{"id":33969,"date":"2018-07-16T11:31:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T08:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?post_type=wall&p=33969"},"modified":"2022-03-29T21:01:41","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T18:01:41","slug":"chapter-torah-genesis-2","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/chapter-torah-genesis-2\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Genesis-2"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"2","date":"20250901","books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"34697","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Genesis 2 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Genesis 2 - Judy Hammond","slug":"genesis-2-judy-hammond","old_id":"34697","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Genesis 2","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/genesis-chapter-2-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"101543","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"There Is No Warrior ","post_title":"There Is No Warrior","slug":"there-is-no-warrior","old_id":"101543","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44967,"post_title":"Abe Mezrich","slug":"abe-mezrich","old_id":"44967","first_name":"Abe ","last_name":"Mezrich ","description":"Abe Mezrich wants to know what our sacred texts say about our world right now. Sometimes he writes down his answers to those questions. His second book, Between the Mountain and the Land Lies the Lesson, is available through Ben Yehuda Press. Learn more at www.abemezrich.com.","short_description":"Abe Mezrich wants to know what our sacred texts say about our world right now. Learn more at www.abemezrich.com.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":101452,"alt":"","title":"-61fd0e6c351e2--61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","width":1914,"height":1754,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-300x275.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-768x704.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":704,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-1024x938.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":938,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1408,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":1914,"2048x2048-height":1754,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-1200x1100.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1100,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-458x420.jpg","home_baner-width":458,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Our own choice put the angel there\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

God sets angels to guard the Tree of Life,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

so we will not eat from it<\/span><\/p>\r\n

as we ate of the Tree of Knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In a different story, a warrior might outwit the angel & live forever.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But not here.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Instead, this:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our own choice put the angel there,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

put life beyond us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Adam and Eve expelled from Eden by an angel with a flaming sword, engraving by R. Sadeler after M. de Vos, 1583 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101544,"alt":"","title":"-61ff7d899d0ee--61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","width":521,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg-261x300.jpg","medium-width":261,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","medium_large-width":521,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","large-width":521,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":521,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":521,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":521,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg-365x420.jpg","home_baner-width":365,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"There Is No Warrior","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Our own choice put the angel there\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101544,"alt":"","title":"-61ff7d899d0ee--61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","width":521,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg-261x300.jpg","medium-width":261,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","medium_large-width":521,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","large-width":521,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":521,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":521,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":521,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ff7d899d0ee-61ff7d899d0efGen2-Adam_and_Eve_expelled_from_Eden.jpg-365x420.jpg","home_baner-width":365,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"376","name":"Choice","old_id":"776"}]},{"order":3,"id":"101575","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"The Noahide Laws and Imperatives: First Steps ","post_title":"The Noahide Laws and Imperatives: First Steps","slug":"the-noahide-laws-and-imperatives-first-steps","old_id":"101575","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":96657,"post_title":"Jeff Jaffe","slug":"jeff-jaffe","old_id":"96657","first_name":"Jeff ","last_name":"Jaffe ","description":"Jeff Jaffe is the CEO of the World Wide Web Consortium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Jaffe is also the author of Genesis: A Torah for All Nations (Gefen Publishing House) which can be found at https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Genesis-Nations-Jeffrey-M-Jaffe\/dp\/9657023181.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Jeff Jaffe is the CEO of the World Wide Web Consortium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is the author of Genesis: A Torah for All Nations. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":96658,"alt":"","title":"jeff jaffe","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe.jpg","width":1897,"height":2581,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe-220x300.jpg","medium-width":220,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe-753x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":753,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe-753x1024.jpg","large-width":753,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe.jpg","1536x1536-width":1129,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe.jpg","2048x2048-width":1505,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe-882x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":882,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jeff-jaffe-309x420.jpg","home_baner-width":309,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"More on the Torah for all humankind\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 2 is significant for the seven Noahide laws, because using biblical exegesis of verse 16, <\/span>Sanhedrin<\/span><\/i> 56b derives either six or seven of these laws from that one verse. The technique is to associate a word or phrase from that verse with each Noahide law.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Aside from the Talmud\u2019s derivation of these laws from verse 16, there are two beautiful reasons this verse should be used to teach the Noahide laws.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. The first word in the verse is \u201cHe commanded.\u201d Since the verse starts with that keyword, it is apparently introducing commandments.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. This verse is the first recorded speech from God to mankind. It means that mankind never existed without having these commandments. (Verse 2:16 chronologically precedes the blessings of 1:28\u201329 \u201cto be fruitful and multiply.\u201d Chapter 2 is a retelling of chapter 1\u2019s creation of mankind. Verse 2:16 must occur first, since it is before Eve is split from Adam, while 1:28\u201329 is apparently after the split.)<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Viewing chapter 2 as directed toward all nations places a different perspective on other parts of the chapter. For example, it is odd that the institution of marriage is considered a mitzvah for Jews, but it is not listed as one of the seven Noahide laws. This is odd since verse 24 suggests that after God created woman. men would cling to their wives. That is not limited to Jews.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Talmud explains that the seven Noahide laws are <\/span>negative<\/span><\/em> commandments. Apparently, while there are <\/span>positive<\/span><\/em> universal imperatives, they are not listed among the Noahide laws as a technicality. But the Torah is still instructing all of humanity on the positive imperatives that all people share. We will see other examples of this as we discuss other chapters in the initial part of the Torah.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

     <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101406,"alt":"","title":"-61fbf071d2dad--61fbf071d2daegen1-nations flags people.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":615,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-300x96.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":96,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-768x246.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":246,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-1024x328.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":328,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":492,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":615,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-1200x384.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":384,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-1311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1311,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Noahide Laws and Imperatives: First Steps","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"More on the Torah for all humankind","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101406,"alt":"","title":"-61fbf071d2dad--61fbf071d2daegen1-nations flags people.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":615,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-300x96.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":96,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-768x246.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":246,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-1024x328.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":328,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":492,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":615,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-1200x384.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":384,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg-1311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"374","name":"Humanity","old_id":"774"}]},{"order":4,"id":"101546","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Creation Part 2: Let\u2019s Get Physical\u00a0\u00a0 ","post_title":"Creation Part 2: Let\u2019s Get Physical\u00a0\u00a0","slug":"creation-part-2-lets-get-physical","old_id":"101546","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What was verbal and abstract now becomes concrete reality\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    Continuing the question posed in chapter 1, chapter 2 looks like a rehashing of the creation story. Many of the things created in chapter one, seem to be created here as well, but in different order and with different details. If chapter one, as explained there, is the creation of the programming, chapter two is the physical manifestation of that programming.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    As opposed to chapter 1, chapter 2 is filled with actual physical verbs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In chapter 1, God creates man \u201cAnd God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them\u201d (1:27). <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>In chapter 2, however, God <\/span>forms<\/em> <\/span>man and <\/span>blows<\/span><\/em> life into his nostrils: \u201cthe L<\/span>ORD<\/span> God formed man<\/span> from the dust of the earth<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.\u201d (2:7).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In chapter 1, \u201cAnd God said, \u201cLet the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.\u201d And it was so\u201d (1:11). <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>In chapter 2, God also <\/span>plants<\/span><\/em> the garden and <\/span>places<\/span><\/em> man into the garden: \u201cThe L<\/span>ORD<\/span> God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed\u201d (2:8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In chapter 1, God says that the sky and sea should bring forth birds and fish (1:20), and the land should bring forth animals (1:25). <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>In chapter 2, God forms the animals and birds: \u201cAnd the L<\/span>ORD<\/span> God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that would be its name\u201d (2:19).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The programming that God created in chapter 2, is now physically placed into the world. The abstract has now become reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101573,"alt":"","title":"-61ffee27d38bb--61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree book nature creation.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","width":640,"height":551,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png-300x258.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":258,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":551,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","large-width":640,"large-height":551,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":551,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":551,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","post_full_size-width":640,"post_full_size-height":551,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png-488x420.png","home_baner-width":488,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Creation Part 2: Let\u2019s Get Physical\u00a0\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What was verbal and abstract now becomes concrete reality","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101573,"alt":"","title":"-61ffee27d38bb--61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree book nature creation.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","width":640,"height":551,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png-300x258.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":258,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":551,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","large-width":640,"large-height":551,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":551,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":551,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png.png","post_full_size-width":640,"post_full_size-height":551,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61ffee27d38bb-61ffee27d38bcgen2-tree-book-nature-creation.png-488x420.png","home_baner-width":488,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"101577","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Oneg Shabbat ","post_title":"Oneg Shabbat","slug":"oneg-shabbat","old_id":"101577","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But outside the study hall \/ The seventh child, the youngest \/ The daughter \/ Plays \/ In her father\u2019s garden\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    \u201cAnd God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because on it He rested from all His work that God in creating had made.\u201d<\/em> (Genesis 2:3)
    \r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 for Shoshanah Ehrlich, Jacob Rechnitz, and S.J. Agnon<\/p>\r\n

