What Does It Mean to Be Human?
The Torah at the very beginning of Sefer Genesis tells the story of the creation of humankind twice. And the two stories seem to describe two very different kinds of human beings.
In the first account, G-d creates man and woman together:
“And G-d created man in His image… male and female He created them.”
G-d then tells them to: “Fill the earth and subdue it.”
Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik names this man, Adam 1 or, “Majestic Man.”
Human beings are given enormous power and responsibility. We are created with the ability to build, create, discover, organize, transform, cure and master the physical world.
We are able to create technology. We can build communities, and develop medicine. We take what exists in the world and use our creativity to make something new.
There is something magnificent about being human.
But then the Torah tells a different story of creation. A different narrative is shared in which man was created alone, from the dust of the earth.
And G-d breathes into him the breath of life: “And man became a living soul.”
This is a very different creation story.
This, the Rav describes as Adam 2, or “Covenantal Man.”
This Adam is more vulnerable and humble, created from the dust of the earth. He comes from dust.
And G-d places him in the Garden “to work it and to preserve it.”
Not to conquer it, but to care for and preserve it.
And then G-d says: “It is not good for man to be alone.”
For all of man's power, something is missing. He needs a relationship and a partner.
And so G-d creates a woman as his help-mate.
The human story becomes not only about what we can accomplish, but about who we are connected to.
Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik famously described these two dimensions as Majestic Man and Covenantal Man. The Torah is telling us that we need both.
We are meant to be majestic. We are meant to use our talents and abilities to build, create, accomplish, and make the world better.
But we are also meant to be covenantal. To remember that we are made from dust. That we need one another. That we are accountable to G-d.
That the world has been entrusted to us to control, and to serve and preserve.
We need the confidence to say, “I can change the world,” and the humility to say, “I am part of something much greater than myself.”
We need achievement and we also need meaning. We need independence and we also need relationships. We need power and we also need compassion.
Perhaps that is why G-d gives Adam both work and purpose. Human beings need something to do, but we also need something to live for.
We were created to change the world and also to care for it. We were created to accomplish and also to connect. We were created with power and also with a soul. The challenge of being human is to hold these two sides together.
To build without becoming arrogant. To lead without needing to control. To accomplish without losing sight of the people around us. To use our gifts in the service of something greater than ourselves.
Perhaps true greatness is not choosing between Majestic Man and Covenantal Man. It is being both.
To stand confidently in our ability to create and change the world and humbly in relationship with G-d, with one another, and with the world G-d has entrusted to us. To learn how to use power with purpose, with responsibility, and with love.
Shabbat shalom
With love
Elissa
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