🌍 Genesis 1: six days
The Almighty creates by speaking: 'Let there be light.' Creation takes six days, from light on day one to land animals and then human beings on day six. At the end, everything is 'very good' (Genesis 1:31).
Jewish Beliefs about the Universe and Human Beings » Creation, Humanity and Tikkun Olam
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 1.1 (Judaism)
- What Jews believe about the creation of the universe by the Almighty
- How Orthodox and Progressive Jews respond to the Big Bang and evolution
- Why human beings are seen as the goal of creation, and what this means for other creatures
- What tikkun olam means and how Jews act on it
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Unlock This CourseThe Almighty creates the universe
The lesson How Did the Universe Begin? Religious and Scientific Views set out the big ideas. Jewish teaching starts from the first words of the Torah: 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth' (Genesis 1:1). Jews often call God the Almighty, the name your exam uses.
Key terms:
- Torah: the five books of Moses, the holiest Jewish scripture. Genesis is its first book.
- Shabbat: the Jewish day of rest, from Friday evening to Saturday night.
- Mitzvot: the commandments the Almighty gave in the Torah (one is a mitzvah).
- Talmud: a huge collection of the rabbis' discussions of Jewish law and teaching. A rabbi is a Jewish teacher of the Torah.
✨ Shabbat: the crown of creation
On the seventh day the Almighty rested, blessed the day and made it holy (Genesis 2:1-3). Jews see Shabbat as the crown of creation, the point the whole week leads up to. Resting on Shabbat reminds them that the world is the Almighty's work, not their own.
Genesis 2 tells of the first man, Adam, in the Garden of Eden. From these chapters Jews draw three beliefs:
- The Almighty alone is the creator. He made the world on purpose.
- The world is good. It is a gift to be enjoyed and valued.
- The world belongs to its maker. 'The earth is the Lord's, and all that it holds' (Psalm 24:1, a song of praise).
Orthodox and Progressive responses to science
Jews belong to different movements. Orthodox Jews believe the Almighty gave the whole Torah to Moses, so every word has his authority. Progressive (Reform and Liberal) Jews believe the Torah was written by people who were inspired by the Almighty, so it can be read in the light of new knowledge.
📖 Orthodox views
Some strictly Orthodox Jews read Genesis literally: six days of 24 hours, and a world less than 6,000 years old, which is how the Jewish calendar counts its years. They reject evolution. Many other Orthodox Jews accept the Big Bang and evolution as the Almighty's way of creating. Maimonides, a great rabbi of the 12th century, taught that not everything in the creation account has to be read literally.
🔬 Progressive views
Progressive Jews do not read Genesis as science or history. Science explains how the universe and life developed, and Genesis explains why. So they accept the Big Bang and evolution fully. This is the view you met as theistic evolution.
Human beings: the goal of creation
In Genesis 1 human beings are made last, after everything else is ready. Jewish teaching sees them as the goal of creation. Only humans are made 'in the image of God' (Genesis 1:27). Jews do not take this to mean that the Almighty has a body. It means humans can think, choose between right and wrong, create, and have a relationship with the Almighty. Because every person carries this image, Jews believe every human life has great worth.
The Talmud adds a warning: people who become proud can be reminded that even the gnat was created before them.
👑 Genesis 1:28: rule
The Almighty tells the first humans to fill the earth and to rule over the fish, the birds and every living thing. Remember that this is called dominion. So human needs come first.
🌳 Genesis 2:15: care
Adam is put in the Garden of Eden 'to work it and to guard it'. He is a keeper, not an owner. Most Jews therefore read 'rule' as responsible care on behalf of the Almighty, the idea you met as stewardship.
How humans should treat other creatures
Two principles of Jewish law turn this care into action.
🐂 Tza'ar ba'alei chayim
This Hebrew phrase means 'the suffering of living creatures'. It is the ban on causing animals needless pain. The Torah says that animals must rest on Shabbat too, and that an ox must not be muzzled while it treads the grain (Deuteronomy 25:4). The Talmud teaches that people should feed their animals before they eat themselves.
