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Click here. Rabbi Karp's Sermons ... POWER OF PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY One of the courses that I teach at St. Ambrose is entitled “The Jewish Perspective.” In an attempt to extend to their students a well rounded interfaith education, the theology department offers this course as part of a series of “Perspective” courses which also includes “The Protestant Perspective” and “The Catholic Perspective.” The purpose of my course is to provide the students with at least a rudimentary knowledge of what Judaism teaches and of what the Jewish people are all about. Considering the fact that the overwhelming majority of my students come from some sort of Christian background, and many of them have had little or no exposure to Judaism, I feel that it is important for me to point out some of the areas in which our two faiths differ. For many years now, this has been a pet peeve of mine. Most people - Jews as well as Christians - believe that the only difference between our two faiths centers around the acceptance or rejection of the divinity or messiahship of Jesus. While it goes without saying that this matter represents a major parting of our ways, it is not at all accurate or fair to either faith to say that it is the whole enchilada. In point of fact, there are many issues, theologically and ideologically speaking, in which we do not see eye-to-eye. While there is much we share in common, still Judaism and Christianity represent two distinct world views. While our differences over Jesus may irrevocably separate us, all these other differences give shape and color to who we are and what we believe. One such difference which I discuss with my students is intimately tied to tonight’s Torah portion. For our two faith traditions look at this story of the eating of the forbidden fruit, and its consequences, and from it arrive at two very different conclusions and perspectives on the human condition. I do not pretend to be an expert in Christian theology, but let me share with you my understanding of how Christianity views this text. From this story, Christianity arrives at the concept of “Original Sin.” According to their beliefs, because of Adam’s sin, the souls of all people for all time are tainted with evil. Paul would say of it, “By one man, sin entered the world.”[1] According to Christian belief, this eternal sin could only be erased through an acceptance of Jesus as savior. Indeed, Jesus’ death on the cross was a redemptive sacrifice for all whom accept him. You have heard the expression, “Jesus died for our sins.” This “original sin” is the sin that statement is referring to. What does Christianity consider to be Adam‘s sin? About that there is some debate, but there are many Christian theologians who consider it to be one of sexual awareness. In the story, Adam and Eve eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and as a result, become aware of their nakedness, and indeed, hid because of it, or at least that is what Adam claimed. This perception will lead to a significant tradition of associating things sexual with sinfulness. If you were raised to think of sex as “dirty,” then this is where that attitude comes from. Judaism looks at this same story in a very different way. First of all, it is not as significant a story in Judaism as it is in Christianity. It is not as significant because from it, Judaism does not arrive at a major formative principle of our faith, as does Christianity. Make no mistake about it. There are important lessons to be taught here, but contrary to Christianity, the human condition is not irrevocably altered by these events. As I explain to my college students, unlike Christianity, Judaism has no concept of “original sin.” We do not believe that the human soul enters this world with the taint of sin. Quite the contrary, we believe that the soul enters in a pure state. As it says in “Birchot HaShachar” the preliminary blessings for the “Shacharit” - the Morning - Service, “O my God, the soul which You have given me is pure! You have created it and formed it, breathed it into me, and within me You sustain it. So long as I have breathe, therefore, I will give thanks to You, O Eternal my God and God of all ages, Ruler of all creation, Ruler of every living spirit. Blessed is the Eternal, in whose hands are the souls of all the living and the spirits of all flesh.” From the Jewish perspective, the concept of “original sin” is an impossibility. It is an impossibility primarily for two reasons: (1) If the soul comes to us directly from God then it has to be pure. To assume that the soul is tainted is to assume that God is tainted. We speak of the soul as being the divine spark within us. It is the spark of God. It is a little piece of God that is implanted within us, raising us above the rest of God’s creatures. How can a little piece of God be tainted with sin? (2) Judaism teaches that each person is responsible for their own actions. And while our actions can definitely have impact upon the lives of others, for good or for evil - even others living long after us - still, only we can carry the guilt for the sins we commit, for only we are responsible for having committed them. We have to believe this if we wish to believe that our God is a just God. For how