explanation for the sixth day: They [the works of creation] were all

suspended until the "sixth day," referring to the sixth day of Sivan,

which was prepared for the giving of the Torah (Shabbat 88a). [The hey

is the definite article, alluding to the well-known sixth day, the sixth day of

Sivan, when the Torah was given (ad loc.).]" (Judaica Press translation).

We learn from the above

that we must distinguish the chronological beginning from the logical

beginning. While Creation is the chronological beginning, it serves as a means

to an end. The letter bet in the word bereishit

symbolizes its secondariness. The goal of

Creation, i.e., the giving of the Torah, is the logical beginning, and its

primacy is alluded to by the fact that the Ten Commandments begin with the

first letter of the alphabet, the alef of Anokhi hashem

elokekha…[I am the Lord your God]. In this way, we can move on to the crown of Creation

– Adam – whose name begins with an alef, for he is the point of

Creation; he is designated to fulfill God's will. There are several differences

between the creation of man and that of the rest of creation:

1. Man was created singly.

2. Man was created without kinds

and species; there is no mention of every kind in reference to man, as

had been mentioned in connection with things that swarm in the water, the

birds, and the beasts of the land.

3. Male and female He created

them (Bereishit 1:27), …and He called

their name Adam in the day they were created (Bereishit 5:2).

4. Man was created in the image

of God.

5. It is written only in

connection with man that first there arose the thought of creating him, while

was he actually created only afterwards. Here the Torah tells us was going on "behind

the curtain": and God said, let us create a

man after our image, in our likeness…(Bereishit 1:26).

6. Man was not created ex nihilo, but rather from existing material: and the

Lord God formed the human from the dust of the earth… (Bereishit 2:7).

7. It is not stated in connection

with his creation that God saw that it was good.

Man is

described as a creature existing between domains, between the higher and lower

world; he stands on the earth with his head in the heavens. His divine image is

peculiar in its unity; on the one hand man was created singly; like his

Creator, he lacked differentiation by race or sex. On the other hand, he became

a sexual being, and was charged to be fruitful and multiply like the other

animals. The Holy One blessed be He consulted with His Creation, with heaven

and earth and all that is in them, and said let us create a man after our

image, in our likeness; in the likeness of both Creator and Creation. After

his creation, man received his domain of responsibility in which His creator

would not interfere, so that the goodness or badness of his having been created

would be dependent upon him himself. And so the Sages explain – why was it that

and God saw that it was good is not written in connection with man's creation?

Because good and evil rest in his own hands. The concluding verse of the

creation story alludes to man: And God saw all that He had made and behold

it was very good, and it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day

(Bereishit 1:31). The addition of the word very

alludes to the creation of man, since the word me'od

are composed of the same letters.

In Psalms, the

divine poet says: You made him a little les than divine, and adorned him

with glory and majesty (8:6). The divine

image attributed to man by this verse – You made him a little less than

divine – is the only lead granted to man's limited mind in his pursuit of

God's essence. To the extent that man is required to serve his God, to cling to

Him, to imitate Him and love Him, he must also understand Him. To the extent

that man bears spiritual elements that constitute his divine image, it is only

logical that he also identify those elements. Which elements of man's soul

constitute his divine image – the intellectual element or the emotional

element? According to the verse, And God said let us create a man after our

that creep on the earth (Bereishit

1:26) the image of God implies the ability to control nature. This

further implies that the divine image is to be identified with cognitive

ability. Incidentally, if we were interested in summarizing the various

approaches to Judaism that have made of it many Judaisms,

we would be able to trace all of the disagreements to the questions: which

element in the human soul is to be identified with Divinity, and which lends man

his divine image? Such a bifurcation would distinguish between "Judaism of

the mind" that includes the rationalist approaches – first and foremost,

that of our master the RaMBaM; and "Judaism of

emotion" that includes the worlds of Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah. In addition, we would distinguish Rabbinical

Judaism from Hassidic Judaism, between clinging to God by way of intellectual

ability as expressed in Torah study as against emotional and ecstatic clinging

to God achieved through prayer. This entire great world of thought is built

upon the vision of man as the crown of Creation who bears the divine image, who

is called upon to lend significance to the bet of bereishit.

Amos

Bardea is a thinker and scientist.

Man, the Crown of Creation, is

Complicated and varied. Was it Right to Create Him?

R. Simon said: At the hour when

the Holy One blessed be He came to create man, the angels formed parties and

factions. Some of them said "Do not create him!" and some of them

said, "Create him!" This is why it says Loving-kindness

and truth met, justice and peace touched (Psalms 85).

Loving-kindness says, "Let

him be created, for he practices loving-kindness.

Truth says, "Do not

create him, for he is all lies."

Justice says, "Let

him be created, for he does justice."

