:
According to our Masters; if it were not for the sin Adam would never had died. Because the supernal soul gives life (force) forever, and the Divine desire which was in him (Adam) at that time in the Formation would cling to him continually, and that would sustain him forever, as I have explained “and God saw that it was good.”
Ramban is referring to his explanation that good means enduring and stable, meaning that it continually follows the structure God formed for it at Creation. So that if it were not for the tree, and the contravening of God’s command, God’s breathing into physical Adam the living soul would have been continuous and eternal. As it is now post sin, we must struggle with a frail body which demands much attention, about which the only certainty is it’s physical mortality.
In order to live beyond these limitations one must reawaken within an awareness that God is breathing into us the breath of life. This is what the Sages say: With every breath praise God. To become identified with your soul more than your body in your own mind.
To sum up: To work and guard the world (and our own souls) as per God’s directive in Eden; we must use the mitzvos to define our understanding of good and evil, function and dysfunction, and live accordingly.
God said, 'Let us make Adam with our image and likeness. Let him dominate the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock animals, and all the earth - and every land animal that walks the earth.'
The Torah employs an unusual phrase in the above verse, as the phrase let us make implies that God somehow had a partner in the creation of Adam. Rashi suggests that God was speaking to His “Heavenly Court” and including them in the decision so to speak. Even though of course He did not need to, God did so in order to teach us effective management, that the more powerful ask the “advice” of their inferiors. Ramban has a different view. He quotes the Midrash that God was speaking to all of the created world, so that the Adam that God created would be a combination of Himself, so to speak, and the rest of the world.
The body of Adam was from earth, Adam from the Adamah (the four elements of earth/wind/fire/water in classic thought). His animal spirit a composite of the spirits of the animal kingdom; and the infinite life-soul the breath of God. Adam was therefore a microcosm of this planet, which was necessary for his purpose in creation. Adams soul allowed him to identify with God (so to speak), and at the same time Adam was able to identify with the every creature and creation on earth. Adam was therefore a conduit for God-consciousness throughout this world. The human soul illuminated creation at large, as the verse illustrates “The soul of Adam is the candle of God.” This function of humanity was God’s first directive to Adam and Eve:
Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the world and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds in heaven and every living thing that moves on the earth.”
What was original intent of God for humankind to “subdue” and “rule” the earth? Humans weren’t permitted to eat animals until after the flood of Noah. So was the original idea of subduing a plan build a big zoo? A circus? To kill for their fur, when we didn't even need fig leaves yet? Or perhaps... killing whales for "scientific research?"
In the Garden of Eden we were vegans, and all of our needs were taken care of. There was no need to conquer the world in the conventional sense. The Hebrew word kivshua which is translated “subdue” is related to kivushim, pickles. A pickle is a cucumber which was been subdued by vinegar (or salt water). A more applicable translation of kivshua might be “permeated,” which would clarify the meaning of the verse. God commanded Adam to care for every fish, bird and beast, every flower, tree and patch of earth and give them the love they need, as a good gardener/shepherd does. Humanity’s green thumb would leave God’s fingerprints on Earth, so to speak, is what is means for humanity to be “good.”
The unity that Creation would become would be a crown Primordial Adam would have worn, had he submitted to only knowing good as would have been revealed to him by God. But as soon as he chose to know by himself via the tree, he caused the connectedness of creation to be hidden, from himself. From now on nature would become a stranger and a danger, to be subdued in the more normative sense of the word. But the original intent of Adam’s relationship to earth was to be a loving shepherd who respects the divinity of each creature, and brings the world into harmony. It was for this reason that Adam was created in the image of God, to be able to give light and goodness unto others. And by doing so, in return Adam would grow in his awareness of God, by acting like God.
This is still the task of humanity, only the garden has become something of a swamp and a wasteland. But as Rabbi Akiva says, the overall principle of the Torah is still “Love your neighbor as yourself, I am God.” In other words, move beyond yourself and give, that’s what God does. The more we are capable of love, the more we know God. This again, is not rocket science.
Genesis 2:15
And the Lord God took the Adam and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to serve and protect it.
“To Serve and Protect.” Odd perhaps to think that Adam and Eve were the first cops on the planet. But how were they serving exactly, and what were they protecting, and from what?
The Sages4 teach that to “serve” means to work in Torah, and to “guard” means keeping mitzvos.
In other words, we’re learning how the world works by studying it’s blueprints, and guarding it by keeping ourselves under God’s command.
In the next verse God says:
From all the trees of the garden you may surely eat, however from the tree that knows good and evil do not from it, for in the day5 you eat from it you will surely die.
Somehow within that pithy commandment resides all of the 613 commandments, in fact within that one concept lies the entire scope of human free-will as we know it.
To know something in Biblical Hebrew refers to intimate knowledge, like getting something into your kishkes (guts). Like eating something. To eat from this tree is to know the power of creation and destruction, as God says afterwards:
God said, 'Man has now become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now he must be prevented from putting forth his hand and also taking from the Tree of Life. He [can] eat it and live forever!'6
Now it says clearly in the verse “like” one of us, because really the power of the human is illusory. We have in reality very little control over the greater forces of nature and history. However we do control our own destiny, and that is enough for us. And because we have chosen to have independent egos that choose our own pathways, we must die. Why? Now we can appreciate why the Sages said that the verse “very good” (meaning mostly good) was referring to death. Because only with death are we released from the illusion that we exist independently of God.
Once we do exist however, what we will do to ourselves and our environment is indeed a true power of creation and destruction, for we in the end will have created or destroyed our own psyche. It is the self that we can make, that mass cumulative of all of our choices from which even death is no escape. Judaism forbids suicide, but not only because it considers it murder, which it does. But also, the soul is not destroyed with the destruction of the body. And so - whatever torment the victim is suffering now will not be eased through the illusion of escape. There is no escape, there is only forward movement, only moving forward.
The Ramban7 quotes the Sages as to the effect of having eaten from the tree:
According to our Masters; if it were not for the sin Adam would never had died. Because the supernal soul gives life (force) forever, and the Divine desire which was in him (Adam) at that time in the Formation would cling to him continually, and that would sustain him forever, as I have explained “and God saw that it was good.”
Ramban is referring to his explanation that good means enduring and stable, meaning that it continually follows the structure God formed for it at Creation. So that if it were not for the tree, and the contravening of God’s command, God’s breathing into physical Adam the living soul would have been continuous and eternal. As it is now post sin, we must struggle with a frail body which demands much attention, about which the only certainty is it’s physical mortality.
In order to live beyond these limitations one must reawaken within an awareness that God is breathing into us the breath of life. This is what the Sages say: With every breath praise God. To become identified with your soul more than your body in your own mind.
To sum up: To work and guard the world (and our own souls) as per God’s directive in Eden; we must use the mitzvos to define our understanding of good and evil, function and dysfunction, and live accordingly.