Just a random thought to share with you. I suspect that I am not the first to think of this. Many people speak longingly about Gan Eden as being paradise. They speak of being fortunate enough to live in a similar situation.
It occurs to me that one of the more difficult situations a person can be placed in is to experience paradise and then to lose it.
So I wonder about our forefather/foremother. How bitter was the exile from Gan Eden? What did it do to them and how did they handle it. In theory people who have never had to worry about anything would have limited coping skills.
And there you have five minutes of my musings. What do you think?
(Crossposted on The Jewish Connection)
5 comments:
That's what you get for eating apples from a snake.
It's a fairytale. Those in the Garden of Eden must have been completely different creatures because i can't imagine humans living in perpetual peace with eachother.
Leurez,
As hokey as it sounds I think that we need to dream big.
Though I am Orthodox I really like the explanation of the story given by Rabbi Kushner of "When Bad Things..." fame. Briefly, his interpretation is that the changes after Eden all related to entering a complex, nuanced world where we would need to make the most of a short lifespan, and worry about the the future - e.g. how to make a living, our children, mortality, etc. But this was more of a blessing than a curse, because only in such an environment could humanity change, grow, and reach its potential, instead of stagnating and remaining no more morally evolved than animals.
Elie,
I am familiar with his explanation and agree with you that I appreciate it. There is a lot to be said for looking at it that way.
Donna,
I hear you loud and clear.
It would be pretty boring in Eden if all you had was eachother. I don't like many people in this realm, i can't imagine that being any different in another. And that accounts to all people. Our world is not static. It is what we want it to be. If people, all people, would want this planet to turn into Eden it could become that. But that is not possible because most people simply don't like eachother.
That can mean only one thing: even in a world that begins with Eden will slowly downfall into what we have now.
Post a Comment