There’s a midrash that after the sin of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowing Good and Bad, or, in some versions of the story, after Cain killed Abel, Adam committed another sin, the sin of despair. As a consequence, he refused to make love with Eve for a hundred thirty years. What’s the point to making more sinful, murderous human beings? In this week’s Torah portion, Yocheved begins the process of repair. She sees her son, Moses, “that he was good – ki tov,” like God had seen creation in the pre-sin Garden of Eden. Although we might ask, what mother doesn’t think their child is good, it’s actually an incredible, gutsy, faithful stand. Her whole society tells her that her son isn’t good, but dangerous. His life doesn’t matter. He’s subject to a death sentence merely for being born Hebrew. She might have said, with internalized oppression, “Just what the world needs, another Hebrew boy,” or, in despair, “Oh, what a sad disaster, a boy!” But she affirms, in spite of the sin of the Fruit, in spite of Cain, in spite of Pharaoh, “that he is good.” She’s not Pollyannaish. She knows her world is as full of cruel evil as the generation of Noah, so, like God saving Noah, she puts her son in an ark on the water. But this time is different. This time, the boy in the ark will teach the world a new way to “that it is good.” He’ll show that there is a power greater than Pharaohs. They can be defeated. And he’ll teach that evil can’t be eliminated, but we can train our minds, hearts, and souls to avoid it. We can, with law and wisdom and love, fashion societies that are more and more just and encourage peace. We can create communities that are sufficiently focused on the Good, that they are gardens where God may dwell. The healing starts with Yocheved’s affirmation of a Hebrew baby boy, “that he is good.”
For more on the midrash of Adam’s despairing sin, it’s connection to slavery and redemption, and a ritual embodiment of the healing from despair in the weeks of Torah readings leading from slavery to freedom, redemption, revelation, and the creation of a just society where God may dwell, see the blog post on Tzom Shovavim I posted last week.
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