    Inside the study hall
    \r\n(Windows shut and doors closed),
    \r\nThe six brothers sit,
    \r\nEach one bent over his volume of the Talmud;
    \r\nThat one reads a commentary in the back;
    \r\nThis one argues with his brother about a word\u2019s meaning;
    \r\nAnother asks the rabbi for his opinion:
    \r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhy does the verse use this phrase?\u201d
    \r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhere is there a parallel passage?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

    But outside the study hall,
    \r\nThe seventh child, the youngest,
    \r\nThe daughter,
    \r\nPlays
    \r\nIn her father\u2019s garden
    \r\nAmidst the shadows of the eucalyptus and willows,
    \r\nDipping her hands into the pond in the middle of the garden,
    \r\nLaughing as she fails to catch the tadpoles
    \r\nSlipping between her fingers.
    \r\n
    \r\nWhen she thinks no one is watching,
    \r\nShe wades into the water
    \r\nAnd plunges head-first
    \r\nTo gather water-blossoms on the bottom;
    \r\nAfter counting to seven,
    \r\nShe emerges, laughing, adorning her drenched hair
    \r\nWith a garland of white lilies-of-the-pond.<\/p>\r\n

    If you should manage to catch her (before she slips between your fingers);
    \r\nIf you should bend over, bow and ask her humbly;
    \r\nShe may agree to teach you<\/p>\r\n

    How to dance in step with the wind orchestrating the leaves;
    \r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0to hear the leaves whispering her father\u2019s secrets to the wind;
    \r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0to gaze at clouds transforming from camel to weasel to whale to dove;<\/p>\r\n

    and on the wings of clouds,
    \r\nto soar.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101578,"alt":"","title":"-61fff1b62c718--61fff1b62c719gen2-girl garden.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png.png","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-300x150.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-768x384.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-1024x512.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-1200x600.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-840x420.png","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Oneg Shabbat","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But outside the study hall \/ The seventh child, the youngest \/ The daughter \/ Plays \/ In her father\u2019s garden","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101578,"alt":"","title":"-61fff1b62c718--61fff1b62c719gen2-girl garden.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png.png","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-300x150.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-768x384.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-1024x512.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-1200x600.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fff1b62c718-61fff1b62c719gen2-girl-garden.png-840x420.png","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"378","name":"Shabbat","old_id":"778"}]},{"order":6,"id":"34028","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Mercy of a No Good World ","post_title":"The Mercy Of A No-Good World","slug":"the-mercy-of-a-no-good-world","old_id":"34028","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    As opposed to the tightly structured evolution of creation we are presented with in chapter 1, chapter 2 seems to offer us an ad-hoc creation of afterthoughts. In chapter 1, every step of creation is carefully put into place, and every step \"is good\". \u00a0In chapter 2, creation happens as a reaction to what is lacking in the world, to what is \"not good\" (verse 18). Woman is created only when Adam realizes that he is missing something. According to the understanding of the midrash, the creation of vegetation also needed to wait for Adam to understand its absence, and to ask for it. Instead of being born into the meticulously prepared world of chapter 1, the picture painted by chapter 2 is of humanity plunked down onto a barren, muddy sphere. Why?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Stranger still, the rabbis understood that what defines this account of creation is God's attribute of mercy, symbolized by God's four letter name. Chapter 1, in which only the name <\/span>Elohim<\/span><\/em> appeared, represented the attribute of strict justice. How does the creation of an imperfect world, defined by what it lacks, express God's mercy?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    What we have here is the existential expression of the exegetical point we understood in chapter 1 (see: <\/span>One Word. Three Profound Lessons<\/span><\/a><\/em>, there). Problems in the text, by demanding our response, also affirm the legitimacy of the solutions we humans suggest. Problems in the world are the same. By creating imperfection, God both invites and affirms human partnership in the creation of our world. A perfect world would have no need for us. The act of making space, referred to in mystical literature as the secret of <\/span>tzimtzum<\/span><\/em>, God's self-contraction, is thus the greatest expression of Divine mercy, because it alone allows for human agency\u2026even if that means also allowing for human failure.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But more on that tomorrow\u2026<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Mercy Of A No-Good World","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"By creating imperfection, God both invites and affirms human partnership in the creation of our world","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101664,"alt":"","title":"-6201044ff2166--6201044ff2167gen2-crack imperfect.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6201044ff2166-6201044ff2167gen2-crack-imperfect.jpg-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"367","name":"Questions\/Answers","old_id":"767"},{"term_id":"370","name":"Divine\/human","old_id":"770"}]},{"order":7,"id":"34030","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Becoming Whole Again ","post_title":"Becoming Whole Again","slug":"becoming-whole-again","old_id":"34030","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"By sacrificing for another we establish togetherness, that can make us whole again","post_main_content_content":"

    Did woman really come from the rib of man? Or might chapter 2 be an instructive tale of how we build meaningful and loving human relationships?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In chapter 2 the human is created alone. Although the human has \u201ceverything\u201d, resides in a lush garden with plentiful water and food, the human is lonely, lost, incomplete. The Lord God said, \u201cIt is not good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him,\u201d(2:18) but animals cannot provide companionship; they do nothing to alleviate Adam\u2019s loneliness. Adam needs a human partner to share his joy and pain, to complement him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But relationships don\u2019t merely \u201chappen\u201d. They need to be created. When man eventually wakes from his slumber and discovers woman next to him, he bursts into poetry, into song. He is not merely noticing a woman by his side, but he experiences a sense of relief, or rapture. He has a companion \u201cat last\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cThis one at last!
    \r\n<\/span>Bone of my bones,
    \r\n<\/span>And flesh of my flesh.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Here, Adam senses that the person opposite him is the missing part of himself. She completely complements him and makes him whole again. Is there a more perfect portrayal of human relationship than this? The \u201cother\u201d is the segment of me that I am missing!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But, the biblical story asserts that the route and method to building this relationship with the \u201cother\u201d is by subduing myself, giving up something. Only by sacrificing something of me, can I make room for another, and only by making space for another individual will I experience true partnership. And, although I give up something, seemingly losing something dear to me, that other person will, paradoxically, make me feel more whole than ever before.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Chapter One of Genesis describes man and woman created in God\u2019s image, but man and woman do not exchange a word! Chapter Two depicts the reasons that we seek love, the tug and pull, the loss and fulfillment that build our meaningful relationships. By sacrificing for another we establish togetherness, that can make us whole again.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101666,"alt":"","title":"-620105744feb7--620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg.jpg","width":896,"height":824,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg-768x706.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":706,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg.jpg","large-width":896,"large-height":824,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":896,"1536x1536-height":824,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":896,"2048x2048-height":824,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":896,"post_full_size-height":824,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620105744feb7-620105744feb8gen2-Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg-457x420.jpg","home_baner-width":457,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Becoming Whole Again","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"By sacrificing for another we establish togetherness, that can make us whole again","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":35857,"alt":"","title":"Becoming Whole Again2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg","width":896,"height":824,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2-768x706.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":706,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg","large-width":896,"large-height":824,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg","1536x1536-width":896,"1536x1536-height":824,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg","2048x2048-width":896,"2048x2048-height":824,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2.jpg","post_full_size-width":896,"post_full_size-height":824,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becoming-Whole-Again2-457x420.jpg","home_baner-width":457,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"365","name":"Gender","old_id":"765"},{"term_id":"374","name":"Humanity","old_id":"774"}]},{"order":8,"id":"34032","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Not-yet\u2026. ","post_title":"Not-yet\u2026.","slug":"not-yet","old_id":"34032","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34004,"post_title":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg","slug":"avivah-gottlieb-zornberg","old_id":"34004","first_name":"Avivah Gottlieb","last_name":"Zornberg","description":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lives in Jerusalem where she has been lecturing on Torah since 1980. She reads biblical narratives through the prism of midrash, literature, philosophy and particularly psychoanalysis.\r\nShe was born in London and grew up in Glasgow, where her father was a Rabbi and the head of the Rabbinical Court. She studied Torah with him from childhood. Her PhD in English Literature is from Cambridge University, England. She taught English literature at the Hebrew University before turning to teaching Torah. She now teaches throughout the Jewish world, at synagogues, universities, and psychoanalytic institutes.\r\nShe is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Her latest book, Moses: A Human Life, was published by Yale University Press.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lives and lectures on Torah in Jerusalem. She is the author of five critically acclaimed books. ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34006,"alt":"","title":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","width":454,"height":359,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-300x237.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":237,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":359,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":359,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":359,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":359,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":359,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","home_baner-width":454,"home_baner-height":359}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Redemption requires a human awareness of what is in the world, of what is not, and of what is not-yet.","post_main_content_content":"

