© 2014 by Rabbi Zvi Aviner
Noah’s Tree Of Life
These are Noah’s words to his children after the Flood…
YHVH-2/In Adam’s Heart You May Dwell
YHVH Observed our Universe
As the Angels spoke, ELoHiM turned to Y-H-V-H and said, “Would you come and share with me my world?”
Y-H-V-H then entered ELoHiM’s World as a thin Ray of Light, or a Shy Dove or a Modest Cherub.
Observing our world SHE said—
“How can I share your world, ELoHiM, when I see in it no one capable of comprehending my MERCY, FORGIVENESS AND COMPASSION?
“How can I share your world, ELoHiM, when I have in it no Place to rest my Wing?
“How can I share your world, ELoHiM, when it is built so differently than I would have created it? I would have created it with no misery, no calamity, no suffering, no sorrow and no death; no trials and no tribulations!”
“Why did not the BRIDE find a room in this World?” I asked Enosh.
“What do you think, Noah, is there MERCY in Nature?”
“Yes! It is shown in the way mothers treat their newborns…they express much COMPASSION and LOVE and MERCY!”
“What they exhibit is a temporary natural trait that ELoHiM planted in them for the preservation of the newborn. I would not call that a real, conscientious MERCY.”
But then he said, “On the other hands, Noah, you are right. The very word for ‘mercy,’ rachamim, comes from ‘rechem,’ womb. When mothers treat their offspring, they show what the Merciful One YHVH feels for us. But they do it unconsciously.”
Invitation to make Adam
Having heard YHVH’s reservations, ELoHiM said to Her:
“Let us make Adam in our form and in our image.”
He said, Let us make Adam together.
In Adam’s heart you may dwell, if he accepts you.
Adam would spread your MERCY, COMPASSION and FORGIVENSS in my World of Absolute Justice. He would unite us in his life; unite JUSTICE with MERCY. In his weekly Sabbath you would dwell.
ELoHiM changed His tone
Enosh said, “Let us make an Adam in Our Form and Our Image.” Noah, what TONE is it? Is it a Command?”
“No grandpa, it does not sound a command.”
“Is it a request?”
“Let us…yes, it does sound a request.”
“Does He consult?”
“Yes, it can be read as consultation…”
“Does it sound as if He is begging?”
“Let us…yes, it may be begging.”
“Has ELoHiM ever spoken like that before making Adam?”
“No grandpa, He had only given commands.”
“How true! Before making Adam He changed His ways. Previously, during the Six Days, He ruled the World AWSOMELY ALONE, requesting no one, consulting no one, begging no one. He created things as His wished by issuing orders. He said, ‘Let it be light’ and light happened. He said ‘Let there be grass,’ and grass was there. He said ‘Let the luminaries be seen on Earth,’ and they were seen. During all that time He asked no one’s opinion, moving CREATION forwards by His iron fist.
“But before making the Adam, He changed His tone as well as His voice. Instead of Commanding, He asked in plural, ‘Let Us Make Adam in our form and our image.’ You may even say that He ‘begged’ His BRIDE to join Him in making Adam.
“You can say that ELoHiM, the GROOM walks towards the BRIDE. He accommodates Himself to Her. She is Modest, so would He be. She does not like dictators, hence He would be a dictator no more.
“And you too, Noah, should walk towards your future bride. Once we’ve found a girl who is compassionate, merciful and forgiving, you should accommodate yourself to her. ‘To consult,’ nimlach, is the same as ‘be enthroned.’ The secret of viable marriage is the art of consultation and listening to each other…”
Editor: On every Friday evening, prior to the entrance of the Sabbath, the congregation in the synagogue chants: “”Walk my Groom towards your Bride, together we’ll welcome the Sabbath.”
A ban on intermarriage between Seth and Cain
As I have already alluded to, after my thirteenth birthday Enosh tried to match me with many potential brides. I was amazed to see how many parents sought me as their potential son-in-law. They must have anticipated that I would become Enosh’s heir, the next spiritual leader of humanity. How wrong they were, though they couldn’t tell this at that time. Unfortunately, none of the girls captured my heart. My heart only longed for Naama. But from what I had heard of her, she would not meet my grandpa’s description of an ideal wife.
Yet one day I asked him, “Could I consider a bride from the Children of ELoHiM?”
You should have seen the alarm on his face. “What foolishness has come to your mind! Don’t you know that there is a ban on intermarriages between Cain and Seth?”
This was the first time I heard about the ban. “Why is intermarriage forbidden?” I asked.
“Because in the past, all mix couples from Cain and Seth had produced such evil children that they threatened to destroy the word! The threat was so real that both camps have agreed to set up a ban against mix marriages. So far it has been strictly kept, for hundreds of years. Now you come with this preposterous idea to marry one of their girls! I’d advise you to stay away from them, period!”
Having seen my fallen face, my grandpa added: “Noah, why do you think Hanoch lived with them all his life, without ever getting married? He feared the ban. He did not want to produce monstrous children that can destroy the world. He therefore remained childless for the rest of his life. If you marry one of their girls, you may end us childless like him!”
After that conversation I tried hard to wipe out Naama’s face from my mind. Perhaps I would have been successful in my endeavor, had not Heavens thought otherwise. As you’ll soon see, my destiny was to meet her and face the ban on my own term.
Who coined the holy Names of the Attributes?
“Grandpa, who named the Attributes ELoHiM and Y-H-V-H?”
“Adam coined them in Eden. So smart he was that the CREATOR brought him all the creatures in the world for naming them. As the verse says, every name that Adam gave on that day was the right one, the very name that the CREATOR had intended for it (Genesis 2: 20.)
ELoHiM then asked him: “Wise Adam, what name would you give me?”
“I’ll call you ELoHiM, the JUDGE,” Adam said. ELoHiM was pleased, since this was the very name that the CREATOR had intended for Himself.
The Attribute of MERCY then asked Adam: “What Name would you give me?”
“Since you appeared late in the Story of CREATION,” Adam said, “my children might err to assume that you are new Face of the Infinite CREATOR. Hence I’ll tell them that ‘He Was, He is, He will be,’ in short Y-H-V-H.”
YHVH was pleased, since every name that Adam gave on that day was the right one, the very Name that the CREATOR had intended for Herself.”
Read also: “Genesis Vs. Science, Can they Match?” By Zvi Aviner, at www.smashwards.com