The land of creation has primordial ideas that teach us about truth, prayer, our essence, work, purity, a model for behavior, our destiny in the land of Eretz Yisrael, and redemption. In exploring these themes, we come to understand how the earth we stand upon sets the stage for our identity.

Grounded in Truth

If we want to understand the world we stand upon, then we must note a quintessential pasuk (referenced by the Baal HaTurim) in Tehillim (119:160). It says, “Rosh-devarecha emet—The beginning of Your word is truth.” This means that this world and all nature function based on truth.

It's true that the Gemara (Bava Batra 10b) calls our world an "olam shel sheker—world of falsehood," but that's based on our limited perception in seeing the full panorama of this world. In reality, however, it's fully true as the Divine embodies absolute truth.

This means that one can be confident in every result. In a true world, all occurrences are ultimately for the good. This is why we bless G-d for the bad as well as for the good, as we lack the true lenses of truth to know how something that seems bad is really for the best.

How the Earth's Disobedience is Our Defense and Teacher

In rabbinic families, often the father, as someone imbued with Torah, guides his children to be great talmidei chachamim as well. This can be seen in Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University, and his sons. One of them is Rabbi Elyada Goldwicht, founder of the worldwide Semichas Chaver Program. Both deliver stunning remarks regarding the fact that the earth disobeyed G-d's command by not making the fruit of the tree taste like the tree itself, instead creating a new taste for the fruit.

Rabbi Meir Goldwicht explains that this occurrence gives an innate defense to man when he sins. Because man was created from the dirt of the earth, and the earth sinned against G-d, we can claim that our makeup, the earth of the ground, was tainted by sin, and therefore the tendency towards sin was already built into our makeup. This, he explains, is the meaning of what we say in the tachanun prayer, based on the words in Tehillim (103:14), "Ki hu yada yitzrenu, zachur ki afar anachnu—For He knows our nature; He remembers that we are dust." We ask G-d to investigate how the earth that was used to create us was disloyal to Him, inclining us to sin.

Rav Elyada Goldwicht notes a positive lesson we can learn from the earth's disobedience. The earth's philosophy was that there are two stages in life: the journey, the time you put in to reach a goal, and then the goal itself. In this scenario, there is always something you are working towards but without enjoying it in the moment. However, the earth was wrong. In truth, the journey is the destination. Every moment on the way is significant in itself. Therefore, we must realize that the tree and its fruit are one. The present strivings are equally as important as the result.

Praying for the World's Welfare

Rabbi Eytan Feiner conveyed an earth-shattering insight from Rov Dovid Feinstein zt”l that changes the whole trajectory of tefillah. Rov Dovid asks why Adam's prayer for the rain to sustain the earth didn't seem necessary. The Garden of Eden was nourished by a flowing river and contained plush greenery all around. Why would he need rain?

He explains that Adam wasn't praying for his own surroundings but for the world at large. He wanted a blooming world to exist outside of his own. This teaches that our tefillah should be focused on others.

Rabbi Natan Tzvi Finkel zt”l was once approached by a yeshiva bachur before Rosh Hashanah. He told the Rosh Yeshiva that he didn't know what to pray for. The Rosh Yeshiva answered to pray for someone else.

We must pray for the world's welfare, especially in today's times. There is danger in all parts of the world. In praying for everyone else, we are mimicking the spirit of the first prayer in the world.

Picking a Profession

The ground takes on great significance in Bereishit and Noach in terms of working on it. Kayin and Hevel experience bloodshed in their connection to the ground, and Noach falls from grace in becoming a man of the ground.

Of course, the ground carried with it a curse originating from Adam's sin. Working it was a manifestation of toil and degradation.

Regarding Kayin and Hevel, Kayin chooses the ground as the foundation for his profession. In essence, he is a tiller of the cursed soil. In choosing this work, it's understandable why he offers such an unbecoming gift to G-d, even choosing the worst of the crop. When you're involved with a demeaning existence, you can't be happy with your lot and naturally have no inspiration to offer the best.

Hevel, on the other hand, dealt in the clean profession of shepherding. He was disassociated from the cursed land, instead engaging in the profession of the later shevatim, who were shepherds as well. Such a profession allowed for clarity of thought and room to become close to G-d. Hevel lived a life of delight, expressing it with the best offering possible.

Later, as the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 36:3) points out, we see Noach becomes an "ish adamah—a man of the land." He started out as an “ish tzaddik—a man of righteousness,” yet ended up planting on the cursed soil. The profession he chose was lowly, and the consequences led to unholy results.

In observing the choices that Kayin, Hevel, and Noach made regarding their work, we find that the best path to take is to choose a clean and uplifting profession that engenders happiness, so that we can offer the best of ourselves to others and G-d.

The Flood Purifies the Land

Though we see negative characteristics of the soil, it also plays a positive role. As G-d's agent, it rids the earth of the wicked generation of the flood. For when that generation began to upend civilization, the verse (Bereishit 6:13) notes, "And God said to Noah: 'The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with robbery [chamas] because of them; and behold, I am destroying them with the earth.'" Even if one would say the earth itself was punished in the flood, that was only the topsoil, but the inner layer remained. And according to some commentators, it in fact means that all of the earth assisted G-d in purifying the world, and no part of the earth was punished at all.

Seeing water as a purifier is a halakhic reality. We go to the mikvah to purify ourselves. It may be said that the forty days of the flood hint to the forty se'ah of a mikveh. Forty is also significant as it symbolizes the completion of events. Moshe ascended Har Sinai in forty-day intervals, and Bnei Yisrael traveled for forty years in the desert. Therefore, forty is a number that brings a new reality to the world.

Model of Behavior

Metaphorically, the entire earth serves as a model for behavior. Rav Avrohom Genechovsky zt"l says that the outer surface is water, the inner core is rock, and the center is encompassed by fire. He says that on the outside one should be like water, being flexible with everyone; on the inside, one should be strong in one’s beliefs; and in the center, one should be guided by the fire of Torah. In this way, we could look to the earth as a means for conjuring up spiritual growth.

Our Chosen Land

Of course, as the first Rashi on the Chumash says, Eretz Yisrael is our land. However, as the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 30a) explains based on the words in Yirmiyahu (30:17), "This is Zion; no one seeks [doresh] her," it’s not enough to just passively be aware of the land; rather, we must long for it—a prophetic mandate. And, in our times, when so many are returning to the faith, we can look forward to the words of Yeshayahu (59:20), "And a Redeemer shall come to Zion..."

Conclusion

The land was created based on truth. It serves as our defender and teacher. It leads us to understand how to make work choices and value purity. It offers a prototype to understand how to behave in this world, and ultimately, the land of Eretz Yisrael is our destined land, ready to be redeemed based on our prophecies.