“And for your husband shall your Desire be….”

The story of Creation as recounted in Bresheet continues to fascinate me. It is not only the details of the evolvement of our universe that intrigues me. That is but one facet of it.

What continues to enthrall me, though, is what happened to Man and Woman following the consumption of the Fruit of the Tree of “Knowledge.” I am particularly referring to the change in perceptions, comprehension, insights and what lesson G-d had wanted us, humans, to draw out of that experience.

In my essay of two weeks ago, I dwelt on the benefits of eating the forbidden fruit. I also mentioned that the main gain from that rebellious act of Adam and Eve was a moral one as they learned to distinguish between Good and Evil. The story in Genesis also tells us that as soon as they ate the fruit, Man and Woman were made aware of their bareness and rushed to cover themselves as they felt ashamed and that it was morally bad and inappropriate.

In many cultures, being naked or even semi naked is associated with lust, sex and sensuality. It has thus become a taboo in many societies. Some, however, as, for example the tribes I visited in Namibia where women walk bare breasted publicly, see nothing bad or evil in such practices. We, in most parts of the world, regard it as inappropriate and that is what is being taught to us from an early age.

So, why do so many of us believe that nudity is morally “Evil?” After all, had Man and Woman not walked shamelessly unclothed for a while before they discovered their nakedness? “Adam and his wife were both naked’ and they felt no shame.” Genesis 2:25.

And that is where the terms “Desire” and “Lust” enter the discussion.

Unfortunately, “lust” (ta’avah) and desire (tshukah) appear, both in the Hebrew and the English languages, as synonyms for each other. Though these two terms have some common denominator, I beg to differ. Lust (ta’av ah), in my view, is mostly associated with the physical, carnal and sexual realm. It is an urgent need that once satisfied, lies dormant until some stimuli, some catalyst awakens it again.

Desire (tshukah), however, is a fabric that is made up of various threads. It encompasses longing, love, ambition, an urge, an attraction for someone or something. Of course, it also includes the erotic, the sensual but not just that, as the term Lust resonates.

Herein, in my view, lies the lesson that G-d had wished Adam and Eve, especially Eve, to take on. It was she who first saw that “the fruit of the tree was good and lust (ta’avah) to the eyes.” (Genesis 3:6). It was lust, as the verse teaches us, that caused their downfall and eventual eviction from the Garden of Eden. G-d had known that lust would be the Achilles’s heel of mankind. He had also been aware that once Man and Woman discovered each other’s nakedness, lust will take over.

It is precisely this kind of a reality that G-d was trying to avoid. Knowing the effect Eve had on Adam, He informed her, “Your desire will be for your husband.” (Genesis 3:16). Since it was Eve who lured Adam into eating the forbidden fruit, G-d ordered her to desire her husband, to love him, support him, be there for him and lust him but NOT JUST lust him. He employs the word Tshukah to imply the unending union between Man and Woman, a union that is based on the Spiritual, Emotional and Intellectual spheres, not merely the carnal.

And that is the lesson of this episode, I believe. It is the differences rather than the similarities between Desire and Lust which morally set Good and Evil apart.

Judaism and Personal Responsibility

"If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, what need have you for a tomorrow?" – Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

As we enter the Jewish New Year, I spend much time pondering the purpose of the High Holy Days and their significance in our Jewish Ethics. Reflection upon and taking personal responsibility for our deeds, conduct and mistakes is, in my view, mainly what these days are about.

The premise that underlines these available courses of action in our Jewish tradition rests in the human conditions. As humans, we are destined to err and make mistakes. At the same time, however, we are given the opportunity to address them, correct them and learn from our experiences in order to become more accomplished human beings and help make our world a better place.

Our Torah and Jewish literature give us the tools to make this happen. They guide us along this complex path where on the one hand, free choice is in the realm of G-d alone and where our actions are pre-destines while, on the other, humans are expected to know Good from Evil.

The Tanach, as we know, is the story of G-d and His interactions with humans and their choices between Right and Wrong. In numerous instances, it shows us that despite the omnipotence and omnipresence of G-d in our life, humans are given the ability to distinguish between the two and make the right decisions.

The first verse that points to that is in Genesis 1:26 “And G-d created man in His image.” The image that the verse refers to is not a physical one since we do not know what G-d looks like. Rather, the text hints to some attributes that humans share with G-d, one of which is the ability to distinguish between Good and Evil. This is further reinforced in Genesis 3:22 following the eating of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, where G-d states: “Verily, this human being is unique, that he has his own mind to choose between good and evil.”

Indeed, without free will there would be no purpose to life. That is what G-d decreed to us. Free will gives a meaning to our life. It affects those around us and the world we live in.

With Free Will comes Accountability for one’s deeds and assumption of Personal Responsibility. What cements these three is Emotional Intelligence and Maturity.

Emotional Intelligence and mature conduct is another attribute of G-d’s image which Jewish Literature and Jewish sages expect to find in us.

