Already the editors of the Torah recognized the discrepancies between the two creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2–3 and made redactional alignments so the two stories would read better next to each other. Such awareness is also evident among the earliest interpreters of the Bible, including the book of Jubilees and the Septuagint.
Prof.
Konrad Schmid
,
,
The etrog tree, according to midrash, fulfilled God’s command in creation, such that the tree tasted like its fruit. It was also the tree of Knowledge from which Eve ate. By taking the etrog on Sukkot along with the other species, we atone for this primordial sin.
Prof. Rabbi
Rachel Adelman
,
,
YHWH advises Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge but does not disclose that the reason they will die is because they will lose access to the Tree of Life. YHWH does not allow humans to become gods, both wise and immortal (Genesis 3:22), and thus expels them from the garden. Consequently, the woman must bear children to perpetuate the species, and the man must till the earth to produce food.
Dr.
Joseph Ryan Kelly
,
,
The primordial man and woman may believe they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, but they actually ate from the Life-Giving Tree. This causes a chain reaction leading to the emergence of sexuality, procreation, and continuity for the human species.
Prof.
Jack M. Sasson
,
,
Like many traditions with a long historical pedigree, Judaism has inherited its share of texts with racial bias. Failure to acknowledge this is one reason for prevalent conscious and subconscious racist views that can be found in the American Orthodox Jewish community—the community of which I am a part—which sometimes reveal themselves in overt statements and actions.
Prof.
Meylekh (PV) Viswanath
,
,
Clothing functions both as a marker of distinction and as the source of undoing in the Joseph story. A midrash suggests that Joseph’s coat is the same garment made from the sloughed skin of the serpent that God gave to Adam and Eve, which was then worn by Nimrod, Esau, and Jacob. Another midrash claims it to be the (future) High Priest’s tunic.
Prof. Rabbi
Rachel Adelman
,
,
God creates “the human... male and female” (Genesis 1), which we typically understand to mean the first human couple. However, a look at the creation of other species in the same chapter suggests otherwise.
Prof. Rabbi
David Frankel
,
,