    Human history begins in Genesis 2:5: \u201cNo shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because the Lord God had not yet sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The story begins with the absence of the human: <\/span>no man <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>Adam ayin<\/span><\/em>. At this stage of <\/span>not-yet man<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>the growth of vegetation is also stalled \u2013 it has \u2018not-yet\u2019 sprouted. What is missing is rain from heaven and a human being to till the earth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The midrash reads this moment of expectation in terms of what the human might contribute to the process of creation. Although God had already commanded on the third day that the earth should bring forth vegetation, the vegetation had stalled just beneath the earth\u2019s surface. In order to break through the surface, that green growth requires what only a human being can offer: a vision of what is held back and a prayer for its emergence. In Andrew Marvell\u2019s words, \u201cA green thought in a green shade.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In this reverse history of creation, divinely created lushness awaits human consciousness of what is <\/span>not-yet<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> Prayer expresses imagination and desire. Without it, the divine gift of rain and the birth of the world\u2019s greenery cannot happen.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This mythic midrashic reading of creation lingers over a <\/span>not-yet<\/span><\/em> moment of suspended animation. The world hangs in a kind of limbo. What is blocked is <\/span>tzemicha <\/span><\/em>\u2013 <\/span><\/i>growth, sprouting, blooming. A process which is also a revolutionary moment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In the biblical account, this essential growth process in fact begins only after Adam has been created. (v.9) At the center of the Garden, a tree of knowledge springs up, which brings death and exile in its wake. Later, however, prophets and sages will speak poetically of <\/span>tzemichat ha-ge\u2019ulah<\/span><\/em>, the growth of redemption, of the end of days, when an entirely new realm of experience, a future order will literally break through, spring up, shine forth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    With the help of this metaphor, the arrival of the new and the unimaginable, while it is still <\/span>not-yet<\/span><\/em>, can and perhaps must nevertheless be imagined. The Messiah\u2019s name will be <\/span>Tzemach \u2013 a righteous shoot <\/span><\/em>(<\/span><\/i>Jeremiah<\/span> 23:5). Where there is <\/span>tzemicha<\/span><\/em>, something emerges, rises up erect, drawing energy from its base, its tap-root, and from the heavens above. Upwards and downwards, as in Jacob\u2019s ladder, energy courses. Prayer for such a redemption requires a human awareness of what is in the world, of what is not, and of what is <\/span>not-yet.<\/span><\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78059,"alt":"","title":"jon4-hands-plant","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Not-yet\u2026.","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Redemption requires a human awareness of what is in the world, of what is not, and of what is not-yet.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78059,"alt":"","title":"jon4-hands-plant","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon4-hands-plant-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"373","name":"Literature","old_id":"773"}]},{"order":9,"id":"42653","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Bereishit - \u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea ","post_title":"Bereishit - \u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea","slug":"bereishit","old_id":"42653","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42650,"post_title":"Hillel Smith","slug":"hillel-smith","old_id":"42650","first_name":"Hillel ","last_name":"Smith ","description":"Hillel Smith is a graphic designer, marketing consultant, illustrator, and artist based in Los Angeles and Washington DC. He also teaches art and Jewish art history to children and adults, giving them the tools to introduce a little more color into their world.","short_description":"Hillel Smith is a graphic designer, marketing consultant, illustrator, and artist based in Los Angeles and Washington DC.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42652,"alt":"","title":"HillelSmith","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654.jpg","width":126,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654-126x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":126,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654.jpg","medium-width":126,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654.jpg","medium_large-width":126,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654.jpg","large-width":126,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654.jpg","1536x1536-width":126,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654.jpg","2048x2048-width":126,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654.jpg","post_full_size-width":126,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/HillelSmith-e1540295058654.jpg","home_baner-width":126,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":{"id":42654,"alt":"","title":"1-1-bereshit","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","width":660,"height":1020,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit-194x300.png","medium-width":194,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","medium_large-width":660,"medium_large-height":1020,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","large-width":660,"large-height":1020,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","1536x1536-width":660,"1536x1536-height":1020,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","2048x2048-width":660,"2048x2048-height":1020,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","post_full_size-width":660,"post_full_size-height":1020,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit-272x420.png","home_baner-width":272,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"A Parasha Poster","tile_main_caption":"Bereishit - \u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42654,"alt":"","title":"1-1-bereshit","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","width":660,"height":1020,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit-194x300.png","medium-width":194,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","medium_large-width":660,"medium_large-height":1020,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","large-width":660,"large-height":1020,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","1536x1536-width":660,"1536x1536-height":1020,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","2048x2048-width":660,"2048x2048-height":1020,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit.png","post_full_size-width":660,"post_full_size-height":1020,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-1-bereshit-272x420.png","home_baner-width":272,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":10,"id":"34034","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Ezer K\u2019Negdo: A Better Paradigm for Parenting Together ","post_title":"Ezer K\u2019Negdo: A Better Paradigm for Parenting Together","slug":"ezer-knegdo-a-better-paradigm-for-parenting-together","old_id":"34034","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33700,"post_title":"Dasee Berkowitz","slug":"dasee-berkowitz","old_id":"33700","first_name":"Dasee","last_name":"Berkowitz","description":"Dasee Berkowitz is an educator, writer and director of Ayeka\u2019s Becoming Soulful Parent project, which trains North American educators to facilitate meaningful conversations around parenting, inspired by Jewish wisdom. Dasee has over 20 years of experience working in informal education internationally. After being awarded the Ralph I. Goldman fellowship, she has served as an educational consultant to AJJDC, Makom and the JCC Association. Currently she brings her passion for family engagement to Kehilat Zion in Jerusalem. Dasee\u2019s writing about soulful parenting appears in Kveller.com, JTA, Forward.com, Haaretz and Times of Israel. She currently lives in Jerusalem with her husband and three children. Contact her at dasee@ayeka.org.il.\r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Dasee Berkowitz is an educator, writer and director of Ayeka\u2019s Becoming Soulful Parent project.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33702,"alt":"","title":"dasee berkowitz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz.jpg","width":1678,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz-201x300.jpg","medium-width":201,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz-687x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":687,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz-687x1024.jpg","large-width":687,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz.jpg","1536x1536-width":1031,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz.jpg","2048x2048-width":1375,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz-805x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":805,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dasee-berkowitz-282x420.jpg","home_baner-width":282,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Making space for difference: the importance of a contrasting perspective","post_main_content_content":"

    Sometimes I think I am the \u2018main parent\u2019 to my children. Yes, I have a loving husband, who is also active in raising our three kids. \u00a0But when it comes down to it, I am really the One. The one to pick them up, drive them around, and handle all of their emotional and physical needs. I am sometimes surprised that my son will say how much he misses his dad when he is away and will want to call to check in with him. <\/span>What? <\/span><\/i>I think to myself, <\/span>Am I not enough for you?<\/span> Is your father\u2019s unique way of being your parent as essential to you as mine?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

