Kaisipang Hudyo sa Job 15:15: Akeidat Yitzchak

Bereshit Rabbah 66, apparently aware of this difficulty, attempts to view the material possessions mentioned in these blessings as merely paraphrasing spiritual blessings; for instance, "dew of the heavens" is understood to refer to the manna the Jews would eat in the desert. All this is really not necessary, as the material blessings should be viewed merely as auxiliary to the main blessing, which was spiritual in nature. The Torah states, "He blessed him," meaning he bestowed a spiritual blessing. Only afterwards do we read "He smelled the odor of his clothing...and may the Lord give you from the dew of heaven etc." When material wealth is in the hands of persons amply endowed with spiritual qualities, such material wealth may enhance the spiritual qualities, enabling the owner to employ his wealth in the service of G-d. When the material wealth is given to persons lacking in virtues however, this wealth tends to corrupt the owner even further. The fact that Isaac blessed Jacob twice before touching on material aspects (compare verses 23, 27) may indicate that our language is inadequate to express the exact nature of these spiritual blessings. Material goods are promised only afterwards. Chapter 133 in Psalms, referring as it does to "dews of Mount Hermon descending on the mountains of Zion, outpourings of the Lord's blessing for eternal life," probably reflects the same approach we have suggested.

In the directive telling man what kind of food to consume, man is allocated the two advanced forms of vegetation, whereas the more simple, i.e. grass, is reserved for the animals. We observe in this directive the ownership relationship being defined. Man, in order to survive, has ownership claims on plant life. The reason the consumption of meat was not permitted at this stage, will be explained in Parshat Noach. The expression "it was good," is not used with respect to the creation of man, since until his death, the issue remains in doubt. Depending on his lifestyle, his existence may turn out to have been worthwhile (good), or otherwise. We have read in Midrash Tanchuma on Parshat Toldot, that "G'd does not associate His name with the living," meaning that while alive, one cannot be certain that a person will maintain his moral plateau, will remain a tzaddik. Rabbi Meir, on the other hand, says that "death" is good. What he means is that only after death is it possible to know whether someone's life has been "good." The Psalmist expresses it by saying (Psalms 116,15) "the death of the righteous is precious in the eyes of the Lord." We do not agree that the reasons advanced for omission of the "He saw that it was good" following the report of the creation of man are adequate. Since the Torah reports that man was indeed created betzalmo in the image of G'd, his creation was obviously good since one cannot ascribe any deed to G'd that is other than successful, ergo "good." Why else would G'd have invested so much effort in man's creation personally? On the contrary, since even the creation of the animals had been termed "good," the creation of man surely was no less?