Bereishit--The Gift of Sight

Bereishit really covers a lot of ground. Truthfully, though, I knew what I would write about well before I picked up my Tanakh. My kids wanted to do a weekly Bible study at this time last year, and we read this parsha and discussed it. My son (10-years-old at the time) pointed something out after we read that sparked a long conversation that I’ve pondered several times since.

Genesis 3:6 “When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source for wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate.” The key words and phrases in this passage are “the woman saw,” “delight to the eyes,” and “the tree was desirable.” This passage as I see it is showing us the danger that our own senses, sight in particular, can pose when pitted against our better judgment. Leading into this verse, the serpent is trying to convince Eve to eat from the tree. He tries subterfuge and twisting what God told her, and I’m certain that to some degree these things affected her, but what really did her in was her own eyes.

How often are we sold flash with no substance? Cars, for example, are more and more about apparent bells and whistles while being cheaply manufactured—made to sell, not to last. People often find themselves caught up in relationships in which they aren’t treated well, or have little in common with their partner, because they find the person physically attractive. Merely driving by a Dunkin Donuts sign can send me down a road and an eventual shame spiral that I easily avoid if I take Sheridan instead of University.

I read a quote once that read something like “Unquestioning obedience is a strange gift to give the creator of the human mind.” It’s one of my favorites, although I have no clue who said it, where I found it, or if I’m quoting it correctly. Nevertheless, it strikes at the heart of my beliefs, and I like to toss it around when in the company of certain people. What Genesis 3:6 brings to mind is how easily we give our unquestioning obedience to our eyes when our mind or our gut is telling us to go another way. We trust people who shouldn’t be trusted. We make decisions about the food we eat based on packaging and presentation. We allow pictures and videos to determine our expectations in our most intimate moments. We choose the younger, better-looking Presidential candidate with the newscaster hair.

The question is: how are we supposed to do what Eve could not? She was completely unaffected by the pitfalls of modern marketing. She had a simple existence—everything provided for her, the ideal companion, God walking in her midst. Yet all it took for her to choose that thing she knew was wrong, and to ultimately throw everything she had away, was to see that the fruit was a delight to the eyes and was desirable.

I’m not saying I know what to do about this. For now, I am just trying to stick to using Sheridan when I have that option. The only thing I can say with certainty is that we should always be striving to go beyond seeing and into understanding.