Dear Friends,
Let’s leave politics aside for a moment – or at least, some politics. Thus, a question: Are the animals upon the earth truly here simply for our dominion and use?
For generations, it surely appeared that way. We were hunters and gatherers, we cut trees as needed for shelter and fuel, and we hunted buffalo for skins and meat. Our relationship with the world around us was purely utilitarian.
Of course, today, with global warming, that bird has come home to roost, and we see the results of human use, and usurpation, of the earth’s living resources.
Interestingly, this seeming unchecked usage of animals, and perhaps, plants, seems to be sanctioned in Torah. We read in Genesis, chapter 2, that God looked for a helpmate for Adam, and crafted each animal and brought it to Adam, who assigned it a name. None of them was found emotionally satisfying to Adam, and thus Eve was created. However, according to the mythic story, Adam still was charged with giving names to the other creatures. And, assigning names gave Adam, and thus, humans, the privilege to give them purposes, as well.
The Midrash as recounted in the commentary of Rashi, our medieval Torah sage, states, “God brought them to Adam to give them names.” Via the Midrash, the creation of the animals had the connotation of subjugation and dominion, as they were designated roles through Adam.
This is uncomfortable to me. I understand that we humans have been naming the animals – with common and Latin names – dating at least to Darwin and Lamarck, but that was for scientific classification purposes to know phylum, genus and species. It was not for the purpose of subjugation.
Yet, subjugation has resulted. Just ask the passenger pigeon and the California golden bear (both extinct in the 20th century). Naming the animals gave us the right to use them, and to abuse them. Control allowed domination, whereas perhaps control originally was intended to engender stewardship.
For us, we cannot unscramble the omelet, and regenerate the thousands of animals which have become extinct during the human period. But, perhaps recommencing Genesis this week might spur us to reconsider consequences of our actions.
Even Rashi intuited this a millennium ago.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Let’s leave politics aside for a moment – or at least, some politics. Thus, a question: Are the animals upon the earth truly here simply for our dominion and use?
For generations, it surely appeared that way. We were hunters and gatherers, we cut trees as needed for shelter and fuel, and we hunted buffalo for skins and meat. Our relationship with the world around us was purely utilitarian.
Of course, today, with global warming, that bird has come home to roost, and we see the results of human use, and usurpation, of the earth’s living resources.
Interestingly, this seeming unchecked usage of animals, and perhaps, plants, seems to be sanctioned in Torah. We read in Genesis, chapter 2, that God looked for a helpmate for Adam, and crafted each animal and brought it to Adam, who assigned it a name. None of them was found emotionally satisfying to Adam, and thus Eve was created. However, according to the mythic story, Adam still was charged with giving names to the other creatures. And, assigning names gave Adam, and thus, humans, the privilege to give them purposes, as well.
The Midrash as recounted in the commentary of Rashi, our medieval Torah sage, states, “God brought them to Adam to give them names.” Via the Midrash, the creation of the animals had the connotation of subjugation and dominion, as they were designated roles through Adam.
This is uncomfortable to me. I understand that we humans have been naming the animals – with common and Latin names – dating at least to Darwin and Lamarck, but that was for scientific classification purposes to know phylum, genus and species. It was not for the purpose of subjugation.
Yet, subjugation has resulted. Just ask the passenger pigeon and the California golden bear (both extinct in the 20th century). Naming the animals gave us the right to use them, and to abuse them. Control allowed domination, whereas perhaps control originally was intended to engender stewardship.
For us, we cannot unscramble the omelet, and regenerate the thousands of animals which have become extinct during the human period. But, perhaps recommencing Genesis this week might spur us to reconsider consequences of our actions.
Even Rashi intuited this a millennium ago.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
