The first Bible story we learn as children is about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and our fascination with it usually lasts all our lives. About 30 years ago, a whimsical story appeared in a British science magazine called Nature. The headline proclaimed: “Garden of Eden may have been near Afikim.” This caused ripples of amusement at the Israeli kibbutz in the Jordan Valley. The report was based on the estimated age of fossils and tools found at the nearby excavated site of Ubeidiya.
In its internal newspaper, Kibbutz Afikim was quick to note reactions. Mothers were knitting fig leaves for their families, bachelors requested that no apples be served in the dining room, warnings were posted about snakes and it was suggested to post watchmen at the gates with flaming swords and wings.
All joking aside, what do we really know about the Garden of Eden? It is described with great beauty in Genesis as part of the story of creation: a garden planted by the Lord and the first dwelling place of Adam and Eve. The name Eden is Sumerian and means “plain.” In the Midrash Hagadol, it states: “Eden is a unique place on earth, but no creature is permitted to know its exact location. In the future, during the Messianic period, God will reveal to Israel the path to Eden... just as heaven is lined with rows of stars, so the Garden of Eden is lined with rows of the righteous, who shine like the stars.”
There is much to learn from the Biblical story with regard to the profound psychology of temptation and conscience. It shows the beginning, the progress and the culmination of temptation, and the consequences of sin.
It has been written: “Every man who knows his own heart knows that the story is true; it is the story of his own fall. Adam is man and his story is ours.”
Contrary to popular belief, there is no difficulty in reconciling the creation story with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. It really is unimportant if the narrative is literal or figurative. Judaism admits that the Bible often conveys deep truths of life and conduct by means of allegory. The rabbis often taught by parables, and eminent Jewish thinkers like Maimonides and Nachmanides interpret this chapter as a parable, with the serpent as the personification of man’s sinful tendencies - “yetzer hara,” the evil inclination.
According to the theory of evolution, the long, slow climb from the amoeba to man took place over millions of ye
ars. In the literal interpretation of Genesis, all things were created in six days, less than six thousand years ago, and man came “from the dust of the earth.”
The religious need not worry that the theory of evolution degrades man. Man can feel humble (and humility is a virtue) because his origins are lowly. Yet at the same time he can be proud of his uniqueness as the culmination of evolution:
“What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?And the son of man, that Thou thinkest of him?Yet Thou hast made him but little lower than the angelsAnd hast crowned him with glory and honor.” (Psalms 8:5-6)
What Jews must remember, even in the process of evolution, is that God planned the creative activity. He was responsible both for the arrival and survival of the species. A man of faith is not prevented by new theories of scientific discoveries from seeing all His works.
The Garden of Eden led to different interpretations in Jewish and Christian doctrine. The latter subscribe to Original Sin, accompanied by vilification of woman as the author of death and all earthly woes. Judaism rejects this, believing that man was always mortal and death did not enter the world through Eve’s transgression. “My God, the soul which Thou hast given me is pure” Jews pray every day.
Instead of the fall of man, we preach the rise of man... each age being capable of reaching the highest peaks of a moral and spiritual life.
The writer is the author of 14 books. Her latest novel is ‘Searching for Sarah.’ dwaysman@gmail.com