Bereisheet: Letting a Snake Get You Into Trouble...

Welcome back to the beginning! The High Holidays are behind us, we concluded the Book of Deuteronomy, with the story of Moses and the Israelites, and we have returned back, again, to where it all started. 

This week, God creates our world, and our saga begins. Some of you heard me say this in services over the High Holidays: I love the story of Creation! It is teeming with mysteries and enigmas; you almost can't read a single verse without being perplexed with the Torah's depiction of the Genesis of it all. Every year, I feel torn about where to focus our attention. There is so much to talk about!! But, as always, I must choose. And so this year, let's zero in on the Garden of Eden, and more specifically, the snake.

Is there a more confounding character in the whole Bible? In the very first verse where the snake makes his entrance, the Torah tells us: "The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that Adonai, our God, had made" (Gen. 3:1). And already, we must pause. "Shrewd"? 

Is that the opinion of the narrator or a fact? How is a creature of God's making even able to BE shrewd, if it is not God's will? As the story unfolds, the snake subtly (and yes, slyly...) asks the Woman, Eve, if God has allowed the humans to eat of all the trees in the Garden. Of course, he already knows the answer, and when she tells him there's one tree, the fruit of which they cannot eat "lest you die," he poo-poos her answer! "You are not going to die, but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know good and bad" (Gen. 3:4-5). Wait a minute, wait a minute! HOW does the snake know this? Where did he acquire such information? We just accept these stories at face value, mainly because they've been in our cultural consciousness our entire lives, but you've got to admit, it's strange.  

Somehow, the snake is shrewd. And for some reason, he knows ESSENTIAL information about how the Garden of Eden is constructed, and shares it with this woman for reasons that are never revealed to us. But perhaps my biggest question surrounding all of this is, how is it possible for us to read this story without 

challenging it? It is almost impossible to accept this narrative account as written, without SOME more information, some scrutiny and unpacking, and yet, we do. If you ask most people about the Garden of Eden story, I am certain they will say "the snake is the bad guy." And I'm not saying he's a good guy! I'm just incredibly curious about how he manages to be an independent contractor, with insider trading info, and a really healthy dose of skepticism and cynicism... in a world where God is (supposedly anyway...) in complete control. Part of the answer - for me anyway - is that the snake is NOT working on his own. God knows exactly what he's up to.

The serpent represents something. He did back in ancient times, and he continues to do so today, in 2015. We don't, and cannot, live our lives entirely as rule-followers. There would be no evolution, no invention, no science, medicine, art, literature, or most of the things that make us human beings. We would build homes. We would go to work. We would eat, sleep, procreate, and exist... but we would not truly be alive. We need that "shrewd" little voice whispering in our ear: "Really? You're not 

even going to take one LITTLE taste?" And we shouldn't just be taking the snake's advice, we should be viewing the snake-character as an opportunity to use our brains. The Torah is BEGGING us to say, "wait a minute, wait a minute! Huh???" The whole existence OF the snake in this story is calling out to us for questions, challenges, and disagreements. And this is only the very first parashah! But there is no question in my mind that the text is speaking to ME, and you, to all of us. We need a little more "snake" in our lives, and we need to open our eyes and minds to the growth opportunities that come when we listen to the serpent's cunning temptations. You can read this story and see only Original Sin. Or you can see it as the beginning of humanity, and the evolution of our species. Either way, don't let others tell you what's going on the text; make a decision for yourself to read it, understand it, and make sense of it for YOU. Then it will be the Genesis of something positive in your life. And that's a very good place to start.


Photos in this blog post:
1. CC image courtesy of Doewiets on Wikimedia Commons
2. CC image courtesy of Jim Padgett on Wikimedia Commons
3. CC image courtesy of Fae on Wikimedia Commons
4. CC image courtesy of Fae on Wikimedia Commons