Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
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How does the Biblical account of the man’s creation jibe with the abundant evidence of human beings dating back tens of thousands of years?
In the book of Genesis, chapter two, God creates the first people, Adam and Eve, and sets them up in the Garden of Eden. If you do the math—based on the Torah’s internal dating system—that event happened a little less than 6,000 years ago (or more specifically, this Rosh Hashanah marks 5,784 years).
How does that idea work when confronted with the abundant evidence of human beings dating back tens of thousands of years?
The oldest human remains, known as the “Omo I Remains,” were found in the Omo Kibish Formation in southwestern Ethiopia, within the East African Rift valley, and recent research indicates they are about 230,000 years old. Other, possibly older, human remains have also been found (the oldest of what appear to be anatomically modern humans were found in Morocco, and are believed to be about 360,000 years old, but those findings are disputed). The Omo I Remains are the oldest that are definitively identified as the species, homosapien.
But along with finding old human remains, how long have people been doing the things people do, which includes things like intentional burial, worship, cave drawings, farming, building cities, and organizing society?
Burying your dead—as opposed to just letting the body rot where it falls—is a clear indicator of the beginnings of modern man. The earliest undisputed evidence of intentional homosapien burial—indicating purposeful burial, and including funerary objects, and the like—is from the Upper Palaeolithic period (between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago). Although there are disputed claims that include neanderthal burial from as long as 130,000 years ago, and other humans dating back 100,000 years. In Australia, evidence suggests that Aboriginal Australians first started cremating their dead about 50,000 years ago.
Discoveries in a cave in Botswana indicate that people there were worshiping a python as far back as 70,000 years ago. According to this article, archaeologists found more than 13,000 artifacts, including spearheads and articles that could be connected with ritual use, as well as tools used in carving the stone. These were found in a cave that also included a six by two meter tall rock that resembled the head of a python, and which also included three-to-four hundred indentations that could only have been manmade. The finding indicates the oldest evidence of human worship, besting a 40,000-year-old site previously unearthed in Europe.
The oldest cave drawings identified as being made by homosapiens are about 45,000 years old, although others, made by Neanderthals, date back about 64,000 years.
A life-sized cave painting of a wild pig that was made at least 45,500 years ago in Indonesia.
Evidence suggests that people first started farming about 11,300 to 9,000 years ago, and built the first cities around that time as well. The oldest cities include Çatalhöyük in modern Turkey; the ancient Summerian cities of Eridu, Uruk, and Ur; ‘Ain Ghazal built near the modern city of Jericho; and Mehrgarh in modern-day Pakistan. The world’s oldest continuously inhabited city is Jericho, which dates to about 9,000 years. The oldest organized civilization is the Akkadian Empire, which ruled about 4,500 years ago.
With so much hard evidence of ancient, industrious, creative humans dating back tens of thousands of years, how can Jewish tradition claim that Adam and Eve—created less than 6,000 years ago—were the first people?
Or maybe it doesn’t.
According to numerous rabbinical sources, God created 974 generations before he created Adam. The Talmud1 alludes to this idea, although it doesn’t say it outright:
974 generations were to have been created before the creation of the world, but they were snatched away. God then planted a few of them in each [subsequent] generation, and they are the brazen, arrogant ones of that generation.
Other sources are more explicit. “God said to Israel, ‘My son, I am the one who sat for 974 generations before the world was created.”2 As well as this:
I created 1,000 generations. And how many of them were erased? … 974. What’s the reason [974 were erased]? Because (Psalms 105:8) [refers to], “A promise He gave for 1,000 generations.” And what’s that [promise]? The Torah.3
Plus many other sources that reference that number as well.4
In other words, according to the traditional Jewish sources, the Torah was given to Moses, who—according to the generations listed in the Torah itself—lived 26 generations after Adam, but, for whatever reason, the Torah had already existed for 1,000 generations before it was given to him. (1,000 minus 26 equals 974).5
Calculating the length of a generation is a little trickier, especially if you’re trying to understand the length of a generation from the perspective of the Talmudic sages who lived about 1,500 years ago.
In modern times, a generation is considered to be about 25 years (an average based on an estimate of about 20-30 years per generation, which are determined based on various societal factors). Other sources consider a generation to be about 40 years. Also, possibly, based on the ages given in the book of Genesis, and the years those people had their first children—on average, at about 130 years old—a generation could be considered as long as 130 years.6
Obviously, this is just speculation, but based on these numbers, the rabbinical sources seem to indicate that from the dawn of man (specifically, the first homosapiens) until the giving of Torah could be a period ranging anywhere from 25,000 to 130,000 years.
