Post by Jen on Oct 25, 2008 13:33:33 GMT -5
Weekly Parasha -- B'reishit, Gen 1:1-6:8
How appropriate it is that my first post on this board actually coincides with the beginning of the yearly biblical cycle. The Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah (where we read from the very end of Deuteronomy and then cycle all the way back to Genesis) was this past week, so I'm going to try to keep up with a weekly Torah portion for each week.
Anyway, I think even most people who have little knowledge of Judaism or Christianity know the first line of Genesis... it's just so prolific. B'reishit barah Elohim et ha'shamayim v'et ha'aretz. In beginning, God created the skies and the earth. Now, I know most of you have heard "skies" translated as "heavens" and "In beginning as in the beginning, so let's take a look at that, shall we?
So, starting from our own beginning here at Interpretations, here are some possibilities. First, why is it "in beginning"? Hebrew grammar is very specific and that definite article is definitely not there in any of the pointed texts. It is, however, worth pointing out that the original Hebrew text was not pointed with vowels because they hadn't been invented at the time... so perhaps it was supposed to be Ba'reishit all along... human error? Or is there something more there?
I'm going to say there's something more there just because 1)it's more interesting that way, and 2)there has to be a reason the oral tradition didn't have that definite article!
One possibility is that there wasn't just one beginning. How many universes might God have created and watched grow throughout God's existence? Or, perhaps it's a reminder to humans that we aren't the most important beings in the Universe... seriously, we seem to have a problem with thinking that (a rather prolific problem, in fact). The Bible has other reminders of the fact that we aren't the most important beings in the world... for example, humans weren't the first creatures created. I think God had to know the kinds of egos we would have and that we would need these reminders. Perhaps the beginning would have been God's beginning, something we as humans are not allowed to know (or are not capable of fathoming). Kids love to ask questions, and I always seem to hear the one asking "Who created God?" I cannot give any answer other than to say that I do not know, and that no human can ever know.
So, let's spend the week thinking about humility and how the Bible is putting the lesson in front of us here very subtly. I think, looking at the current state of our world (and America in particular), we could use a reminder of humility. How arrogant do we have to be to destroy God's creation? And let's face it, that's exactly what we're doing at this point... we hop into our SUV's (yes, I do think less of people who own SUV's... in fact, driving one has always been a deal-breaker for me in a relationship) to drive four blocks to the store for a case of soda or whatever, while leaving the lights and television on at home because we know we'll be right back. Yeah, I'll say it, we're lazy. We can't be inconvenienced to walk five minutes to the store. I guess the question is whether we are really lazy or are in a rush. If we're lazy... well, I think most people will agree that the Bible says that sloth isn't cool. If we're in a rush... why? What is it that drives us to be constantly running around. Guess what, your life is important, but not everything is so critical! It doesn't all have to be done, and it certainly doesn't all have to be done immediately. We've almost developed a culture of rushed hedonism (which sounds like an oxymoron to me), where there aren't enough hours in the day to fit in all of the recreational activities and such we want to do. I wonder what would happen if we, as a society, just took a moment to step back and take a deep breath. How would our lives be affected if we all slowed down to enjoy God's creation instead of frantically flailing around trying to find the next human innovation to pursue. I'm all for going to the movies and having dinner out with friends, but there have to be moments where we just breathe and realize that, in most cases, none of the things we have to do are really so critical that they can't wait an extra five minutes. In Judaism, we're supposed to have a reminder of the necessity to slow down every week on Shabbat... no work, no human innovation, no rushing and pushing to reach the next goal or see the next movie... but we still seem to mess it up. So, this reminder of humility is something we need for our own sakes... so hopefully we can chill out, stop taking ourselves so seriously, and learn to enjoy life, rather than simply suffer through it.
Another interesting anomaly to point out is that Elohim is a plural noun... I don't have the strength to go into that one today, but it's definitely worthy of note and I intend to bring it up again later.
The second (and final, for this week) thing I would like to point out is about ha'shamayim, the skies. Nearly every contemporary translation I read has translated this word as "heavens"... I have a feeling that this may be because the Septuagint (a greek translation made around 356-323 BCE) translated the word that way. Not knowing Greek, I don't know for sure... but that would be my suspicion. Or, perhaps, heavens was simply a poetic word used for skies. Currently, however, we think of "heavens" as the non-worldly realm of God. Of course, this cannot possibly be a biblical notion because the idea of heaven and an afterlife was introduced with Hellenization and the spread of Greek culture. So, I don't have any really deep lesson to draw from it at the moment, except pointing out the technicality that Heaven as most people think of it does not exist in the Bible. Later, in the works of the prophets, we read about "the world to come", but at the time it was written, "the world to come" was just an expression meaning a time when the messiah (a political figure in Temple Judaism) would come to free Israel from whatever controlling political power had control of her at the time. Judaism doesn't see the messiah as being any sort of supernatural being; rather, he was the one who would free Israel and see that the Temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt so that sacrifical worship could be continued. For example, Cyrus the Great (a kind of Persia), was referred to as a messiah because he helped to re-establish the independence of Israel from Babylonian rule. I suppose my point in this shorter examination is just that, to truly examine and understand Bible, we have to have a greater knowledge of it's corresponding history. The texts have been around for so long that they've developed layers of meaning. Our tendencies towards anachronism in reading scripture are very interesting... I think I could probably make a life out of studying just that.
I'm stopping here because I keep finding myself being drawn deeper and deeper into these examinations. So, I welcome comments, feedback, and discussion.
