B'tzelem Elohim, or, in the image of executive dysfunction: Disabled aspects of G-d

Shavuot 2019

5779 שבועות

In the Image of Executive Dysfunction

God: needs a giant multi-colored post-it in the sky to remind it not to destroy everything

Also God: forgets Sarah, forgets the Jews in Egypt, probably forgets other things that I’ve forgotten about

ALSO God: breaks a jar full of divine light and can’t pick up the pieces itself

We are all created b'tzelem Elohim

In the image

Of executive dysfunction

-Kuttithevangu on Tumblr

On Shavuot, we celebrate the metaphorical or literal reception of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, and Jewish spirit, curiosity, and learning. We read the Megillat (book of) Ruth, the story of a woman who does not turn away and just go home: a major convert figure. And we study in spirit or in body at a Tikkun Leil Shavuot. We study all the things that make us human and our relationships with everything imaginable in the context of Jewish sacred texts - and more.

In Beresheit (Genesis), it is stated that humans are created b'tzelem Elohim - in the image of G-d. Even if you don't read it literally, how can we interpret ourselves and the G-d of our texts when they make mistakes, are forgetful, and seem to not know what they are doing half the time? I mean, welcome to (disabled) adulthood... but in all seriousness, let us study the mistakes and executive dysfunction of G-d to better put b'tzelem Elohim in its context.

Selected Passages

Mistakes Were Made: Noah's Ark and The Rainbow to Remember

That Promise I Made 25 Years Ago and Nearly Forgot: Sarah Conceives a Child

Too Many to Pick Up, Help: The Kabbalistic Story of the Broken Jars of Light

From the teachings of Isaac ben Solomon Luria (Ha'ARI).

In Kabbalistic texts - Sefer Etz Chaim, the writings compiled of the ARI's teachings by his students - there is a story of creation; the story of the broken vessels. G-d retreated, leaving behind a pristine vacuum and jars containing light, their glory, justness, and power. Eventually, the power's pressure became too immense, and several of the jars shattered, scattering sparks of G-d's glory and light humans must work to retrieve from the darkness: the partnership of tikkun olam, repairing the world with and alongside G-d, not relying on G-d alone.

Sources and Further Reading

How the Ari Created a Myth and Transformed Judaism

Tikkun in Lurianic Kabbalah

Finding God: Selected Responses by Rifat Sonsino and Daniel B. Syme

pg. 75

As the process of creation continued, divine light flowed into the primordial space. Certain vessels (keilim) assigned to shelter the upper three s'firot were able to absorb the light that entered into them. But, when the divine light reached the other seven s'firot, the vessels could not contain the power of the light and broke, with pieces shattering and falling away. Some of the light returned to its source; other divine "sparks" fell downward, some rose upward. This occurrance, called by Luria sh'virat hakelieim (the breaking of the vessels), caused a dramatic change in the universe. Everything was affected by this upheaval. As a result, nothing is in its proper place; it is either above or below. In other words, all beings are in exile (galut).

pg. 187

After the tzimtzum, a stream of Divine light flew from the G-dhead into the empty space the Almighty had created, taking the shape of the sefirot and the Adam Kadmon/Primal Man. The light flowed from Adam Kadmon, out of his eyes, nose, mouth, creating the vessels that were eternal shapes of sefirot. But the vessels were too fragile to contain such a powerful--Divine--light. The upper three vessels were damaged, the lower seven were shattered and fell. Thus the tehiru became divided into the upper and lower worlds, a product of the shevirah/shattering.

And so evil came into the world, through a violent separation between those elements that had taken part in the act of creation and others that had willfully resisted, contributing to the shattering of the vessels. The elements that had fought against the creation were the lascent powers of evil, but because they opposed creation, they lack the power to survive; they need access to the Divine light, and continue to exist in the world only to the extent that they an gather the holy sparks that fell when the shevirah took place.

Questions for Consideration (Tangents and Thoughts Aside Welcome)

1. What does G-d remember in each passage? Why do you think he/she/they remember? Was it important that G-d remembered the information at that moment?

2. Why is G-d so forgetful? Is G-d too busy? Don't he/she/they have an entire group of angels and such to provide him support with carrying out his/her/their duties?

3. Does G-d make mistakes? If so, what mistakes does he/she/they make in each passage?

4. How would G-d being disabled via executive dysfunction, etc. change your self-perception, the phrase b'tzelem Elohim, and how the broader Jewish community should approach disability?

5. In the story of the broken jars, G-d requires our partnership in tikkun olam to pick up the sparks. What would this say about the inclusion of disabled people in social justice if executive dysfunction is a plausible theory for needing our help?

6. Has this altered any of your conceptions of G-d? We are distinct from G-d, but G-d also shares many traits with us, whether we believe in G-d as a metaphorical concept, more solidly, or otherwise.