The Genesis 1 creation story is remarkably devoid of any moral language. Here in the haftarah, Isaiah injects a moral purpose to creation from the very beginning..
(5) Thus said the ETERNAL God, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what it brings forth, who gave breath to the people upon it And life to those who walk thereon: (6) I GOD, in justice, have summoned you, and I have grasped you by your hand, and I created you, and appointed you as covenantal people to be a light unto the nations.
In interpreting the phrase “let the earth sprout vegetation…" In Aderet Eliyahu, the Vilna Gaon explains that God placed the potential for growth in the earth. It is up to human beings to sow the seeds. (From The Torah: A Commentary for Our Times)
Reading the following contemporary commentary, we can ask ourselves how we are serving as an ezer k'negdo in this moment and to whom. To each others as individuals? As American Jews to Israeli Jews? As human rights activists to the victims, regardless of their nationality?
“Ezer K’Negdo,” by Beruriah Oren
(Dirshuni: Israeli Women Writing Midrash, Volume 1, translated by Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson)
“It is not good for a person/Adam to be alone; I will make him an ezer k’negdo [helping counterpart opposite him].” (Genesis 2:18)
What is “ezer” [help]?
Rescue, as it says: “The God of my father was my help [ezri], rescuing me from the sword of Pharaoh.” (Exodus 18:4)
Protection, as it says, [God is] “Our help and our protector.” (Psalms 33:20)
Salvation, as it says, “A people saved by THE ETERNAL, Your protecting [ezrecha] shield.” (Deuteronomy 33:29)
Redemption, as it says, “I will help you—declares THE ETERNAL—I your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 41:14)
And how does the woman help the man? She rescues him, protects him, saves him, and redeems him from being alone.
What is “k’negdo” [counter to/opposite him]?
Neged can mean “facing,” or “equal to,” as Esau says to Jacob, “I will go l’negdecha [with you].” (Genesis 33:12) Rashi explains, “Equal to you–they went together, for they had made up before they started walking, so they went one next to the other, equally.”
Grief in Our Seasons: A Mourner's Kaddish Companion
by Rabbi Kerry Olitzky
Commentary on Ezer K’negdo:
This is what the Torah text teaches us from nearly the first moment of creation and certainly from the instant of our birth. We respond to this sacred mandate in a variety of ways. We establish loving relationships and build families and communities of and around these relationships. Each supports the other. However, there are times- particularly when we mourn- that we want to be alone, when we want to separate ourselves from the community. And when a relationship has been abruptly severed through death, we feel as if we have been returned to the state of the primordial human: alone and isolated- even if we know that we, like our ancestors, are surrounded by the Garden and that God is tending to the flowers in it.
As we think about the needs of our communities in this moment, how might they be analogous to "visiting the sick"?
(יא) מִי שֶׁיֵשׁ לְפָנָיו שְׁתֵּי מִצְוֹת, בִּקּוּר חוֹלִים וְנִחוּם אֲבֵלִים, אִם אֶפְשָׁר לוֹ לְקַיֵם שְׁתֵּיהֶן, בִּקּוּר חוֹלִים קוֹדֵם, כְּדֵי לְבַקֵּשׁ רַחֲמִים עָלָיו. וְאִם אִי אֶפְשָׁר לוֹ לְקַיֵם שְׁתֵּיהֶן, נִחוּם אֲבֵלִים קוֹדֵם, שֶׁהוּא גְמִילוּת חֶסֶד עִם הַחַיִּים וְעִם הַמֵּתִים.
(11) If you have two mitzvos to perform, to visit the sick and to comfort a mourner, if you are able to do both, you should first visit the sick, so that you will pray for mercy on his behalf. If you cannot do both, comforting a mourner takes precedence, as this is an act of loving kindness toward both the living and the dead.
...שֶׁכֵּן מָצִינוּ בְקַיִן שֶׁהָרַג אֶת אָחִיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ד) דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ צֹעֲקִים, אֵינוֹ אוֹמֵר דַּם אָחִיךָ אֶלָּא דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ, דָּמוֹ וְדַם זַרְעִיּוֹתָיו. דָּבָר אַחֵר, דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ, שֶׁהָיָה דָמוֹ מֻשְׁלָךְ עַל הָעֵצִים וְעַל הָאֲבָנִים. לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרָא אָדָם יְחִידִי, לְלַמֶּדְךָ, שֶׁכָּל הַמְאַבֵּד נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ אִבֵּד עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וְכָל הַמְקַיֵּם נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ קִיֵּם עוֹלָם מָלֵא...
...as we found with Cain, who killed his brother, as it is stated concerning him: “The voice of your brother’s blood [demei] cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). The verse does not state: Your brother’s blood [dam], in the singular, but rather: “Your brother’s blood [demei],” in the plural. This serves to teach that the loss of both his brother’s blood and the blood of his brother’s offspring are ascribed to Cain. The mishna notes: Alternatively, the phrase “your brother’s blood [demei],” written in the plural, teaches that that his blood was not gathered in one place but was splattered on the trees and on the stones. The court tells the witnesses: Therefore, Adam the first man was created alone, to teach you that with regard to anyone who destroys one soul from the Jewish people, i.e., kills one Jew, the verse ascribes him blame as if he destroyed an entire world, as Adam was one person, from whom the population of an entire world came forth. And conversely, anyone who sustains one soul from the Jewish people, the verse ascribes him credit as if he sustained an entire world...
