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About Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner
Expertise
Write to me with questions about Jewish customs and law, history,
philosophy and tradition for answers from a Conservative perspective or conversion. I am a graduate of The Jewish Theological Seminary and a member of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly. Having served in congregational pulpits since 1970, I now am President of the Foundation For Family Education, Inc. a non-profit educational endeavor. I established it to create new formats of hands-on programs and provide free educational downloads at www.jewishfreeware.org. In addition to general informational questions I welcome your questions about programs for social action, outreach to dual-faith families, inter-faith clergy projects, healing services, education for conversion, adult education for the congregation and the community. If you have questions about Informal and Formal Education I am ready to share my extensive experience with Youth Activities, Camping and Religious School/Hebrew High School on a congregational, community and national/international level.
Experience
I have served on the National Youth Commission for more than 25 years and serve on the Boards of the Conservative Zionist movement MERCAZ and the World Council of Synagogues. I have always dual-families and taught candidates for conversion with a great sense of fulfillment. I am very proud of 25 years on the Jewish camping staff of Camps Ramah. My greatest source of pride is my family! Ask me about them, please!:-)
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You are here: Experts > Homework Help > Judaism > Conservative Judaism > Adam and the Garden
Expert: Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner - 8/30/2008
Question
Good afternoon Sir .I was wondering what your understanding was of the garden .I am a Southern Baptist Minister who struggles with the origin of Sin .We would say in our churches sin began when Adam chose to eat of the fruit .I have studied this and noted two things before this event .Adam was alone and God considered this to be not good .And in the creation story When God uses the word good several times and than very good is He speaking of perfection in that word. Because I know in your language the word perfect is defined other places.My question is how do you see the perfection in the garden .And as defined by your language would the sin be in Adam or was perfection there and he could chose good or bad .I hope I have made my question clear .God Bless.
Answer
Dear Reverend Wenderlein,
Thank you for the compliment of asking, and I'll provide several alternative answers.
My first response is based upon my own theological position, more than 45 years in development which may differ from yours. It is nonetheless well within the boundaries of my movement, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and my own Rabbinical Assembly and reflecting my studies in Bible in the Jewish Theological Seminary.
I leave to others - Jewish and Christian and Muslim - the option to read the Biblical text as historical record. I don't. However the Bible was revealed to our ancestors, and/or where and under what conditions it was revealed, I leave all "belief" and "faith" issues to the individual student of the Bible and their faith leaders.
For me, the introductory chapters of Genesis are non-historical mythic history, from creation until Abraham. These chapters - 1 through 11 - describe the origins of humanity, which then becomes a Jewish "particular" history with the entry of Abraham upon the scene. These are spiritual lessons, the most elegant crafted metaphors that have more than proven their eternal beauty and worth.
Given existing Biblical academic studies, the manuscript evidence, and all that of which you are aware, I believe that the Bible is the result of editing across centuries, both in Israel and Diaspora. And, in no way do I lose faith in the spiritual greatness of the resulting Biblical text.
Judaism today is Rabbinic in its origin, our Rabbinic sages - long before we have an oral or written record of their incredible legal and aggadic = legendary codes and texts based upon the Bible, especially the Five Books of Moses.
And so, the stories from Eden deal with the origin of evil in the world. While not literally accurate, nonetheless deal with its origins in temptation, disobedience, the transformation of human biology away from loving intimacy into sexuality and shame, and denial of human responsibility regarding the consequences of their decisions and actions.
The perfection in the garden reflects the "could have been" which is denied to us because our ancestors misused their opportunities to use their free will, misused their minds and knowledge learned from the world to abuse life and stewardship, and they didn't listen to their hearts and souls. The punishment meted out to Adam, Eve and the serpent is related directly to the nature of their decisions and actions.
One interpretation - Etz Hayim commentary - of the tree of life is that it represents the force of instinct while the tree of knowledge of good and evil represents the force of conscience. Having thus eaten
from the tree of knowledge they could no longer live instinctively - or they should not do so.
Other traditional commentators see Eden as the hope that humankind and nature will one day live harmoniously, a world without illness and pain. In short, a messianic era - not a personal messianic figure.
Thanks for writing and best wishes
Rabbi Dov
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