בייה
Human Nature
Bereisheit / Genesis 35
(Genesis 35) introduces us to Jacob struggling with what to do after Simon and Levi wrought justice on the people of Shechem following the Seven Laws of Ha Torah. They killed all the men and killed only the women who had relations with men. Jacob was unhappy. (Genesis 34.30) says, ‘And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have brought trouble on me to make me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I being few in number, they shall gather together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.‘ Following these events, Jacob was hesitant about what to do next. He knew they should go to Bethel and seek the Lord, yet he was reluctant.
We are individuals with unique Spiritual and human characteristics like Jacob and his household. Sometimes our natures and inclinations collide with what we know we should do. Our natural inclinations began when Adam – the first man, and Chavah – the first lady, were created. When we study Genesis, we think we know what Chavah should have done when tempted by the serpent. We feel confident regarding what we think Adam should have done when influenced by Chavah to eat the fruit from the tree. They each struggled with their individual characteristics.
Remember Jacob made a vow to the Creator at the place where the ladder extended into the heavens where angels ascended and descended. Jacob made a vow that Bethel would be the site of God’s House. (Genesis 28.20-22) says, ‘If God Will be with me, and Guards me on this path that I am going, and Gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear;
And if I return to my Father’s house in peace, The Lord will be my God.
Then this stone which I have set as a monument will become a House of God, and all that you give, I will surely give a tenth to You.’
After the incident at Shechem, what did The Lord Say to Jacob?
(Genesis 35.1) says, And He, The Lord Spoke to Jacob [saying], Arise! Go up to Beth El and live there: Make an Altar there to the Almighty Who Appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.
Now 22 years later, God Instructed Jacob and his household to return there, to Bethel, to the House of God. The promise was fulfilled. Jacob returns to his Father’s House. Now it was time for Jacob to fulfill his vow without delay.
Sometimes Human Nature avoids doing what we know we should be done. Are we procrastinating? How do we steer clear of being trapped in avoiding difficult situations?
1. Listen – Listen to our Creator. Focus on His Revelation to us. Our Creator communicates to us through revelation from Ha Torah, Nature, and uniquely memorable experiences. We need to connect with these experiences. Jacob’s vision of the ladder reaching up into the heavens is such an experience. We have experiences like these.
2. Get er done – Do the task before us without delay. Some see the task that needs doing. Others do it!
3. Arise – Human nature can be haughty, overbearing, arrogant, self-important, smug, snobbish, pompous, etc. as such it should not and CANNOT arise. When The Lord Says ‘Arise,’ that expresses that we are humbly seeking our Creator from a physical position of contriteness, kneeling, bowing. That is the position from which one arises.
4. Go up – When one arises, there is a destination. That destination is to elevate to the House of God. In most situations, this is a Spiritual destination more than a physical one. Our connection is with God more than with humans. At the time of Jacob, Bethel was not a physical structure so much as a place where God Dwelt.
5. Arise and Go – Go up to the House of God. Our Creator is always waiting for our worship, adoration, praise, and to listen to our concerns. Like each of us, Jacob needed to keep his promise and fulfill his vow to the Creator. Jacob needed the Creator’s Help.
Jewish people and people that would become Jewish stood at Mt Sinai and said to God, ‘We will do, and we will hear.‘ That is an obligation to keep the 613 Mitzvot of Ha Torah that every Jew made, and some non-Jews also made. For some, that may explain the tugging on their heartstrings and the pull towards being Jewish and observing Ha Torah. The next question is how do you define yourself. Do you think of yourself as being Jewish? Do you have Jewish ancestry? Do you feel like your Soul may have stood with other Jewish at Har Sinai saying, We will do, and we will hear? I cannot define how you feel. Each of us must define our feelings.
EVERYONE who has ever lived in this universe has an operating manual to follow. We call this the Original Operating Manual or the Seven Laws. The Lord God Commanded these Seven Laws in (Genesis 2.16). Midrashic texts speak of the Seven Laws. The Talmud discusses the Seven Laws. For the most part, English translations do not mention the Seven Laws or point to them in the Commentary to (Genesis 2.16). However, the Artscroll Tanach Series does. See – Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz and Rabbi Nosson Scherman, The Artscroll Tanach Series – Bereishis Vol. I(a) (Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd. 3rd Impression, 1989), p 101
The point is that regardless of whether one thinks of themselves as Jewish, we each have obligations to keep with our Creator. Going up to the House of God is a call for us to keep all our obligations to the Lord God, our Creator.
6. Live there. We change our place of influence from Shechem to the House of God. We dwell in a holy place of Biblical influence. What influences us?
Once one acknowledges that they have to answer the call to go up to the House of God, the next step is to try to live in place of Holy Influence. One takes on a way of living that is holier than their previous way.
7. Make your dining room table an Altar to the Almighty Develop a Holy Place in your Home. Dwell in the holy place. This means reading, studying, and praying there. Our Sages teach that one’s table is one Holy Altar in their Home.
8. Clean your clothes and your bodies. Before one approaches the Holy place, they wash. They change clothes. Smells and actions, and words enter our clothing. We do not enter the Holy Place in our Home with these smells. We do not take outside influence into the Holy Place in our Home. We enter a Holy Spiritual Place and become influenced by the Holiness fragrance and atmosphere.
So Dear Ones, mediate on these eight points, renew them and remember. Our natures and inclinations may get the best of us occasionally. However, by learning the positive righteous influence of The Torah, God Willing will keep our attitudes in check and going in the right direction.
May each of us enjoy good health, happiness, healing, restoration, and Blessing, as we study the Torah and trust in The Lord. Good Sabbath!
Blessings,
Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk
