Adams Rib?

Question

Why did God create Eve from Adam’s rib bone and not from any other part of the body?

 

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Here is another myth to debunk. Where does it state that Eve was taken from Adam’s rib? Not in my version of the Torah. Or in any version of the Torah for that matter.

    The word that appears in the verses that teach the formation of Eve is “tzela” (see Gen. ch. 2, verses 21 and 22). This word is never found in the Torah to bear any relationship to a bone of the chest – a rib. It is the Biblical word for “side” – as Rashi, Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch and others all point out.

    Adam and Eve were originally created as one single unit with two “sides.” After the original creation of this unit with a “dual nature,” Eve was separated from a “side” and was formed to exist as a distinct and individual being.

    An interesting observation is made by Rabbi Hirsch regarding the different ways in which Adam and Eve were made and the ramifications of this difference. Adam was created in a one-step act. He was the result of the direct handiwork of the Creator. The additional step of separating Eve, however, resulted in further “refinement” in certain ways. For example, she was “enhanced” in her singing voice, physical beauty, temperament and physical maturation. (One may question if this idea is still allowed to be publicly presented in today’s “politically correct” environment.) But, clearly, they were both created as equal human beings.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team