Can G-d’s mind be changed? Turned toward Mercy by A Smell

Changing one’s mind is helpful for reconciliation and peacebuilding. So, I wonder whether God does this? The Talmud suggests that “one who is appeased over his wine, has something of his creator's mind” (1). The Talmud proves this with the example of God smelling the pleasant aroma of Noah’s sacrifices after the flood and promising never again to destroy the world with a flood (2).  

The idea that God’s mind can be changed is controversial in Judaism. In fact, the prophet Samuel emphatically rejected that idea in declaring to a crestfallen and rejected King Saul that “God is not a human to change his mind” (3). Surely, if God knows everything including the future, there can never be new information to justify divine regret (4).

To get around this problem, scholars suggest that, although God is inherently unchanging, God’s stance can shift in response to changed circumstances. God is said to be our shadow (5), mirroring our deeds, for better or worse (6). Following this line of argument, the reason the world would never be destroyed again was because the circumstances were different after the flood, either in the maturing of humanity from its youth to adulthood (7) or that the earth itself had changed (8).

Whatever the merits of the arguments against God’s mind changing, I am drawn to the teachings that God did in fact do so (9). This approach is based on the idea that we can learn about God by observing ourselves (10). In God, as in humans, one’s desire influences one’s thoughts. Republicans' desire to have Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court leads them to think that appointment of judges shortly before an election is a good thing for democracy, despite having vehemently opposed a pre-election confirmation by Democrats only a few years ago on the basis that this was undemocratic. It is for this reason that the same observation of evil in human hearts can lead to opposite conclusions by God, first as a reason to destroy humanity (11) and then as a reason for mercy (12).

Remarkably, this dramatic shift in God’s will came about in response to a smell (the aroma of Noah’s offerings). Smell is a very subtle thing that involves only the finest particles that emanate from something (13). It is believed to have the power to stir the soul, as we can see in the historical practice of administering smelling salts to someone who fainted (14).

Fainting is used by a Chasidic master as a metaphor for how God’s energy is withdrawn when confronted by the reality of the corruption of the people prior to the flood (15). In contrast to God’s enthusiastic appraisal of the world as being “very good” (16), we read that God was grieved in His heart (17). This led to a Divine withdrawal from the world.

The mystical idea of God being disheartened and almost depressed by the state of the world was on my mind as I attended a Regional and Rural mental health symposium this week. There I learned that “It is argued by some that adversity impacting the environment, whether natural or man-made, can lead to a disconnection with the land” (18). Reconnection was one of the themes discussed at the Symposium. In the case of God after the flood, Noah’s gratitude (19) or self-sacrifice (20) implicit in the aroma of Noah’s offering (of one of his very limited surviving livestock) reengaged God with the world with new goodwill toward humans (21).

The idea of smell has been linked to intuition (22). The Messiah will be able to judge using his sense of smell (23). Thus in contrast to some pagan idea of a God, who they hoped can be managed through offerings thus reducing uncertainty but could not “smell” (24), the Biblical God can mysteriously shift and be moved to grace (25) as occurs in response to Noah.

Rabbi Shai Held writes: "Judgment gives way to mercy, condemnation to compassion. The crucial lesson is that the same attribute that we see as cause for reproach can often serve as a basis for forgiveness…Imagine someone you know who struggles with impulse control. Some days you are tempted to write her off as totally hopeless, and maybe even to dismiss her as utterly unworthy of your concern or affection. But then there are moments when the very same deep failing elicits something very different in you, and you find yourself viewing her with compassion rather than judgment. ...our evaluations of people depend on more than just the facts about their nature or character; they also depend on what posture we adopt toward those facts. …God's change of heart after the flood reminds us of something crucial: Where there is judgment, there is often also the possibility of compassion... we can be forgiving toward people for the same reasons we are inclined to condemn." (26). 

