During a recent lecture in our summer class, Biblical History and Archaeology, our professor brought up something I had never noticed. See if you can spot the difference between the same idea in Genesis 1 and Genesis 9 (NRSV Translation):
"God blessed them (people), and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." Genesis 1:28
and...
"God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything." Genesis 9:1-3
Did you catch it? The first time is from the story of creation, and God says that humans can "subdue" the earth. The second selection comes from the end of the story of Noah, after the flood. This time, God says that animals of the earth will FEAR humans and, additionally, they are food. This is a pretty big shift.
As our professor noted, after the flood the biblical characters don't live for nearly as long as their predecessors. Further, except for Cain and Able, no other form of death is noted other than natural causes. Some may argue this is due to a vegetarian lifestyle and that adding meat to the equation brought life expectancy down (but hot damn, having a steak at Mon Ami Gabi is a nice way to go out!). It is also worth noting that the Torah mentions 10 generations between the Garden of Eden and Noah (i.e.: not eating meat) and another 10 generations between Noah and Abraham (i.e.: eating meat). In other words, from a literary standpoint, history in the Torah shows a downfall from a perfect place and everyone screwing it up along the way (go ahead, try and find a flawless character in the Torah...).
Vegetarianism may have made our ancestors live longer, but that lifestyle could have also been the reason for the flood in the first place (although, it could have also been Gilgamesh, but that's me just getting off topic). However you look at it, the one thing I have learned so far from this class is the following question (yup, how Jewish is that...I've learned a question...):
How important is history for us?
So, how important is history for you? Would discovering that Chanukah may not have been about some miraculous oil make the holiday less special for you? Or does our current celebration and observance of Jewish ritual trump any historical context?
I'm still working on my answer and I imagine I will continue to develop it as the years go on. What about you?