Peace says, "Do not

create him, for he is all strife."

He took truth and cast it down

to earth, as it is written, and it cast truth down to earth (Daniel 8)

The ministering angels spoke

before the Holy One blessed be He: Master of the

worlds, why do you disgrace your seal? [alluding to

the notion that truth is God's seal] Let truth rise up from the earth! As

it was said, Truth shall spring from the earth (Psalms 85).

(Bereishit Rabbah

8:5)

Man was Created Singly

Man

was created alone in the world, so that families not quarrel with each other.

And if now, when man was created singly, they quarrel with each other, had he

been created two at a time, how much more so!

(Tosefta, Sanhedrin 8:2)

Therefore man was created singly… for the sake of peace among men, so

that one will not say to his fellow: My father is greater than your father.

(Mishnah,

Sanhedrin 4:5)

Man was Created Last

Our Rabbis taught: Man was created on the eve of the Sabbath; why? So

that the heretics would not say: The Holy One blessed be

He had a partner in creation.

Another thing: So that if he becomes haughty, He could tell him: The

mosquito preceded you in Creation.

The Serpent's Curse

The Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done

shall move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. (Bereishit 3:14)

Rabbi Asi and Rabbi Hoshiya said

in the name of Rabbi Aha:

God told him: I made you king

over domesticated animals and wild beasts, but you did not want it.

I made you to walk erect like

a human, but you did not want it – on your belly you shall crawl.

I made you to eat food like

humans, but you did not want it – and dirt shall you eat all the days of

your life.

You wanted to kill Adam and

marry Eve – and I will put enmity between you and the woman.

So – that which he wanted he

did not receive, and that which was in his possession was taken from him.

And we find this also by Cain,

Korah, Bilaam, Doag, Ahitofel. Gehazi, Avshalom, Adoniyahu, Uziyahu, and Haman; that which

they wanted they did not receive, and that which was in their possession was

taken from them.

(Bereishit Rabbah 20:5)

It would appear that the

phrase, on your belly shall you crawl and dirt shall you eat all the

days of your life may be understood as a blessing. It removes the need for toil,

since food is always available – no need to search or even to raise one's head

to fulfill one's basic needs!

The problem is that when there

is no need to search or make an effort, or to even

raise one's head – then you remain close to the ground, and do not rise above

it. There is in this an abandonment of human purpose and of the searching that

is necessary for any development.

(From the thought of Menahem

Mendel of Kotzk)

Rabbi Meir

Shimon (Max) Warschawsky, z"l

On the twentieth of Elul 5766, Rabbi Max Warschawsky,

a supporter of the Oz VeShalom-Netivot Shalom movement, passed away in Jerusalem following a protracted illness. He spent the

greater part of his life serving as the Chief Rabbi of Strasbourg and the lower Rhein

section of the Alsace region. His son Michael Warschawsky,eulogized him at his funeral at the Sanhedria cemetery; that same day Strasbourg's daily

newspaper ran an article under the headline "The Rabbi Who Loved Humanity."

Rabbi Warschawsky, z"l was born

in Strasbourg in 1925. He began his rabbinical studies in

the legendary PSIL school that had been set up by R. Avaraham Deutsch in Limouge while

it was under the German occupation. In 1944 R. Warschawsky joined a unit of Jewish partisans belonging

to the Jewish Scouts movement, and took an active part in all of its battles. After

liberation, he completed his studies and was ordained as a rabbi in London. He served as director of Strasbourg's Jewish community's educational system and

as deputy to his teacher, Chief Rabbi Avraham Deutsch

until he was chosen to succeed him in 1970. He was married to Marie Metzger;

they had three sons and four daughters, most of whom

live in Jerusalem. Upon his retirement in 1987, the Warschawsky, made aliyah and settled in Jerusalem, where their many friends and students

offered them a loving communal environment. Their home always served as a

paragon of hospitality and a focus of vibrant social and communal life.

Upon his aliyah, Rabbi Warschawsky, joined

the Shomrei Mishpat

association, a group of rabbis that promotes human rights; he sat on its board

of directors. He was an expert on the history of the Jews of Alsace and

authored many monographs concerning the lives of rabbis and Jewish communal

leaders of the Alsace region, as well as studies of the customs peculiar to

Alsace Jewry.

May his memory be blessed.

Lucien Lazare

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About

us

Oz Veshalom-Netivot

Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel.

It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice,

concepts that have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot

Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land

of Israel and it no less views

peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the

religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It

maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just

society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an

imperative.

5,000 copies of a 4 page peace

oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz

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Shalom's educational forums draw people of different

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peace and social issues.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom fills an

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furthering of peace and coexistence, the movement is in a unique position to

engage in dialogue with the secular left and the religious right, with Israeli

Arabs and with Palestinians.