TIDE – RSRH for All

Beraishis 3J Man is Inherently Good

After Man’s sin he remains inherently good.

The only things God cursed were the ground and an animal, which serve as the new stage upon which Man continues to carry on the same mission he had before the sin. Man’s high calling and his ability to reach that goal remain the same.

To this day every human child is born as pure as an angel. This is one of the most basic Jewish concepts.

See page 87, mid-page, beginning with the words “what a disconsolate lie”, for very passionate words written by RSRH written in vehement protest to Christian dogma. He writes that Christianity’s false interpretation of the effects of the original sin presented the mistaken thought that Man is no longer inherently good and must sin, and the only way to return to God and paradise, is for something external to bring Man back.

To this RSRH says yes, it is true that as a result of this sin Man lives in a world which doesn’t flourish as it did before the sin, but the only reason Man has not yet returned to paradise is because he keeps on repeating this same sin, not because the original sin caused irrevocable damage. Man is thrust into the “school of renunciation”, the school where he must learn to sacrifice for a higher good and not give in to his animal instincts. This will ultimately educate Man up to the highest levels, and back to paradise.

Jewish history is filled with examples of people who, through their free willed efforts were able to become very close to God, without the need for any external dead or resurrected intermediary. Avraham, Moshe, Yeshaya, Yirmiyahu and all the prophets attained this level by their pure efforts in fulfilling God’s will.

To this day we begin our prayers with the words הנשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא “the soul that You have given to me is pure”.

The sum total of the Torah is to teach us how to understand and think about God and uplift earthly life up to God, using the moral power that each human being was given.

Beraishis 3:19, Pages 87-88

Beraishis 3E God’s Distancing Himself as a Result of Human Sin

As a a result of Man’s sin God was מתהלך בגן – God withdrew to a limited sphere. Our sages understood this s to mean that God was withdrawing to some degree from Man, סילוק שכינה, choosing to stay within the proximity of holiness. Man’s had chosen to not be holy.

Later in the Torah we find that when our camps are holy, God is to be found there. When we have made our מחניך קודש, then we find כי ה’ אלקיך מתהלך בקרב מחנך.

The lesson is clear. God can be heard in our camps, in our day to day lives on earth – not via some emotional, spiritual high or by some kabbalistic elevation to another state of being. God will be close to us in the midst of our regular, earthly lives when we live our lives in holiness, according to His will.

God withdrew from them in the garden, the garden being a place on earth. When Adam and Eve were living their lives according to God’s will, He could be sensed on earth.

Beraishis 3:8, Pages 78-79

Beraishis 2Q They Were Naked and Were Not Ashamed

1. At that time they were both of one mind, dedicating body and soul completely to fulfilling God’s will. There was nothing to feel ashamed about.

Shame is a feeling of being disappointed in ones expectations of one’s self and Adam and Eve had no reason to feel any dissapointment. Nothing about their physical, sensual side was in opposition to their calling. It was part of their calling. The pure human body, directed by heeding God’s laws, is no less holy than the soul!

When a person makes use of his senses to serve himself rather than God, then there is shame in nakedness.

2. The Torah stresses that both Man and Woman were naked and not ashamed. Both were directing their complete selves toward godliness.

In some societies there is an expectation that girls are holy and chaste but the same is not expected of the boys and men. The Torah opposes this thought. Men and women are equally expected to uplift themselves in body and spirit. Men are given the mitzvah of ברית מילה as a warning to be holy in this area of life. See more on this in the Comment Man in the Image of God – Holiness of the Body.

Beraishis 2:25, Pages 70-72

Beraishis 2F וייצר- ב יצירות – The Dual Nature of Man

The word the Torah uses to say that God formed Man is וייצר, the letter “yud” appearing twice. As the word יצר can mean inclination or formation, our sages teach us that this verse contains a number of related lessons.

