I have often said that the Tora explains not only how Man acknowledges the existence of the Supreme Being- but of the Supreme Being accommodating itself to living with the frailty of Man. (I just mentioned this yesterday!)
At first, the Supreme Being is on a first name basis with Man. (Note: The first man was hermaphroditic; in that Chava (eve) was removed from Adam.
Chapter 1, verse 26 ff of Breishit (Genesis)
Then the Supreme Being declared, “Let Us make U in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the dominions of Earth, including every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So, the Supreme Being created Man in Its own image, in the image of God the Supreme Being created him; male and female the Supreme Being so created. The Supreme Being blessed them…
Chapter 2, verse 20 ff of Breishit (Genesis)
The man (Adam) gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Supreme Being caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then the Supreme Being took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Supreme Being fashioned into a woman the rib which It had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man declared, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman,Because she was taken out of Man.”
Then, the Supreme Being stops talking to Adam, after he and Chava partook of the Tree of Knowledge. (Not only because they broke a simple command, but because they refused to take responsibility for their actions- despite their new-found knowledge.)
And, then the Supreme Being finds a problem with Kayin (Cain), the whole population of Man, Noach (Noah) when the first action he does after the flood is plant a vineyard- and then gets toasted. The Supreme Being continues a conversation with the Patriarchs, Hagar, Moshe (Moses), Yehoshua (Joshua), Shmuel (Samuel), and then fewer and fewer. Until now, when we consider those that claim to speak to the Supreme Being to be crazier than a loon.
But, we- Man (that’s man AND woman), we need to keep communication lines open among ourselves.
Consider this passage in the Tora- right before we are informed that Kayin kills Havel (Abel).
And, Kayin said to Hevel his brother. And, then when they were in the field, Kayin rose up against Havel, his brother, and killed him.
What exactly was said? We don’t really know- but it is considered that Kayin simply created an argument to justify his annoyance that Havel’s sacrifice offering was more acceptable to the Supreme Being.
Or, the discourse (actually the lack thereof) between Yosef (Joseph) and his brothers.
Yosef brought negative reports on the brothers to their father… the brothers despised him so much they could not speak a friendly word with him. (Breishit 37, before they sold him to slavery.)
Yosef told his brothers, “I am Yosef”… The brothers were unable to answer him because they were dumfounded. (Breishit 45, when Yosef reveals to his brothers that he is the Vice-Regent of Egypt.)
Yosef fell upon Binyamin’s (Benjamin) neck and cried…he kissed all his brothers…cried upon them. Afterwords, his brothers spoke to him. (Breishit 50, after Binyamin is brought to Egypt.)
See the common thread. Being angry with our fellow Man (again, that’s man AND/OR woman), not communicating (or creating arguments with no reasoning discourse) only leads to abandonment, strife, even murder.
It’s time for us to begin communicating with each other. Way past time.
Today is the 77th years since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Until 9-11, the most significant attack on US lands ever.
Today is also a friend’s birthday- happy birthday EZ. Tonight begins the new month of Tevet. And, tomorrow is my younger brother’s birthday- enjoy it NHA!
I love the message you share here. I wish people would always practice kindness, and not just during the holiday season. Hard to believe Pearl Harbor was 77 years ago—wow.
I’m with you, Marcia! Thanks for the visit.
And, I think the next generations will only remember 9-11, relegating Pearl Harbor to the pages of history and textbooks.
Exactly, a breakdown in communication seems to be at the root of most modern problems as well. But will mankind EVER learn?
We can only hope, Debra! Or, we will be forever relying on wars in our lives.
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Sorry you had to ‘stumble’ to find it. 🙂 Glad you will join my many subscribers! Thanks.
It is unfortunate that so many of us think that by just voicing their thoughts they are communicating. We need to listen more as well. Really listen and hearing what is being said.
Touche, Jessica! Pontificating is NOT communicating. Thanks for that addition!
This is another treasure from your writing. I loved this article.
Being a continuous reader I love your writing.
Thanks for sharing.
I am honored by your visits AND your comment!
so, here is a question: from reading some of the comments and from thinking about common sense and responsibility as adults, why is it that we all think we need to communicate better, but the consensus is that such communication is hard to obtain.
Why, when we all know it, can we not do it????????
So, let me digress for a moment. (But, not really…)
At a recent Shabat dinner, I had some guests present that are not normal visitors. They seemed to believe that their verbiage was the most important- and would overpower the discussions of the other table guests. Until finally one of the most mild-mannered ones finally said “Shut up and let me finish”.
It’s the self-importance we attribute to our brilliant thoughts that lets us believe that we can talk and others should simply accept our findings, rather than listen and interact with others.
yeah, I know a few of those.
they are not communicators
they love the sound of their own voice
I find these people typically insecure much like your not-so-illustrious leader
Oh, no, Jessica. TheDonald is not insecure- he only relies on his own opinion because no one else in the world matters.
I agree with you. In my view, however, that type of person displays serious narcistic personality characteristics leading back to deep insecurities. Mind you I am not a scientist or psychologist, but I know a couple of narcissists who are insecure and are just like the D.
OK. I won’t disagree with you.
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I am totally honored you visited AND commented! Thanks so much for doing so.
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Glad to oblige, Shelby!