In Judaism, no one gets punished nor dies for our sins and transgressions. We each must come to terms with our actions and bear their consequences, good AND bad. No learning, no improvement would or ever could take place if someone else takes the blame and endures punishment for our misdeeds.

Hence the numerous repetitions throughout the Tanach of the importance of each Jew doing good and be the recipient of the rewards associated with it as opposed to the punishment that follows the election to do evil.

The solemn period AKA, the Ten Days of Awe, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, each year is, therefore, of great significance for Jews. It gives us a chance to repent, evaluate, improve and above all pave our path to G-d’s ultimate commandment to “Choose Life”:

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you Life and Death, blessings and curses. Now choose Life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

This commandment is cited, rightfully, justly and most appropriately so, in the Torah portion that precedes Rosh Hashanah. It is a great reminder for us, Jews, that we are given the chance to make that commandment a reality and ensure that in the words of Rabbe Nachman of Breslov, we each are “a better person tomorrow….than today.”

Wishing Jews, the world over, Shanah Tova, a year of good deeds and abstention from evil, a year of Choosing Life.

Timshal

תִּמְשָׁל (Timshal) is a Hebrew word which means “you shall control or rule.” It is mentioned in Beresheet chapter 4 in the story of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve’s two sons.

G-d requests that they each sacrifice a gift to Him. He accepts Abel’s offering and rejects that of Cain. Naturally, Cain is upset, even jealous. G-d must have known that Cain would be tempted to punish his brother for that and was about to commit a sin, a crime and suggests to Cain to resist and triumph over it: “ לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ; וְאֵלֶיךָ, תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ, וְאַתָּה, תִּמְשָׁל-בּוֹ.” (“sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be its desire, and thou shalt rule over it”). To me, the word “Timshal” encapsulates responsibility and our human capability to choose between good and evil.

Cain ignores G-d’s words and kills his brother Abel. G-d then punishes Cain by banishing him.

Why did I decide to write about this, you might ask?

The reasons are twofold. The first is because it was part of Parashat Hashavua, the Torah portion, last week. The second bears just as much importance to me on personal and professional levels.

Recently, I have been teaching my English class a story by Langston Hughes. It is called “Thank you Ma’am.” The story tells about a young boy, Roger, who, one night, attempts to rob an older woman by the name of Ms. Jones. It is an excellent story with a great lesson and I highly recommend that you all read it.

The boy, as he later shares with his victim, tries to rob her because he wants to buy a new pair of shoes and needs the money. Temptation and greed drive him to break the law and commit a crime. Ms. Jones could easily turn him to the police and forget about him. Instead, she takes him into her home, offers him to wash his face, comb his hair and shares her meager meal with him. Most importantly, she teaches him a very valuable lesson. I call it the lesson of Timshal.  Evidently, she, too, had, at one time, difficulty in choosing between good evil, right over wrong.  “I were young once and I wanted things I could not get,” she proceeds to tell him. “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son.”

I would venture to say that most of us have done “things” in our lives, some worse than others. Temptation which in turn may lead us to break laws or some moral code, lurks at the doorstep for almost all of us. Many of us want bigger homes, better clothes, more expensive cars or other luxuries which we cannot afford. These temptations may lead us to doing “things” that are not always right. How many of us have asked themselves and maybe more than once, “was my deed good or bad? Have I done right or wrong?” It is an individual struggle. Some can control the urge to cross that threshold more than others. Some are just too weak to resist it.

Before she bids him farewell, Ms. Jones gives Roger a ten-dollar bill so that he can buy the shoes he so desires. As he leaves her home, she tells him, “But I wish you would behave yourself, son, from here on in.” The readers are left with the feeling of hope, a sensation that he will have learned that precious lesson and the importance of choosing good over evil.

Another book that one of my beloved students has recently chosen to do a book report on, “East of Eden,” by Steinbeck, is another example of a literary creation that employs the Beresheet concept of Timshal as one of its main themes, if not the most important one. There, the association is even more explicit than in Hughes’ story.

Firstly, is Steinbeck’s choice of title: it is to the lands which are East of Eden that G-d banishes Cain. Secondly, the selection of the name Adam, the name of the father of the two feuding twin brothers, Aron and Cal. (resembling the story in Beresheet, Cal causes the death of his brother Aron, albeit indirectly).

Thirdly, and most importantly in my view, the association to the Torah story is condensed by the repeated use of the Hebrew word “Timshal” (Timshel).

It is Lee, Adam’s dedicated and educated housekeeper who has researched the meaning of this Hebrew word and who is eventually instrumental in helping the family become a cohesive unit. As Lee attempts and succeeds in convincing Adam and Cal of the cogency of the concept of “Timshal,” father and son make peace and Cal realizes the power that rests in him to overcome evil.

As a teacher, I hope that we all internalize this important lesson and learn that overcoming evil is not only part of making this world a better place but also that it is up to us, through our power of free will, the most precious of human capabilities, to make it happen.