– Man is both mortal and immortal
– Man is both earthly and heavenly
– Man has a good inclination and a bad inclination

When this word is pronounced only one “yud” is heard. Man always appears to have both sides of him but one side is always the more dominant. Which one is up to him. The most holy person is still a person. In the background is his body and his inclinations. He had to fight to be as holy as he is. And even a person who seems to be at the lowest rung of his humanity still contains a spark of holiness within him.

Both inclinations and aspects of Man were created from the very beginning. The God who created Man’s inclination toward the spirit, created Man’s earthly inclinations. There is nothing unholy or wrong with either of Man’s inclinations as long as they are put to use according to God’s instructions. Man was not created to be a מלאך. Man is not pure white. That is God’s realm. That is the realm of angels. Man was created to be אדם. Man is put on earth. whose spiritual side is broken up by his encounter with the physical. Man is “red”. (See this very fundamental concept that RSRH refers to often.)

In this world, the world of the senses and with his sensuous nature, Man is to live his life and uplift it all in the service of God. The Christian concept that the sensuous nature of Man comes from Satan is a twisted concept that has been the curse of Man throughout history. (I believe RSRH is saying that by rejecting the body as a part of the service to God, Christianity has missed the main intention of Man’s mission; to uplift his body and this world. By striving to relegate the body as something evil, the body remains unholy or worse. The world does not become transformed and elevated, the opposite occurs. This misguided concept allows for moments of religious ecstasy and yet the whole of life is left out of the religious experience. This invites the most decadent elements of human nature to develop. GS)

Beraishis 2:7, Pages 56-57

Shabbos

The word מלאכה is the feminine form of the word מלאך. Melacha is the tangible result of using and forming material for a specific purpose. With the universe’s formation complete, it receives the title of God’s מלאכה.

The word שבת means more than rest. It is a halt in activity because the activity has come to its desired end and purpose. With all of creation in place and free willed-Man given the world with the conditions that God had set forth, all new creation halted because there was nothing more to add.

Shabbos Beraishis itself was the last thing put in place for the education of Mankind. It was blessed, endowing it with the ability to continuously foster an awareness of God in the world. It was made holy, given a unique place, to endure forever.

God blessed this day and made it holy because this is a day for Man’s education. It is a time for Man to dwell on God the Creator and the purpose of all of Man and creation. All of creation was designed to lead up to this Shabbos education. This education of Man will gradually, in the course of human history, win over Mankind to become the messenger of God in this world he was intended to become – making use of and uplifting all the universe in service to God.

Beraishis 2:2-3, Pages 43-47

Beraishis 2B Shabbos – שבת בראשית

Beraishis 2:2-3, Pages 43-47

Torah; Mankind’s Path Back to God

All of creation waited in anticipation for Man to arrive. When Man makes proper use of the world, all of the world has meaning.

When in the course of time Man misused the world and didn’t live up to his calling, the unfulfilled earth waited in anticipation for Israel to receive the Torah and begin the process of bringing all of Mankind back to its mission and calling as אדם.

Therefore, the Midrash teaches us, God made a condition with the earth that if Israel accepts the Torah, all is good, but if not, the earth should revert to confusion. It is through Israel that the world receives the Torah. It is through the Torah’s message that Mankind and the earth find their true purpose. (The sixth refers to the 6th day of Sivan when the Torah was given)

Beraishis, 1:31, Pages 39-40

Beraishis 1S “The” Sixth Day – יום השישי

All of creation waited in anticipation for Man to arrive. When Man makes proper use of the world, all of the world has meaning.

The sixth also teaches us to extend part of the sixth day of the week into Shabbos. The sixth day of creation, the day that concludes all of creation, with Man’s mission, gives meaning to the previous days. Shabbos is a continuation and constant reminder of this sixth day message.

Beraishis 1:31, Pages 39-40

Beraishis 1P The Whole World is the Arena for Man’s Mission

By telling Man to fill the entire world, God says that the entire world (אדמה) is material ready to be infused with godliness by אדם, God’s representative on earth. There is no climate, location or variety of life where Man cannot carry out his mission as אדם.

