Of Man: Selections from the Genesis Rabbah, Part 2 of 2

“Adam was created with two bodies, one of which was cut away from him and formed Eve. If man had been created out of spiritual elements only there could be no death for him, in the event of his fall. If, on the other hand, he had been created out of matter only, there could be no future bliss for him. Hence he was formed out of matter and spirit. If he lives the earthly, the animal life only, he dies like all matter; if he lives a spiritual life he obtains the spiritual future bliss.”

“The merciful Creator did not overlook the wild goat or the rabbit, but provided for them a refuge and a protecting shelter. It follows that He created all that is necessary for man. The Light, when first created, would have enabled man to see from one corner of the Earth to the other; but the wicked men of the generation of Enos, the flood, and the Tower caused that Light to be withdrawn from this world, and it is preserved for the righteous in a higher sphere. The nose is the most important feature in man’s face, so much so that there is no legal identification of man, in Jewish law, without the identification of the nose.”

“The Hebrew word for ‘forming’ is, in connection with the formation of man, spelled exceptionally, with two ‘Ys,’ which is not its proper spelling. This is to be taken as a hint that man was formed out of two elements – spirit and matter. This is also manifested in man’s life. His material part has need of matter to sustain him, and of the other laws of nature; he grows, flourishes, decays, and dies. But, on the other hand, he resembles spiritual beings by walking upright, by his power of speech and thought, and by being able in some degree to see behind him without need of turning his head round; which facility is given to man alone and not to the lower animals. The appearance of Adam and Eve, when just formed, was like that of persons of twenty years of age.”

“Adam was the strong, and Eve the weaker. This mixture of the weak with the strong is beneficial to the human race. Man was originally formed with a tail like the lower animals, but this was afterward taken from him out of consideration for him. God designed man for work – work for his own sustenance; he who does not work shall not eat.”

“Here in this life we have the Spirit, the soul, blown into our nostrils; hence it goes from us at death. In futurity the soul, when restored, will be given to us, as it is said in Ezekiel 37:14: a complete gift never to be returned.”