could God be just and still hold the innocent as guilty for the misdeeds of others? How could God be just and hold us who are living today accountable for the sin of Adam who lived at least, according to the Jewish calendar, 5,763 years ago? If we look at this Torah text, we can see in it a testimony to this principle of personal responsibility. While there are those Christians who believe that the sin was sexual in nature, Judaism looks at it quite differently. For Judaism, the sin has two parts to it. The first is the defiance of God. God commanded them not to eat from this tree and they violated that commandment, either directly, as in the case of Adam and Eve, or indirectly, as in the case of the snake who was neither commanded nor did he eat, but who did serve as the catalyst in this incident. The second part is to be found in both Adam and Eve’s failure to accept personal responsibility for their misdeeds. When God challenges Adam, he blames Eve, and when God challenges Eve, she blames the snake. It is only then that God’s real anger erupts. What does God do? God punishes each one and punishes them individually. Since each played a different part in this act of defiance, God decides to make their punishments fit their crimes. God decides to hold each one responsible for their own particular sins. What did the snake do? The snake convinced Eve to violate God’s command. How did God punish the snake? By condemning him to eat dusk for the rest of his life; eat dust - dirt - with the very same mouth he used to ensnare Eve. Furthermore, since this sin came about because of the cordial relationship that existed between Eve and the snake - after all, they did talk to each other and she did heed his counsel - God punished both by disrupting that relationship and creating an instinctual hostility between them. For Eve, her punishment did not end with its impact upon her relationship with the snake. For her sin involved two relationships; her relationship with the snake and her relationship with Adam. Since she seemed to be the controlling personality in her relationship with Adam - she said “Eat!” and he ate - part of her punishment was the loss of that control in the form of an instinctual submission to Adam. Her desires would irresistibly draw her to him and as a result, she would bear children. But the pain of childbirth would stand as testimony to the damage she had done to their relationship. Adam, too, would suffer. God had given him everything. Life in the Garden of Eden was very easy. But God had also given him a command, which he rejected. Having rejected the command which was given by God, as punishment Adam would lose everything else that was given by God. The easy life was over. Now, if Adam wanted to survive, he had to do it on his own. He had to sweat and toil and struggle, only to achieve but a fraction of what was once handed to him. With every drop of sweat Adam would be reminded that in having rejected God’s command, he had in fact relinquished all of God’s gifts. For Adam, Eve, and the snake, their individual actions carried individual and profound consequences. Those consequences have not only effected their lives, but have rippled through the ages, even touching our lives today. So Judaism believes it is for all of us. Each and every one of us is confronted with choices we have to make. And each choice we make has its own set of consequences. Often those consequences not only alter our lives but also the lives of other, sometimes even into the future. When, for example, we decide to pollute the air or the water, or destroy the ozone layer or the rain forest, the consequences of those choices ripple through the ages. Those in the future will not suffer because of some“original sin” which they carry on their souls, but rather because they are the heirs to our poor judgements. However, what is true of the evil is also true of the good. If we choose to eradicate disease or poverty or war, these choices also will ripple into the future, blessing rather than cursing future generations. For example, last Sunday I spoke to the students of our religious school about supporting a project of Rotary International which hopefully will eliminate the disease of polio from our planet. Many of them had never even heard of polio. I shared with them the story of a childhood friend who was stricken with the disease when it was a dread in our own country. Yet, due to the efforts of good people, today in America, these, our children, do not know of polio. Now they can choose to help finish that job on a planetary scale. Their choices to do good could ripple into the future of all the people of the Earth. Not every choice that we make carries with it the responsibility for the destruction or preservation of our planet. But every choice we make carries with it its own responsibility and its own consequences. Every choice we make ripples into the lives of others, if not on a planetary scale, then at least on a household scale. At the very least, the words we speak and the deeds we do reverberate within the lives of those we love. Often they travel beyond them, for harm or for healing. To touch the lives of others - to change the lives of others - is a profound power. It is a power that each and every one of us possesses. May we learn to exercise that power responsibly. AMEN |
