Scott Shay on Genesis 3:1 -- "The Garden of Eden and the Origin of Resentment"

Show Notes

Scott Shay, Co-founder and Chairman of Signature Bank and author of two important books about Jewish life in the United States, ‘In Good Faith: Questioning Religion and Atheism’ and ‘Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry’, is Mark’s very special guest today. Scott is a frequent speaker around the country in a variety of media, and for today’s episode he will be discussing Genesis 3:1 with Mark.

Scott begins the discussion with a very detailed analysis of the snake character in this passage, its motives, and just how it defeats God’s plan. What follows is a fascinating examination of the lessons surrounding resentment which are inherent to this passage, and which continue to resonate throughout our world today. Scott also shares the lessons he has learned about mankind over the years, and passionately describes the joy he experiences in introducing people across the country to the beauty and wisdom of the Bible. The Torah is filled with lessons for us all, and today’s episode brings to life one of the most important and fundamental of these.

Episode Highlights:

An analysis of the snake character and its motives in this passage How the snake defeats God’s plan The lessons we can take from resentment being a part of the Creation story The importance of identifying and conquering resentment The lessons Scott has learned about mankind Scott’s books and introducing people to the Bible

Quotes:

“In my view, the first 11 chapters of the Bible are really about important lessons that God wanted to convey to the Jewish people and to the world and humanity.”

“The best liars tell nothing but the truth.”

“We have fallen into this idea that…the two separate Creation narratives were stapled together. Well, in fact, they are integrated, they’re not stapled together.”

“The Torah is not a history book, it’s not a cookbook, it’s a guidebook to help us live our lives more fully, more meaningfully, and better everyday.”

“It’s a constant motif that runs through our politics, even in the modern world – resentment.”

“There’s really no limit to how far we can progress if we’re not looking to blame someone else.”

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts which the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Has God really said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.3.1?ven=Jewish_English_Torah&lang=bi&aliyot=0

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