Our Partnership With G-d Picture the following scenario: A child is playing baseball in the playground, standing at the plate, waiting fervently, with his eyes on the ball, waiting for that pitch. Finally, the ball is thrown, the bat is swung, and the ball flies over the fence and hits the window of a car. Why should the child or his parents have to pay for the window? He was just doing what we expect a child to do. He was just being a kid. That is the way HaShem created him and children are meant to be children. 

Perhaps we can stretch this question even further. Why should the murderer, the thief, be punished when, they claim, that is the way HaShem created them? HaShem created people with certain character deficiencies, and character deficiencies lead to inappropriate behavior. The answer to this question is that the assumption upon which this question is predicated is flawed. The Torah tells us that when G-d decided to create man, He said, “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness.”

All the Torah commentators are bothered by the pluralistic terminology in this statement. G-d is the only one creating man so why should the Torah speak in the plural? The Chizkuni answers that the Torah here makes use of the majestic plural. The term Elokim itself is written in the plural and its use connotes distinction, royalty, and kingship. Therefore, the Torah continues its use of the plural when describing G-d’s statements and activities. However, although this answer may explain the use of the plural term “naaseh,” it does not explicate the use of the singular in the other verses of the perek. Consider the terms “Vayomer,” and He said, “Vayivra,” and He created, and “Vayevarech,” and He blessed. These terms also describe the procedure of creating mankind and yet they are written in the singular. Therefore, the use of the plural specifically with “naaseh adam” is that much more jarring, puzzling, and striking. 

In order to answer this question we must realize that a human being is not just an entity created by G-d nearly six thousand years ago. First of all, the Ramban comments that G-d was not alone when He created man. In reality, G-d spoke to the Earth and said “Let us,” G-d and the Earth, create man. The Earth will supply the physical body and G-d will supply the spiritual soul. The Talmud Yerushalmi takes this idea further and states that G-d told husbands and wives, in partnership with G-d, to combine their efforts and conceive a human child. 

But the creation process does not stop there. The Yismach Moshe states that G-d is speaking to each and every one of us. “Let us,” meaning that both G-d and ourselves, should each work together to make ourselves into the best human beings we can be. HaShem may have created us with certain character traits that we need to improve upon. Ultimately, however, it is how we develop and how we refine those character traits that truly create us into the full potential person that we can be. 

There is the story of a sculptor who wanted to capture the most magnificent creation in a single statue. To carve a large entity such as a whale or a giant creature would not suffice since the only magnificent attribute would be its size. To carve out a mighty warrior would not suffice since the only saving attribute would be its might. Therefore, the sculptor decided to reject both ideas and instead opted to carve out the ultimate creation. G-d told husbands and wives in partnership with G-d to combine their efforts and conceive a human child. He produced a sculpture of a man holding a chisel and banging it into himself. 

May we be zocheh to carve ourselves into true servants of HaShem. 

Shabbat Shalom.

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