Blog: Ari Enkin 24 - Bereshit 5767

28 Elul 5770

September 7 2010

There’s just too much to write!

There is hardly a person on the planet that doesn’t know that the Torah (The O.T. – Only Testament) begins with the account of creation. There is so much to talk about this week that I don’t know where to start…. I’ll jump to the creation of man.

God decided that it wasn't good for a person to live alone, so He brought all of the animals and birds to Adam who named each of them but couldn't find a mate for himself among them. Adam was still to be alone. Thereafter, God put Adam to sleep, removed one of his ribs and closed up the wound with flesh. He shaped, developed and completed the rib, making it into Eve ("Chava") who He brought before Adam.

God placed them into the Garden of Eden (sorry Mormon brothers – the Garden of Eden was just not in Jackson County, Missouri, as you claim). There they were free to eat anything except the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. However, Eve (the first ‘friar’ ever) fell for the snake’s scam who convinced her to eat the forbidden fruit and give some to Adam. As a result, they were both punished by God through eviction from the Garden of Eden and forced to live as normal human beings, most notably having to work for a living (unlike some pockets of Israeli orthodoxy) and experience death and the pain of childbirth. The snake was punished by having to crawl on the ground and eat the dust of the earth.

Cain and Abel. You know the story. Cain kills Abel. Now let’s move on.

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The Rambam’s View on Creation:

When the Rambam taught that the world was created by Hashem, a heretic disagreed. Instead, said the heretic, the world had existed forever and no one created it. The Rambam asked the man to leave the room for several moments. When he was asked to re-enter, a beautiful painting hung on the wall. The heretic admired the painting and asked who had painted it. The Rambam answered that he had spilled some paint on a canvas and that painting had taken shape by itself. The heretic laughed mockingly and said "that is impossible; just by looking at the perfect design of the painting; anyone can tell that someone painted it carefully and purposefully." The Rambam responded "the same is true of the world; when examining how perfectly all its features exist and interact, anyone can tell that it was formed by an All-Knowing Creator".

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The Baal Shem Tov’s View on Life

"And Hashem saw all that He made, and behold it was very good." The Baal Shem Tov showed his disciples how a person's situation can be exactly the same, but one day he will be full of complaints while on another he will be full of joy. To illustrate the point, he called in a water-carrier and asked him how things were going. "I'm getting older and I feel so weak," the man replied. "My children constantly study and don't help me out. I have to support my in-laws, and find the financial obligations a real burden. My wife is so sickly, and I feel like I'm falling apart."

On another day, the Baal Shem Tov asked him again how things were going. With a big smile, he replied "I am so grateful to Hashem for all of His kindness. Even though I am old, I am not only able to support myself, but I am even able to support the Torah study of my children and in-laws who study with such diligence. My wife is wonderful to me; with great sacrifice she makes me so happy." We constantly choose how to view our life situation; even though nothing external has changed, we can still view our life in very positive ways.