    The incredulity is amplified when I feel conflicted about how my husband chooses to manage an issue that arises with one of our kids. <\/span>Does it really matter that their school uniform is stain free?<\/span><\/em> Yes, my husband would say to me. What you wear makes an impression and shows respect. <\/span>They\u2019re just kids, they are messy<\/span><\/em> I might mutter under my breath.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    And then I remember the poignant phrase from Genesis 2:18, \u201c<\/span> And the Lord God said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet (<\/span>ezer k\u2019negdo<\/span><\/em>) for him'<\/span> (chapter 2:18. In the JPS translation the phrase used is \u201cfitting helper\u201d). \u00a0The concept of \u201chelp meet\u201d (<\/span>ezer k\u2019negdo<\/span><\/em>) offers me an important paradigm to make space for difference in our parenting. God, noticing that the first earthling Adam is lonely and in search of a fitting match for him, sets out to create Eve from Adam\u2019s side. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Beyond the \u2018who came first and therefore who is more important\u2019 feminist lens that we might bring to the story, the framework of <\/span>ezer k\u2019negdo<\/em> <\/span>when observed through a wide lens can become an aspiration for both men and women. It\u2019s powerful exactly because of its strange juxtaposition: help (<\/span>ezer<\/span><\/em>) and against <\/span>(<\/span><\/i>k\u2019negdo<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i>) Rav Soloveitchik suggests that the meaning of <\/span>ezer k\u2019negdo<\/em> <\/span>is that Eve\u2019s <\/span>help<\/span><\/em> to Adam is not just in a pure sense (being helpful) but happens by offering an <\/span>opposing<\/em> <\/span>perspective and even sometimes being <\/span>against<\/em> <\/span>him. The contrast is the thing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    We know this concept intuitively. While we may like being around people who agree with every word we say, we know that the most helpful people are the ones who can offer us a perspective different from our own, however uncomfortable the perspective might feel at the moment. \u00a0If we can\u2019t make room for difference, the problem reverberates on a theological level. In his book, <\/span>The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes, \u201cIf I cannot [make space for difference] then I have made God in my image instead of allowing him to remake me in his.\u201d Do I really think that <\/span>my<\/em> <\/span>way of approaching a situation with my children is the <\/span>only<\/em> <\/span>way? We may offer a begrudging, \u201cof course not.\u201d While we might grasp that truth intellectually, our hearts are often slower to learn.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101669,"alt":"","title":"-620108c325a12--620108c325a13gen2-mother father.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png.png","width":992,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-233x300.png","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-768x991.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":991,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-794x1024.png","large-width":794,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png.png","1536x1536-width":992,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png.png","2048x2048-width":992,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-930x1200.png","post_full_size-width":930,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-326x420.png","home_baner-width":326,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Ezer K\u2019Negdo: A Better Paradigm for Parenting Together","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Making space for difference: the importance of a contrasting perspective","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101669,"alt":"","title":"-620108c325a12--620108c325a13gen2-mother father.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png.png","width":992,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-233x300.png","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-768x991.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":991,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-794x1024.png","large-width":794,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png.png","1536x1536-width":992,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png.png","2048x2048-width":992,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-930x1200.png","post_full_size-width":930,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620108c325a12-620108c325a13gen2-mother-father.png-326x420.png","home_baner-width":326,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"365","name":"Gender","old_id":"765"},{"term_id":"379","name":"Family","old_id":"779"}]},{"order":11,"id":"34036","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Limits - and Off-Limits ","post_title":"Limits, and Off-Limits","slug":"limits-and-off-limits","old_id":"34036","type":"media","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34007,"post_title":"Devora Steinmetz","slug":"dr-devora-steinmetz-2","old_id":"34007","first_name":"Devora","last_name":"Steinmetz","description":"Dr. Devora Steinmetz is on the faculty of Drisha and the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership and is visiting faculty at the Hebrew College Rabbinical School. Dr. Steinmetz is the founder of the Jewish day school Beit Rabban.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Devora Steinmetz is on the faculty of Drisha and the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership and is visiting faculty at the Hebrew College Rabbinical School.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34008,"alt":"","title":"Dr. Devora Steinmetz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz.jpg","width":444,"height":522,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz-255x300.jpg","medium-width":255,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz.jpg","medium_large-width":444,"medium_large-height":522,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz.jpg","large-width":444,"large-height":522,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz.jpg","1536x1536-width":444,"1536x1536-height":522,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz.jpg","2048x2048-width":444,"2048x2048-height":522,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz.jpg","post_full_size-width":444,"post_full_size-height":522,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Devora-Steinmetz-357x420.jpg","home_baner-width":357,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The world of the human being is not complete or wholly \u201cgood;\u201d it is a place in which we act for good or for evil.","post_main_content_content":"

    The account of creation in the second chapter of Genesis begins with what is not there: there are <\/span>no<\/span><\/em> shrubs and there are <\/span>no<\/span><\/em> crops because God has <\/span>not<\/span><\/em> brought rain and there is <\/span>no<\/span><\/em> human being to work the ground. (Genesis 2:5) This multi-layered absence contrasts sharply with the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis, an account characterized by increasing, unfolding presence. Never in chapter 1 are we told what is not there. At no point is there a sense of something missing. With each creative act, God simply adds a new layer of goodness to a cosmos increasingly filled with good creations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But in chapter 2, our attention is immediately called to what is missing in the world and to what God has not yet done. This sense of incompleteness, of things not yet as they ought to be or of things potentially straying from how they should be, recurs in this story. Unlike the unqualified \u201cgood\u201d of chapter 1, chapter 2 introduces a tree of knowledge of good <\/span>and evil<\/span><\/em> (2:9). After the creation of the human being, God utters the jarring words \u201c<\/span>not<\/span><\/em> good\u201d: \u201cit is not good for the human being to be alone.\u201d (2:18) And, even after God creates every kind of beast and bird, a companion for the lonely person is <\/span>not<\/span><\/em> to be found. (2:20) The human being placed in a garden of delights is told not only what he may eat, but what he may <\/span>not<\/span><\/em> (2:16-17), and this new creature, infused with the breath of life (2:7), is warned that he can <\/span>die<\/span><\/em> (2:17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Chapter 1 is about God as creator. The human creature is an inhabitant of the cosmos which reflects the perfection and goodness of its creator. In chapter 2, the narrative lens zooms in to the world of the human being. Here, the human being is a central actor; things are created for the human being, and the human being gives names to the other creatures. The human being also has responsibilities; God places the human being in the garden \u201cto work it and to watch it.\u201d (2:15) And the human being is commanded; God gives the human being rights to the delightful trees of the garden, but God also commands the human being not to take that which God designates as off-limits. God informs the human being of the possibility of choice and of the fact that human choices bring consequences. (2:16-17)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Chapter 2 is the introduction to the human drama which unfolds throughout the rest of the Torah. It is the story of a complex creature, endowed with power and privilege and bestowed with responsibility and commandedness. With the creation of the human being arises the possibility of good <\/span>and evil<\/span><\/em>, of <\/span>not<\/span><\/em> good, of <\/span>in<\/span><\/em>completeness, of <\/span>choice<\/span><\/em>. The world of the human being is not perfect or complete or wholly \u201cgood\u201d; it is a place in which each of us acts to shape self and world for good or for evil.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84019,"alt":"","title":"ps52-good evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","width":1920,"height":842,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-300x132.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-768x337.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":337,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1024x449.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":674,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":842,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1200x526.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":526,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-958x420.png","home_baner-width":958,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Limits, and Off-Limits","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The world of the human being is not complete or wholly \u201cgood;\u201d it is a place in which we act for good or for evil.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84019,"alt":"","title":"ps52-good evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","width":1920,"height":842,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-300x132.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-768x337.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":337,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1024x449.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":674,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":842,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1200x526.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":526,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-958x420.png","home_baner-width":958,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"370","name":"Divine\/human","old_id":"770"}]},{"order":12,"id":"34040","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Guardin' the Garden ","post_title":"Guardin' the Garden","slug":"guardin-the-garden","old_id":"34040","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Use the fruit, but preserve the fruitfulness, or: the first work-life balance","post_main_content_content":"

