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June 6, 2003/Sivan 6 5763, Vol. 55, No. 41
Legend of the long-awaited TorahTED ROBERTS
Consider the generations from Adam to Abraham to Moses who stumbled through life without that ethical road map called Torah. Maybe with Torah, Cain would have shaken Abel's hand over his sweet-smelling sacrifice. Maybe Jacob wouldn't have deceived old, sightless Isaac. And surely the brothers of Joseph would have cheered at his dreams of glory instead of selling him into slavery. There's a legend - not rabbinic, not quite at the Midrashic level - just a legend told by thoughtful kibitzers sitting around the den table - that lights up this question. They tell this story: At creation time, the angels cast a unanimous vote for the Almighty to lay the Torah at the foot of the Tree of Knowledge. We're talking that first week in Eden. "Let's not wait for Sinai," they said. They were wary of man. "He's dangerous," they advised the Creator. "At first, he'll use a stick to walk with. Next, he'll use it to knock fruit out of the trees. Then he'll sharpen one end of it and throw it at his fellow creatures. You have made him with the reproductive urges of the desert hare, the ferocity of the tiger, and the greed of the honeybee," they said to the Creator. "The hare is gentle, the tiger is lazy, and the honeybee is small. They cannot harm creation. But man is different. He needs restraints. He needs Torah NOW!" The Lord replied, "Humanity is not programmed like the animals. I have given man a soul and I've given him the blessing and curse of free will. We shall see what we shall see." And the Lord looked down on the paradise he had built on earth. And he saw the incredible variation of plants and creatures. And He saw Adam and Eve, the newlyweds, as gentle as the fruit-eating orangutans. And He could almost hear the happy humming of the green earth beneath heaven. All was well. It was the seventh day and the Lord rested. The angels chattered among themselves like the blue jays in Eden's trees. "He shouldn't have rested before he made Torah," said Michael the Archangel. "Yeah," said one cherub with fluffy wings. "Wait'll he gets a load of Cain." The next day - a day of heaven is many generations on earth, you know - the Lord inspected his universe. He saw the first act of disobedience in the Garden and He saw Cain's murderous rage. He saw the generations who displayed all the faults of the lustful desert hare and the greedy honeybee, with none of their virtues. "The earth was corrupt in his sight," as he was later to note in Genesis Chapter 5, verse 11. So he sent the flood. "That'll do it," He predicted to the angels. "Such power will make man fear me. They will flock to me like the gentle dove nests in the willow trees. Just watch their moral improvement." "They need Torah," mumbled the angelic court. "No," he said. "Not now." Then came the generations of the Patriarchs; God-fearing men, but imperfect. With hesitation and a sigh, the Master Builder of the universe peeped between his fingers again at the strange animal with a soul called man. Just in time to see the sons of Jacob betray their father and their brother Joseph. "Now!" said the angels. "No," said the Lord. "Unlike the animals, did I not give them freedom - even unto sin?" Soon, the descendants of Abraham were slaves in Egypt and their wailing drifted up to heaven itself and the ears of their Creator. Ah, another opportunity, he thought, to demonstrate my power to this unruly breed. And He delivered his people from the whips and clubs of the Egyptians. Later, He was to tell the whole story in Exodus so the ancestors of the slaves would never forget His mercy. Strengthened by his outstretched arm, they strode out of Egypt as free men, but no sooner had they struck off their chains than they assumed the characteristics of the hare, the savage tiger, and the acquisitive greedy honeybee. The Lord threw up his hands in despair. "They need a rule book," He announced to the heavenly hosts. They modestly nodded. The Lord thundered, "Man needs limits." (This was centuries before gender sensitivity; he meant women, too.) And the Lord God took the ex-slaves to Sinai where He spoke face-to-face to Moses and gave him the Torah like a father gives a son a prayer book on his bar mitzvah day. The slaves were now accountable. As I said before, it's only a legend and legends have nowhere near the authenticity of a Midrash. So ask your rabbi about it. But if he laughs at your legend, ask him for his explanation. Why did The Master of the Universe wait for Sinai?
Ted Roberts is a free-lance writer based in Huntsville, Ala. |
