Healing Well of Miriam

When we talk about Redemption, we must first talk about Creation, for everything and every possibility—even the possibility for evil—was created in the beginning.   This understanding is fundamental to a truly monotheistic belief.  It is not simple, for our thinking naturally tends toward dualism.  But if we were to think that God could only create “good,” then our automatic alternative thought would be that there must be a “bad” creator as well, and therefore another god—God forbid.  This idea of good versus evil has permeated the collective thought system and given rise to the idea of some cosmic battle of good against evil, in which good must be very, very careful not to lose to evil.  What does this idea say about our faith in God—the ONE GOD?  Thoughts about Redemption challenge our beliefs in general and our understanding of Creation—and the purpose of Creation—in particular. 

I am the One Who forms light and creates darkness; Who makes peace and creates evil; I am Hashem, Maker of all these. ~Isaiah 45:7  

Just like an architect, the Creator planned the Creation before putting it into action.  Nothing could come into being in the world unless its possibility had been created beforehand.  Part of this planning process was the creation of five realities, or worlds, of reality—God, Neshamot (human souls), Spirit (where angels and celestial creatures dwell), Physicality (in which the physical creatures were to dwell), and Zuhama (literally, the poison of the serpent, where decay and destruction were possible). 

The first reality is “God.”  An obvious question is: how could God create Himself?  The actual reality of “God” is so high that we cannot even conceive of Him.  However, in order to create, He created special vessels for creation.  These are the divine attributes, or Names of God.  They are filters of His light for the step-down process of concretizing into physicality.  The Arizal, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (1534-1572), taught that when Jacob was given the secret of how to affect the markings on the sheep and the goats (Genesis 30:25-43), the angel took him above the creation of the vessels of Creation.  This was the reality of the Creator, or “God.”

The second reality is called Neshamot—human souls.  The souls were created even before there was a physical human being—Adam.  This Soul was breathed into Adam by the Creator—essentially a part of Himself.  All of Creation is a part of the Creator, but the Neshamot were a creation apart, with a unique connection to the Creator that no other creation had.  This connection gave the human being the ability to actively participate and impact Creation.  This was demonstrated when the Creator told Adam to name the animals (Genesis 2:19-20).  No other creature had the ability to do that—certainly not the other animals, but not even the angels.  This unique ability was “God-like,” expressing the Neshama’s very purpose.

What are mortals, that You should be mindful of them; human beings, that You should take note of them?  Yet You have set them just below God and crowned them with glory and splendor.  You made them rulers over Your handiwork; You set it all beneath their feet… ~ Psalm 8:5-7

The third reality is the spiritual realm, in which the angels and other celestial creatures were to dwell.  The level of Neshamot was created higher than the level of angels.  Only when coming into physical form would the human soul be lower than the angels, and this is a temporary situation.  The purpose of the angelic host is as servants of the Creator, and in this capacity, they are sometimes sent to assist creatures in the physical realm, especially human beings. 

The fourth reality is the physical world.  The Light of Creation became physical.  The world and all her creatures were pristine and perfect.  Each day of the process was “good.”  This was to be the physical home for the Neshamot, in which, ideally, they would blissfully commune with the Creator and live harmoniously with all the other creatures.  In this reality, though, Adam was created with free will.  He was not meant to be an automaton servant, similar to the angels.  Nor was he to be a passive recipient of the Creator’s benevolence, like the animals and plants.  His Soul was created to actively interact with the Creator.  For this to happen, he needed to be able to freely choose this path for himself.  God set the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the midst of the Garden and told Adam and his wife not to eat from it.  All the other trees were theirs to eat from freely, but that one tree was prohibited.  He told them that on the day they should do so, they would surely die.   

The fifth reality is called zuhama, which is the poison of the snake.  This reality was created as a possible consequence of Adam’s choosing to disobey the edict forbidding his eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The Hebrew text of the verse uses the word “die” twice, indicating that there is more than one type of death.  The consequence was not just physical death, which did become a possibility at that point.  It was also a collapsing of the world into a state of destruction and decay.  After Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit, God walked in the Garden and called: “Adam, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). Did All-Knowing God really not know where Adam was?  He certainly knew his physical location, but the question was more for Adam’s contemplation.  Where had he gone?  Probably the saddest passage in Torah, it is telling of the destruction of the relationship they had had.  Adam’s consciousness had descended and was no longer connected to the Creator’s.  He was suddenly, for the very first time in his physical existence, afraid.  Zuhama is a force that produces the illusion of independence from God, in which evil can abound.  However, Adam and Eve, quickly discovered this new reality was one in which loneliness and sorrow and pain also abound. 

When God first created Adam, he gave him dominion of the earth (Genesis 1:28).  This mandate was never revoked.  Adam and all his descendants continue to have the responsibility for the healing of Creation.  Healing means coming to a new place in relationship with God, and this can result in a physical healing as well.  The fall of Creation was first and foremost a spiritual injury that then had physical ramifications.  This is how we can see other physical illnesses, as well, but all the damage in the physical world begins with some spiritual defect.  This was what “the fall” actually was.  This is illustrated in the curse on the Man and the Woman. 

To the woman He said, “I will greatly increase your suffering and your childbearing; in pain shall you bear children…. ~Genesis 3:16

The Hebrew words for “suffering” and “pain” both have the root etzev, which means “pain,” “sorrow,” or “sadness,” the idea of deep grieving.  From this comes the awareness that this curse is the root of all illness, including the ailment of the earth itself and all her creatures.    

This life of sorrow was not Eve’s alone, for the curse on Adam was:

…accursed is the ground because of you; through suffering shall you eat of it all the days of your life.  Thorns and thistles shall sprout for you, and you shall eat the herbs of the field.  By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, from which you were taken:  For you are dust, and to dust shall you return.” ~Genesis 3:17-19

How different this was from his working the Garden of Eden!  Again, the Hebrew word in this passage for “suffering” has the root etzev.  This grievous sorrow would define human existence throughout history.  The earth itself was included in Adam’s curse, falling and suffering, just as he had.  This was his domain, utterly dependent on him, sharing his fate.  Yet this was not the final verdict. 

When the Prophets of Israel describe Redemption, they speak of joy and gladness, not only for the people, but also for nature.  Indeed, the alleviation of pain and sorrow and the healing of the resulting injury is achieved by replacing them with joy and gladness.  This deep vibrational shift is essential to the whole motif of Redemption prophecy, a time free of tears and sorrow in which all of Creation rejoices and praises our Creator.      

For Hashem will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her wasteland like a garden of Hashem; joy and gladness will be found there, thanksgiving and the sound of music. ~ Isaiah 51:3

For in Gladness shall you go out and in peace shall you arrive, the mountains and hills will break out in glad song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap hands. ~Isaiah 55:12

Let the rivers clap their hands and the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth.  He will judge the world with justice and the peoples with equity. ~ Psalm 98:8-9  

Reality	Level of World	Level of Soul
God	Adam Kadmon (Primordial Man)	Yechidah (Unique Essence)
Neshamot (human soul)	Atzilut (Closeness)	Chayah (Living Essence)
Spirit world ~ angels	Beriyah (Creation)	Neshama (Breath)
Physical world	Yetzirah (Formation)	Ruach (Spirit)
Zuhama (poison of the serpent) ~ fallen world~	Asiyah (Completion)	Nefesh (Soul)