    \u201cTo till and to tend,\u201d \u2018to work and to watch.\u201d My personal favorite translation of the famous two-word mission statement of Gen 2:15, is \u201cto serve and preserve.\u201d The first word is <\/span>avoda<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> \u201cwork\u201d or \u201clabor\u201d (and in the context of land, \u201ccultivation\u201d), and the second, <\/span>shemira<\/span><\/em> is guard or protect. Or \u201cobserve\u201d (as in <\/span>shemirat Shabbat<\/span><\/em>, the observance of the Sabbath), for it is surely no accident that both these terms have such cultic associations. Cultivating the soil and worshipping God are the same word in Hebrew (<\/span>avoda<\/span><\/em>); just as the English word \u201cworship\u201d is from \u201cwork,\u201d just as \u201ccult\u201d is the root of \u201ccultivate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Indeed, our relationship to the garden, and by implication the world, is analogous to our relationship with God: we are enjoined to do to the Garden what we do for God (<\/span>avoda<\/span><\/em> \u2013 service), and also what God does for or to us, as in the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24: \u201c<\/span>yevarechecha\u2026 <\/span>veyishmerecha<\/span><\/em>, \u201cMay God bless you, and watch over (guard) you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This raises a troubling question: from what exactly are we meant to protect or guard the garden? Some say wild animals, or the less ordered, more chaotic world of nature outside the garden. This doesn\u2019t ring true, though, since animals are clearly included in the garden, and the entire world has already been deemed \u201cvery good.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    I would suggest that the main threat to the garden, and by extension, the world, is precisely the other pair of the dyad\u2014the cultivation, the human work.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The mission is to work, to produce, to develop\u2014but at the same time to preserve, to guard, to be vigilant that the work doesn\u2019t get out of hand. It must remain, in a word, sustainable. Indeed, perhaps the best translation of the Biblical phrase <\/span>leovda uleshomra<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(\"watchful work\") is \u201csustainable development.\u201d<\/span> Working the land is crucial for human flourishing -- but guarding the earth is the critical complement. We need to guard the world precisely from our <\/span>avoda<\/span><\/em>, the effects of our own work. In our struggle for the earth's fruits, we sow the seeds of our own, and the world's, destruction -- unless we temper our toil with responsibility and concern for posterity. In the words of farmer philosopher Wendell Berry, by all means use the fruit, but take care to preserve the fruitfulness. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101673,"alt":"","title":"-62010ba7b90a9--62010ba7b90aagen2-apples garden fruit.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-300x192.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":192,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-768x490.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":490,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-1024x654.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":654,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":981,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-1200x766.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":766,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-658x420.jpg","home_baner-width":658,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Guardin' the Garden","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Use the fruit, but preserve the fruitfulness, or: the first work-life balance","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101673,"alt":"","title":"-62010ba7b90a9--62010ba7b90aagen2-apples garden fruit.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-300x192.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":192,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-768x490.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":490,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-1024x654.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":654,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":981,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-1200x766.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":766,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62010ba7b90a9-62010ba7b90aagen2-apples-garden-fruit.jpg-658x420.jpg","home_baner-width":658,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"}]},{"order":13,"id":"34046","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"The Word Was Sex ","post_title":"The Word Was Sex","slug":"the-word-was-sex","old_id":"34046","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34013,"post_title":"Ruth Westheimer","slug":"dr-ruth-k-westheimer","old_id":"34013","first_name":"Ruth ","last_name":"Westheimer","description":"Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer, one of America's leading sexologists, teaches at Columbia Teacher's College. She is an Associate Fellow of Calhoun College at Yale University, and Fellow of Butler College at Princeton. She is the author most recently of The Doctor is In: Dr. Ruth on Love, Life and Joie de Vivre. Her essay draws on insights in her heavenly Sex: Sexuality in the Jewish Tradition, with Jonathan Mark (NYU Press 1995).\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Ruth, one of America's leading sexologists, teaches at Columbia Teacher's College.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34014,"alt":"","title":"Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer.png","width":220,"height":261,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer.png","medium-width":220,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer.png","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":261,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer.png","large-width":220,"large-height":261,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer.png","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":261,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer.png","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":261,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer.png","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":261,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Dr.-Ruth-K.-Westheimer.png","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":261}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    Yes, in the beginning was the word, and the word was sex. From the first chapters of the Book of Genesis, God's introduction to humanity, it is apparent that here is a theology spanning from the dawn of history that accounts for psychology, sexology, and human passion. The Bible, the story of how men and women first came to know God, and the Talmud the canonized commentary on the Bible, is also the story of how men and women came to know each other\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Eve ate from the tree, gave the fruit to Adam and \"then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.\" Elie Wiesel writes, \"Without Eve, Adam would have been man but not human\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The tree's full and proper name was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and most of the next fifty chapters of Genesis are devoted to the exploration of the potential of good and evil inherent in human relationships. In fact, throughout Genesis we are introduced to one saintly figure after another and are told almost nothing about them but their \"nakedness,\" their pained relationships, and moments of sexual truth. With every passing biblical generation, the characters become more and more daring and expressive regarding love or its absence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Soon, however, God sent the Great flood to destroy the world because \"all flesh has corrupted his way upon the earth.\" \u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In other words, for want of a good sex therapist, the world was destroyed. And that is not meant to be flip. Every day on our nightly news and in our morning newspapers, we learn how crimes of passion and sexual confusion continue to destroy thousands of individual \"worlds\" 4,000 years after the Great Flood.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    (Excerpted and reprinted with permission from the essay \u201cIt Is Not Good For Man To Be Alone,\u201d written with Jonathan Mark, in: <\/span>Reading Genesis Beginnings<\/span><\/a><\/em>, Beth Kissileff, editor, Bloomsbury, 2016, pp. 63-65).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":98828,"alt":"","title":"1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","width":464,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love-232x300.jpg","medium-width":232,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","medium_large-width":464,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","large-width":464,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","1536x1536-width":464,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","2048x2048-width":464,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","post_full_size-width":464,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love-325x420.jpg","home_baner-width":325,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Word Was Sex","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Bible, the story of how men and women first came to know God, is also the story of how men and women came to know each other\u2026","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":98828,"alt":"","title":"1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","width":464,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love-232x300.jpg","medium-width":232,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","medium_large-width":464,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","large-width":464,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","1536x1536-width":464,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","2048x2048-width":464,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love.jpg","post_full_size-width":464,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron1-Adam_and_Eve_in_the_state_of_innocent_love-325x420.jpg","home_baner-width":325,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"365","name":"Gender","old_id":"765"},{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"}]},{"order":14,"id":"34050","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"What Happened to Us When We Ate from the Tree of Knowledge? ","post_title":"What Happened to Us When We Ate from the Tree of Knowledge?","slug":"what-happened-to-us-when-we-ate-from-the-tree-of-knowledge","old_id":"34050","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33962,"post_title":"Yair Zakovitch","slug":"prof-yair-zakovitch","old_id":"33962","first_name":"Yair","last_name":"Zakovitch","description":"Prof. Yair Zakovitch, professor emeritus in biblical studies, held the Father Takeji Otsuki Professor of Bible Studies Chair at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was Professor of Jewish Peoplehood at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Prof. Yair Zakovitch, professor emeritus in biblical studies from the Hebrew University ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33963,"alt":"","title":"\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","width":421,"height":515,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5-245x300.jpg","medium-width":245,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","medium_large-width":421,"medium_large-height":515,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","large-width":421,"large-height":515,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","1536x1536-width":421,"1536x1536-height":515,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","2048x2048-width":421,"2048x2048-height":515,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","post_full_size-width":421,"post_full_size-height":515,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5-343x420.jpg","home_baner-width":343,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We, who have eaten from the forbidden fruit, will continue to strive to know good and evil. ","post_main_content_content":"

