Monday, September 15, 2008

Adam HaRishon – Part 1

B"H

Already on its first pages, the book "Sefer Adam HaRishon" confronts its readers with an amazing inside. You can look at a page from the Torah (Parashat Bereshit) where it talks about Gan Eden (Paradise). Furthermore this particular page shows an analysis including the Jewish Torah codes. Where the Torah describes Paradise, the Torah codes identify 23 trees which apparently grew in Gan Eden.

The codes work according to a system where one counts a certain amount of letters throughout a page.
Example: Take every fifth letter and see if you can make up a word.


No one in this world has been able to define the meaning of "Gan Eden – Paradise".
Was it an entirely spiritual world ?
Did Adam and Chava (Eve) only live in a spiritual sense and not in a material (until they were thrown out of Gan Eden) ?
Was their life a complete spiritual life without a material location ?

According to the Torah codes, these trees grew in Gan Eden:
The thorn bush, the fig tree, the date palm, olive trees, etc.

In about two weeks, we are going to celebrate Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year. According to Talmud Rosh HaShana, this holiday also represents the birthday of humankind, as Adam HaRishon was created. The whole creation process already started on 25th Elul, five days earlier.

And G – d said: "Let us make man …"

How many false conclusions have been drawn just about this one sentence "Let US make …" ?

"US". Who is "US" ? Why doesn't it say "I" or "ME" ? Is G – d not the only finite being ruling over everything ? And doesn't the word "US" hint to a plural ?
The Christians claim that the word "US" proves the Trinity but what is the true meaning of the concept "Let US make man ?"
Who really created Adam is taught to us by a different Torah verse: "And G – d created man".
In the original text in Hebrew we find the word "ivra - created" written in the future tense. However, the word "ivra" always stands for the future tense in singular. ONE person is going to do something. HE and not THEM !

According to this grammar we can quickly prove that Adam was created by a singular being called G – d and there was no Trinity or anything else involved.

The book "Sefer Adam HaRishon" lists a few commentators explaining the word "us" but I am going to explain the particular reason in a later article. So far, just something in brief:
When G – d created the world and also Adam, He acted with different powers and character traits called "Sefirot". Some commentators state that G – d asked the angels before He created mankind. However, the angels are widely seen as a metaphor for G – d's different powers describing His acts from different perspectives.

Who was Adam HaRishon ? Was he only spiritual and only became material after he and his second wife Chava (Eve) were thrown out of Gan Eden and sent into our physical world ? How were the two dressed ?

In the Midrash as well in kabbalisitc literature, we can find plenty of interpretations on what Adam and Chava wore inside Gan Eden and afterwards. In fact, there is so much material that one could write an entire book on the subject. In the Tora we read that after they ate from the "Tree of Knowledge – Etz HaDa'at Tov veRah", G – d Himself provided them with new clothing.
As usual, there are many opinions on how those clothes looked but one thing seems to be sure: Those clothes provided Adam HaRishon with very unique powers and he had special abilities no one else had.

Is says in the Midrash Rabbah that those clothes were passed on from generation to generation. Noach took them into the Ark but afterwards they got stolen by Ham. Later on, Nimrod got hold of them. The Midrash Tanchuma tells us the famous story when Esav went out to hunt and killed Nimrod in order to steal the special clothes for himself. Afterwards, Yaakov took the clothes and thus convinced his father Yitzchak that he was Esav and not Yaakov. Yaakov received the blessing and after this event, the clothes just seem to disappear.

When Adam HaRishon was created, he came into a perfect world called "Gan Eden – Paradise". Who wouldn't like to live in such a place today ? A Paradise where everything was available. A place without any sorrows, worries and catastrophes. Everything is just perfect and G – d Himself is always present. Let's just put ourselves into the position of Adam HaRishon. Out of the blue, he was created on Har HaMoriah (the Temple Mount) and then placed into Gan Eden. Who was he ? From where did he come ? Adam doesn't know and even generations later, people made fun of him because he was the only one without a biological father.

At his creation it says in the Torah:

"He (G – d) created them – Bara OTAM".

The word "them – OTAM" hints to a plural in the original Hebrew language ! Jewish commentators claim that G – d didn't created only one man but two. Both were connected on their backs and the second person created together with Adam was his first wife Lilith. There are endless commentaries and opinions on Lilith and in fact, we shouldn't even mention her name as, according to the ZOHAR, she wasn't that what we would call a nice person. But today, there are even non – Jewish parents calling their daughters by that name. Actually they couldn't choose a more terrible name for their daughter. After Lilith was quickly thrown out of Gan Eden, Chava was created.

An important subject in Kabbalah are all the different souls (Neshamot) of Adam HaRishon. It is said that his unique Neshama contained all the souls of this world. Before he sinned, his soul was on the highest level ever and contained the highest soul levels called Chaya and Yechidah. Those two levels come from the highest spiritual worlds but no one can really say what these levels caused. Nevertheless, they seem to have provided Adam with an eternal life until he ate from the Tree of Knowledge. At that moment, the highest soul levels left his Neshama and only the Israelites standing in front of Har Sinai and receiving the Torah gained such levels. After the sin of the Golden Calf, the Jews again lost the highest soul levels and need to continue their Tikun Olam (soul rectification for the whole word).

Although the plants were created before Adam, they only started blossoming and bearing fruit when he prayed for rain. Only when it rained, nature became active. Adam and Chava's task was not to eat from the "Tree of Knowledge – Etz HaDa'at Tov veRah". Despite their high soul level and their perfect surrounding of Gan Eden, they were forced to pray for their daily needs, otherwise the tree wouldn't bear fruit. From there we learn that also today, we have to pray to G – d for our needs and shouldn't take everything just for granted.

___________________________

Source:

"Sefer Adam HaRishon"

2 comments:

  1. Very interesting blog. A couple months ago I did something along the same lines here

    http://longbeachchasid.blogspot.com/2008/06/non-pshat-of-mans-genealogy.html

    let me know what you think

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  2. B"H

    I like the sentence you made up with the names.

    It is true that in those days, people were named after their essence. A pity that it doesn't exist anymore but today, people may be too afraid of giving someone a rather strange sounding name. Who likes to be called Lamech or Metushelach ?

    Adam repends all his days but never gets over it. He even separated from his wife for 130 years (Talmud Eruvin) but nothing really satisfy him. There is a Midrash that when Avraham went out to look for a sheep (maybe it was a goat or something else), he found the Ma'arat HaMachpelah (later burial place of our forefathers). He entered and Adam and Eve (Chava) (who are also buried there) came up to him and told him to leave.
    He (Avraham) shouldn't be with them, as they are not worthy of his company.

    I think we can write thousands of pages on Adam and Gan Eden but will never even get close to what this really means.:-)

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