As We Begin to Read the Torah Again, Let Us Reflect on What Has Changed — and What Hasn’t

In some fundamentalist religious circles, the word “evolution” is a term of abuse. To me, it is a word that — apart from its many meanings — also describes the positive process of change in stages.

This week, we start reading the Torah again from the very beginning, with the stories of creation itself. Many books — from Jewish, to Christian, to Muslim — have been written trying to reconcile the literal translation of the Book of Genesis with the evolutionary system most famously associated with Darwin.

Long before Darwin, however, scientists, archaeologists, and even divines were talking about the different stages in the creation of the universe, and speculated about a much earlier time scale than some 6,000 years.

I feel no need to try to reconcile the different ways of reconciling religion and science, and if there are people who still believe that the world is only 5,785 years old, then like those who believe the earth is flat,  I see no point in trying to make an argument out of it. Anyway, the Bible doesn’t just talk about the physical stages of creation. It is far more concerned with another kind of evolution — the spiritual one.

Religiously, there’s no doubt that we have gone through different stages in how we understand and relate to God or the idea of God. Consider the change from Biblical Judaism to Talmudic Judaism, the development of Kabbalah and mysticism and then Hasidism and on to the many different sects, denominations, and communities within the small Jewish world of today.

The process of a relationship with God begins with Adam and Chava(Eve) — treated like children, given a clear simple instruction by their heavenly parent, which they disobey. The next stage in the relationship is that of Cayin (Cain), and Havel (Abel), who for the first time, try to relate to God through sacrifices and giving gifts (Bereishit 4). Although Cayin is the first to offer a sacrifice, it is Havel whose sacrifice is found to be more acceptable. God’s message to an angry, frustrated Cayin is that if things don’t always work the way you want them to, you must persevere and try to do better, not give up. Cayin, unable to accept rebuke, became so angry and frustrated he could only resort to violence. The genealogical line of Cayin died out, and it was the children of Adam and Chava’s third son, Sheyt (Seth), that initiated a line of spiritual successors.

The next stage in how to relate to God came through Enosh (Bereishit 4:26), when people began to call in the name of God, which could be understood in two ways. Some people say this is the beginning of idolatry. Others say this is the beginning of the idea of prayer, relating to God through words. After Enosh comes Chanoch (Enoch) who was the first to walk with God (Bereishit 5:22), and as the Torah said, God took him away. Once again, opinions vary as to whether God took him away before he could get up to any monkey business, or whether his idea of relating to God was by turning his back on society and humanity, and retreating to the mountains and caves in pursuit of a personal relationship with God. Whereas Noach (Noah) who also walked with God (Bereishit 6:9), was involved in trying to save humanity.

At the same time as these seekers of God were trying to find their way, humanity was still caught in a more primitive and violent, rapacious world of giants, perhaps Neanderthals — the very failings of humanity that we still exhibit and bemoan to this very day. Only when we get to Avraham does this relationship with God begin to achieve what the opening chapter of creation hoped for — that mankind would know the difference between good and bad, and that the purpose of religion was not only to encounter God, but also enable us to be better human beings.

The geologist will tell us that the world has been evolving for millions of years. Humans too are evolving and changing, getting stronger and healthier, living longer. And yet the evil we experience at this moment all around us is the very same evil that was experienced then. In some respects, we remain stubbornly the same. Even though some of us are trying our best to strive for good, there are others who still believe violence, compulsion, and forced conversions are the ways to succeed.

If it is true that we have been on earth for millions of years in one iteration or another, perhaps we expect too much of a few thousand years, and there is hope for us if we are patient and try to do our best. As an aside, notice that the idea of a Tsadik, a righteous person, is used in the Bible, long before a clearly defined Israelite religion emerges. And that is what we all should aspire to be, regardless of our differences.

The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.

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