    In the tranquility of the Garden of Eden, the first prohibition is issued: \u00a0\u201cBut as for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat of it\u201d (Genesis 2:17). \u00a0Did God desire man\u2019s innocence and his eternal childhood? After all, the innocent child is the one who does not distinguish between good and evil, as the prophet Isaiah states: \u201cFor before the lad knows to reject the bad and choose the good\u2026.\u201d (Isaiah 7:16).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Another way to understand \u201cgood and evil\u201d emerges from the words of the \u201cWise Woman of \u00a0Tekoa\u201d to King David. At first, she compliments the king\u2019s wisdom, \u201cmy Lord the king is like an angel of God, listening to \u00a0everything, good and evil\u201d (II Samuel 14:17). She goes on and explains her words, \u2026.\u201cMy Lord is wise like the wisdom of an angel of God, and he knows all that goes on in the land\u201d (II Samuel 14:20). \u00a0Knowing good and evil means, therefore, knowing everything.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Does this mean that God seeks to stymie man\u2019s curiosity, inquisitiveness, wisdom and knowledge? \u00a0Does God strive to keep wisdom to Himself? For example, is the verse in Genesis to be interpreted in the same light as the prohibition found in the Second Temple period book called the Wisdom of Ben Sira? \u00a0Ben Sira states: \u201cNeither seek what is too difficult for you, nor investigate what is beyond your power. Reflect upon what you have been commanded, for what is hidden is not your concern\u201d (3:21-22). Are we to understand the first prohibition of the Torah to refrain from eating \u00a0of the tree of knowledge of good and evil along the lines of the Mishna that warns: \u201cAnyone who looks into four things would be better off if he had not come into this world: what is above, what is below, what is before, and what is after\u201d (Chagiga 2:1)?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    We, who have eaten from the forbidden fruit, which led to the loss of our innocence and created \u00a0the desire to inquire and learn, will continue to strive to know good and evil. We will always strive to solve the riddles of the world of \u00a0nature and of human nature. However, we hope that as we investigate these matters, we will not forget even for a moment, \u201cto reject the bad and choose the good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":34681,"alt":"","title":"zakov2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2.jpg","width":5000,"height":4540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-300x272.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":272,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-768x697.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":697,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-1024x930.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":930,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-1200x1090.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1090,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-463x420.jpg","home_baner-width":463,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"

    Maxx-Studio\/ shutterstock.com<\/p>","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Happened to Us When We Ate from the Tree of Knowledge?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We, who have eaten from the forbidden fruit, will continue to strive to know good and evil. ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":34681,"alt":"","title":"zakov2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2.jpg","width":5000,"height":4540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-300x272.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":272,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-768x697.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":697,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-1024x930.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":930,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-1200x1090.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1090,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/zakov2-463x420.jpg","home_baner-width":463,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Maxx-Studio\/ shutterstock.com","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"367","name":"Questions\/Answers","old_id":"767"},{"term_id":"370","name":"Divine\/human","old_id":"770"}]},{"order":15,"id":"34042","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Is Harmony Realistic? ","post_title":"One Creation, Many Stories","slug":"is-harmony-realistic","old_id":"34042","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33942,"post_title":"Hagit Bartuv","slug":"hagit-bartuv","old_id":"33942","first_name":"Hagit","last_name":"Bartuv","description":"Hagit Bartuv is the project and content leader of the Srigim initiative on Israeli moshavim whose goal is to enrich moshavim with more Jewish-Israeli culture. In 2013, as a modern Orthodox woman, she challenged the conversion court in Israel after she refused to accept their demand that she send her adopted child to an ultra-Orthodox pre-school. In the end, the court ruled in her favor and agreed to convert the child even though he would be educated in a secular preschool.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Hagit Bartuv is the project and content leader of the Srigim initiative on Israeli moshavim","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33944,"alt":"","title":"\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea \u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","width":335,"height":335,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","medium_large-width":335,"medium_large-height":335,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","large-width":335,"large-height":335,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","1536x1536-width":335,"1536x1536-height":335,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","2048x2048-width":335,"2048x2048-height":335,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","post_full_size-width":335,"post_full_size-height":335,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":335}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Two versions of the story of Creation force us to choose the story we want to tell ourselves, to create the world afresh every day ","post_main_content_content":"

    For years I told myself that at some point I would be able to be like everyone else--to live the narrative of a conventional life, or at least to a degree. \u00a0For years, the conventional narrative of family and parenthood stood there intact and harmonious but unattainable--until I dared to tell myself a new narrative, and discover the magic inherent in the understanding that the story I am telling is more true and whole and harmonious than what society, the law, or any norm would have me think.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The two stories of Creation are so different. It is God\u2019s way or God\u2019s ghost writer\u2019s way to teach us about the connection between reality, narrative, and meaning. This is their way of reminding us that it is always possible to read reality completely differently, and that the story we would like to tell is not always the story that is best for us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Two stories of creation open the Book of Genesis, and there is no way to reconcile them. The first is the story of a harmonious creation. It is a peaceful story of creation using speech that describes creations as good, even very good. And then comes Chapter 2, the story of creativity and materiality: earth and the earthling, responsibility and a threat, searching and finding, sin and punishment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    We all want, or at least we think we want, the harmonious, calm, egalitarian, simple narrative. But who can really tell such a harmonious narrative about his own creation and his life and his work? Often, the courage to search for another way to tell the story, even if it is broken and partial and a little painful, leads to a story that ends in real, true harmony.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    These two alternative versions of the story of Creation, and of life, never stop rubbing against each other, challenging each other, undermining each other. \u00a0They force us over and over again to choose the story we want or can tell ourselves, forcing us every day to create the world afresh.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54853,"alt":"","title":"jo24-frame story","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story-300x225.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story-768x576.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story-560x420.png","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"One Creation, Many Stories","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Two versions of the story of Creation force us to choose the story we want to tell ourselves, to create the world afresh every day ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54853,"alt":"","title":"jo24-frame story","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story-300x225.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story-768x576.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story.png","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-frame-story-560x420.png","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":16,"id":"34048","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Sabbath: A Reminder to Relinquish ","post_title":"The Sabbath: A Reminder to Relinquish","slug":"the-sabbath-a-reminder-to-relinquish","old_id":"34048","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    In an article originally published in the New York Times, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks argues that environmental awareness is a religious goal, care for the environment a fundamental religious imperative. What follows is a paraphrase of his argument.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

