Berakhot 61
“Woe unto me from my Creator and woe unto me from my inclination.”
Today’s reading examines the dual nature of man: he does good and evil, he is good and evil, he has a good inclination and an evil one, he has two faces, two sides, a back and a front, a front and a tail. We are told that a man’s dual inclination can be demonstrated by his two kidneys, with the one on the right advising him to do good, while the one of the left steers him toward evil. He has two hands and gleans wisdom from his right, while what he gains from the left is foolhardiness.
There is a middle ground for those that are not righteous or evil, but the Talmud suggests it is not a full life: “The World was created only for the sake of the full-fledged wicked or the full-fledged righteous; others do not live complete lives in either world.” I do not believe the Talmud is suggesting living a wicked life, but suggesting that those who live in the middle, or play it safe, are not living their lives abundantly and completely. It’s a directive to go out and live our lives to the fullest.
We are reminded of the original source of woman’s oppression: the theory that she was cut from the rib of Adam and responsible for original sin. The text says “in cursing, one begins with the least significant, as first the snake was cursed, then Eve was cursed, and ultimately Adam himself was cursed.” We are offered two opinions on the creation of Eve. One says “For in the image of God He made man” and the other says “Male and female, He created them.” Both passages are from Genesis; the first suggests the more common interpretation that Man was created in the image of God and Eve created for – and maybe by -- man, while the second is a more equalitarian view that suggests God created both Man and Woman. It is the first view that I remember from my readings in Hebrew School because the story of Adam and Eve is so ingrained in my consciousness. But I don’t remember ever being offered the second interpretation that both Man and Woman were created by God.
Rabbi Akiva has been my hero from the start of my reading of the Talmud. And today I found out why. In his time, it was decreed by Hadrian that Jews may not engage in study and practice of the Torah. In rebellion, Rabbi Akiva convened public assemblies to engage in Torah study. He was fearless in his disobedience to Hadrian. He was seized, imprisoned and brutally tortured. He was executed on the eve of Yom Kippur. All the while, while his torturers were “raking his flesh with iron combs” he recited the Shema - "Hear, O Israel, The Lord is our God; the Lord is one.” He continued to recite the Shema, until he became weaker and weaker, and finally all he could say was the simple word “One.” He is said to have entered heaven with that one word on his tongue – one.
In his martyrdom Rabbi Akiva lived a full life. He was not one to reside in the “middle.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_of_Rabbi_Akiva#/media/File:Adolf_Behrman_-_Talmudysci.jpg
