Noahide Seven Commandments Torah classes
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Last class we left Adam as a growing young lad, whose libido and interest is directed to the outside world. He names all the creatures, even the FATHER (and MOTHER) In Heavens. SO smart he is, that every name he gave was the right name, the one that the CREATOR has intended to. At that point he needs to abide by only one Law: IDOLATRY, by listening to the advice of his FATHER in Heavens, and to the Command of his KING Of The Universe, melech haolam.
The rest of the Six Commandments that he received in Eden remained potential.
But as Adam continues to grow in Eden, he reaches a stage where Science and Knowledge of Nature does not satisfy him anymore. His mind enters puberty. His libido turned outside, longing to a spouse.
His heart opens up to appreciate MERCY, COMPASSION, AND LOVE.
The Parent(s) notice that change and they respond as follows:
“And YHVH ELoKiM said,
it is not good that Adam should be alone,
I’ll make him a help to match him…
And YHVH EloKiM caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept,
And He took one of his SIDE and closed up the flesh in its place
And of the SIDE which YHVH EloKiM had taken from Adam
He made a woman and He brought her to Adam.
And Adam said: This is now a bone from my bones, a flesh of my flesh
She shall be called a woman for she was taken from Man” (Genesis 2: 21-23)
A woman from his side
YHVH ELoKiM ‘formed’ a woman from Adam’s side, tzelah, as a ‘helper against him.’
The word tzela means ‘side,’ and in the case of a chest it can mean a rib.
But tzela can be a side of anything. In the verse “The tzela of the Tabernacle” (Numbers) it relates to the Tabernacle’s wall.
Some therefore say that Adam was originally hermaphrodite, having a body of a female and a male combined, and that the CREATOR split it.
Today we’d say that the CREATOR split Adam’s genome, XY, to form the female XX Genome.
But lat’s not forget that we are talking about a virtual Garden, with virtual humans in it.
Splitting YHVH ELoKiM
One may also say that originally Adam was made like ‘YHVH ELoKIM,’ two aspects SIDE BY SIDE. Then his dummy was split into two separate parts: a Male and a Female.
This would explain why forever LONG to unite again the Groom with the Bride, ELoKiM with YHVH.
By this, the CREATOR opened the door for IDOLATRY to exist. Adam would forever be tempted to seek and long for other, false Brides, the idols to their kind.
Immediately after the advent of ‘the woman,’ the ground was set for the introduction of Marriage and its opposite, ADULTERY. For next the Torah says:
“Therefore Man leaves his father
and his mother
and cleaves to his wife
and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24)
In these words the Torah introduces both MARRIAGE and ADULTERY.
Seven forbidden sexual relationships
The verse mentions seven prohibitions: Man should (sexually) leave
1. “His father” and his father’s wife (even if she is not your mother)
2. “And his mother” (and her mother and sister)
3. And his sisters (from his mother)
4. And his daughters (and grand-daughters)
5. “And cleaves to his wife” (not to someone else’ wife)
6. “So that they become one flesh,” (Marriage is done to produce another flesh. Hence no homosexuality and no bestiality.)
7. “One flesh,” refers to the Holy ONE who is a partner in the marriage and sanctifies it.
Here the Torah introduces MARRIAGE and ADULTERY in one package.
Let’s discuss MARRIAGE first. It is introduced here as a sacred institution, where a man and a woman become ONE flesh. “One” infers to the ONE CREATOR who is a “PARTNER IN THE MARRIAGE.”
Henceforth marriage, in the Torah eyes, is not a social contract or a legal arrangement between a male and a female, but rather a SACRED BOND between the couple, with ‘YHVH ELKM’ uniting them.
ADULTERY becomes relevant
With the advent of the married woman, ADULTERY became relevant to their life Eden.
The ‘woman’ (not yet called Eve) could commit ADULTERY by cohabiting with another creature outside her marriage, like the Cunning Serpent.
Adam, the male, could NOT commit ADULTERY in the sense of having relationship with another married woman; simply because there was none available. But he could, and did, commit ADULTERY by indulging in sexual perversions with the putative, beautiful Lilith, he female counterpart of the serpent.
Two Commandments
With the advent of MARRIAGE, Sin to Adam (and his wife) was extended to include ADULTERY in addition to IDOLATRY.
But if you look deeper, you see that transgressing ADULTERY is also transgressing IDOLATRY. For violating any Commandment of the KING is a sort of rebellion and IDOLATRY.
The opposite is also true. For committing IDOLATRY is also ADULTERY. How? Let’s see the following consideration:
Let’s observe that by introducing ADULTERY, the very notion of Sin itself has also changed. Henceforth Sin is a BETRAYAL OF LOVE.
ADULTERY is a betrayal of our love for our human spouse.
And also a betrayal of our CREATOR’S Love for us.
Has not ‘YHVH ELKM’ become a PARTNER in our marriage? As it is said: “And they become ONE flesh.”
And with this, a new light is shed on every sin, like IDOLATRY.
IDOLATRY too is henceforth perceived as a Betrayal of the Heavenly Love for us.
Have not the prophet of Israel warned their people that their IDOLATRY is a betrayal of YHVH Love for them?
Here humanity, all the Children of Adam, is perceived as the CREATOR’S beloved.
Thus it is not only Israel, who is G-d’s bride,
It is not only CREATION that is depicted as G-d’s bride
It is not only YHVH who is ELKM’s Bride,
It is not only the Sabbath that is ELKM’s Bride
It is also HUMANITY that is perceived as YHVH ELKM’s Beloved Bride.
Hence, as we’ve said, IDOLATRY is also ADULTERY.
And ADULTERY is also IDOLATRY.
No wonder than that an arrogant person, who worships himself, would surely stumble over adultery, messing himself up with someone else’ wife.
This is such a common cascade, that I do not need to bring you examples. Just look around in our society.
And once a person has violated idolatry and adultery, he or she would certainly face the next challenge: bloodshed. Same as Adam and Eve: Once they have violated idolatry and adultery and were driven out of Eden, their son Cain stood up and killed his brother Abel. No escape from sliding along the Commandments cascade.
In summary so far:
1. Sin damages the connection of our soul to the lips of our CREATOR
2. Sin is to disregard the advice of our FATHER in Heavens
3. Sin is to transgress our KING’S Command
4. Sin is illogic, something that would destroy us
5. Sin is a betrayal of our CREATOR’S Love for us
The Torah now defines the human’s spiritual status:
They walked around naked and unashamed, as it is said:
“And they were both naked Adam and his wife,
And they were not ashamed…” (Genesis 2: 25)
They behaved like an innocent young couple, not experienced with Sin.
In fact, they walked naked since nakedness is natural, like the beasts of the fields.
They walked naked and unashamed, because they knew RIGHT FROM WRONG, and there is nothing WRONG in nakedness.
The ground is set up now for the woman to encounter her enticer, the Serpent, that also went around naked and unashamed. They were a good match.
And with that, the notion of Sin would change too.
Read also: “Genesis Vs. Science, Can They Match?” By Zvi Aviner, at www.smashwords.com