Shalom u'vrachah,
peace and blessing,
Jen
How appropriate it is that my first post on this board actually coincides with the beginning of the yearly biblical cycle. The Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah (where we read from the very end of Deuteronomy and then cycle all the way back to Genesis) was this past week, so I'm going to try to keep up with a weekly Torah portion for each week.
Anyway, I think even most people who have little knowledge of Judaism or Christianity know the first line of Genesis... it's just so prolific. B'reishit barah Elohim et ha'shamayim v'et ha'aretz. In beginning, God created the skies and the earth. Now, I know most of you have heard "skies" translated as "heavens" and "In beginning as in the beginning, so let's take a look at that, shall we?
So, starting from our own beginning here at Interpretations, here are some possibilities. First, why is it "in beginning"? Hebrew grammar is very specific and that definite article is definitely not there in any of the pointed texts. It is, however, worth pointing out that the original Hebrew text was not pointed with vowels because they hadn't been invented at the time... so perhaps it was supposed to be Ba'reishit all along... human error? Or is there something more there?
I'm going to say there's something more there just because 1)it's more interesting that way, and 2)there has to be a reason the oral tradition didn't have that definite article!
One possibility is that there wasn't just one beginning. How many universes might God have created and watched grow throughout God's existence? Or, perhaps it's a reminder to humans that we aren't the most important beings in the Universe... seriously, we seem to have a problem with thinking that (a rather prolific problem, in fact). The Bible has other reminders of the fact that we aren't the most important beings in the world... for example, humans weren't the first creatures created. I think God had to know the kinds of egos we would have and that we would need these reminders. Perhaps the beginning would have been God's beginning, something we as humans are not allowed to know (or are not capable of fathoming). Kids love to ask questions, and I always seem to hear the one asking "Who created God?" I cannot give any answer other than to say that I do not know, and that no human can ever know.
So, let's spend the week thinking about humility and how the Bible is putting the lesson in front of us here very subtly. I think, looking at the current state of our world (and America in particular), we could use a reminder of humility. How arrogant do we have to be to destroy God's creation? And let's face it, that's exactly what we're doing at this point... we hop into our SUV's (yes, I do think less of people who own SUV's... in fact, driving one has always been a deal-breaker for me in a relationship) to drive four blocks to the store for a case of soda or whatever, while leaving the lights and television on at home because we know we'll be right back. Yeah, I'll say it, we're lazy. We can't be inconvenienced to walk five minutes to the store. I guess the question is whether we are really lazy or are in a rush. If we're lazy... well, I think most people will agree that the Bible says that sloth isn't cool. If we're in a rush... why? What is it that drives us to be constantly running around. Guess what, your life is important, but not everything is so critical! It doesn't all have to be done, and it certainly doesn't all have to be done immediately. We've almost developed a culture of rushed hedonism (which sounds like an oxymoron to me), where there aren't enough hours in the day to fit in all of the recreational activities and such we want to do. I wonder what would happen if we, as a society, just took a moment to step back and take a deep breath. How would our lives be affected if we all slowed down to enjoy God's creation instead of frantically flailing around trying to find the next human innovation to pursue. I'm all for going to the movies and having dinner out with friends, but there have to be moments where we just breathe and realize that, in most cases, none of the things we have to do are really so critical that they can't wait an extra five minutes. In Judaism, we're supposed to have a reminder of the necessity to slow down every week on Shabbat... no work, no human innovation, no rushing and pushing to reach the next goal or see the next movie... but we still seem to mess it up. So, this reminder of humility is something we need for our own sakes... so hopefully we can chill out, stop taking ourselves so seriously, and learn to enjoy life, rather than simply suffer through it.
Another interesting anomaly to point out is that Elohim is a plural noun... I don't have the strength to go into that one today, but it's definitely worthy of note and I intend to bring it up again later.
The second (and final, for this week) thing I would like to point out is about ha'shamayim, the skies. Nearly every contemporary translation I read has translated this word as "heavens"... I have a feeling that this may be because the Septuagint (a greek translation made around 356-323 BCE) translated the word that way. Not knowing Greek, I don't know for sure... but that would be my suspicion. Or, perhaps, heavens was simply a poetic word used for skies. Currently, however, we think of "heavens" as the non-worldly realm of God. Of course, this cannot possibly be a biblical notion because the idea of heaven and an afterlife was introduced with Hellenization and the spread of Greek culture. So, I don't have any really deep lesson to draw from it at the moment, except pointing out the technicality that Heaven as most people think of it does not exist in the Bible. Later, in the works of the prophets, we read about "the world to come", but at the time it was written, "the world to come" was just an expression meaning a time when the messiah (a political figure in Temple Judaism) would come to free Israel from whatever controlling political power had control of her at the time. Judaism doesn't see the messiah as being any sort of supernatural being; rather, he was the one who would free Israel and see that the Temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt so that sacrifical worship could be continued. For example, Cyrus the Great (a kind of Persia), was referred to as a messiah because he helped to re-establish the independence of Israel from Babylonian rule. I suppose my point in this shorter examination is just that, to truly examine and understand Bible, we have to have a greater knowledge of it's corresponding history. The texts have been around for so long that they've developed layers of meaning. Our tendencies towards anachronism in reading scripture are very interesting... I think I could probably make a life out of studying just that.
I'm stopping here because I keep finding myself being drawn deeper and deeper into these examinations. So, I welcome comments, feedback, and discussion.
Shalom u'vrachah,
peace and blessing,
Jen