Human authority

Hi,

"Gd gave them [Adam and Chavah] power and sovereignty over the land to do as they wished to the beasts, creeping creatures and those that crawl in the dust, to build, to uproot that which is planted, to mine copper from the hills, and so on."

נתן להם כח וממשלה בארץ לעשות כרצונם בבהמות ובשרצים וכל זוחלי עפר, ולבנות, ולעקור נטוע, ומהרריה לחצוב נחשת, וכיו' בזה. 

(Ramban to Bereishit 1:28)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Man: Natural and Transcendent

Hi,

"We come across a dual concept of man in the Bible. His element of transcendence was well-known to the Biblical Jew. Yet transcendence was always seen against the background of naturalness. The canvas was man's immanence; transcendence was just projected on it as a display of colors. It was more a modifying than a basic attribute of man."

(Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, The Emergence of Ethical Man, pg. 9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why are we here?

Hi,

"Man has no advantage over animal other than in his higher, wise soul, which will return to the Honored Gd who gave it. It was brought into the body for its education, in order to learn the deeds of its Master and guard His mitzvot. All wisdom will provide its master with life, and there are many forms of wisdom, each aiding and all like rungs of a ladder ascending to the true forms of wisdom. Fortunate is one whose heart’s eyes are open, turning toward Divine light and toward His good in the end."

(R’ Avraham ibn Ezra, Yesod Mora, Hakdamah)

Have a great day,
Mordechai