Hope you’re having a great day.

The Torah is leading up to the creation of Eve.  The first woman.

Adam’s wife.

It seems to be building up to it.  To make Adam really want a wife.

As we saw yesterday, G-d said, “It’s not good for man to be alone.”

He needs a partner.

… Then it says that G-d brought all the animals before Adam.

But Adam couldn’t find a helper.

It seems very strange.

Could you possibly think that an animal could be Adam’s partner?

A cow.  An elephant.  Or even a dog?

Here’s an idea I found interesting.

… Maybe among the creatures brought before Adam was a “prehistoric man”.

Maybe a Neanderthal Man!

This may surprise some people.

Prehistoric man?  “I thought Jewish tradition doesn’t believe in that!”

It’s a common misconception.

… Jewish tradition has no problem with it.

There were creatures that were similar to us.

Physically.

They may have had the same anatomy.  May have stood on two feet.

And even been much more intelligent than animals.

But they weren’t human.

… Adam was unique.

He was given a soul.  A nesahama.

The ability to transcend the physical world.

Adam was given the human qualities of creativity.  And abstract thinking.

The ability to make moral descions.

Adam was created in the Image of G-d.

… So G-d showed Adam a “prehistoric man.”

It may even have been able to meet some of Adam’s physical needs.

(Today we might say, they could have watched T.V. together!)

… But Adam felt the need for human companionship.

Emotional.  Intellectual.  And spiritual.

He felt the need for a wife.

… We should try to make all of our relationships as meaningful as possible.

And this might be something to think about if we find ourselves in a shallow relationship.

“This I could have done with a Neanderthal Man!”