Notes:

1)     Talmud Eruvin 65a

2)     Genesis 8:20-22

3)     Samuel I, 15:29

4)     Midrash Rabba 27:7, Abarbanel questions on Genesis 8

5)     Psalm 121:5

6)     Midrash cited in Nefesh Hachayim, gate 1, 7 regarding Exodus 3:14

7)     Abarbanel, 2nd approach, p. 286, this idea was expanded on by Avi Rabinovich in a comment on Facebook 25.10.20: that there is a shift in Gen 8:21 from 6:66 in which it states that the thoughts of man’s heart were רק רע, - only evil all day long, always, to just bad from youth, possibly implying that God realizes there is hope of change in the future maturation.

8)     Malbim

9)     Schneerson, Rabbi MM, (1968) The Lubavitcher Rebbe in 2.13. Maamar Baasi Lgani 5728,

10)  Job 19:26 as interpreted in the Kabalistic writings of the Ari Z”L and Chabad Chasidism

11)  Genesis 6:6

12)  Genesis 8:20-22

13)  Hirsch, R. Samson Raphael, commentary to Genesis 8:21

14)  The Rebbe Maharash, Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, in Mayim Rabbim, 5636, p.11.
והנה הסיבה לזה שנעשה שינוי בהרצון, מבאר בהמאמר, דלאחר שוירח הוי' את ריח הניחוח , דרזא דקורבנא עולה עד רזא דא"ס, אז נמשך רצון חדש. והענין הוא כמו שמבאר אדמו"ר מהר"ש בהמשך מים רבים)  תרל"ו – פ"ו (ע' יא).,דריח מעורר את עצם הנפש. דזהו שהמתעלף ר"ל, כשנותנים לו להריח ריח חזק הוא מתעורר מהתעלפותו, כי ענין ההתעלפות הוא העדר התפשטות החיות, וע"י הריח חזק שמעורר את עצם הנפש, נמשך החיות מחדש. ועד"ז יובן למעלה, דענין ויתעצב אל לבו (היפך וירא אלקים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד) היא תנועה דסילוק (דוגמת ענין ההתעלפות), וע"י שהריח את ריח הניחוח דקרבנות, … נמשך רצון חדש מהעצמות שלמעלה מבחי' גילוי.
Note also at the end of the Sabbath there is the Jewish ritual of smelling something pleasant like cloves, to comfort the soul during the transition from the holiness of the sabbath to the ordinary days in the week ahead and the loss of “an additional soul”, See Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 297:1.

15)  The Rebbe Maharash, ibid

16)  Genesis 1:31

17)  Genesis 6:6

18)  Rigby, C.W.; Rosen, A.; Berry, H.L.; Hart, C.R. And Stain, H.J.; Kelly, B.; Carr, V.J.; Lewin, T.J.; Fitzgerald, M.; Fragar, L. and O’Connor, M.; Horwitz, P. in Lawrence-Bourne, J, Hazel Dalton, H, David Perkins, D, Farmer, J, Georgina Luscombe, G, , Nelly Oelke, N, 4 and Bagheri, N. (2020) What Is Rural Adversity, How Does It Affect Wellbeing and What Are the Implications for Action?

19)  Chizkuni

20)  Midrash Rabba 34, The Rebbe Rashab, Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch in Ayin Beis, Parsha Noach, .

21)  The Rebbe Maharash, ibid

22)  Powel, C. & Koltz, T, 2012, It worked for me, in life and leadership. Harper Collins.

23)  Isaiah 11:3. He shall sense the truth by his reverence for the LORD: He shall not judge by what his eyes behold, Nor decide by what his ears perceive. he shall judge the poor with equity. See Talmud, Sanhedrin 93b: rejection of Bar Kochba because he failed the smell test.

24)  Psalms 115:6

25)  Mechilta Drashbi, in Torah Shlaima, 86, p. 451: they have a nose, but they do not smell. Contrast with our verse. The contrast would appear at first glance to be ridiculing the worship of inanimate statues who have a nose but cannot smell. That is a red herring, because as Abarbanel points out the statues were only symbols of the gods. I think the way I explain it in this post adds a deeper contrast.

26)  Rabbi Shai Held, The Heart of Torah

Equality, Desire and Being Known – Eve’s Perspective

I am Eve, known as Hawah to Muslims and Chavah in the Torah. My husband named me Chavah, because I am the Mother of all life (1). Thousands of years later, too many of my grandsons still behave chauvinistically, and many of my descendants also struggle with desire and intimacy.
 
