Adam names the cattle, the birds and the wild animals, and still has no helper.
The story
God takes Adam and places him in the Garden of Eden, to work it and to keep it. He commands him: “You may eat from every tree of the garden, but not from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will die.”
Then God says that something is not good. Not a deed, but a state: Adam is alone. He says He will make him a helper “kenegdo,” a word that means opposite him, or matching him.
לֹא־טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ
Bereshit 2:18
God forms from the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brings them to Adam to see what he will call each one. Adam gives names to all the cattle, the birds and the wild animals. But for Adam, no helper kenegdo turns up.
וּלְאָדָם לֹא־מָצָא עֵזֶר כְּנֶגְדּוֹ
Bereshit 2:20
God puts Adam into a deep sleep, and he sleeps. God takes one of his ribs (the Hebrew tzela can also mean side) and closes the place with flesh. He builds the tzela He took from Adam into a woman, and brings her to Adam.
אֶת־הַצֵּלָע אֲשֶׁר־לָקַח מִן־הָאָדָם לְאִשָּׁה
Bereshit 2:22
Adam says, “This time, this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ishah, woman, for she was taken from ish, man.” And the Torah adds that this is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.
God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper corresponding to him.”
Words from the verse
עֵזֶרa helper, one who supports
כְּנֶגְדּוֹopposite him, corresponding to him
What it teaches: Love your neighbour
Loving the person beside you and caring for them as for yourself.
The first thing in the Torah that God calls “not good” is a person alone. A garden, work and names for the cattle, birds and wild animals do not fill that gap; the one who fills it is “bone of my bones.” Loving the person beside us begins when we see them as part of ourselves.
A question to sit with
Who close to you might be lonelier than they seem from the outside?
Questions about the story
What does God say is not good?
That Adam is alone in the garden
That Adam ate from the tree of knowledge
That no one is working the garden
Answer
a. That Adam is alone in the garden
The “not good” here is a state, not a deed: Adam is alone. The verses do not say that Adam ate from the tree of knowledge, and God has already given him the garden to work.
After Adam names the cattle, the birds and the wild animals, what does the Torah say?
That one animal is his helper
That God commanded him to guard them
That no helper for Adam turns up
Answer
c. That no helper for Adam turns up
Right after Adam names the cattle, the birds and the wild animals, the Torah says that for Adam no helper kenegdo turns up. They have names, but none of them is the helper.
The lesson
We stop being alone when someone is beside us, not when something surrounds us.
For this week
This week, try sitting down with someone who spends a lot of time alone, for a real, unhurried conversation.
From the sources
Rashi explains “ezer kenegdo” in a few words: “If he merits, a help; if he does not merit, against him, to fight.” In his reading, the same helper can help the man or fight him, and it depends on whether the man merits it.
The verses are from Miqra according to the Masorah (Wikisource, CC BY-SA 4.0), via Sefaria, without the cantillation marks. On this site the four-letter Name is written ה׳.
