Torah This Week
Welcome to Torah This Week, where you will find thoughts and reflections by CLAL
faculty and associates on the Torah portion of the week.
BEREISHIT
(Genesis 1:1 - 6:8)
After creating, the first human, God realizes, "It is not good for man to be
alone" (Gen. 2:18). The man names all the animals, but cannot find a companion among
them; they are alien to him. God forms a woman from the man's rib. Upon seeing her, the
man exclaims, "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh"
(2:23). The man (ish) calls the woman ishah reflecting the sameness he senses in her. They
are together naked and unashamed, close enough to feel utterly safe in each other's
company.
This idyllic relationship is soon shattered. Together in their disobedience, they pull
apart while confronting God, each blaming others for his or her acts. Their relationship
is now defined by their separateness, by roles and by the power he will exercise over her.
The man gives the woman a name signifying her otherness; she is "the mother of all
the living" (3:20). Eve's name says much about her relationship with every human
being to come, but nothing about her relationship with Adam.
Still, the Torah preserves a record of an ideal relationship, one in which two can come
together becoming "one flesh" while remaining distinct. Until the woman was
created, the man was lonely. The rib that could do nothing for him while it was part of
him, when separated from him made him whole. When we try to absorb another person totally,
to incorporate him or her into ourselves, we find ourselves alone again. Only when can see
another person as distinct yet complementary can our relationship provide a sense of
wholeness. Each of us is unique, but each of us is also alone. The Torah sets before us an
ideal that affirms both our distinctness from others and the commonality that binds us to
them.
(Devorah Weisberg)
To join the conversation at CLAL Torah Talk, click here.
To access a CLAL commentary on this week's Haftorah, click here.
To access the Torah This Week Archive, click here.
To access the Haftorah This Week Archive, click here.
To receive the CLAL Torah Talk column by email on a regular basis, complete the box
below: