The Jews celebrate Rosh
Hashana as the birthday of the world. The idea is multifaceted and the
expressions can be refined even though they all amount to the same thing. For
example the refrain after sounding the shofar in the Additional Service for
the holiday (Musaf) is “today the
world was conceived” (הַיּוֹם
הֲרַת עוֹלָם).
In fact according to Jewish religious thought the world was conceived on forty
days before on the 15 of Av and was not completed until the sixth day of
creation when man as we know him came into being. Man was the object of the
creation therefore everything that preceded him is reckoned as preparation.
The second part to a large extent disregards all of this. It says were
no plants. There was only a mist rising out of the earth to water the soil.
Once man was created everything sprung up. After that, the animals were brought
before him. The Chumash explains that the parade of animals was so that man
should be given a helper that would be close to him. It mentions incidentally
that man named the animals. This introduces the third part of the story of
creation which is the creation of women.
There are
inherent difficulties with the text. For example the commentaries wrestle with
the idea of how can something be created when it does not come into physical
existence. There is also a contradiction in that the man by himself, alone,
does meaningful work, but is he a complete creation without the woman?
To add to the
difficulties there is the light of day and the darkness of night, as well as
evening and morning before the sun is created on the fourth day. Plants also
come into creation before the sun. The commentaries give various explanations
about this too.
One can ask what difference does it all make anyway? The Torah is coming
to teach us how to be good people. That a person should not lie or steal,
respect his parents, and not work on Shabbos makes him into a better person.
However, even to the Torah there can be objections. It is forbidden to curse a
deaf man even though he doesn’t hear it nor does anybody else. Intuitively,
though, it seems like this sort of mischief really is malevolent.
It is possible to go to a university Jewish studies program and find a
kind Jew that studies Torah. However, there is no comparison between a person
who studies Torah and believes that there is a G-d in heaven running the world
and a person who does not. They are very different and it shows up on the look
on their face, the tone of their voice, and the life that they lead. Therefore
we see that there is a difference between someone who believes in G-d, believes
that He created of the world, and believes that He created it the six days.
The Rambam opens his major work, The Mishna Torah (Book of Knowledge,
laws of concerning the Foundations of Torah), by declaring that the,
“Foundation of Foundations and the pillar or all wisdom is to know that there
is something that is found first and from it everything else is derived.
Everything in the heavens on earth and in between only exists by the fact of
His existence”. This idea is developed in his smaller work, Guided for the
Perplexed”. Much of the second of the books three sections deals with
philosophical and scientific analysis of the idea that G-d created the
universe. There is an extensive analysis of astronomy. His conclusion is that
either the universe has always existed or that it was created by an outside all
powerful force, G-d. He says that neither one is can be firmly proved but
belief in G-d is superior while the idea of the eternity of the universe raises
difficulties.
The Rambam explains that to have a genuine intellectual foundation for
belief in the creation of the world one must be very truthful and impartial.
The searcher must know his strong and weak points. Next he must acquire a
strong knowledge of the natural sciences to the extent that he can know what is
doubtful and what is true. Finally he must be of high character. This is
because character failings will cause him to go in the direction that he finds
pleasing and in the end will cause him to stumble.
The basic idea of the story of creation in the Chumash is that one can
see the presence of G-d in the sciences. However to be success at this one must
overcome many difficulties among them intellectual, social, and personal. The
Chumash though tells us the answer in order to guide us in the proper
direction. It is similar to the stories of the patriarchs in that G-d is
revealed through the actions of the righteous. The purpose of the Torah is not
to teach us history or science; it is to teach us how to be good human beings.
At times the precepts of the Torah can be difficult to understand. The lesson
is that just like we can find truth in science if we sincerely search for it, a
similar search will reveal to us the righteousness and benevolence of the
mitzvahs.
לע"נ, הדוד ,שמואל
בן נח ז"ל נלב"ע ט"ו אב תשס"ט,
Acknowledgements to websites:
תורת אמת, וויקיטקסט, http://dictionary.reference.com/,
http://hebrewbooks.org/,
וגם בדואר אלקטרוני
ניתן באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il
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