Beraishis 1:28, Page 36

All of Life is to be Made Holy

There is no division in life between holy and mundane. Building a family and being part of society are not separate and distinct from divine matters. They are one and the same. God asks for the whole of life to be dedicated to His service. This is the calling of אדם.

Beraishis 1:28, Pages 35-36

Beraishis 1O Man’s Mission: Form Godly Families and Society

God blessed Man and Woman and commanded them (they must chose of their own free will to obey) Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it.

1. Be fruitful – Marriage. The most noble traits of godliness and humaneness, innate in all parents, unite to produce children.

2. Multiply – The Home. Found a home where you will nurture and educate your children, thereby creating an environment where your ideals and values become theirs.

3. Fill the earth – Society. This is not merely a mission for individual families. Create a society where these higher values are fostered and encouraged.Every individual must concern himself with the whole.

4. Conquer the earth. Only when the first three conditions are met, is Man granted permission to make use of God’s world. All his possessions are to serve the higher goal of creating the generation and society of godly people.

Beraishis 1:28, Pages 33-36

Man in the Image of God – Holiness of the Body

צלם means an covering or a bodily form. If God wished to appear cased in exterior visible form, representing His compassion, love and justice, He would appear in the figure he gave Man.

No man can be like God, but as אדם he must strive to be similar to God. Man should not allow anything withing himself or about himself that is contradictory to God.

Man’s mission is to become holy – to work oneself up toward the God’s holiness.

Beraishis 1:26, Pages 30-31

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The Torah emphasizes the godlike dignity of the human body. This is a central theme of the Torah.
Man is capable of his godly mission on earth, even with his physicality and all his urges. In fact, Man was specifically designed to grow upward and become holy with his body.

It is a grave error to only see godliness in Man’s mind and spirit, thereby giving the body free reign to be involved in all sorts of depravity.

A holy body is the foundation for all growth of the spirit. The higher the spiritual and mental greatness, the more demands on keeping the body holy. As such, the first commandment the Jewish people are given is ברית מילה. Israel’s mission is to rebuild a purer Mankind, therefore their very first commandment is to dedicate the body to God.

Many of the mitzvos have this theme, such as laws of sexual relations, eating, ritual purity and cleansing oneself of ritual impurity.

Beraishis 1:27, Pages 32-33

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1. Animals were formed as a natural extension of the physical earth – תוצא הארץ נפש חיה. By the creation of Man, the earth was the matter from which Man was formed but God Himself formed Man – וַיִּיצֶר ה’ אלקים אֶת-הָאָדָם, עָפָר מִן-הָאֲדָמָה. This underscores the special dignity and high stature of even the human body.

2. Just as Man/אדם is to master the earth for the use of service to God, so is Man to master his body, derived from the earth for the service of God.

Beraishis 2:7, Pages 54

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Both inclinations and aspects of Man were created from the very beginning. The God who created Man’s inclination toward the spirit, created Man’s earthly inclinations. The primary way for Man to carry out his mission is in this world, the world of the senses and with his sensuous nature. (See more on this in The Dual Nature of Man)

Beraishis 1L בצלמנו Man Created in God’s Image

צלם means an covering or a bodily form. If God wished to appear cased in exterior visible form, representing His compassion, love and justice, He would appear in the figure he gave Man.

No man can be like God, but as אדם he must strive to be similar to God. Man should not allow anything within himself or about himself that is contradictory to God.

Man’s mission is to become holy – to work oneself up toward God’s holiness.

Beraishis 1:26, Pages 30-31

It is a grave error to only see godliness in Man’s mind and spirit, thereby giving the body free reign to be involved in all sorts of depravity.

A holy body is the foundation for all growth of the spirit. The higher the spiritual and mental greatness, the more demands on keeping the body holy. As such, the first commandment the Jewish people are given is ברית מילה. Israel’s missin is to rebuild a purer Mankind, therefore their very first commandment is to dedicate the body to God.

Many of the mitzvos have this theme, such as laws of sexual relations, eating, ritual purity and cleansing oneself of ritual impurity.

