Torah Readers Reflections

Your name is Adam (three acts)

God called him Adam. God made man a connection between the earth and God but Adam disappointed him and connected himself to the earth. 2,000 years later God once again called Adam and instructed him to bring sacrifices to the Tabernacle. What can we learn from the sacrifices that god commanded “Adam” to bring?
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Act one:

The first name chosen for the first man was Adam. God chose this name for him:

 

זֶ֣ה סֵ֔פֶר תּוֹלְדֹ֖ת אָדָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם בְּרֹ֤א אֱ-לֹהִים֙ אָדָ֔ם בִּדְמ֥וּת אֱ-לֹהִ֖ים עָשָׂ֥ה אֹתֽוֹ: זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בְּרָאָ֑ם וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָ֗ם

 וַיִּקְרָ֤א אֶת־שְׁמָם֙ אָדָ֔ם בְּי֖וֹם הִבָּֽרְאָֽם:

And God created humankind (Adam) in the divine image, creating it in the image of God—creating them male and female.

 

Why did God call him by this name? From the quoted verses it seems that his name is derived from the word image - since he was made in the image of God, God called him Adam. In another verse that appears in chapter 2 of Genesis it is written that God created the person dirt from the dust of the earth And from this verse it is possible to deduce that the origin of the name of man is the earth.

When G-d calls a person, it is likely that he calls him the way they call someone when they want to "capture" their attention. Since no one had called Adam before, this “call” had a double meaning - calling a name and using that name - "And he called their name Adam" - By calling him “Adam”, a connection was made between God and Adam.

Calling one's name is also calling one's destiny. A destiny to connect between the earth, starting from the most lowly of elements - the dirt, and the image of God. God placed man in the world and by his name he indicates his dual essence that expresses the connection that man is supposed to create, between earth and the image of God, between the earth and the sky.

 

Act two:

וַיִּקְרָ֛א ה' אֱ-לֹהִ֖ים אֶל־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ אַיֶּֽכָּה:

 

God called out to the Human (Adam) and said to him, “Where are you?”

 

Disappointment comes very quickly and is very painful. Man is tempted to connect with the earth instead of fulfilling his intended destiny and being the connection between the earth and the heavens. He gives up the image of God for the tree of the garden. God again calls man, but this time the call is not a call of assigning a destiny but rather one of disappointment; disappointment that Adam has lost the way - "lamentation". Losing the way also entails a reaction. The reaction is not an external punishment but a natural result and reflection of the situation. Man will have to be tied to the earth all his life. The earth will not allow him to aspire to the heavens, but will pull him back to earth, so that he may work the land all his life in order that he may survive. In the end, he will return to the earth - "For you are dust and to dust you shall return." The image of God is no longer present in Adam as it was when he was initially created. Adam had decided to connect to the earth instead of connecting to God.

 

Act three     

וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה...דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם אָדָ֗ם כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֥יב  מִכֶּ֛ם קָרְבָּ֖ן לה'

 

Speak to the Israelite people, and say to them: When any of you (Adam) presents an offering of cattle to God: 

 

Again a call, again a call to “Adam”. The Almighty does not give up on man. He wants him as a link between the earth and the heavens. 2000 years have passed since God initially called to Adam and again there is a call - "Adam", again there is a chance for such a connection between earth and the image of God. 

 

The Almighty chose a people; Israel as God's people. The Mishkan (Tabernacle) was built as a place of God's divine presence in the world and now there is a possibility to return to the initial goal - a person who will sacrifice - a person (Adam) who will once again bring the physical world closer to the spiritual world. The Lord calls again, A person (Adam) In the hope that this time, man will fulfill his destiny and connect matter and spirit and will connect to God with love and devotion and not just to the earth.

 

***

 

The beginning of the book of Leviticus is difficult for the contemporary Torah student to comprehend. It is far from the practical world and sometimes also contemporary thought. However, renouncing it as antiquated, is to renounce a book that perhaps, more than the other books, talks about the direct connection between man and G-d. As such it contains concepts that by their very nature are less understandable. At the same time, the world of sacrifices creates a sense of bringing the things that are dear to man to G-d in order to create a connection and a relationship. Even if the way (of animal sacrifice) is very far from our world, we have the opportunity (and a difficult task) to look at the verses and find through them the basic principles of the basic sacrifices that teach about the ways to create a binding and deep relationship between man and God.

 

Shabbat Shalom, Matan Schneeweiss

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