The Biblical Solution to the "Missing Link"

Creation has always been a mystery to mankind due to the lack of observers at the beginning of the universe. Theories about the creation of the universe and the development of living creatures are based either on belief or hypotheses. Nevertheless, mankind has attempted to answer these questions in the best way possible. In the late 1800's, Darwin's theory of natural selection began to gain popularity. Today, it is an accepted theory (1).

The theory of evolution seems to contradict two basic principle in Judaism: the age of the universe, and the concept of G-d himself as creating the universe in general and man in particular.

Rav Kook in Orot HaKodesh (2) explains that "nothing in the Torah is contradicted by any knowledge in the world that emerges from research", a concept also strongly held by the Rambam (3). I would like to deal with the alleged contradiction between man's creation as seen by the Torah and as hypothesized by scientists.

In order to formulate an understanding of man's creation as it is presented by the Torah we must first analyze the exact meaning of two passages in Bereshit that deal with this topic:
1. "And G-d created Adam (4) in His image, in the image of God He created him" (Genesis 1:27)
2. "And G-d formed man, dust from the earth, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature" (Genesis 2:7).

According to the definition of the Ramban (5), the root "barah" ("create") refers to creation of something from nothing, ex nihilo. What exactly did this new creation entail? The passage says that Adam was created in G-d's image; since G-d has no physical form this must be referring to the creation of the spirituality of man. Rambam in The Guide to the Perplexed differentiates between the word "tselem" ("form"), and the word "to'ar" ("appearance"): "In man the form is that constituent which gives him human perception; and on account of this intellectual perception the term... tselem can only concern the soul - the specific form of man, not the bodily properties and shape" (6).

Term

If man was created in the form of G-d, and this form can only be described spiritually, then how exactly can we define the Adam that was created here? Perhaps we can define that by first defining what it is which distinguishes man from all other creations.

Rambam explains: "Man's distinction consists in a property which no other creature on earth possesses, viz., intellectual perception." (7)  This idea is proven further by the use of the words "nefesh chaya", a term used in reference to the rest of the animals, to define man. Rashi explains this by saying: "Even animals are called 'nefesh chaya' but what is different with man is that he is the more complete animal because he received speech and intelligence additionally." (8)

Radak explains "Man's life force is the same as other animals' and therefore it is written 'l'nefesh chaya'". (9)

Abarbanel cites this lack of physical differentiation as the reason for being created on the same day as the rest of the animals. (10) The Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez (11) also explains this in the Torah Anthology: "It is for this reason that G-d created man together with the animals. It teaches him that as far as his body is concerned, he has no advantages over them... his only advantage is his divine soul."

Thus, it seems that "tselem" is only a definition of mankind's intelligence, not his physical appearance.

In addition to understanding creation in the form of G-d, one must also explain the phrase "And G-d formed man..." (Genesis 2:7). The Baal HaTurim (12) defines "yatzar" ("formed") as the creation of the "yetzer tov and yetzer ra", the conscience of man. This definition supports the idea of man's creation being only spiritual.

Perhaps then, the creation of man in the Torah is referring only to the neshama, spirituality of man, and this is ex nihilo, as opposed to the body which may have already been extant. As to the mention of man being created from the ground, the Radak (13) explains: "From the ground means from the best that was in it".

Perhaps this can mean from a form that already existed there. This may have been the Rosh's (14) intention when he explained: "Man was created the soul from above and the body from below".

How does evolution fit in with this theory of creation? One of the crucial problems confronting evolutionists is the final transition from ape to man, the "missing link". The most developed skull of ape found does not compare with even the most primitive human skull in the volume of the frontal lobe - the section of creative thought (15). Perhaps the answer to the "missing link" lies in G-d's creation of man: perhaps G-d took the most developed form of an ape and created a neshama, then placed them together to form man.

The similarity of the bodies of man and ape is not foreign to Judaism. Adonei sadeh are discussed in the Mishna.(16) This creature is defined as an animal but creates the same toemet ohel as a human. (17) The Kahati commentary on that Mishna says about the adonei sadeh: "Many rabbis reason that the intention of this phrase is a type of wild ape whose physical appearance is similar to man.

Furthermore, the Shulchan Aruch (18) seems to recognize the similarity of man to ape in the laws of Brachot: the blessing recited upon seeing an unusual or deformed human is also recited upon seeing an ape.

In addition to the aforementioned Halachic sources, there is a statement attributed to Chazal which divides the world into four levels of creation: mineral, plant, animal and human (19). Rav Moshe Cardevaro explains that between each of these divisions falls a transitional creation, for example, coral falls between mineral and animal. The transition from animal to man is the ape. It has been said by both Rambam (20) and Rav Kook (21) that a contradiction cannot exist between Torah and scientific fact. In the event that a contradiction seems inevitable, we must check our premises. Although it is true that evolution is a hypothesis and not a scientific fact, I have tried to show one manner in which we can understand it within a Torah framework.

ENDNOTES

(1) For a basic overview of the evolutionary theory see: William Keeton, Biological Science. (Cornell University, NY: Norton Co., Inc., 1972), p.7. (2) Igrot HaRav Kook no. 19. (3) Maimonides, Guide to the Perplexed, translated by M. Friedlander (New York: Hebrew Publishing Co., 1881) Section II, Chapter 16. (4) I have chosen to leave this word temporarily untranslated. (5) Nachmanides' commentary on Genesis 1:27 (6) Maimondides, Guide to the Perplexed, Vol. I, p. 30 (7) Ibid., pg. 32 (8) Rashi's commentary on Genesis 2:7 (9) Otzar Perushim Al HaTorah. (Jerusalem) Radak's commentary on Genesis 2:7 (10) Abarbanel's commentary on Genesis 2:7 (11) Rabbi Yaakov Culi, Yalkut Me'am Loez, translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, entitled The Torah Anthology. (New York: Maznaim Publishing Corps, 1977) Vol. I, pp. 120-121 (12) Otzar Perushim, Baal HaTurim's commentary on Genesis 2:7 (13) Ibid. Radak's commentary on Genesis 2:7 (14) Ibid. R. Asher's commentary on Genesis 2:7 (15) Keeton, p. 827 (16) Mishna Kilaim 8:5 (17) Toemet ohel is the property of a tent or similar enclosure which allows it to transfer ritual impurity from certain impure objects found within it to other objects irrespective of their physical proximity. (18) R. Joseph Karo, Shulchan Aruch, Orah Hayyim, 125:8 (19) As cited by Ramban in his introduction to Genesis (20) see note 6 (21) see note 2

This article originally appeared in Bikurim, the Torah Journal of Midreshet Lindenbaum.

Contributed  by Daphne Shapiro, student at Midreshet Lindenbaum 5750

Return to Ohr Torah Stone

Virtual Jerusalem Site Terms, Conditions of Use and Warranties.