“And God created man in His image …. male and female He created them” Genesis 1:27
The first thing we should notice in this verse is that the differentiation between male and female was not mentioned in the creation of animals. Obviously, this does not mean that God did not create animals with two different sexes, but that for some reason, only in the Creation of man and woman the Tora “mentions” the male and female condition. Why?
CONSCIENCE and DISCIPLINE
The definition of the human being as male or female, does not appear in this pasuq as a secondary element but virtually as an ontological condition. HaShem created human being in His image, this differentiates them from animals. HaShem created then man and woman, this distinguishes them from each other. Only humans, unlike other living beings, have “consciousness” of their own sexuality and gender. And because humans are aware of their sexuality, only human beings are able to govern their sexuality.
MALE BRAIN vs FEMALE BRAIN
Unlike animals, human male and female are not only distinguished by their sexual and physical differences but also by profound psychological differences. Men and women are different in the way they think; the way they process emotions and express feelings; their body language and being wired for empathy or systems. These examples, and many, many more, are not related necessarily to hormones, and are not found in the animal kingdom. This explanation is consistent with what we saw in the first part of the pasuq, the “image of God in Man”. “Image” does not indicate a physical resemblance between man and God. This Divine resemblance refers to the human soul; thought; freedom of choice, etc. We could also assume then that in our text the distinction between male and female goes beyond the physical or the sexual realm. While in the creation of animals (Fifth and Sixth Days) the Hebrew word מין (species) is used seven times, hinting that haShem created a vast variety of animal species, our pasuq asserts that in the creation of humans HaShem designed “only two species”: 1. Man and 2. Woman.
HOW MANY RACES WERE CREATED?
We should also notice and appreciate what the Tora does NOT say. The myths of creation written by ancient pagan civilizations, refer mainly to the creation of humans from a national aspect. Pagan gods create more than one human race: in the Mesopotamian old myths, for example, the main gods create the locals (Sumerians, for example) who are always superior, and then other gods create the rest of the world, who are usually slaves or inferior. In the Tora, when HaShem creates humanity, it does not say that He created the Jews and the rest of the world. Or whites and blacks or slaves and slave-masters; or the people of the light and the people of darkness, as it appears in virtually all the pagan myths of creation. The Tora, the only book of Divine authorship, tells us that HaShem created only one human race. But divided into two species.
COMPLETION
Another important element to notice in this verse is that when the Tora refers to ADAM (ויברא א’ את האדם) it does so with the definite article “the” (הַ) to emphasize that the text it is not referring to “Adam”, the man, but to “ADAM”, the human being. This pasuq says then that God created the human being as male and female. The Rabbis explained this point stating that a man or a woman by themselves, are considered only half of a human being. The “word” ADAM (as opposed to the “name” Adam) means: man + woman (that is why in Hebrew “human being” BEN ADAM means: son of a man and a woman). Unlike other religions, Judaism does not see voluntary celibacy as a religious ideal or virtue, quite the opposite: it is considered a serious transgression. For the Tora, mind and body completion is only achieved when a man and a woman unite, i.e., get married.
