Nearly four weeks ago, the Jewish people began the Jewish Holiday season. A new year was inaugurated, judgment was handed down, atonement was made, forgiveness was received, and thanks was given and we celebrated. Amid the pattern of eating sleeping and praying was the acknowledgment of cycles and seasons. We began these nearly four weeks during summer and concluded them with autumn in the air. We finished reading the Torah and now begin a new Torah reading cycle. I know that some people find transitions to be difficult, a time of angst, where we leave the familiarity of ”what was” to the anxiety of “what will be”. While we have experienced a transition from summer to fall, from the end of the Torah to the beginning of the Torah, from the conclusion of one year to the start of a new year, we have taken the time to ritualize and celebrate these transitions. Ritualizing transitions can be seasonal, “Spring Training” for example and it can also be developmental, a toddler going through “toilet training”, or a child finishing high school choosing and applying to universities. Well, I am too old to be dealing with a child going through “toilet training”. However, our son, our youngest child, is currently in grade 12. This year, with the conclusion of the Jewish Holidays, the season of visiting University campuses begins. So my son and took a drive and looked at a few campuses outside of Toronto. There will be more visits to campuses, in Montreal, upstate New York, New Jersey, and around Washington D.C. As we walked around those first couple of campuses, I forgot how much I enjoyed being on a University campus.
This morning we begin the Torah from the very beginning in Parsha Breishit. We are all familiar with the narrative of this Parsha. The first chapter focuses upon the narrative of creation from God’s perspective. The second chapter focuses upon the narrative of creation from a humankind perspective. The third chapter focuses upon Adam and Chava’s disobedience of God, their obedience to the serpent their partaking of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and the resulting consequences. The fourth chapter focuses upon the family’s growth, sibling rivalry as well as fratricide. The fifth chapter focuses upon ten generations of the family’s genealogy beginning with Adam and Chava and concluding with Noach and his sons. In the sixth chapter, God expresses disappointment with mankind’s behavior and God expresses disappointment in his creation.
There is a moment after Adam and Chava ate from the Tree of Knowledge, and they realized that they had failed to follow directions. VaTipakachna Einei Shneihem VaYeidu Ki Eirumim Heim – then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked. By eating from the Tree of Knowledge, their eyes opened. They had become enlightened. They had become “aware” of their existence in context. They were not like other aspects of creation. Despite this enlightenment and this awareness what do they do? VaYitChabei Ha’Adam V’Ishto Mipnei Adoshem Elokim B’Toch Eitz Hagan – and the man and his wife hid from Hashem God among the trees of the garden. They tried to lose themselves amid the trees. So when God asks Ayeka – Where are you? God knows where they are. The problem is that they do not know where they are. They don’t answer the question. Et Kolecha Shamati BaGan VaIra Ki Eirom Anochi VaEichavei – I heard the sound of You in the garden and I was afraid because I am naked, so I hid. This answers the question of why did you hide? But the answer to “where are you” is simple. It is an answer that more spiritually mature and aware people will offer. The answer to the question “where are you?” is “here”. However, the answer “here” assumes that one knows where they were before arriving “here”. On a deeper level, answering “here” suggests that one has arrived at a final destination or at a point along the journey. Such an answer suggests that the person is not so lost. Perhaps the answer to the question “where are you?” is “I am here now,”. The answer could even be, “I don’ know”. All these answers suggest “enlightenment”. If Adam is enlightened because he ate from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam’s response is disturbing. He is not as enlightened as his descendent Avraham who will respond “Hineini -Here I am”. Nor is he enlightened to know that he is lost. To be lost suggests at least knowing the destination but not knowing how to get there. Adam can’t answer the question because he doesn’t know where he is going nor does he know from where he comes. He only knows that he is naked and without purpose.
As our son walked around the campuses, I could see both a sense of excitement and trepidation in his eyes. We acknowledged these seemingly contradictory feelings, and he understood that it was perfectly normal to be excited by the future and as well as be a bit nervous. Our son also understood where he was coming from, a home, a family, and a community that stressed the importance of higher education. He also realizes that he has intellectual interests as well as career interests all of which are predicated upon attending University. So, where is our son? He is “here”, exactly where is supposed to be in this transitional time, laying the groundwork, and preparing to eventually be “there”. I find it very reassuring and comforting in the seasonality and developmental transitions.
Rav Yitz
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