Saturday 14th October 2023 29th Tishrei 5784
PARASHAT B'REISHEET
B’reisheet 1:1 – 6:8; Isaiah 42:5 – 43:10; John 1:1-3
HOW TO RESPOND IN AN EVIL DAY
Russ Resnik, UMJC Rabbinic Counsel
We might be tempted, amid the unthinkable events of recent days, to set aside our weekly Torah discussion and focus entirely on the war in Israel. Earlier this week, my colleague Stephanie Hamman, director of UMJC’s Ashreinu School, wrote about a similar temptation, to suspend the school’s online children’s classes for a week in light of the horrific story that was unfolding in Israel. Instead, she was “deeply convicted that the very best response we can have is to set our minds to studying Hashem’s instruction and the beautiful culture He’s given us to reflect His heart and purposes to the world. As a people we will outlive every oppressor, but it will be because of His covenant love.”
I agree, of course. A savage attack on the holy day of Simchat Torah—Rejoicing in the Torah—demands a response that includes more Torah, not less. (Simchat Torah was celebrated on Saturday, the day of the attack, in Israel and Sunday in the diaspora.) A barbaric attack on the day we renew our cycle of Torah readings must not divert us from renewing that cycle. Indeed, this week’s reading, Genesis 1:1–6:8, is indispensable, as it sheds light on how to respond in an evil day.
The guidance provided in Genesis is not glib or simplistic; it does not minimize the reality of evil in our world, or try to explain it away.
Most people around us won’t accept simplistic answers. We live in a time of increasing unbelief, but for every doctrinaire atheist we might encounter, there’s a dozen genuinely questioning souls who can’t commit to either faith or the denial of faith. Many desire to know a God who is present, real, and loving, but stumble over the mystery of evil in the world. If God is all-good and all-powerful, the Creator of everything (as we learn in this week’s parasha), how can there be so much evil in the world? To cast that question in terms of the horrific events of recent days, how can an all-powerful, loving God let children and parents be murdered in their beds, or be carried off as hostages by heartless men? How can he allow the wanton destruction and cruelty that’s been all-too-real on our screens this week?
Such questions become even tougher as we read the creation account. When the Creator finishes his work, he looks upon all he has made and sees that it is “very good” (Gen 1:31). But how can such things as we’ve seen this week happen in a “very good” world, and how can we believe in a good, all-powerful Creator when such things happen? From such questions arise abundant doubts. Our parasha does not address all these doubts or provide one nice tidy answer, but it does provide a framework for understanding and responding to the realities we see in this world, even on an evil day.
Three main points stand out to me:
The “very good” creation is not finished or perfect, and humans have genuine responsibility for moving it toward perfection. After creating the first two humans, God tells them: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the land, and conquer it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, and over every animal that crawls on the land” (Gen 1:28). A perfect creation would not need to be conquered or ruled over. Likewise, soon after God creates Adam, he places him in a garden, by definition a guarded place, amidst the still-unconquered creation. There, Adam is not to dwell in innocent passivity. Rather, the Lord assigns him real responsibility, “to cultivate and watch over it” (Gen 2:15). And it’s there in the garden, of course, that humankind falls short in that responsibility, and disorder gains an upper hand, as is still evident today.
Within this imperfect world we will encounter reminders of God’s compassion. The not-perfect world where we still live is made far worse by mankind’s rebellion. Even here, though, we can look for glimmers of God’s merciful presence and embrace them, and sometimes see them grow into something far brighter. After Adam and Eve sinned, God promised that a descendant of the woman would crush the head of the serpent that deceived her (Gen 3:15), a hope-fueling assurance of redemption to come. In the meantime, God had to drive Adam and his wife out of the Garden, but he made them “tunics of skin and . . . clothed them” (Gen 3:21). Soon after, he showed a similar mercy to Cain the murderer by putting a mark upon him “so that anyone who found him would not strike him down” in retaliation (Gen 4:15). Even amidst sin and judgment there are glimmers of hope and compassion, if we have eyes to see them. We are to be especially watchful in an evil day and not give in to despair.
As partners in the created order, we can create glimmers of hope ourselves. Our mother Eve provides an example. After promising her a serpent-crushing descendant, the Lord tells her, “I will greatly increase your pain from conception to labor. In pain will you give birth to children” (Gen 3:16). But, pain or not, Eve does give birth. She chooses life and continuity despite the pain. Even after the devastating loss of one son, Abel, murdered by his own brother, Eve conceives again and gives birth to another son, whom she names Seth, or Appointed. “For God has appointed me another seed in place of Abel” (Gen 4:25). Seth is the offspring of hope, and in turn becomes, like his mother, a bearer of hope. It’s in his time, after the birth of his son, Enosh—a name that, “like Adam, means ‘man’ but which puts the emphasis on the basic frailty of man” (Nahum Sarna, JPS Torah Commentary)—that “people began to call on Adonai’s Name” (Gen 4:26). This phrase records the origin of prayer, as Sarna goes on to note: “It is the consciousness of human frailty, symbolized by the name Enosh, that heightens man’s awareness of utter dependence upon God, a situation that intuitively evokes prayer.”
So, how do we respond on an evil day? At such a time, we may try to reassure ourselves and others by saying “our thoughts and prayers are with you.” Some people criticize this sort of saying as superficial, as a pious phrase that doesn’t accomplish anything. Nevertheless, in the face of the unthinkable, we do intuitively turn to prayer, and the picture of God in Genesis should encourage us to do just that. Even, or especially, when we don’t know what to do, prayer is the right response.
We also respond by continuing to live in hope and compassion, watching for openings to treat others with respect and generosity. Such opportunities often emerge in the dark times, but also within the ordinary contours of our lives, if we keep our eyes open.
The Creation narrative doesn’t purport to answer every possible question, including questions raised by the outbreak of evil into our world. It recognizes that we live in a world where human wickedness sometimes seems to have free rein, and also that we can find hope even within such a world. We can respond on an evil day by recognizing the mercy that God provides, by taking hold and acting upon it, including through prayer—and thereby becoming bearers of hope ourselves.
Scripture references are from the Tree of Life Version (TLV)