Do not dismiss me as out of date. Yes, I was named by a man, but this does not imply ownership or superior/inferior status. On the contrary, it was an expression of respect (2). However, there was a journey that began with exploring questions of the status of the genders before Adam and I reached a level of respectful intimacy.
 
Before Adam and I met, Adam married another woman named, Lilith. Lilith was created from the earth just like Adam, so she thought she was equal to him and refused to be her husband’s “helper”. They fought, and she ran away (3).
 
In replacing Lilith, God declared that he would make Adam “a helper, opposite [or against] him” (4). This time the woman would be derived from Adam rather than the earth. This could change the power dynamic between the genders to favour men (5).  However, being a “helper-opposite” at least hints at the need to allow the spouse …”to occasionally stand opposite, to feel opposite, to think opposite… A life’s partner must be able to say no… [otherwise] the lips may be moving one way, but the heart may be saying no silently until the heart breaks from the weight of "nos" (6).  Perhaps "occasionally opposing" is not enough for equality, but it is a good start.
 
Well, the idea of me being constructed from Adam’s rib is not the only version of how I came to be. In another telling, Adam and I were both an individual and a pair at the same time. One side of the first human was male - Adam and the other female - me (7).  That explains the seemingly self-contradictory verse about us: “…in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (8). However, because we could not face each other God declared that “it was not good for the human to be alone” (9). Only once we were separated and could face each other would we [potentially] be able “to receive light in light, face in face”, and arise “satisfied as one” (10).
 
Great idea, but when Adam and I first met, he initially failed to fully appreciate me as a person despite us being ‘face to face’. Instead he thought of me as an extension of himself (11). Adam first called me woman, “Isha”, which is a variation of the Hebrew word for man, stating “this [not she, or you] will be called woman, because this was taken from man” (12). 
 
I was far from satisfied with this attitude. When I gave birth to my oldest son, I named him Cain and I declared “I have created (13) a man” (14). I rejected the argument that woman should be considered inferior on account of having come from a man, as I have demonstrated now that man has come from woman (15)! This naming speech was my rejection of male chauvinism (16).
 
My claims to equality were set back by our eating forbidden fruit, which Adam blamed on me (17). In response to that sin, God declared that women would desire their husbands, and husbands would rule their wives (18). This should not be taken as an instruction but as a prediction of an unfortunate problem, for humanity to address (19).
 
Despite the unfortunate aspect of that situation, it had a silver lining. Eating fruit from the tree of “knowledge of good and evil” introduced a new element of sexual desire between Adam and me (20). After “our eyes were opened” (21) and our innocence lost, Adam finally noticed me as a person in my own right and gave me an individual and personal name, Eve/Chavah (22).  To celebrate our arrival as a loving couple of equal and unique people who deeply respect each other, God clothed us in garments of light (23). For us, despite the difficulties, we found the possibility of true love and respect. I wish you the same.
 
 Love, Grandma Eve-Chavah-Hawah
 
Notes
1)       Genesis 3:20
2)       Sacks, J. (2009), Covenant and Conversation, Genesis, Magid Books and the Orthodox Union, Jerusalem, p. 33-37
3)       Alef Bet of Ben Sira, Zohar Bereshit, 34b and Vavyikra 19a, Torat Hachida Bereshit, 70, p. 23
4)       Genesis 2:27
5)       Torat Hachida Bereshit, 70, p. 23
6)       Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, in Lubotzky, Y. & Mark, R.  https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0272/7831/1512/files/brushes-all_03r.pdf?v=15699884950348939191,  p. 18
7)       Talmud, Brachot 61a
8)       Genesis 1:27, note the shift from singular to plural
9)       Genesis 2:27,
10)    Zohar, part 3, 44b.
11)    Sacks, J. (2009), Covenant and Conversation, Genesis, Magid Books and the Orthodox Union, Jerusalem, p. 35-36
12)    Genesis 2:23
13)    Translation follows Radak
14)    Genesis 4:1
15)    Abarbanel
16)    Casuto, in Pardes, Ilana. "Creation According to Eve: Beyond Genesis 3." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 27 February 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on October 5, 2020) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/creation-according-to-eve-beyond-genesis-3>.
17)    Genesis 3:12
18)    Genesis 3:16
19)    Bernbaum, T. https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/90765/jewish/The-Curse-of-Eve.htm
20)    Radak
21)    Genesis 3:7
22)    Sacks, J. (2009), Covenant and Conversation, Genesis, Magid Books and the Orthodox Union, Jerusalem, p. 36
23)    Bereshit Rabba 20:12 as explained in Sacks

