Pensée juive sur La Genèse 1:27

Since we have proof from all parts of the Bible that it is the nature of man to follow "woman" whose ways are crooked and perverted, how can man escape that trap? He has after all two "women" to contend with. One is the "woman" that accompanies him from birth, concerning which the Torah has stated "male and female He created them" (Genesis 1,27), as well as "this one shall be called ‘woman’" (Genesis 2,23). See the parable which explains all this a little further on. The second woman is the one he acquires from the outside, the world at large, through marriage. These two kinds of matings have been discussed briefly in Chapter eight. Since the male is inclined to seek physical comforts and enjoyment, he is apt to follow the demands made upon him by these two women, to do their bidding, since they are the ones who provide him with these comforts. Since the first woman already turned out to be a trap for man, the situation becomes aggravated when he freely chooses another woman, i.e. a wife. A look at the life story of Samson illustrates how someone who starts out pure, a heroic figure at that, can become ensnared by women until he cannot escape their clutches (Judges Chapter 14). Even the wisest of men, Solomon, was led astray by women (Kings I 11,4), "His wives turned his heart aside." Or, consider Achav the king of Israel, who was led astray by his wife Izzebel (Kings I 16,31). Solomon, in Kohelet 7,26, states, "I have found something worse than death-- woman." It is clear from all this that in order to escape the enticements represented by "woman," one requires tremendous assistance. If man's attaining his perfection depends on the quality of the two women in his life, and both their characters would be determined in heaven, like the first one that accompanies him from birth, and who was not subject to his free choice, then everything in his life (including his character) would depend on mazzal, i.e. the horoscopic constellations plus environmental factors prevailing when he is born, (compare Aristotle Ethics Chapter 10, Essay 3) This also appears to coincide with the statement in Sotah 2 that forty days before the fetus assumes final form, a heavenly voice proclaims who would be this fetus's life partner in the future. From all the above it seems impossible to escape the conclusion that our path in life is predetermined by forces beyond our control. We also find our sages saying that birth under certain signs of the zodiac influences a person's character traits. In Shabbat 156, we are told that Israel is subject to mazzal, i.e. environmental and hereditary factors. Also, Rabbi Chaninah states that such factors contribute to whether a person will be rich or poor. On the other hand, we have Rava in Moed Katan 28 stating that whereas mazzal determines a person's economic status etc., it does not affect his personal merits. These discussions in the Talmud are not merely of a hypothetical nature, but examples from real life are cited of scholars experiencing totally different experiences in their lives though their merits were deemed similar. The life story of two outstanding scholars are meant to illustrate the point made by Rava. Rabbah, pious to the point where a prayer offered by him for rain would be answered immediately, died at the age of forty, had buried sixty next of kin during his short life, and had hardly enough money to live on bread made of barley flour. His contemporary Rav Chisdah, on the other hand, married off sixty next of kin, lived to be ninety years old and was so wealthy that even his dogs enjoyed luxuries. This example is cited in support of the claim that mazzal is of overriding influence in matters of one's success in life on this planet. These quotes all represent difficult questions vis a vis our belief in personal providence, hashgachah peratit, as opposed to mazzal, when it comes to the fate of Jews both nationally and individually. Our opening Midrash moreover seems self contradictory. If G-d decrees concerning wealth as well as concerning physical prowess of a person, all of which are necessary for a person to function at their optimal ability, how can such people attain their potential if they are handicapped from birth? We have a tradition that a person cannot attain the status of prophecy unless he is endowed with certain physical and material attributes. If these factors are subject to the caprice of mazzal, how can a person be blamed for not attaining that moral level? The fact that righteousness and wickedness respectively are not predetermined by the angel Laylah becomes relatively meaningless, since the attributes which help man to become righteous may be denied him by the very same angel. The Mishnah in Avot 2,6 states that an uncivilized person, bor, cannot be G-d fearing. So what chance do people who are genetically underequipped at birth have to reach ideals set for man, and to share in the reward in store for achieving such ideals? G-d then would have decreed the outcome by default, by denying the attributes that help man achieve his shleymut, perfection! Where is the concept of freedom of will and choice, then, and what sense would reward and punishment make if all our deeds are more or less preconditioned? The answer is, of course, that both physical and mental equipment which man receives prior to birth provides him with tendencies to act in a certain way. His will is not involved in any way. He remains free to follow these tendencies or fight them using his intellect, willpower, and heart. Isaiah 66,3 states clearly that responsibility for the sinners' actions is their own because "they chose their respective paths."

The term ẓelem, on the other hand, signifies the specific form, viz., that which constitutes the essence of a thing, whereby the thing is what it is; the reality of a thing in so far as it is that particular being. In man the “form” is that constituent which gives him human perception: and on account of this intellectual perception the term ẓelem is employed in the sentences “In the ẓelem of God he created him” (Gen. 1:27).

The Talmud Sotah 2 also says that marriage partners are provided for man only in accordance with his deeds, his moral accomplishments. This statement does not contradict the statement about the angel predetermining who should marry whom. The idea portrayed is that the partner that comes with a person at birth is the genetic and environmental equipment which we commonly term mazzal. When man chooses a wife, however, he does so on the basis of the merit he has acquired since his birth. The original mazzal can be augmented or neutralized in one of two ways. 1) Man remains free to overcome natural handicaps by willpower, determination, perseverance etc. 2) G-d extends active help, hashgachah peratit, based on that individual's merit. It is customary for mazzal and merit to complement each other. This was so in the case of Abraham who was born with many positive endowments, i.e. mazzal tov. By meriting G-d’s help, he was able to neutralize the one area in which he had been disadvantaged at birth, his sterility. This accomplishment on the part of Abraham and Sarah resulted in their son Isaac being born with excellent environmental and hereditary factors, mazzal tov. By the time Jacob was born, the mazzal had improved even further due to environmental and hereditary input of two generations. Life in an environment of an Abraham and an Isaac does create certain tendencies which then become part of one's mazzal. In this connection we observe Abraham telling his servant Eliezer, who was concerned about his chances of finding the right wife for Isaac, that the G-d who had seen fit to promise the land of Canaan to his descendants and who had protected them thus far, would intervene to facilitate the finding of the proper wife for Isaac (Genesis 24,40). All this underscores the importance of choosing a suitable life partner, one that can help one achieve one's maximum potential. The original "woman," i.e. the equipment man receives at birth, is meant to help man work towards his olam haba, eternity, by employing his intellect etc. The second "woman," his wife, is meant to smooth his path in this world, help him cope with the problems of a mundane existence, and in that process to free him for pursuits of a spiritual nature. It is for this reason that throughout the Bible both “man” and "woman" appear side by side. "Male and female He created them-- the side He had taken from man into a woman" (Genesis 2).