Genesis, An artwork and a poem
In the fall of 2023, I took a class called “Women and Gender in Judaism.” My favorite part of the course was when we looked at various scriptures, and writings by the Rabbis. Now, I have heard debates in Christianity over the word rib, and whether it truly means side. But what stood out to me in this course discussion was the concept (from the Genesis Rabbah I believe) that the primordial being was two-faced and therefore split into Adam and Eve.
As a person who identifies sometimes as a demigirl, and sometimes as agender, and generally just off the binary, I love this interpretation for its implications of a primordial being of a different gender. But more importantly I found that I was caught by the different definitions of the original Hebrew word for “took” in the verse “he took one of his ribs.” It could also mean seized, captured, taken away, taken out of, and so on. With my non-existent knowledge of the language, the definitions gave me a sort of violent imagery.
And I began to wonder, how traumatic would it be to be created as two-in-one, then essentially split into two separate individuals. Did the being even know it would be put under? The scriptures seem to see joy from Adam when he meets Eve, but was he also afraid? Still in shock?
It made me think of one of my earliest memories I can confirm, when I was 7 and had to get a test for Celiac Disease. I had a side effect from one of the medications they gave me while giving anesthesia, and my arm felt like it burned as I went under. I wonder if for the primordial being, for Adam, and for Eve (if she could remember), did that burn happen before, during, or after sleep?
While I do not believe that the story is literal, I wonder how much is held in our current bodies from this sleep to severing. I wonder, how many people could we love if we viewed ourselves as part of a greater whole, not just individuals? As I thought about this, I began to plan out a painting–and a poem.
In my genesis image, I wanted the primordial being to be dancing, to be interconnected, to show joy. It is the prologue of the poem, which is a poem first and foremost about trauma, grief, and then finding hope. In it I rewrote the first 5 chapters of Genesis in five parts, almost lining up to each book.
Each part of the poem has a different narrator, starting with the primordial being, moving on to Adam, then Eve, then Abel, and then finally, me. It is not perfect by any means, and I make no claim to be a poet, but still I find the emotion ran from me to the words on the page in ways they haven't before.
I hope people read this poem and see a common thread of humanity, of trauma, of grief, all found in the bible. And I hope people look at the artwork and see a joy in living despite what may come. Please click the link below to find the poem.
