The First People
Gellman, Marc
The First People Mare Gellman God scooped up two lumps of red clay to make the first man and woman. Quite by accident, the woman's lump was a little larger than the man's lump. So the first woman,...
...But this idea didn't work because every time Adam turned around to talk to Lilith he would see that she was taller, and he would fly into a rage...
...Lilith thought this idea was very silly, but she did it because she didn't like arguing with Adam...
...But this idea worked no better than all the others...
...This was just too much for Lilith and so she ran away from Adam for good...
...I know what I'll do" said Adam, "I will make Lilith stand in a hole and that way I will be taller and better...
...Lilith was just about fed up with all this silliness but she did what Adam asked because she was afraid of his anger...
...When Adam awakened he was sore in the place from which the woman had been made, and the woman was sore from being made...
...But this did not bother either of them...
...His midrashim are a regular feature in moment...
...That way I will be taller and better...
...That night God took out one of Adam's ribs and made a woman whose name was Eve...
...They helped each other put cool mud all over their sore parts, and they both began to feel better...
...Even though God pleaded with Lilith to return to Adam, Lilith refused...
...Lilith thought all this was rather silly, but she did what Adam asked of her because she could not bear to see Adam unhappy...
...From now on," decided Adam, "I will have Lilith slouch over...
...At night when Lilith climbed out of her hole to sleep next to the man, he would measure their lengths in the sand and discover that Lilith was still taller, and fly into the biggest rage of all...
...But even this idea failed because when Lilith slouched Adam couldn't hear what she was saying and would fly into an even bigger rage...
...First Adam told Lilith to walk behind him all the time so that he would not have to be reminded of the fact that she was taller than he...
...Mark Gellman is Hillel Director at Northwestern University...
...So the first woman, Lilith, turned out to be a little taller than the first man, Adam...
...So all God could do was make a new woman from the old man...
...If Lilith is taller, she must be better...
...From that moment on, things were never quite the same...
...However, one day the snake told Adam, "Don't you realize that taller is better...
...And all the while Adam never noticed that Eve was also a little taller...
Vol. 2 • October 1977 • No. 10
