What Man Was Made Of

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

WHAT MAN WAS MADE OF
The Creator wished to make the body of Adam. This is how
He worked: To fashion the hands and legs of Adam, the
Creator gathered earth from all the corners of the world. For
his torso, He took the earth of Babylon. To fashion Adam’s
head, the most important part of the human body, He took


the earth of Eretz Ysrael (The Land of Israel). The Creator
put all the gathered earth atop Mount Moriah, where the
sacrificial altar shall be in the Temple. He mixed it with
water taken from all the oceans of the world, and from the
resulting clay He fashioned the body of man.
Clearly, the Midrash isn’t speaking of how the biological
human body was made, or about mixing clay and earth
with water, like children playing with a bucket and spade,
or potters shaping clay into pottery. Rather, the Midrash
describes how man includes within him all of the world’s
forces. Here is what is written, “To fashion the hands and
legs of Adam, the Creator gathered earth from all the corners
of the world.” This means that man contains the desires of
the whole world (“earth from all the corners of the world”).
If he corrects them, he will thus correct the whole world.
“He mixed it with water taken from all the oceans of the
world, and from the resulting clay he fashioned the body of
man.” The “water” in man represents the force of bestowal,
the quality of altruism, which animates everything, which is
also collected from the whole world.
Thus, both the desire to enjoy (earth) and the desire to
bestow (water) exist in abundance in man. They are mixed
and connected together in man’s every desire. We need
only identify the force of bestowal and use it to correct the
force of reception, so that bestowal will dominate reception.
Then all our desires to enjoy, gathered within us from all the
“nations” of the world, will be activated only by the quality
of bestowal.
“To fashion the head of Adam, the most important part
of the human body, He took the earth of Eretz Ysrael (The
Land of Israel).”


The Creator made man’s “head” out of the “earth” of
Israel, out of desires aimed at the Creator. Thus, all of
man’s aspirations must be aimed at acquiring the Creator’s
qualities. Israel comes from the words Yashar El, which
translates as “straight” (Yashar) and El (to the Creator).
The Creator took the “earth” for man’s “torso” from
Babylon, the degree that pertains to the quality of bestowal.
It is no accident that Babylon was the setting for a great
crisis known as “the Tower of Babel.” The Babylonians
wanted to attain Godliness with the help of the forces of
reception, and this is impossible. After the people dispersed
and realized the futility of their aspirations, they reunited
and achieved the degree of the Creator with the help of the
forces of bestowal.
(Let me remind you that we’re studying the roots, i.e., the
Creator’s forces. Everything that has ever taken place on the
physical plane, on this earth, has its own Upper spiritual
root. This is why the “Tower of Babel,” which existed in the
corporeal world, also exists in us.)
“The Creator put all the gathered earth atop Mount
Moriah, where the sacrificial altar shall be in the Temple.
He mixed it with water taken from all the oceans of the
world, and from the resulting clay He fashioned the body
of man.”
Where was man created? He was created in a special
place where the spiritual origin touches the corporeal one,
at the point of contact between the two adjacent degrees.
However, although we are speaking of two adjacent degrees,
there is a great chasm between them. This contact means
that precisely above “Mount Moriah,” the Sephirot descend
from the heavens and touch the earth.


The reality above “Mount Moriah” is called the spiritual
reality, whereas all that exists below is called “the material
world.” The peak of Mount Moriah is a spiritual summit,
the highest possible point in this world, where the Holy of
Holies will be built. It towers over all the material of this
world, and the greatest spiritual forces assemble there. It
is precisely where man—the “coordinator” between the
material and the spiritual dimensions—was created.
Both these worlds, the material and the spiritual, are
present in Adam, and he can establish balance between
them, using them as a single whole. In so doing, he elevates
our entire reality to the spiritual level.
“Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul.” We mustn’t forget that we’re
always talking about what’s happening within. This is where
“man” was just “born.” You have undergone the phases of
development of the still, vegetative, and animate desires,
and now you’re no longer fulfilled by all that pertains to
them. Now you want another level—the spiritual one!
If you catch yourself thinking this way, it means the point
in the heart has awakened within you and is drawing you
to the Creator. If you don’t want this incarnation going to
waste, follow your point and listen to your inner voice. You
are now “on the line” with the Upper One. You weren’t
born into the world to simply live your life and die. In fact,
you’re not supposed to die at all.
You are now exiting your corporeal ego, the lowest state:
“Then the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.”
He let the “human” inside you feel the true and pure state,
the quality of bestowal, life… (in the spiritual world, the


ego stands for death, and bestowal stands for life) “…and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
You begin to identify with the point in the heart that is
drawing you to the Creator. You enjoy being in this state,
and you want to acquire spiritual sensations. This is the
meaning of “…and man became a living soul.” The human
inside you has been born. If you follow this “human,” He
will surely lead you into the “land that flows with milk and
honey,” and there you will see the Creator.
What does it mean to “see the Creator”? He has many
names, but the one that relates to us is Boreh. It consists of
two words: Bo (come) and Re’eh (see). In other words, you
will see the Creator; no one else can do it for you.