God’s Faith In Us Can Inspire Belief In Humanity - Rosh Hashanah Sermon

Recently I visited Grafton, in Northern NSW after leading Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) prayers in nearby Billinudgel. The local paper asked me for “words of wisdom or faith to share with the local community as we go through the unprecedented times of 2020"?

I replied that people are doing it tough now; adversity can bring people together or divide us. In my Jewish New Year’s sermon, I acknowledged that there are plenty of reasons to turn on our fellow citizens. My Jewish tradition teaches us that God continues to have faith in humans, despite our many failings. We would do well to do the same. To continue to have hope in each other. To continue to be committed to doing our bit for our fellow humans. 

There are valid reasons to stop believing in our fellow humans. Yet, one of the greatest truths is that sometimes facts matter less than faith. Especially, when it comes to the question of giving up on our fellow humans.   

We are invited to believe in humanity, despite the evidence to the contrary, because the evidence is clear that 'suspending our disbelief' in each other is more likely to alleviate suffering and produce beauty than succumbing to despair. 

As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

I have spent the last 19 years of my life pursuing a dream of goodwill between Muslims, Jews, Christians, and others. Many people in the Jewish community supported me, but not all. I was characterised, by some, as a traitor to the Jewish people and patronised as a misguided 'useful idiot', one US newspaper writing of me “God grant him a speedy spiritual recovery” (1). Their criticism was based on the argument that I had failed to take into account the facts which appeared to prove that my task was futile. But I stubbornly stuck to my dream, not because I denied the facts of what was - I am well aware of these - but I don’t dwell on these facts. Instead, I am focused on the truth of what could be, and the facts supporting my approach as the best way to get there.  

It turns out I am in good company. The Torah called God, "a faithful God" (2)- "אל אמונה”. The Sifre (3) cryptically points out that this refers to “the God who had faith in the universe and created it.”

The Talmud tells the following story: When the Holy One, blessed be He, came to create man, He created a group of angels and asked them, “Do you agree that we should make man in our image?” They replied, “Master of the Universe, what will be his deeds?”

God showed them the future history of mankind. 

The angels, looking at the facts, advised against the creation of humans.  

God outstretched His pinky finger among them and burned them with fire. And the same occurred with a second group of angels. 

He created a third group of angels, and they replied, “Master of the Universe, the first and second groups of angels told You not to create man.... You did not listen. ...The universe is Yours. Do with it as You wish.” 

Then God created man. [Despite the facts].(4)

The existence of humankind is a demonstration of the fact that God has faith in Man. 

So let us be inspired by this faith, when we are confronted by the stream of depressing and truly distressing facts served up to us by various forms of media, and for many, tragically and painfully, closer to home. Still, let us say, yes, we know all this, but like God, we choose to continue to believe in humanity, because we know there are sparks of beauty waiting to be fanned into flames. 

Let us accept God’s gift of faith in us. Let us continue to have hope in each other and continue to be committed to doing our bit for our fellow humans. As Rabbi Tarfon said, "It is not your responsibility to finish the work, but you are not free to desist from it either." (5)

Shana Tova, and best wishes for Gmar Chatima Tova and a meaningful Yom Kippur.  

Notes: 

The key message of this talk was inspired by the writings of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks,  https://rabbisacks.org/faith-god-bereishit-5778/, and of Eleanor Gordon Smith in What’s the use in trying? 24, August 2020, https://ethics.org.au/whats-the-use-in-trying/ 

1. https://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/australian-rabbi-love-muslims-and-everything-will-be-ok/2014/08/24/ 

2. Deuteronomy 32:4

3. Sifre, Ha’azinu, 325.

4. Sanhedrin 38b

5. Pirke Avot 2:21