"They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it." -Confucius

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Out to Get Us

B'Reshith (Genesis) 6:17:

"And I, behold I am bringing the Deluge, water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh that has within it the spirit of life from underneath the heavens..."

Rashi: "And I, behold I am bringing" - "Behold I am ready to concur with those (the angels) that encouraged me and said before me, 'What is man that You should remember him?' (Tehilim/Psalms 8:5)"

[NOTE: According to the midrash, the angels opposed the creation of man, and consistently point out, throughout man's history, all of man's shortcomings to buttress their position having opposed man's creation and secure their own position as the most superior beings in G-d's created world. Here, with HaShem's (G-d's) double statement of "I," the Torah implies that HaShem finally "raised His hand" in consent to the opinion of the angels that man was not worthy of existence.]