"Let Us Make Man"
INTRODUCTION TO PARASHAT HASHAVUA
PARASHAT BEREISHIT
*********************************************************
This shiur is dedicated by Akiva Karalitzky in honor of
Rabbi and Mrs Aaron Borow
*********************************************************
"Let Us
Make Man"
By Rabbi
Michael Hattin
Introduction
Parashat
Bereishit, the opening section of the Torah, introduces God the Creator. Fashioning corporeality from
nothingness and imposing order where chaos had reigned, God imbues His creation
with intent, meaning and direction.
In a climactic process stretching over the so-called 'Seven Days,' energy
furnishes inchoate matter, and that matter is given definition and expression as
elemental forms. Inexorably, the
inanimate matter yields vegetation, primitive life, and finally, man. This week we shall direct our
attention to the creation of man, as it unfolds from the perspective of the
Divine. By studying the passage
describing God's most exalted creative act, we hope to understand not only a
curious textual anomaly, but a profound statement of man's purpose as well.
The Sixth Day
"And the
Lord said: 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind,
herbivorous animals and creeping things and carnivorous beasts of the earth
after their kind,' and it was so.
The Lord fashioned ('VaYaas') the carnivorous beasts of the earth after their
kind, and the herbivorous animals after their kind, and the things that creep
upon the earth after their kind, and the Lord saw that it was good."
"The Lord
said: 'Let Us make man in Our image after Our likeness, and they will have
dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals and all of
the earth, and over all things that creep upon the earth.' The Lord created ('VaYivra') the man
in His image, in the image of the Lord He created him, male and female He
created them."
"The Lord
blessed them and said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and
rule over it; exercise dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven
and over all life that crawls upon the earth.'
The Lord further said: 'Behold I have given you all of the seed-bearing
vegetation over all of the earth, as well as all of the fruit of the
fruit-bearing trees as your own, they shall furnish you with food. As for all of the living creatures of
the earth, the birds of the sky, and all of the living things that creep upon
the earth, I have given the grasses and vegetation for their food,' and it was
so."
"The Lord
saw all that He had fashioned and behold, it was very good; it was evening and
it was morning, the sixth day" (Bereishit 1:24-31).
Broader Contexts and Unusual Textual
Features
Thus is
described the sixth day of creation.
Let us recall the immediately preceding context of Day Five, which had witnessed
the creation of the creatures of the sea and the birds of the sky. Taken together, the emerging pattern
is quite clear, for sea creatures bow to birds, to beasts and finally to man. The creative process is thus
hierarchical, with biologically more simple life forms succeeded by more complex
ones. Thus, without even addressing
the specific passage of man's creation, the context makes it clear that man
represents the most biologically complex of earth's creatures and therefore the
most 'fit to rule.'
In this
connection, it is useful to contrast the terseness and brevity of words that
characterize the formation of the other creatures, with the lavish lexicon of
terms that describes the fashioning of man.
All of the other creatures on the face of the earth are fashioned with a
single, curt Divine fiat that is then concretized by a Divine act: "And the Lord
said: 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind...and it was
so. The Lord fashioned the beasts of
the earth after their kind...and the Lord saw that it was good." Man, on the other hand, is introduced
with an unusual and unique expression of Divine involvement that is unparalleled
in the entire account: "The Lord said: 'Let Us make man in Our image after Our
likeness..." Here, man is depicted
not as the passive result of an irresistible Divine command, but rather as the
consequence of exceptional Godly deliberation and care. The repetitiveness of the passage -
"the Lord created ('VaYivra') the man in His image, in the image of the Lord He
created him, male and female He created them" – has a lyrical quality that
resonates with expectation and hope.
Furthermore, rather than being the product of an act of 'fashioning' (ASiyaH),
man is the product of an act of 'creation' (BReiAh). The Hebrew verb 'BaRA' signifying
'creation' is often employed to describe a particular exploit of which only God
is capable: the bringing forth of substance from oblivion. Thus, the Torah begins its account
with 'Bereishit BaRA Elohim,' 'In the beginning of the Lord's creation...' The great sea creatures fashioned on
the fifth day are similarly described as having been 'created' (VaYivra Elohim
et hataninim'), for their unrivaled massiveness could only be explained by
recourse to an act of direct Divine intervention.
The first man is neither brought forth from nonexistence nor configured
with an unusual physique. The
threefold use of the term 'BaRA' in the context of the fashioning of the human
being must therefore suggest the introduction of a entity that is not merely
more biologically complex than other creatures, but in some other way absolutely
extraordinary.
Finally,
we note that only after the creation of man is the enterprise characterized as
'very good,' for at the completion of every other stage of creation, the text
states only that 'it was good.'