    In chapter 2 of Genesis, God places Adam in the Garden to \u201cserve and protect\u201d it \u2014 the overarching principle of ecological responsibility. The paragraph that precedes the description of Adam\u2019s job in the Garden and our job in the world is a description of God\u2019s sabbath. This juxtaposition may not be clear chronologically, for Adam was put in the Garden to work before God could rest, but it is thematically appropriate. <\/span>Essentially the Sabbath is about limits. It is about recognizing that we are not just creators but also creations, something we share with every living and non-living thing. Once a week we relinquish our mastery over nature to remind us of the larger truth that with power comes responsibility. The Sabbath is our defense against the heedlessness and hubris that have led human beings time and again to leave in their wake a trail of ecological destruction. We have the Sabbath to guide us in our assignment to <\/span>\u201cserve and protect\u201d our world.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    see also:\u00a0http:\/\/rabbisacks.org\/lesson-noahs-ark-wolves-can-lie-lambs\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Sabbath: A Reminder to Relinquish ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We are not just creators but also creations, something we share with every living and non-living thing","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"378","name":"Shabbat","old_id":"778"}]},{"order":17,"id":"35071","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"It Is Not Good To Be Alone... ","post_title":"It Is Not Good To Be Alone...","slug":"it-is-not-good-to-be-alone","old_id":"35071","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"4","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"A 929 Video","tile_main_caption":"It Is Not Good To Be Alone...","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"You don't need to know Hebrew to get this awesome clip of an Israeli graffiti project: watch til the end to see what's making us lonely these days....","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/KkVUo6uAAJA","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"371","name":"Video","old_id":"771"}]},{"order":18,"id":"34052","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Family First ","post_title":"Family First","slug":"family-first","old_id":"34052","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33951,"post_title":"Yoel Bin Nun","slug":"rabbi-yoel-bin-nun","old_id":"33951","first_name":"Yoel","last_name":"Bin Nun","description":"Rabbi Yoel Bin Nun, PhD. is a religious Zionist rabbi who was among the founders of Yeshivat Har Etzion and who emphasized the importance of the study of Tanach, and not just Talmud, in yeshiva. He was among those who fought in the Six Day War to recapture the Old City of Jerusalem.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Yoel Bin Nun, PhD. is a religious Zionist rabbi who was among the founders of Yeshivat Har Etzion ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33952,"alt":"","title":"\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc \u05d1\u05df \u05e0\u05d5\u05df","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df.jpg","width":136,"height":190,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df-136x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":136,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df.jpg","medium-width":136,"medium-height":190,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df.jpg","medium_large-width":136,"medium_large-height":190,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df.jpg","large-width":136,"large-height":190,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df.jpg","1536x1536-width":136,"1536x1536-height":190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df.jpg","2048x2048-width":136,"2048x2048-height":190,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df.jpg","post_full_size-width":136,"post_full_size-height":190,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc-\u05d1\u05df-\u05e0\u05d5\u05df.jpg","home_baner-width":136,"home_baner-height":190}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    Chapter 1 describes the creation of the world, and it ends with Shabbat (the sabbath). \u00a0Chapter 2 describes the Garden of Eden, and it ends with family. It is this theme--family--that is subsumed under the headline (Genesis 2:4): \u00a0\u201cThese are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created.\u201d The \u201cgenerations\u201d are those that are yet to be born--either in the Garden of Eden or outside it. \u00a0Either way, the entire story leads up to (a) family. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The ultimate purpose is expressed powerfully at the end: \u201cHence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh\u201d (2:24). \u00a0It should not be assumed that a man will leave his father and mother, and all the more so, that a woman would do this. In the past, there existed cultures in which children became part of the extended family as slaves for labor or in matters of sexuality. \u00a0We still hear of situations like this today. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The text says, \u201cHence a man leaves his father and mother.\u201d and in separating from his parents, he strengthens his wife to leave her father and mother (which is often even more difficult). \u00a0Together, they become \u201cone flesh\u201d in order to bear children of their own and establish a family. The entire description of the creation of mankind--the man and the deep sleep and the woman who emerges from him--all this takes place in the Garden of Eden and is designed for this purpose--the setting up of a family. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Chapter 1 leads to the sabbath. \u00a0Chapter 2 leads to the family.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71148,"alt":"","title":"jer29-family","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family.png","width":1268,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-297x300.png","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-768x775.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":775,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-1014x1024.png","large-width":1014,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family.png","1536x1536-width":1268,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family.png","2048x2048-width":1268,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-1189x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1189,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-416x420.png","home_baner-width":416,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Family First","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\u00a0It should not be assumed that either a man or a woman will leave their father and mother","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71148,"alt":"","title":"jer29-family","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family.png","width":1268,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-297x300.png","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-768x775.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":775,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-1014x1024.png","large-width":1014,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family.png","1536x1536-width":1268,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family.png","2048x2048-width":1268,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-1189x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1189,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-family-416x420.png","home_baner-width":416,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"379","name":"Family","old_id":"779"}]},{"order":19,"id":"34646","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Adam\u2019s Absence ","post_title":"Adam\u2019s Absence","slug":"adams-absence","old_id":"34646","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34237,"post_title":"Marcelle Hohl","slug":"marcelle-hohl","old_id":"34237","first_name":"Marcelle ","last_name":"Hohl","description":"Marcelle Hohl is a second year Rabbinical student at JTS in New York, where she has also completed an MA in Jewish Studies with a concentration in Bible. Originally from S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, she has studied at Pardes, the Conservative Yeshiva, and the Shalom Hartman Institute. She is fluent in English, Hebrew, Portuguese, German, Spanish, and French.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Marcelle Hohl is a second year Rabbinical student at JTS in New York","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34238,"alt":"","title":"Marcelle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","width":833,"height":849,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle-294x300.jpg","medium-width":294,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle-768x783.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":783,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","large-width":833,"large-height":849,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","1536x1536-width":833,"1536x1536-height":849,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","2048x2048-width":833,"2048x2048-height":849,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","post_full_size-width":833,"post_full_size-height":849,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle-412x420.jpg","home_baner-width":412,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Man and Woman are Equally Divine\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    \u201cSo the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that spot.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

    In order to create the woman, God induces a tardemah <\/em>\u2013 literally, God causes a deep sleep to fall upon the man. Tardemah <\/em>is a Hebrew word that in the Bible is often used to describe a divinely induced sleep. The deep sleep causes Adam's absence in the process of the creation of the woman. Adam has no control or influence over the creation of his bat zug<\/em>, his significant Other. As their origin stems directly and exclusively from God, they share the same status as His creations \u2013 and this divine quality is what enables them to be equal.<\/p>\r\n

    Although the material used for the creation of male and female human beings is different \u2013 dust for the man, a rib for the woman \u2013 the creation process for both of them is directly from God, making them equally divine, and a perfect match for each other.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Adam\u2019s Absence","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Male and Female are Equal, and Equally Divine","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"364","name":"Equality","old_id":"764"},{"term_id":"365","name":"Gender","old_id":"765"}]},{"order":20,"id":"64743","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Parashat Bereshit - Never Finished? ","post_title":"Parashat Bereshit - Never Finished?","slug":"never-finished","old_id":"64743","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36663,"post_title":"Beth Kissileff","slug":"beth-kissileff","old_id":"36663","first_name":"Beth ","last_name":"Kissileff ","description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (2016 - https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/reading-genesis-9780567381521), and the forthcoming Reading Exodus, and the author of the novel Questioning Return - https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Questioning-Return-Novel-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/1942134231. \r\nHer journalism appears in many publications; she has taught most recently at the University of Pittsburgh. Visit her online at www.bethkissileff.com. ","short_description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (Bloomsbury\/ T and T Clark, 2016) , a journalist and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36664,"alt":"","title":"BethKissileff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","width":3478,"height":3200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-768x707.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":707,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1024x942.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":942,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1413,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1884,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1200x1104.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1104,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-456x420.jpg","home_baner-width":456,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1067","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The need for calm and tranquility is also part of the world","post_main_content_content":"

    As I was sitting in synagogue yesterday, listening to my friend Tammy Hepps read from the first section of Genesis, I was trying to pay attention to the words, thinking about how to begin my reading of Genesis in 5780. I have found over the years that hearing the Torah read aloud, with the cantillation, in a synagogue helps me think differently about the words in front of me than merely reading from a printed text, sans music or voice. When she arrived at the word \u201cvayechulu<\/em>\u201d ('and he finished\" - 2:1) I knew I had my topic.<\/p>\r\n

    Are we ever really finished?\u00a0Even at 120 Moses had eyesight that was not dimmed and his strength too remained undiminished (Deut 34:7).\u00a0 Despite his physical capacities and evident ability to continue on as leader, Moses was told his time on earth was up.<\/p>\r\n

    This sense, that even though more is possible, limits need to be imposed on us, is what I am bringing now to my thinking about creation.\u00a0 As a divine being, God could have continued the work of creation ad infinitum; instead, there was a deadline, a cessation.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

    After six days, God was able to stop, declare what God had done not just good, but exquisitely good, the word \u201cme\u2019od<\/em>\u201d in Genesis 1: 31 meaning \u201can intensification\u201d of the good done earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

    And it is that valuation, the realization that there is much to be content with that makes possible \u00a0that ability to slow down, evaluate and say that stoppage is possible.\u00a0 Sforno<\/a> comments on this verse that \u201call the purposes necessary for the physical world had materialized.\u201d(Genesis 2:1)\u00a0 Connecting\u00a0\u00a0\"tachlit<\/em>\" as purpose or perhaps physical content, with \"vayechulu<\/em>\" finish,\u00a0Sforno seems to be saying, the baseline has been achieved,\u00a0 though there is more that could be done.<\/p>\r\n

    However, Rashi on Genesis 2:2. following Genesis Rabba, asks what was lacking in the world, and promptly states, \u201cmenucha<\/em>,\u201d that is, rest.\u00a0 The need for calm and tranquility is also part of the world.<\/p>\r\n

    That sense that even when more could be done, we don\u2019t have to do it, that we are permitted and encouraged to stop and to rest; to not do, as well as to do.<\/p>\r\n

    It is always possible to do more than we think we can, and sometimes we are called to do so and succeed.\u00a0 Moses needed to stop, and so did God.\u00a0I began with Moses, because we don\u2019t finish our reading: we bring our understanding from our past readings into our entrance to the new cycle of creation.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

