Mastery = Harmony
This coming Shabbat, we return to the beginning of Torah with Parashat Bereishit. The Jewish calendar鈥檚 narrative cycle dovetails well with the spiritual renewal celebrated at this season. Having commemorated Rosh Hashanah (the beginning of the new year and celebration of God鈥檚 Kingship), Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and Sukkot (the final of the three pilgrimage festivals), we begin whole and fresh. And part of this commencement is reading Torah anew鈥攄iscovering new messages through new lenses. Parashat Bereishit places us once again in the Garden of Eden鈥攁 paradise of fullness and ideal balance: 鈥淔rom the ground the Lord caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad鈥� (Gen. 2:9). Yet, just a few verses earlier, humans are blessed by their Creator and told, 鈥淏e fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it鈥� (Gen. 1:28). How are we to understand this notion of 鈥渕astering鈥� or 鈥渃onquering鈥� the earth?
Professor Ze鈥檈v Falk (锄鈥漧), who taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, notes that this phrase of 鈥渕astering it鈥� does not repeat itself in the blessing given to Noah after the destruction of the world. God repeats the same blessing of Genesis 1:28, but the omission is glaring: 鈥淕od blessed Noah and his sons saying to them, 鈥淏e fertile and increase, and fill the earth鈥� (Gen. 9:1). Why the abandonment of 鈥渕astery鈥�? Professor Falk explains that the notion of mastery was an ideal by which the first humans were blessed in the Garden of Eden. Once they perverted their ways and spoiled the earth, 鈥渢his uncategorical merit was stripped from them.鈥� Falk goes on to write, 鈥淓cology teaches us today that the freedom of man upon the earth is bounded and therefore this concept of mastery is no longer tenable鈥� (Divrei Torah Ad Tumam, 4). In a post-Eden world, we must learn to recognize the limits of our power, embracing a healthy dose of humility.
Interestingly, Falk also points out that the next time the idea of mastery appears in Torah, it is in the context of the Israelite conquest of the Land of Israel. He sensitively writes that in coming to the Land of Israel, the Israelites return to a special status of adam ha-rishon, the first human. Dwelling in the Land entails subjecting one鈥檚 self to special conditions. Falk enumerates, 鈥淐aring for the stranger, accepting a servant who requests refuge, being vigilant not to contaminate the land, not destroying trees, and recognizing the rights of Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and perhaps others who dwell in the land鈥� (4). Clearly, Professor Falk鈥檚 reading of 鈥渕astery鈥� encourages us all to envision and to aspire to an ideal of harmony in our relationship between ourselves and the earth (ecology) and between ourselves and the Other (seeking peace and pursuing it).
May this coming year be one of constructive mastery鈥攁s we conquer wasteful drives and indifference on the way toward building a better Israel and better world.
The publication and distribution of A Taste of Torah are made possible by a generous grant from Sam and Marilee Susi.