🍎 Bal tashchit
This means 'do not destroy'. The Torah forbids an army to cut down fruit trees when it surrounds a city (Deuteronomy 20:19). The rabbis widened this into a ban on all needless waste and destruction, such as throwing away good food.
The key word in both is needless. Because humans come first, Judaism allows animals to be used for real human needs:
- Food: the Torah first gives humans plants to eat (Genesis 1:29) and allows meat only later, after the flood in the time of Noah (Genesis 9:3). Most Jews eat meat, but only from animals killed under strict rules meant to make death as quick as possible. Some Jews choose to be vegetarian.
- Medicine: most Jews accept testing medicines on animals if it could save human lives.
Tikkun olam: repairing the world
Tikkun olam is Hebrew for 'repairing the world' (the spec prints it as 'tikkun and olam'). Jews believe the world is 'very good', but it still contains injustice, poverty and damage to nature. Jews believe human beings are called to be partners with the Almighty in putting this right.
In Jewish tradition:
- The Aleinu, a prayer said at the end of every daily service, looks forward to a world repaired 'under the kingdom of the Almighty'.
- An old rabbinic story tells how the Almighty showed Adam the trees of the Garden of Eden and warned him not to spoil the world, because there would be no one to repair it after him.
- Isaac Luria, a 16th-century Jewish mystic, taught that sparks of the Almighty's light are scattered and hidden throughout the world. Each good deed helps to gather them and mend creation.
Jews stress different sides of tikkun olam. Many Orthodox Jews say the world is repaired above all by keeping the mitzvot, such as prayer, Shabbat and honesty in business. Progressive Jews often put tikkun olam at the centre of Jewish life and link it most to social action: working for justice, helping people in need and protecting the environment.
So for Jews, being the goal of creation is a job, not just an honour. Jews act on it by planting trees at Tu B'Shevat (the New Year for Trees), cutting waste and treating animals kindly. Giving to people in need is studied later in Tzedakah: Judaism on Rich and Poor.
Common mistakes
Do not write that all Orthodox Jews reject the Big Bang and evolution: many accept both. Do not say that 'rule' lets Jews treat animals as they like: tza'ar ba'alei chayim bans needless suffering. Tikkun olam is not only 'being green': it covers justice for people too.
Exam-style question
Paper 1 style. (a) and (b) test AO1; (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three ways in which human beings can damage the planet. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about how human beings should treat animals in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why followers of this religion believe that human beings have a responsibility for the world. [6 marks]
(d) 'It is up to human beings, not God, to put the world right.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Model answer
(a) 1. Polluting rivers and seas (1). 2. Cutting down forests (1). 3. Wasting energy and resources (1).
(b) Judaism. Jews are taught not to cause animals needless suffering, a rule called tza'ar ba'alei chayim (1), for example the Torah says an ox must not be muzzled while it treads the grain (1). Jews believe humans rule over other creatures (1), which most understand as responsible care, because Adam was put in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it (1).
(c) Judaism. Jews believe the Almighty created the world and called it 'very good'. It belongs to him, so people must look after it for him.
Humans are the goal of creation and are made in the Almighty's image. They rule over other creatures, but Genesis 2:15 says Adam was to work the garden and guard it, so human power comes with a duty of care.
The duty of tikkun olam, repairing the world, teaches that Jews are partners with the Almighty in improving creation. This is why many Jews work for justice and protect the environment, and why bal tashchit forbids needless waste.
(d) Plan. For: tikkun olam makes repairing the world a human duty; the rabbinic story warns that if humans spoil the world there is no one to repair it after them; humanists say there is no God to step in, so only people can solve problems such as climate change.
Against: Jews believe the Almighty made and owns the world, so it is not in human hands alone; the Aleinu prayer hopes for a world repaired under the Almighty's kingdom; many Orthodox Jews say the world is repaired by keeping the mitzvot the Almighty gave, so he sets the plan.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I partly agree. In Judaism humans must do the work, but they do it as partners with the Almighty, so 'not God' goes too far.
Exam tip
In part (d), deal with both halves of the statement: 'up to human beings' and 'not God'. Tikkun olam helps on both sides: humans must act, but as partners with the Almighty.