    None of us can ever fully understand the Torah; there is always more to learn and more to write about.\u00a0 And yet, as with any activity we can engage in it as fully as possible and then act in imitation of God and realize that though we may never finish, we are permitted to stop.\u00a0 Shabbat shalom!<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Parashat Bereshit 5780","tile_main_caption":"Never Finished?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The need for calm and tranquility is also part of the world","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1067"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"378","name":"Shabbat","old_id":"778"}]},{"order":21,"id":"34644","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"\u05e9\u05d1\u05ea - Shabbat - Sabbath ","post_title":"MiliMilim The Hebrew Corner - Gen2","slug":"%d7%a9%d7%91%d7%aa-shabbat-sabbath","old_id":"34644","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \u05e9\u05d1\u05ea - Shabbat - Sabbath<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \"Sabbath,\" like \"hallelujah\" and \"amen\" are gifts of the Hebrew language to the cultures of world. The root of the noun \u05e9\u05d1\u05ea, <\/span>shabbat<\/span><\/em>, \"Sabbath,\" is \u05e9-\u05d1-\u05ea, <\/span>sh-b\/v-t<\/span><\/em>, \"cease\" or \"rest\". This root first appears in our chapter in the verb\u00a0<\/span>shavat<\/span><\/em>, \"to cease\", where God is described as <\/span>shavat mikol melachto<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> \"ceased from all labor\" (Gen. 2:2,3). Interestingly, the day is not called Shabbat there, but simply <\/span>yom hashvi'i<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> \"the seventh day.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The day Shabbat first makes its appearance in the story of the manna (Exodus ch. 16) \u2013 the day the manna did <\/span>not<\/span><\/em> appear, enforcing a cessation of gleaning \u2013 and then famously in the Ten Commandments (#4), and then elsewhere in many contexts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In modern Hebrew, the word <\/span>shvitah<\/span><\/em>, means \"strike\" (by organized labor), and the Biblical word \u05e9\u05d1\u05ea\u05d5\u05df, <\/span>shabbaton<\/span><\/em>, meaning \"complete cessation\", has come to mean \"sabbatical,\" the year off that academics receive. <\/span>Shabbat<\/span><\/em> is simply the name of the Israeli seventh day of the week, no matter one's religious predilections.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    While the root and the verb have parallels in other Semitic languages, the noun \"Shabbat\" signifying a specific day seems to be a unique Hebraic invention. This is especially interesting since \u2013 as opposed to the vast majority of other languages \u2013 in Hebrew the other days of the week have no names at all! Hebrew calls the six days of the week by their ordinal number: Sunday is <\/span>yom rishon<\/span><\/em>, \"the first day,\" etc. That sounds dreadfully prosaic, but there is a fascinating story behind it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In ancient cultures, the seven-day week was an astrological expression of the role of the planets in our lives. One day of the week for each of the seven heavenly bodies: <\/span>dies solis<\/span><\/em> or \u201csun day\u201d (Sunday); <\/span>dies lunae<\/span><\/em> or \u201cmoon day\u201d (Monday, French lundi); <\/span>dies Martis<\/span><\/em> or \u201cMars\u2019 day\u201d (French mardi); <\/span>dies Mercurii<\/span><\/em> or \u201cMercury\u2019s day\u201d (mercredi); <\/span>dies joves<\/span><\/em> or \u201c\u2019Jupiter\u2019s day\u201d (jeudi); <\/span>dies Veneris<\/span><\/em> or \u201cVenus\u2019 day\u201d (vendredi); and <\/span>dies Saturni<\/span><\/em> (Saturday).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    (In English and other Germanic languages, the names of Norse gods are substituted for the Latin names in Tuesday, for Tiu, a martial sky god parallel to Mars, Wednesday, after Woden, Thursday for Thor, associated with Jupiter, and Friday for Frigg or Freya, female goddess like Venus).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Strikingly, as opposed to all other cultures which use planetary bodies to name the days of the week, in Hebrew, there is one case that is opposite. The Hebrew name for the planet Saturn is \u05e9\u05d1\u05ea\u05d0\u05d9, <\/span>shabbtai<\/span><\/em>, which was just a given name in the Bible (see Nehemiah 8:7, Ezra 10:15). It was adopted in rabbinic literature as the name of the planet, because Shabbat fell on the day called by the Romans <\/span>dies Saturni<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

    In \"Jewish time,\" we determine the fate of heavens \u2013 not the other way around.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101587,"alt":"","title":"-61fffc0511f9a--61fffc0511f9bshabbat - milim.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","width":927,"height":604,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg-768x500.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","large-width":927,"large-height":604,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":927,"1536x1536-height":604,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":927,"2048x2048-height":604,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":927,"post_full_size-height":604,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg-645x420.jpg","home_baner-width":645,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","tile_main_caption":"\u05e9\u05d1\u05ea - Shabbat - Sabbath","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101587,"alt":"","title":"-61fffc0511f9a--61fffc0511f9bshabbat - milim.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","width":927,"height":604,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg-768x500.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","large-width":927,"large-height":604,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":927,"1536x1536-height":604,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":927,"2048x2048-height":604,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":927,"post_full_size-height":604,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/61fffc0511f9a-61fffc0511f9bshabbat-milim.jpg-645x420.jpg","home_baner-width":645,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"378","name":"Shabbat","old_id":"778"}]},{"order":22,"id":"34765","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter ","post_title":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter- Gen 2","slug":"lessons-on-the-daily-chapter-2","old_id":"34765","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter - Gen 2","tile_main_caption":"Short talks by Adam Mintz and by David Silber","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Rabbi Silber's teachings are dedicated in memory of Joan Silverstein Meyers and Ellen Goodstein Koplow. ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/sets\/genesis-chapter-2","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":23,"id":"34038","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Chapter 2 Summary: Need a human being? Let\u2019s make one! ","post_title":"Chapter 2 Summary: Need a human being? Let\u2019s make one!","slug":"chapter-2-summary-need-a-human-being-lets-make-one","old_id":"34038","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"2","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    The chapter begins with the sabbath, which is thematically the culmination of chapter 1, a day blessed with sanctity and rest at the end of the six days of Creation. \u00a0Following this introduction, a second Creation story begins. In this story we discover a world which, like the world of Chapter 1, was created by God, but unlike the sense of perfection that characterizes Chapter 1, the second story of Creation is a type of response to what is missing in the first account.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In the story of Creation in Chapter 2, there is heaven and earth, but there is no vegetation - because there is no rain and no human being to work the land. Are we missing a person? Let\u2019s create one! \u00a0Then it will be possible to plant a garden (Eden) and grow trees (including the Tree of Knowledge and Good and Evil which we will meet in the next chapter).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    However, even this human being lacks something, for \"it is not good for man to be alone\" (Genesis 2:18). Again what motivates creation is something that is lacking - \u00a0a partner. First animals are created (2:19), but they do not fill the void. Afterwards, the woman is created--the bone of his bones and the flesh of his flesh. She addresses his existential \u00a0loneliness. \u201cA fitting helpmate\u201d (2:20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Points to ponder:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    1. \u00a0<\/span> Creation in Chapter 2 is very different from Creation in Chapter 1, but both stories speak about us and our world. Its enduring message is a fruitful question for commentators and thinkers throughout the generations.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    2. \u00a0<\/span> The human, according to Genesis 2:7, was created from two elements \"the dust of the earth\" and \"breath of life\". What does the chapter convey about the nature of human beings?<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    3. \u00a0<\/span> The Garden of Eden (or more accurately \u201ca garden in Eden, in the east\u201d 2:8) was planted in a semi-known geographical environment. Do you know where?<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    4. \u00a0<\/span> Bestowing a name, a theme of this chapter, as when Adam names the animals, is a way of getting to know the person standing before you in greater depth.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    5. \u00a0<\/span> The creation of woman - from part of the man\u2019s body - presents a different model of the relationship between man and woman than that of Chapter 1 and a different model in terms of gender roles.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"

      Illustration: Michal Ben Hamo<\/p>","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Genesis 2","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"2","date":"20250901","wall_id":"2"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"posts_home":[],"home_posts_title":"","static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/33969"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}