Parshat Biraisheet — Genesis
CARLSBAD, California –Last week we celebrated Simchat Torah, and on Simchat Torah we concluded the Torah reading. As is our custom, immediately upon concluding the Torah reading we start it again – from the beginning – again. We have been doing this routine for thousands of years. We review the story, including the wondrous miracles and abject failures. Every. Single. Year.
On a personal note; every year when we read the story of Adam and Eve, Ahdahm and Chava in the Hebrew pronunciation, I cringe at their interactions with The Snake, the embodiment of the evil inclination. I say to myself (or sometimes out loud), “DON’T DO IT!” I practically plead with the first humans to resist the temptation. And once the failure has occurred to take ownership of it and beseech the Almighty for forgiveness.
Alas, my pleadings have been to no avail as the Torah still reads the same.
Then a thought occurred to me. If I can’t change the story maybe I can change my interpretation of it. If I truly believe that the Torah is meant as a life-affirming, positive gift to humanity (and I truly and heartily believe that to be the case), there are definitely positives to be found in this story, even with its dramatic failures.
Let’s cut to the chase.
Adam and Eve were very special souls, created from the earth by the ‘hands’ of the Almighty. They were infused with the Divine Spirit as, ‘G-d blew into his nostrils a living soul,’ and from Adam fashioned Eve. G-d created the first humans in His ‘image,’ which means they were endowed with a G-dly spark to serve as their soul and the great gift of free choice. It is only by virtue of the fact that we have free choice that we are able to refine and uplift the world in a way that nothing else can.
G-d exercised His free will to create the world. He appointed the ultimate creation, humankind, to refine it, to actually improve upon it. If not for our free will we would be no better than angels or even beasts of the field, who live their lives entirely by instinct. We, however, are different. We CHOOSE to serve G-d. And it is precisely this free choice that makes all of the difference in the world.
This year when reading the portion of Genesis I will focus on the free choice bestowed upon the first humans. When I do I will remember that their free choice, meaning ultimately OUR free choice, is what this entire creative process is about. G-d loves us because of our free choice, even when we use it incorrectly. It behooves us to use our mistakes as building blocks for improvement and progress in our personal relationship with Hashem.
Wishing everyone a happy and HEALTHY Shabbos!
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Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is Director of Coastal Chabads and Chabad at La Costa. Rabbi Eilfort welcomes readers’ comments and questions and may be reached at RabbiE@ChabadatLaCosta.com.