34 | OCTOBER 20 • 2022
SPIRIT
To Serve
Is To Follow
T
his parshah is funda-
mental. In it, we find:
creation, the first man
and woman, the first sin,
the first repentance, the first
murder, the first degeneration
of society and much more.
Perhaps the most perplexing
event in it is the original sin.
God put Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden and gave
them everything they needed.
God spoke to them
and requested only that
they not eat from the
fruit of one particular
tree. Yet, before their
first day was over, they
disobeyed God. Why?
How can we under-
stand this original error
which impacted the
world more than any
other action in history?
One way to under-
stand Adam and Eve’s
mistake is to believe
that they thought they knew
a better way to serve God.
They felt that by simply not
eating a single species of
fruit, in a place where God’s
presence was palpable, was
no big deal. They were capa-
ble of sacrificing so much
more for God. They were
willing and able to serve in a
world shrouded in darkness,
where it would be much
more difficult to appreciate
the importance of serving
Him.
Adam and Eve knew that
if they ate from the tree, it
would be like turning off a
celestial light switch, and
God’s presence in the world
would become more hidden
through sin’s entrance into
the world. But they were cer-
tain that they could still serve
God in such a difficult world;
they would be the knights
in shining armor, riding
through the darkness holding
up the banner of godliness.
This was a colossal error.
One that continues to chal-
lenge. The truth is that when
a person thinks like that, he
is using his ego and believing
that he knows better
than God. God had
said that I will be at my
best doing X, but I say I
can do better by doing
Y. Actually, we are at
our best when we fol-
low what He asks.
The challenge of
Adam and Eve is still
a challenge. We try to
tell ourselves that God
did not really mean
that we should do what
He asked of us in the
Torah, or that if He would see
the modern world, He would
certainly cancel a number
of the “outdated” mitzvot.
We feel that we can decipher
what He really wants of us,
even if it is different from
what He told us.
If we want to serve God
and not ourselves, we have
to trust that He does know
best and realize that the best
way to serve Him is to follow
what He asks, not what we
think He would have asked. If
we do that, we will be able to
bring the world back to the
utopia that it was before sin
arrived.
This article originally appeared in
the JN on Oct. 12, 2017.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi Leiby
Burnham
Parshat
Bereshit:
Genesis
1:1-6:3;
Isaiah
42:5-43:10.
For additional information call (248) 357-5544.
Sponsored by The Morris and
Beverly Baker Foundation
www.shaareyzedek.org
Scan to register
November 4 & 5, 2022
SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE
Dr. Dara Horn
November 4 - 6:00 p.m.
Shabbat Dinner & Evening lecture:
People Love Dead Jews:
Reports from a Haunted Present
(available for purchase online)
6:00 p.m. TGIS service
7:00 p.m. Dinner
7:45 p.m. Lecture with Dara Horn
Member Dinner Cost: $30/person
Non-member Dinner Cost: $35/person
November 5
Shabbat morning Dvar Torah: Lekh-Lekha:
Turning Antisemitism Inside-out.
Shabbat afternoon lecture/discussion: Uses
and Misuses of ‘Dead Jews’: What I saw in
my Holocaust-education journey across
America, how it started, how it’s going, and
what we need to reimagine.
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