Implicitly, the creation of humanity is therefore an act of completion without
which the cosmos are somehow deficient.
Thus far,
we have seen that the context of the passage describing the creation of man, as
well as its internal structure and judicious choice of vocabulary, all serve to
single out this act from everything else that precedes it. The pivotal phrase in the passage,
however, is one that is not only charged with special poignancy but also fraught
with unusual difficulty: "The Lord said: 'Let Us make man in Our image after Our
likeness..." The unprecedented use
of the plural form suggests, of course, a multiplicity of deities, while the
expressions of 'image' and 'likeness' seem to connote corporeality. Both of these conceptions of God,
plurality and materiality, are anathema to Jewish tradition and effectively
undermine the entire foundation of its lofty and exalted teachings. How are these words to be understood,
and what light do they shed on the creation of man of which the passage so
eloquently speaks?
The Interpretation of Rashi – The Moral
Lesson
The
commentaries offer a series of possible explanations for this crucial phrase and
we will consider a number of them.
Rashi (11th century, France), borrowing from a much earlier Midrashic
source (see Bereishit Rabba 8:8), characteristically obviates the difficulty by
suggesting that the primary thrust of the text is to offer a homiletic idea so
important that it overrides other objections.
"'Let Us
make man' teaches us the humility of God.
Because man was created in the image of the angels and they might
therefore be jealous of him, God took counsel with them...Even though the angels
did not assist at all in the creation of man, and notwithstanding the fact that
the plural usage might be misinterpreted by heretics, the text sought to convey
a message of proper conduct and humble behavior, namely that an individual of
great authority and ability should nevertheless seek the counsel of those less
endowed. Had the text stated "I
shall make man" we would have understood that God addressed Himself alone, and
not his heavenly retinue. The text
was still careful to provide a refutation of the heretics, for it states
immediately afterwards "The Lord created the man...," where 'created' is in the
singular form 'VaYivra' and not the plural form 'VaYivriu...' "Our likeness"
means to understand and to be intelligent" (commentary to verse 26).
For
Rashi, the passive accomplices in the creation of man are the heavenly angels. God deigns to 'include' them in the
process in order to preclude their 'feelings' of rejection and disregard! Now of course the heavenly angels do
not possess human frailties or foibles, and therefore the real targets of this
critical lesson in cultivating a correct and upright demeanor are human beings
themselves. For Rashi, God is
willing to introduce a questionable expression into the text of the Torah at the
very moment of man's creation in order to emphasize that the conduct of man must
be qualitatively different than that of any other creature, in consonance with
the unique circumstances of his formation.
Man must be a moral creature, thoughtful and considerate of others,
humble and modest and seeking to promote inclusion rather than arrogant
exclusivity, for his creation is predicated upon mindfulness for the 'feelings
of others.'
Rashi's
interpretation might be contextually difficult, for the verses are in fact
completely silent with respect to these angels, whose assumed presence and
non-participation are the supposed basis of the textual oddity. Thematically, however, Rashi's
explanation is brilliant, for it succeeds in translating a peculiarity of the
Biblical text into a basic instruction for ethical and principled conduct,
implying along the way that the essence of man is his moral capacity. To be created in God's 'image' is,
for Rashi, to be in possession of intelligence and wisdom, for the Creator has
no corporeal characteristics.
However, these Divine faculties are static and self-serving quantities, unless
they are animated by the higher vocation of concern.
The Interpretation of Rav Saadia –
Responsible Rule
Rav
Saadia Gaon (10th century, Babylon) offers a more convincing if less
dramatic interpretation, based upon a grammatical usage that is unusual in our
spoken English but not uncommon in other languages. Quoted by the Ibn Ezra, Rav Saadia
explains that the meaning of "'in
Our image after Our likeness' refers to the exercise of authority and
dominion...As for the term 'let Us make man,' this plural form is the speech of
royalty..." In other words, the
thrust of the passage is to describe the essential attribute of man that
separates him from other creatures, and that is his unparalleled capacity to
exercise control and supremacy over all else.
All of creation is under his sway, and in this special manner he
resembles his Creator.
As an
emphatic expression of this shared attribute unselfishly bestowed, God
introduces the formation of man by employing the plural form, for this usage is
associated with authority. For Saadia, man's most far-reaching effect as a
species is his unparalleled ability to impact upon the rest of creation, but
this awesome power must be tempered by a correspondingly great exercise of
responsibility. God has endowed man
with 'royal' authority and absolute rule over the earth. However, to realize his mission, to
truthfully follow the example of his Creator, man must act responsibly,
repudiating despotic and oppressive tyranny and in their place embracing
stewardship.
