{"id":33868,"date":"2018-07-12T16:03:45","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T13:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=33868"},"modified":"2022-02-07T12:50:27","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T10:50:27","slug":"humanity-a-work-in-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/humanity-a-work-in-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Humanity: A Work in Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[374],"acf":{"old_id":"33868","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33692,"related_cahpter":"1","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"You can only define something as \"good\" when it is complete","content":"

After each and every act of creation, God looks at the new creation and proclaims: \u05d5\u05d9\u05d4\u05d9 \u05d8\u05d5\u05d1 \u2013 \u201cIt was good\u201d. God makes this pronouncement six times (1:4,10,13,18,21,25).<\/p>\n

The seventh time is a sort of finale or summation: \u201cAnd God saw all that He had made, and found it very good\u201d (1:31)<\/p>\n

This an incredible thing. God is happy with our world and and optimistic about it.<\/p>\n

However, while this statement is made regarding the light, seas, land and vegetation, luminaries, birds and fish, animals, God does not say this about human beings!<\/p>\n

Why not? Is humankind not \u201cgood\u201d?<\/p>\n

Rabbi Meir Simcha Hakohen of Dvinsk wrote:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThis feature hints at human free-choice. Whereas all creatures follow a natural predetermined behavior, humanity has no natural predetermination; rather human action is a product of choices, and human freedom means that we may fluctuate. Hence God cannot \u201csee\u201d a person\u2019s innate goodness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Midrash says that you can only define something as “good” when it is complete (Gen Rabba 4:6). But humans are a work in progress. And indeed, God decides to destroy the world because of the human behavior, for “every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time\u201d (Gen. 6:5).<\/p>\n

So is humanity “good” or “bad”?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s up to us!<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":35841,"id":35841,"title":"shutterstock_664002904","filename":"shutterstock_664002904.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/shutterstock_664002904.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/humanity-a-work-in-progress\/shutterstock_664002904\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"shutterstock_664002904","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":33868,"date":"2018-07-24 22:00:35","modified":"2022-02-07 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