What does it mean that we are all born in the middle of a story?

Only Adam and Eve started at the beginning of the story. Everyone else is born in the middle of a story. But we can still learn how to make that story personal. That takes emotional skills: awareness of the story you were born into, and responsibility for how you live your part in it.

Why did Hashem tell the moon to diminish itself?

In ideas discussed at Theyeshiva.net, Hashem tells the moon to diminish itself through mindset, to be a conduit for light that comes through darkness. He shows it a mission, not its beauty, so it builds muscles, and takes responsibility for His perspective not being understood. Emotional skills here: responsibility, inner strength, and a teacher's openness to learning from his student.

Parshas Bereishis Ideas: Born in the Middle of the Story

Q: Why did Hashem create the body from the lowest and the soul from the highest?

To give us the freedom to choose between higher and lower ways of living, and the opportunity to raise the lowest toward the highest, says the Alter Rebbe. A low world gives us opportunities to express goodness, but also the freedom to choose evil. Choosing well takes emotional skills: awareness of how you live, and responsibility for your choices.

Q: Could Adam and Eve have lived forever?

The Rishonim (early Torah commentators) ask how this could be, since Adam and Eve were biological beings. One opinion says their lifespan could have been 1,000 years. The Rambam explains that something with a beginning does not have to have an end. The emotional skill is curiosity: understanding the question first, so the answer makes much more sense.

Comments Are Possible

Ideas from Parshas Bereishis, most of them discussed at InsideChassidus.org:
No one gets the chance to start at the beginning like Adam and Eve did, because we're all born in the middle of a story. But we can still learn how to make that story personal.

Why is marriage a basic part of being human?

Marriage is a basic part of the human condition. It doesn't need an additional reason to justify its importance.
Rabbi Yakov, a teacher of Rebbi taught “A man who has no wife lives without goodness, and does not experience joy, blessing, or atonement (bereishis rabbah 2:18).

Why were we given the freedom to choose?

The Alter Rebbe asks: Why did Hashem create the body from the lowest and the soul from the highest? So that we would have the freedom to choose between higher and lower ways of living, and the opportunity to raise the lowest toward the highest.
According to some Midrashim, certain later humans were punished and became chimpanzees [they were given a life of physical pleasure that they desired].

The last thing Hashem made is the reason for everything.

What does one interpretation say about Adam and Chava's relationship?

One interpretation identifies Lilith with Chava (Eve) during a period when Adam and Chava were not aligned, when they were living more like animals. At 130 years old, they developed the relationship they were designed to have. There are multiple sources discussing this interpretation.
Rabbi Isaac of Homil said that if Adam had Chassidim, he would never have sinned.

How can the Rishonim's answers make more sense?

One frustration when studying the Rishonim (early Torah commentators) is that they provide an answer without stating the question. Once you understand the question they were addressing, their answer makes much more sense.

The Rishonim discuss an interesting question: How could Adam and Eve have lived forever if they were biological beings? One opinion explains that their lifespan could have been 1,000 years. The Rambam explains that just because something has a beginning doesn't necessarily mean it must have an end.

Why did Hashem create us in such a low world?

The purpose of serving Hashem with your heart is to ultimately serve Him with your hands and feet.
Hashem created us in such a low world, giving us enormous opportunities to express goodness, but also the freedom to choose evil.

There is something redeeming about not expressing every thought. Holding back certain thoughts can itself be meaningful. Hashem withholding His thoughts makes teshuvah (returning to Him) possible for humanity.

What makes physical reality possible is not just the existence of atoms, but the relationships between them. - Based on Rav Saadia Gaon.

What can the moon teach about being a conduit for light?

Ideas discussed at Theyeshiva.net:
"hashem says to the moon, you diminish yourself [through mindset], [to be the conduit that you need to be]" "The moon is a conduit for light that comes through darkness."
"Hashem shows the moon he has a shlichus [mission], like a tzadik is a conduit for Hashems great light"
"Hashem takes responsibility for His perspective not being understood by the moon."
"If Hashem shows the moon how beautiful it is, then it wont build the muscles it needs to build."
"The most dangerous thing for a mashpia [spiritual teacher] is thinking that he is only a mashpia and cannot learn from his student."

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"What was Hashem thinking about during Bereishis? Exactly what's happening now." — Rabbi Shimon Garbose

Related:
What happens if honesty threatens a relationship?
Creativity can block intimacy: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1857ja7D2m/
Why were Adam and Eve created lacking emotional skills?
How does deep emotional healing begin?
Build the desire to feel deeper awe and love
More about Rebbi [Rabbeinu Hakadosh]
#biblestudy #Torah #kabbalah

“Adam and Eve started at the beginning of the story. Everyone else is born in the middle.”

Explore the NextSelf Blog. Start with this post explaining the world of souls. And my Youtube. Content is published to this facebook first and a few days later, to the blog.

The blog lists all the difference patterns to study, understanding patterns is how one can develop 'Daas' [felt knowing].
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