tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053468.post5521352793428266102..comments2023-04-15T12:18:32.659-05:00Comments on <center>Good to be a Jew</center>: THE GARDEN WORLDDavid L. Klinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14445964078290455723noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053468.post-10718930242684734002014-04-17T14:06:51.215-05:002014-04-17T14:06:51.215-05:00Excellent point, seeing the animal nature in human...Excellent point, seeing the animal nature in human beings. How about "The First Week" creation story in which humanity is blessed with the same command as the fish, and birds: be fruitful and multiply. Furthermore, in both stories, people, like animals, are herbivores.<br /> In their Midrash commentaries, the early rabbis figured that the first man and woman learned about sex by watching animals mate. In my reading, eating the forbidden fruit was the catalyst that awakened human sexuality. The man and woman lived as children in the Garden and sex was the first thing they did when they reached the real world.David L. Klinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14445964078290455723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33053468.post-53178616413815390962014-04-08T15:18:12.724-05:002014-04-08T15:18:12.724-05:00According to the scientific consensus, the last co...According to the scientific consensus, the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and the hominid family lived in Africa between 5 and 7 million years ago. See “Genes, Peoples & Language” by L.L. Cavelli-Sforza; Scientific American November 1991. Indeed, it has been proposed that humans, gorillas and the two species of chimpanzees could be reclassified as four species within the same genus. Michael Lind “The Two Cultures” Commentary October 1991. It should be noted that modern humans are not descended from modern chimpanzees. Each extant species has undergone a parallel course of evolution that began with the common ancestor, many millions of years ago. We should therefore not assume that a modern chimpanzee would either look like or behave like the last common ancestor. <br /><br />The Biblical authors obviously were not aware of, or familiar with the idea of evolution and the process by which speciation takes place through variation and natural selection. Nevertheless, the Bible’s description of Adam and Eve, before being expelled from Eden, is consistent with the idea that our human ancestors were derived from a common ancestor. Adam and Eve had no clothes; they had no technology of any kind; they had little or no forethought; (until eating an apple); they only ate fruits and vegetables; and their command of language was essentially limited to the naming of objects, a skill that can also be accomplished by chimps and gorillas. Before eating from the forbidden tree, these proto-humans, as described in the Bible, were virtually identical to the Great Apes.<br /><br />Perhaps the Middle Eastern prototype of this type of character is Enkidu, who was the companion to Gilgamesh in that much earlier Sumerian Legend. In that story, Enkidu was raised in the wilderness and was a companion to the wild beasts. When he was seduced by civilization, (represented by having sex with the cult prostitute), the animals no longer could understand his speech and they abandoned him. <br /><br />It seems to me that that one of the themes in the Bible is the dual nature of mankind. That is, there is an exploration of a man’s individual existence as an animal in relation to his existence within the culture of his group. Moreover, I think that there is a kind of nostalgia for the free and individualistic life style of the man who lives in the wilderness and who is unrestrained by the norms of civilization and city life. <br /><br />King David, in his youth, is described as living with animals in the wilderness. When Saul told him that he could not fight the Philistine because he was only a boy, David responded: <br /><br />Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep and if a lion or a bear came and carried off an animal from the flock, I would go after it and fight it and rescue it from its mouth. And if it attacked me, I would seize it by the beard and strike it down and kill it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear. <br /><br />The same pattern of the savage man reared in nature is referred to in several other parts of the Bible. Esau is described as being born red, with a hairy mantle all over. (David similarly is described as having ruddy cheeks). Like Enkidu, Esau is described as a “skilled hunter; a man of the outdoors.” Another example following the same pattern would be John the Baptist. At Mathew 3: <br /><br />And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. <br /><br />Outside of the Biblical tradition, a modern example of this same type of hero would be Tarzan, who in Elmer Rice’s story, was orphaned in Africa and raised by apes. Other examples of popular literary figures combining human and animal characteristics might include Batman and Spiderman. Moreover, there is an entire genre of “horror” literature featuring werewolves and vampire bats. It may be that these stories are popular because they tap into a very old and pre-conscious recognition that humans are also animals. <br /><br />Ray Greennoreply@blogger.com