Ask the
Clergy
Is the Bible Fact or
Fantasy?
by
Senior Rabbi, Alan Green
Published in the Jewish Post on
Wednesday,
May 29, 2008
There can be no question that there is a core of historic truth to
every Biblical character and story. However, when approaching the
material of the Bible, it’s good to keep the great teaching of Elie
Wiesel in mind: “Not everything that happens in history is true; and
not everything that didn’t happen is false.”
What is Wiesel talking about? One of my favorite examples is the
story of the Garden of Eden. As told in the book of Genesis, it
raises many questions, including: What might the Garden of Eden have
been? Where and when might it have existed? Who could Adam and Eve
have been? And what did it mean for them to lose Paradise?
I see the Eden story as an exceptionally compact summary of human
being at the dawn of civilization in the Middle East. The Garden of
Eden represents humanity in its early, hunter-gatherer phase. All
is provided by the bounty of nature. The moon and seasons are
important, because of their relationship to the availability of
food. But neither past nor future has any substantial reality, so
there is no need for calendars, a written language, or history.
There is no property, no ownership, and therefore, nothing to
defend. There is no need for armies, technology, or legal
contracts. In other words, Paradise.
The geographical landmarks mentioned in the Bible, the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers—locate Eden, ironically, in present day
Iraq—seemingly very far from a paradise. But we know that Iraq is
part of what historians call the Fertile Crescent, the cradle of
Western civilization. So, if we are talking about the dawn of
civilization, Iraq certainly would be a logical location.
When was this Paradise? One clue is the Jewish calendar, which
dates back exactly 5,768 years ago. Traditionalists use this number
to date the creation of the universe. But isn’t it more reasonable
to assume that it dates back to the creation of calendars, when
years first began to be counted in the Middle East--when Paradise
was coming to an end, and civilization first came into being?
Civilization is precisely what it means to lose Paradise.
Civilization is that moment when human beings perceive themselves
separately from Nature (“Their eyes were opened, and they knew that
they were naked” – Gen. 3:7). Suddenly, morality is an issue (“You
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” – Gen. 3:5), agriculture is
an issue (“By the sweat of your brow, you shall eat bread” – Gen.
3:19), and with agriculture, come issues of ownership, legal
contracts, history, armies, technology, and the anxiety of
responsibility. In short, civilization and its various discontents.
Using a modern high-tech vocabulary, we could describe the stories
and characters of the Bible as the zip files for much of ancient
Jewish wisdom. If we want to understand the Bible properly, we must
possess the spiritual software to unpack these highly concentrated
files. Having and using this software is an invaluable, necessary
support for Menschlichkeit, and the true measure of a successful
Jewish education.
Do you have a question you would like answered in this column? Email
information@shaareyzedek.mb.ca. |