Of
course, Rav Saadia's interpretation assumes the existence of the authoritative
or honorific plural in Biblical Hebrew.
This usage does exist but is quite rare, and is usually associated with
noun forms rather than with verbs.
Its remarkable adoption by the Torah here would therefore constitute an even
more pronounced statement of man's exceptional aptitude.
The Interpretation of the Ramban – The
Duality of Man
Perhaps
most compelling among the classic commentaries is the explanation of the Ramban
(13th century, Spain). As
he himself makes clear, however, the interpretation that he offers was actually
formulated by Rabbi Joseph Kimchi (12th century, Narbonne), and "it
is the most reasonable explanation of all."
The Ramban writes:
"The
creation of man merited a unique expression on account of his unique status, for
his nature is unlike that of the animals that preceded him. On the first day, God brought forth
substance from nothingness and afterwards utilized that elemental material to
make and to fashion all else. God
imbued the waters with the creative capacity to bring forth living creatures,
and the corresponding expression was 'Let the waters swarm with living things.' Similarly, with respect to
terrestrial life, God said 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures...'
"Concerning man, God said 'Let Us make man' for the plural refers to 'Myself and
the earth mentioned earlier,' for we shall together make man. That is to say that the earth will
bring forth his material body just as it did with the animals, and as the verses
later state 'God the Lord fashioned the man from the dust of the earth'
(Bereishit 2:7). God, in turn, will
provide the supernal spirit as the verse states 'and He blew into his nostrils
the breath of life...' (IBID).
"The
verse continues 'in Our image after Our likeness,' for man resembles both; his
material body is drawn from the earth, but his soul is incorporeal spirituality,
eternal and imperishable...Thus, man resembles the lower and upper worlds in
form and in glory, for the objective of his endeavors is to achieve wisdom,
knowledge and correct conduct. He
truly is fashioned in the likeness of the earth whence his body is created, and
the heavens from where his spirit is brought forth" (commentary to Bereishit
1:26).
Man – Earth and Sky
For the
Ramban, the textual cue for his profound insight is the creation of the sea
creatures and the land creatures, the acts of creation that take place on the
fifth and sixth days respectively.
In both cases, God initiates their creation by calling upon the elemental
material from which their corporeality is derived, to summarily bring them
forth. The sea creatures emerge from
the waters, and God therefore addresses that basic but pregnant matter to
provide the elements necessary for their physical formation. Terrestrial life emerges from the
alluvial earth, and God calls upon that palpable substance to yield the
components necessary for their formation.
The sea creatures, and the animals that inhabit the earth possess
biological life and physiological animation, but no soul or higher spiritual
faculty. Therefore at the time of
their demise, they perish and are no more, for their physical bodies then break
down, decay and inexorably return to their source.
With
respect to man, in contrast, the earth does not act alone to provide all of his
reality, for there is a unique aspect to his makeup. The spirit that moves him derives
from above; it is incorporeal, intangible and therefore not subject to the
inevitable finality that characterizes all matter. The soul is from God; it is the
'breath of life' that constitutes man's extraordinary essence as well as being
the source of his special mission.
The use
of the plural is therefore not a concession to unseen participants as Rashi
would have it, nor an authoritarian expression of mastery as Saadia would have
it, but a call to the expectant earth to join with God in fashioning man, the
most remarkable creature under the sun.
It is a concise and perfectly ample expression of man's essential
attributes. In bodily function,
anatomical need, and biological drive he is no different than the other life
forms with which he shares the terrestrial plane.
But man has a soul. It is
immaterial, ethereal and wholly incapable of being tangibly gauged or
delineated. It is a gift from God,
for the intangible Creator is its cause.
But that soul or spiritual quantity, whose primary expression is an
awareness of the Divine, is the wellspring of man's most exalted potential. Intelligence, understanding, but
mostly the quest to live in God's presence are its hallmarks, and in its tender
cultivation man finds rest.
For the
Ramban, there is no conflict implied by the duality of man, for man's body as
well as his soul are both products of the Divine act. Man can achieve harmony among his
constituent components by being cognizant of their respective needs and
sensitive to their corresponding requirements.
To live a life of the body only is to suffer from existential imbalance. The needs of the intangible soul, to
be connected to God and to be nurtured by His presence, are equally real and
pressing, though admittedly impossible to measure empirically. Only by being aware of man's truest
essence, by internalizing the message of 'Let Us make man,' does humanity have a
hope of not only achieving an ever-increasing standard of living, but a more
meaningful and fulfilling life as well.
Shabbat Shalom