Beraishis 1:27, Pages 32-33

Man’s Task: Infuse the World with Godliness

God speaks to all of Creation in the “royal we” and says “Let Us make Adam.” Just as a benevolent king directs his subjects for their betterment, so too God’s announcement in advance of creating Man tells Creation that the creation of Man is for its benefit, will bring it to a higher level.

The word for Man is אדם. The word for the earth,אדמה, is derived from the word אדם.

The color red is אדום. When one shines light on a prism, the least refracted ray of light through the prism is red. This is paralleled in Man’s existence on earth. The prism represents the physical realm we live in. The light shining on the prism represents God’s light. Man is red. Man is the being inhabiting this world nearest to revelation of the divine. Man’s task is to sense God and bring God into this world by living in accordance with His will, thereby infusing this world with Godliness. The world will happily respond and flourish when Man does so. Therefore the name for the earth is אדמה, the feminine form of אדם. (The feminine form being that which nurtures and develops that which it receives. GS) When Man brings God into the world, the world responds in kind.

There are a number of related Hebrew words that further develop this concept:

Man is God’s footstool – הדום- on earth.
Man is God’s seal – חתם- on creation.
Man’s mission can be understood in being created as a likeness – (דמ(ה- to God.

Based on the above, RSRH translates the word אדם to mean representative (of God in this world).

Beraishis 1:26, Pages 29-30

Beraishis 1D All aspects of existence should inspire us to serve Hashem

The reason the Torah did not begin with the Book of Shemos, the laws to live by, is to teach us an important lesson. Serving God and our relationship with God are not only to be found in meditating about God and keeping his laws. If that is all God asks of us, the first verse in the Torah would suffice, and the entire book of Beraishis could be skipped.

The book of Beraishis teaches us to observe and ponder the origin of the world, world history and Jewish history. These observations and thoughts should move us to see God in all aspects of life. Each object, plant, animal, individual, society, country, at its own state of development, serves Hashem at its own level, in its own way. See how all of existence serves Hashem! Allowing these observations to penetrate our thoughts and emotions should inspire us to obey His Law with dedication and appreciate that this is the very purpose of our time on Earth. This is the message of Psalm 104 ברכי נפשי.

Bereishis1:1, Page 6

Torah im Derech Eretz

Ultimately, Man will come to achieve the highest level of goodness, and through Man, so will the world. Man and the world were created for this very purpose.

Man achieves this by acknowledging and returning the gifts of the world to its Giver (making proper use of the world in service to Hashem and thereby uplifting and sanctifying Man and the world. GS)

Bereishis 1:1, Page 2

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Bereishis1:1, Page 6

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Beraishis 1:28, Page 36

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The verse tells us that there was no rain because Man was not there to work the soil (to service the earth). Although Man is master over the earth, by his using the earth correctly as אדם, as directed by God, he is doing a service to the earth. The earth is purely physical. Man is a free willed, moral being. Man’s use of the earth correctly, furthers its higher purpose, now becoming a participant in a free willed service to God.

Beraishis 2:5, Pages 51-53

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See Concept Man’s Task: To Infuse the World with Godliness

See Concept All of Life is to be Made Holy

See Concept Holiness of the Body

See Concept The Whole World is the Arena for Man’s Mission

Beraishis 1B God’s Plan for the World

1. Ultimately, Man will come to achieve the highest level of goodness, and through Man, so will the world. Man and the world were created for this very purpose.

Man achieves this by acknowledging and returning the gifts of the world to its Giver (making proper use of the world in service to Hashem and thereby uplifting and sanctifying Man and the world. GS)

2. The Torah, Israel, and various Tithes are referred to as ראשית- Beginning, for each of these represent a beginning of this process of recognition and dedication.

3. When the world lost awareness of God’s presence and involvement, miracles became necessary to reawaken that awareness. (The Hebrew word for miracle is נס which means “banner” – that which brings awareness)

Beraishis 1:1, Pages 2-3