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The Lonely Man of Faith: Adam and Eve Essay

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Unless otherwise noted, this paper is based on Jewish Social Philosophy Class taught by Gabriel Fagin, MA, LCSW, Adjunct Professor at Wurzweiler School of Social Work.
Assignment One
I always believed that when Adam and Eve were created, they were created together, connected as if Siamese twins at their backs. As a student learning the Bible, I also came to the awareness that Eve was formed from Adam’s rib subsequent to his creation. The Bible tells of the creation of Man and Woman in Chapter One of Genesis, as well as Chapter Two of Genesis. There are numerous differences stated in the text between Adam and Eve created in Chapter One of Genesis and Adam and Eve formed in Chapter Two of Genesis. Below I will delineate the differences and …show more content…

How can we explain these two contrary creations of Adam and Eve stated one after the next in Genesis?
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, a noted Rabbi and Torah Scholar, explains how we can understand the differences and how we can apply this concept in our modern-day lives. The following is an explanation based on Rabbi Soloveitchik’s essay, which is titled “The Lonely Man of Faith”.
Rabbi Soloveitchik (1965) demonstrates in the essay (originally a speech given to Nuns) how the creation of both Adams (and Eves) can assist us in arriving at an understanding regarding human nature, even today. He asserts that we, as human beings are both Adam and Eve in Chapter One as well as Chapter Two of Genesis. We are individuals of ‘functionality, practicality and distinction, as well as individuals of loneliness and faith. Furthermore, there is a constant vacillation between closeness and companionship versus distance and loneliness that all of us, as human beings, feel at various times in our life. This is a part of human nature. Would we would only act as Adam in the first Chapter or Eve in the second chapter, this is not a the way it should be (say better). This will be explained further in this paper.
For the purposes of the paper, as Rabbi Soloveitchik (1965) writes as well, Adam I refers to the Adam created in Chapter One of Genesis, while Adam II refers to the Adam created in Chapter Two of Genesis.
Since Adam I was created in G-d

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