Field of Emuna

In the Introduction to Koren Siddur Rabbi Jonathan Sacks compares the order of the prayer with the order of creation as in the book of Bereishit: “each day has its task, each life-form has its place, and the result (until the birth of sin) was harmony”.

What is harmony?  For me harmony was the Shabbos walk on a bright sunny morning with the boy in a stroller, or toddling along, the girl walking next to me, chatting non-stop.  Meeting other families with young children in strollers along the way.   The birch trees by one of the houses, reflecting the sunlight.  Harmony was sitting on a bench in the Village Green Park, watching them going down the slide, running around the playground.  Watching the boy’s serious face as he worked with the shovel and a bucket on a sandy beach.  Talking to him about basketball, G-d, politics, world economy, stocks, more about G-d during the walks to shul. 

The world from created from nothing, yesh mi ayin, ad nihilo, out of chaos and confusion and roaring winds came a beautiful orderly Universe and in the middle of it was the center of creation – the harmonious and peaceful Garden of Eden, bright and sunny place of endless summer.  Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, but Eve was fashioned out of his rib, a more advanced material.  She was smart, she learned quickly everything that Adam could tell about plants and animals in the garden, but it was not enough for her, she wanted to learn more, to discuss interesting, intriguing things, and most of all she wanted to know the mind of G-d.  She got to talk to sophisticated creatures in the garden, the wise old snake, and why not? 

If you were offered to have a lunch with a celebrity of the opposite gender, whom would you pick?  Guess I would not mind having a lunch with Woody Allen, or Allan de Botton, or take a time travel 300 years back to have a friendly chat with Baruch Spinoza – nehmad le’haskil (pleasure to the mind)! 

Bereishit 3:6 And the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise; so she took of its fruit, and she ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

She relied on her logic and empirical evidence to conclude that the apple was good for her, and then it should be good for him, too.  Her eyes were opened; she saw the world in all its details and complexity as clear as ever.  She got bored, she yearned for someone to talk to, someone as smart as her to share her knowledge, to rejoice in her enthusiasm, to bask in her delight – she wanted Adam to have it too, so they would have more in common, more to talk about. But Adam had his own wisdom – the wisdom of innocence, wisdom of trust and joy. He had his own deal with G-d before she showed up, the commandment that did not make sense to her rational mind. 

Love opens another field of vision.  Love based on compassion and respect, recognizing the other as the image of G-d, not aggression bent on possessing and molding the other in one’s image.  Love born out of thousands years of labor pain and longing, thousands years of separation, yearning to return to the beauty and harmony of the simple and perfect world.  The gates of the garden are closed; the apple is not only bitten in, but has become a staple food, bread and butter of the uneasy mind.  Is there another way, a round-about road back, a narrow path through the dry parched land full of thorns? 

Eve is more complex than Adam.  She was fashioned out of the rib, not from dust.  Adam has his simple, innocent relationship with the Almighty, following commandments and enjoying pleasures of the world.  She can keep the apple to herself and turn to the One Who planted the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and start the dialog with Him, develop her own relationship, at her level and on His terms. Or better put the apple aside and follow the path of innocent faith, and hope, hope beyond all reason and logic that one day she'll be allowed to return.

When we open our lips and hearts in prayer, we escape the narrow straights of the primitive ego-based intelligence, and walk out into the vast expanse of intelligence of love, the rolling hills and lush valleys of never ceasing joy, the endless field of emuna (trusting faith) towards the One Who is always waiting for us to return.

Link to the class presentation:
DNG Women Tefillah class