Some mystical writings also indicate that world history will comprise seven 7,000-year cycles, or a total of 49,000 years, leaving open the possibility for catastrophic events that end each of these cycles. It’s also a debate amongst these mystical sources whether the current epoch is the second, sixth, or seventh iteration. (Although according to noted author Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, it is important to note that the Arizal—the great 16th century kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria—was opposed to this way of thinking).7
Based on these sources, it is safe to say that Jewish tradition is comfortable with both a) the idea that people had been alive and living on earth for thousands of years before the creation of Adam and Eve, and b) that earlier civilizations (or epochs, or whatever) may have preceded the current one.
Also, keep in mind, these sources are 1,500-plus years old. They are not coming to explain or apologize for modern, enlightenment, scientific discoveries and ideas. They are merely stating long-held Jewish beliefs.
The people living before Adam and Eve had the same capacities for rational thought, and the same abilities to make sense of the world. As Rabbi Kaplan explains it:
Around 974 generations before Adam … man developed all the physical and mental capabilities that we possess today. This man had evolved from the ‘dust of the earth’ (as noted in Genesis 2:7), but he still lacked the divine soul that would make him a spiritual being. God then created Adam, the first true human being with a soul.8
These people built the earliest cities, built megalithic structures (Gobekli Tepe is the oldest, at about 11,600 years old, and also aligned with true north and may even contain an accurate map of the constellations as understood in those days), started farming (11,300 years ago), as well as myriad other things.9
The biblical narrative talks about the spiritual creation of man. According to Jewish tradition, Adam was created on Rosh Hashanah, which would have been the biblical “Day 6” in the year zero (or September 9, 3761 BCE),10 and is the event described in Genesis 2:7. It’s when God blew a breath of life into the clay form He had formed, and that breath is what’s also referred to as the soul (נשמת חיים). In Jewish thought, the dawn of modern man, and true civilization, as well as the ability to recognize God as the Creator, starts at that time.
In the Torah, the creation of spiritual man is the real beginning of the human story. It starts with God giving man a test (Genesis 3), which introduces the concept of free will—the idea that you’re defined by the choices you make—and illustrates the struggle of living with dual, yet opposing, spiritual and animal natures.
One could argue that Genesis, chapter two, is the detailed account of man’s spiritual genesis, and that the brief mention of man’s creation in Genesis 1:27, is describing the creation of the species homosapien.
This understanding also answers a number of other questions from the early chapters in Genesis. For example, in Genesis 4:14, after Cain kills Abel he’s worried that whoever finds him will kill him. Who are these other people?
Or when it says in Genesis 4:17, “Cain knew his wife.” Who is his wife? Where did she come from?
And also Genesis 6:4, which says, “The Titans (נפלים) were on the earth in those days.” Who are the Titans? Where did they come from?
Based on these sources, it seems that traditional Jewish thought has no problem with the idea that people (albeit a different sort) have been around for a lot longer than the time of Adam and Eve.
At least we are discussing the Torah's mysteries - Isn't that what Hashem wants? He places questions and we dig in and explore and think and debate. As long as we know at the end of the day what the mitzvoth are and do them and not lose faith from unanswered questions then it's all good.
Check out http://www.ParallelsintheTorah.com for some fascinating Torah secrets that are more revealed in the actual text.
I would trust Scripture before I would trust any "science" of man.
The "scientific" community had to abandon their steady state theory because it was proven that the universe did have a beginning, which caused them a lot of kicking and screaming.
They thought there would be a deep layer of cosmic dust on the moon, but it was very thin, showing that the moon wasn't as old as they thought. The salinity of the ocean and the amount of sediment on the ocean bottom are also clues to a young Earth.
Animals and plants have to be captured suddenly in a cataclysm to make fossils. Otherwise, time and decay would decompose their bodies. A universal flood is the only explanation for marine fossils on high Himalayan mountains.
Check YU.Torah.org, Dr Schroeder, Rabbi Scheab and Rabbi Kahn for similar ideas. Based on your article, we can assume that the mabul was NOT a world-wide flood.
Just kidding Bob. Where there is positive we sadly have negative. Let your fears go. There is a creator. A G-d, a Torah, and by the sound of your last name maybe you are JewISH meaning angry, confused, self doubting and afraid. You are not alone, the world is saturated with them. Look at poor pathetic Bernie Sanders.
Just find a real Rabbi, study and come back.
As a Jew attempting Teshuva I have no doubt in Torah. My question is why Hashem made Bob?
This is fascinating, but it raises a serious issue. Does this mean that most of mankind does not descend from Adam and Eve? And does that mean that most of them are soulless homo sapiens - who look like and are as smart as "real" humans, but are not truly sacred beings created in the image of God? The alternative is to say that once God placed a Divine soul in Adam and Eve, the rest of mankind received theirs as well - which entirely removes the uniqueness of A&E and their role in world history - and is certainly not how the Torah presents it (nor the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a) - which emphasizes that all men are equal because we all descend from the same illustrious father and mother). I suppose we could say that all of those less-than-human beings were wiped out in the Flood anyway.
