Nathan Lopes Cardozo - Cardozo on the Parashah: Essays in the Weekly Torah Portion: Bereshit | The Book of Genesis

Cardozo on the Parashah

Bereshit | Genesis

With Questions to Ponder from the
David Cardozo Academy Think Tank

Kasva Press

St. Paul / Alfei Menashe

Copyright 2019 by Nathan Lopes Cardozo

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover photo by Claudia Kamergorodski

Kasva Press Alfei Menashe, Israel St. Paul, Minnesota

info@kasvapress.com

Cardozo on the Parashah

ISBN: 978-1-948403-11-5

If I only believe what I understand then my faith is no larger than my head.

Godfried Bomans

Celebrated Dutch Author

1913-1971

This book was made possible by the generosity of the Babaoff Family, Los Angeles, California.

In honor of our parents, Azar and Mehdi (Meir) Babaoff.
Thank you for instilling in us the love of reading and learning.

Kambiz and Lily Babaoff

While I take full responsibility for the text of the Torah which I dictated to my servant Moshe on Mount Sinai, I am not responsible for the interpretations which over the thousands of years have been written by some of My most devoted followers.

It is true that I gave them permission to interpret based on the principle of Lo BaShamayim Hi (Devarim 30:12), the Torah is no longer in Heaven. I have indeed asked them to participate in exploring My Torah and turn it over and over because everything is in it as Ben Bag Bag said in Pirkei Avot (5:22). But sometimes I have been surprised, and even taken aback, by what they wrote in My name about My Torah, and wondered how they ever came to such outrageous ideas!

This is even more the case with Nathan Lopes Cardozo. After much deliberation, and after reading the questions by the members of the David Cardozo Think Tank, who at least take My side, I have reluctantly given permission to Kasva Press to publish his interpretations, although I have great doubts he got it right.

My permission to publish this book is therefore only valid as long as Cardozo is ashamed of some of its content.

!

God

aka. Hashem, Adonai, HaMakom, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Elohim, El, Ribbono shel Olam, Tzvaot, Shadai, Ein Sof....

Author of The Five Books of Moses , Sinai. Holy Publishers, 2448 since the Creation of the Universe.

This is the first of several volumes discussing certain halachic-moral and philosophical topics within Parashat HaShavua, the weekly Shabbat readings of the Torah in the Synagogue. This series will be followed by one on the Jewish Festivals, which I have written or spoken about in the last ten years.

This volume discusses only topics which came to my mind in relationship to the book of Bereshit/Genesis. Some are deep, others controversial and perhaps shocking to some mainstream religious or non-religious people. Others are just unusual but sweet.

There is no consistency among these essays. All topics stand on their own (with one or two exceptions) and do not have to be read in any particular order.

The essays were first published as Thoughts to Ponder which I write every week for the David Cardozo Academy website. Many of them have appeared in the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post as well as other Jewish or non-Jewish journals, papers, and books.

I did not write these essays with the purpose of persuading people to agree with me, but with the aim that they would become topics of (fierce) debate at the Jewish Shabbat table.

But I also hope that they will be read at Sunday assemblies in churches and other houses of worship,and even in secular gatherings or at family get-togethers. For the benefit of non-Hebrew speakers, Hebrew words are defined in a glossary at the end of the book.

There are conflicting ideas among the essays, reflecting the rabbinic tradition (Talmud: Eruvin 13b) that religious disagreements are all rooted in the word of God, Whose words cannot be captured in any final truth. I am not even sure I always agree with myself. If I did, I would be ashamed of myself as it would mean that I am no longer spiritually alive and that I believe that the word of God has been exhausted. That would be the greatest insult to God Himself.

Having said all this, the reader should be aware that my observations are deeply rooted in the Jewish tradition, which I have chosen to be the spiritual guide in my life and that of my family.

I thank Urim Publications in Jerusalem, especially Tzvi Maor, for allowing me to use some of the essays which were earlier published in several of my earlier books.

The publication of this book and those that follow in the series was made possible by Kam and lily Babaoff of Los Angeles. Chazak Baruch to them, not only for their financial support but also for their ongoing encouragement.

I also wish to thank Rony and Toby Hersh of New York for all their support. Thank you also to Joseph and Rene Krant in Amsterdam and many other Dutch friends. I also thank Rabbi and Mrs Zeev (Wim) van Dijk for their great friendship, as well as Benja and Grace Philipson, previously of Haarlem and now Jerusalem.

As always I thank my late parents, Jacob and Bertha Lopes Cardozo, my brother Dr. Jacques Eduard Lopes Cardozo, may he live long together with his family, and my late parents-in-law Grisha and Rosa Gnesin, who encouraged and supported me while studying the Jewish Tradition and growing in wisdom.

The late Aron and Betsy Spijer and the Board of the Dutch Spijer Foundation, Dr. Leo Delfgaauw, Dr. Hans Wijnfeldt and Mr. Eldad Eitje have been responsible for much of my achievements and have enabled me to teach, publish and run the David Cardozo Academy.

Special thanks should be extended to my dear friend Mrs. Jenny Weil who recently passed away and her husband Max Weil, may he live a long life together with all his family, for constantly supporting all my efforts.

Thanks are due to the Think Tank of the David Cardozo Academy (run by Yael Shahar and Jonathan Rossner and formerly by Yael Unterman and Yael Valier) which is constantly challenging me to come up with new ideas, some of which are found in this book.

The Boards of the Israeli Ohr Aaron Foundation together with our foundation in England, especially Mr. David Yamin-Joseph, the American and Canadian Foundations are all the be thanked.

Special thanks to my editor and good friend Chana Shapiro who makes sure my English is as flawless as it humanly can be.

Very special thanks to (Rabbi) Yehudah Behr Zirkin for having gone through all the essays, put them together in order of the weekly portion of the Torah (Parashat Hashavua) and carefully checked all the sources. A major undertaking!

Chazak baruch to my secretary Esther Peterman who takes care of our administration and all other matters related to our Academy. Also thanks to Ilana Sinclair and Sarah Landman for all their help.

Thank you also to Yael Shahar who has been sending my weekly Thoughts to Ponder via Internet to thousands of people. She and her husband Don at Kasva Press have done an outstanding job at publishing this series!

Especially, thanks to my children, children-in-law, grandchildren, and great grandchildren who give me much joy and who are a constant source of inspiration. Their commitment to Judaism is my life-line.

Last but not least, my dear wife Frijda Rachel who endures my long hours at my office, writing and teaching, with great patience and supports me in every way possible. Being married to her for 52 years is a great blessing. May it continue for a long time! Not one of my many books would ever have appeared without her help.