{"id":52703,"date":"2019-03-31T22:07:26","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T19:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=52703"},"modified":"2019-03-31T22:07:26","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T19:07:26","slug":"humanitys-origins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/humanitys-origins\/","title":{"rendered":"Humanity\u2019s Origins"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"52703","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33877,"related_cahpter":"2005","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Genesis 5:1-2 - \u201cThis is the Book of the Generations of Adam. When God created Adam, He made him in the likeness of God; male and female He created them. And when they were created, He blessed them and called them Adam.\"","content":"

According to the early Rabbinic Sage, Ben-\u2018Azzai, \u201cThis is the Book of the Generations of Adam\u201d is a \u201cGreat Principle of the Torah\u201d (Klal Gadol ba-Torah) (Genesis Rabbah 24:7 and parallels). Perhaps, this is because this verse may be regarded as marking the actual origin of Humanity, since Adam\u2019s first two sons, Cain and Abel, apparently died without issue. Subsequently, we are told of the birth of Adam\u2019s third son, Seth, who \u201cbegot sons and daughters\u201d (verse 4). <\/span><\/p>\n

The Midrash (Tanhuma Buber Bereshit 28) elaborates on this biblical pericope in a dramatic reimagining of the origin and evolution of humanity from the first human being until the end of days: While Adam was still a lifeless form, God showed him every future generation and its exponents, every generation and its righteous, every generation and its wicked, until the resurrection of the dead. God said to Adam: All that your eyes have seen is written in your book, as it says: \u201cThis is the Book of the Generations of Adam\u2026\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the vital importance of procreation is reflected in the Halakhah: A man may not desist from having children, until he has fathered at least two \u2013 according to Bet Hillel \u2013 one son and one daughter, following the example set by God, who initially created one male and one female human being, Adam and Eve (see Talmud Yevamot 61b). But they had only two sons. And so, when Cain killed Abel, Adam stopped having sexual relations with his wife, Eve, saying: Why should I have children who just go and kill one another?! But, after a while, God said: I only created My world for it to be populated with humanity. As Scripture says, God did not create the world to be empty, but \u201cformed it to be inhabited\u201d (Isaiah 45:18). <\/span><\/p>\n

So, what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He reignited Adam\u2019s desire for Eve, and they again had sexual relations, so that she became pregnant and gave birth to Seth, as it is said: \u201cWhen Adam had lived 130 years, he begot a son in his likeness after his image, and he named him Seth\u201d (verse 3). When Seth was born, Adam said: I do not regard my first sons, Cain and Abel, as my true descendants, for they died without issue. But I do regard this son, Seth, as my true descendant for he will be the first of all future generations, as we read \u201cThis is the Book of the Generations of Adam\u2026When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God; male and female He created them. And when they were created, He blessed them and called them Man. When Adam had lived 130 years, he begot a son in his likeness after his image, and he named him Seth\u201d (verses 1-3).<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Jews\/Verses\/Tanakh","main_caption":"Humanity\u2019s Origins","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Genesis 5:1-2 - \u201cThis is the Book of the Generations of Adam. When God created Adam, He made him in the likeness of God; male and female He created them. And when they were created, He blessed them and called them Adam.\"","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52704,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52703\/revisions\/52704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}