Rereading Torah Towards Liberation

“Adam Rishon,” the first Adam, appears in Jewish legend.

R. Eleazar said: The first man reached from earth to heaven…But when he sinned, the Holy One, blessed be [God], laid His hand upon him and diminished him…

— B. Sanhedrin 38b (other legends speak of his size, East to West)

Adam Rishon took up all the space. Sort of like God before tzimtzum — the contraction that made room for Creation. In Tzedek Chicago [5785] discussion for Breishit, one member raised the suggestion that maybe Adam’s shrinking was not about “sin” but about God realizing that it isn’t good for one individual to take up all the space.

And that, right there, is one whole path to follow in Torah study: What does it mean for one individual to make room for another? What might it mean for one group to make room for another? How is Torah enhanced by multiplicity of views?