Open Secrets. Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro

been created. God says let us make a being in our image after our likeness. And then God fashions adam from adamah, the earthen one from the earth. No other being was so fashioned. Only people. Why? To tell us that we are not alien to this world. To remind us that we come out of the earth and were not placed upon her.

      What is the difference? When we imagine we are other than the mud and soil and plants and animals with whom we share this world we can imagine that we are superior. And if we are superior we can do with them whatever we choose. But if we know that we too are from the earth, then we will not feel superior. We will not walk upon the fields as victors seeking to impose our reign, but as children playing at the hem of their mother’s skirt or sucking on her milk-filled breast.

      I know you will counter by saying God gave us the whole of creation to subdue and use. But I would argue that this is an example of Torah failing to speak divine wisdom. It happens at times and we can speak at length about this if you wish. My point is that Torah speaks the word of God when that word unites rather than divides.

      We find two opinions in Torah. One says that we are to subdue nature and rule over her. The other says that we are to honor her as our self, that we are to realize that “The earth is God’s and the fullness thereof ” (Exodus 30:20). Can there be even a doubt in your mind as to which is the true teaching? There is none in mine.

      God speaks through Torah when Torah teaches us of our fundamental connection with the earth and all she bears. The trees and grasses, the wolves and bears, the oceans and seas—these are our brothers, our sisters, our cousins.

      I am tempted to go more deeply into this. For the question of the purpose of creation leads, as it has already, directly into the purpose of humanity. I will resist the impulse to proceed, however, suspecting that I have caused enough confusion for one letter.

      All I ask of you, my dear friend, is that you look to see if my words are not so. Look carefully about you and ponder: If creation is God manifest in time and place, what is the purpose of humanity? I look forward to your insights.

      B’Shalom

      HUMANITY

      My dearest Aaron Hershel,

      When we began our correspondence I did not know what to expect either from you or from myself. Would I be able to answer your questions in a manner that furthered your knowledge and deepened your ability to question? Or would I simply overwhelm you with information and drown out your ability to see for yourself? Your recent letter suggests you can learn and think. I had asked you the question: What is the purpose of humanity? You answered well. Let me add some thoughts of my own.