You can make up whatever you want. That's what makes religion, religion.
Bob your cynicism is old hat. We get it -- you believe it's all made up. what's curious is why you spend so much on a site that clearly doesn't believe it's all made up. This article is a serious attempt to reconcile issues for those who DO believe the Torah is true. That's the difficulty - you CAN"T just make it up. And Drosenfeld is addressing the article on those terms, if you can just make anything up it's all meaningless, so please just move on and let people who think otherwise have an intelligent conversation.
An intelligent conversation would include a discussion of the evidence supporting one's conclusions. In religion, the conclusions come first, and then explanations for conflicting evidence have to be explained away so as not to threaten the initial conclusion. That's what is going on here. That is a dangerous way of thinking in a modern society. That's why I spend so much time on sites which promote non-intellectualism.
Bob, I am curious about atheist perspectives but you haven't contributed anything worthwhile to the conversation. You come across as a troll.
You are a troll.
I don't think that the number of the Hebrew year appears anywhere before the middle ages when a rabbi whose name I do not know counted up the years of the early people in the bible and came up with a number which is now recognized as the numbers of the years
Riveting and illuminating. Thank you!
Awesome, article, Rabbi Gluckin! Thank you!
I'm a pastor, and I tell my people - Adam & Eve were 1st, but maybe not the ONLY ones created. The Bible says we are created in God's image - so maybe those we find that existed prior, were NOT in God's image. I like the idea of the soul ... maybe that's the key. I don't believe the Bible is wrong - but it may not be the WHOLE STORY.
Just make it up as you go along!
Nice try! However the Gemorra in Chagiga says these generations were not created. The Arizal explains that they existed only in the spiritual world yet not in our physical world. How then could there exist any remainder of them in our world?
It's myth...make it up as you go along.
My Rabbi has said he doesn't believe in the dinosaurs and other science because it's not in the Torah. I posited the question: what's a few years, or even thousands of years to an infinite and almighty Hashem? Maybe he didn't have time to explain in great detail the true beginnings of the world, considering the goings-on happening below. The beginnings of Genesis are fairly vague, a bit of yada-yada. Who are we to limit what Hashem can do because it's not written down?
The Torah is full of myths.
The article takes an easy way out, instead of wrestling for real with the holy text. It should also be noted that most of our modern age-gaging methods are faulty to the n-th degree and don't measure the age correctly beyond a few thousand years. The "scientific" age of Earth, dinosaurs' bones and other artifacts are wild speculations of the modern pseudo-scientists. They do the same chicanery in astronomy, where the mind-boggling, unverifiable numbers is the standard of their buffoonish thinking. Keep on studying, for you know nothing yet.
Yeah, it's a vast conspiracy. HA.
My understanding is that Adam and Eve were the first Hebrew people.
I remember reading that the Large letter ב in the Torah has 4 tags as a sign that we are living in the fourth attempt to form a living world on this planet. The ב shows that it is the second time that a human type inhabited this planet. Each of the previous creations might have lasted for "who knows how many) years. So scientific finds in our time are no problem with the Torah, as we know it. What happened before Adam and Hava never bothered me
Eve was Adam's second wife.
Lilith was Adam's first wife.
So it's Adam and Lilith as the first people.
Your comment is Fake News.
Lilith: The Real Story
https://aish.com/lilith-the-real-story/
Lilith as Adam's first wife.
Both religious and secular literature refer to Lilith as Adam's first wife.
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/lilith/
This is some amazing post hoc rationalization!
Sure is! This is not something new - it's been done for eons - as a way to try to save face.
The author is trying to knit creationism and evolution together. The evidence only points to evolution. As you say, this is an old tactic.
From the time we are conceived at conception - in the womb - we do not get a choice - what we are “taught" - by ALL those - who have the “responsibility" - or - “accessibility" to “teach" us - or -“indoctrinate" us - as to what - or how we should believe - is the TRUTH - and what we should DESIRE - and do - to attain it. A great Jewish sage once said: "Those who have - all the answers - just don't know - all the questions - Yet - as evidenced from the article. So - from an old saying: When you start to read readin - how do you know - the fellow that wrote the readin - wrote the readin right?
So He made 974 mistakes yet He decided
To try again? Another mistake NOAH!
Maths/ statistics altered to agree with
Rabbinic thinking not common sense
What a waste!
it's obvious you have forgotten a simple Fact ...how many times a pilot on a plane must adjust something as he flies his plane from Toronto YYZ to New York LaGuardia or Kennedy Airport in all kinds of different conditions. Only 1 error could result in unthinkable catastrophe or maybe landing in Syracuse or Rochester NY. ... Apply this type of approach to 974 generations that Hashem may have made in creating this present world.