BERESHIT 5783

Does Gd Make Mistakes?

I have good news and bad news. But before I tell you the news, I want to study with you 2 of the boldest passages in the Torah. Today we begin the cycle of reading of the Torah, and today’s parsha, Bereshit, has 2 passages that have always given me pause.

In the creation story, on the 4^th day, the Torah tells us (Gen. 1:16): “Gd created the 2 great lights—the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars.” Do you see any the problems in this verse?

         1^st it says that there are 2 great lights—and then it speaks of the greater light and the lesser light? Are they both great lights or is one greater than the other, and if so, why?

In a fantastical passage, the Talmud (Chullin 60b) takes note of these strange verses and expands upon it: Gd intended for the sun and the moon to be the same size. But the moon complained to Gd and said, “Can 2 kings share the same crown?” In other words, can the sun and I be the same size without there being envy between us? Gd said: “You’re right,” and so He made the moon smaller.

         The moon then said: “Now wait a minute, it’s not fair! Because I asked a good question, I should be penalized?” 

         Gd said: “In that case I will permit you to shine by night and by day.”

         The moon said: “Thank you but this is no bargain. A candle in the sunlight is of no use.”

         Finally, Gd placated the moon by giving her the stars as an escort.

Gd then did one thing more, according to the Talmud. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish noticed that among the sacrifices that are offered on Rosh Hodesh—which will be on Tuesday and Wednesday this week—is a sin offering. Why should there be a sin offering at the beginning of every new lunar month? The Talmud continues: “Said the Holy One Blessed Be He, ‘Let this ram be an atonement for MY SIN in having diminished the moon!’”

Isn’t that an incredible statement? What is the Talmud trying to tell us? Could it be telling us that Gd sins? Gd makes mistakes? Gd must atone? Gd must apologize to the moon every month for having wronged her?

How could this be? Isn’t Gd perfect? Didn’t we just read a couple weeks ago in the Torah (Deut. 32:4): Hatzur tamim pa-alo (The deeds of the Rock [Gd] are perfect)? And similarly, King David says in Psalm 18:31: Hakeyl tamim darko (The Gd! His way is perfect!)? We’ll get back to that.

It seems that according to Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, once a month we remind ourselves that even Gd didn’t get it right the 1^st time, that, in a sense, Gd made a mistake in the very fabric of creation.

         The Talmud makes Gd sound like an artist who makes mistakes and starts over again. And sure enough, the Midrash (Tehillim 90:13) we learned in my class, “How Old is the World?” teaches: “Gd created and destroyed 974 worlds before this one.” In other words, this is not the 1^st world Gd created. He kept starting over again and again.

What a bold view of Gd this is! It’s remarkable that the Sages were comfortable picturing Gd as a creative artist who tries and fails until He gets it right.

Let’s look at the 2^nd remarkable passage in this week’s Torah reading that conveys this same bold idea. 8 generations after Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit and were then thrown out of the Garden of Eden, Gd saw how badly human beings were behaving. And then the Torah (6:5-7) tells us: Vayinacheym Hashem ki asa et ha-adam baaretz, vayit-atzeyv el libo (And Gd regretted that He had made the human being on earth, and His heart was sad). Gd then decides to wipe out mankind and start again. In other words—forgive the expression—it seems that Gd admits that He screwed up! How can this be? How can it be that Gd regrets? We’ll get back to this in a minute.

That is the bad news. It seems that even Gd, whom we think of as all-powerful and all-knowing, makes mistakes. Even Gd could not, or at least did not, make a perfect world on the 1^st try. It seems like bad news because, if Gd can’t get things right the 1^st time, how can we ever get it right? How can we—who are fallible human beings—not screw up?

What’s the good news? When it seems that Gd makes a mistake, He admits it and starts over—in the hope next time will be better. And that if Gd can do that, then so can we! Gd is our great role model.

And here’s the caveat that I’m sure you’re all waiting for. It’s not really that Gd makes mistakes or screws up. Gd forbid!!! Gd is perfect as the Bible teaches us. The moon needs to be the size that it is to regulate the tides and to give us 24-hour days, to stabilize the Earth’s rotation and tilt, making Earth’s climate and environmental conditions livable. So why the story about its diminished size? To teach us these lessons: to be fair to those we encounter as Gd was to the moon, and that it’s ok to fail and try again as Gd did with mankind.

How could Gd regret creating human beings? According to Kabbalah, Gd did a tzimtzum (a contraction) when He created the world. In contracting His Presence, He released His complete control of the world and allowed human beings Free Will. Gd created human beings with such amazing potential. It was they that disappointed Him. That disappointment is the source of Gd’s regret.

But if Gd is perfect, why these passages? To teach us 2 important lessons: The 1^st is that we—like Gd seems to do—will make mistakes. Actually, making mistakes is built into the human condition as part of the learning process. And so, when we mess up, we must not yield to despair or feel that we’re failures. The 2^nd lesson is that we can start over again and that, when we do, we can do better and maybe get it right.

What would life be like if we were terrified of making mistakes? We would never do anything—for fear that we wouldn’t get it right. And what would life be like if we were too sensitive, too embarrassed, too defensive, or too proud to admit it, when we did make a mistake? The ability to make mistakes and to admit them and to learn from them and to try again is what makes human life possible.

The Torah portion ends (Gen. 6:8) with Noah finding favor in the eyes of Gd. And it is with Noah whom God starts the world over again in next week’s parsha, as He wipes out the world with the flood. The Torah (5:29) explains he was called Noach because hu yinachameynu (this is the one who will bring us comfort). How does Noah bring comfort?

         The name Noach/Noah comes from the word nechama (comfort) and is related to the word we just learned, vayinachem (regret). What’s the connection?

What gives us comfort after we mess up? What enables us to confront our mistakes and go on? It is the capacity that Gd has implanted within us to admit our errors and start over. It’s a capacity He has modeled for us in these passages. It’s a great gift that makes human life possible…giving us confidence and hope, enabling us to get up, brush ourselves off, and move on.

What a great lesson this week as we go out to “normal” life after the High Holy Days and Sukkot. Amen!