It is not good to stand alone.
One of the most profound phrases of Torah, is that “it is not good to be alone”. We live during a time of a loneliness epidemic, which impacts our health, our sanity, our ethical character – without empathy there can be no morality. (Vivek Murtha: Our epidemic of Lonelness and Isolation) I believe the source of human loneliness is hinted at in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Archeology further reveals about earthlings standing upright as the first step toward evolution of humanity. To be human is to toggle between being upright and lonely, and to being humble and in relationship. In Kaballah, even the Holy One humbly withdraws (tzimtzum) to make room for relationship with others. Furthermore I think this toggling reflects the current disconnect in humanity between those who wish to dominate in a quest for more and more power and those who wish to be humbly in relationship with one another, with the land and her creatures. Sources here
In Genesis, chapter One, earthlings (adam in Hebrew) is/are created from the mud of the earth (adamah), and Divine breath. The midrash (Avot DeRabbi Natan on Gen 3:15) sites “standing up” qum in Hebrew as one of the major steps of human creation (sixth hour) Standing is one of the ways we’re like the Angels. Furthermore the primordial human, was really like G8d – stretching and seeing the universe! After the earthlings ate from the tree of knowledge of Good and Bad, The Holy One squished humans down to size. They could not longer stand before G8d, and no longer had standing in Gan Aden – the Garden of Eden. And of course Cayin (Cain) “rose up” to kill his brother, whose bloods cry out to the Holy One from the ground. Then Cayin had to wander, could not stand.
It turns out that in the evolution of ancient humans in Africa, the very first anatomical feature on the road to humanity was… No, not a large brain-case, but an upright stance. More basket-like hips, and the big toe in line with the other toes. There are footprints going back 3.7 million years ago, in which humans walked upon powdery volcanic ash, which then became moistened and hardened by a fine rain, and then covered with more ash to preserve it. Upright stature has advantages in surviving on a plain – of being able to see predators from afar, and freeing hands for carrying and tool use.
What does rising up have to to with being alone? As we tower over other creatures, we are in a position to dominate. In the book of Numbers, to describe how small we felt, when scouting the promised land, the scouts described a land of Giants, in comparison to which we felt like grasshoppers. In fact one of the most derided verses by environmentalists is the apparent permission to “rule over” the animals, in Hebrew “yirdu” Rashi cites the midrash that the word can be read in two ways – to dominate, or to fall. If we are ethical we can dominate, if not we fall. I have translated it as “look down” to capture both meanings. But if we dominate we cannot be in relationship with creatures. Lest you think Adam has no relationship with other creatures – check this out – after The Holy One declares “it is not good for earthling to be alone” G8d brings…each type of animal to see what the earthling will call it. Adam had to go through a period of relating to all other creatures, recognizing a unique loneliness before the separation/creation of mates. And the mate is “kinegdo” opposite the earthling, not lower. Only then does loneliness end,(and of course more trouble begins).
We are like Jacob’s ladder when we stand upright, with our feet on the ground and our heads in the sky. Our very first mitzvah, command from G8d is to “be fruitful, become many, to fill the earth and to conquer “her” It was not lost on the commentators that men conquer earth, and may also rule unkindly over women. Height and might do not make right! In Genesis chapter two, the androgynous earthling will lie down, asleep when his mate “life-giver” Chava comes into relationship with him. And we will always be a toggler between standing and lying down.
~Inspired by Aviva Gottlieb Zornberg’s Reflections on Genesis, “Standing Upright” page 20!
As the text of Genesis 1:
Laetoli footprints www.tanzaniatourism.com2048 × 1364JPEGJun 19, 2023
