Pekudei: Chapter 61

"dust of the ground'

Synopsis

Rabbi Shimon begins with: "And Hashem Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground," saying that man is made of dust, not clay. He interprets "dust shall be the serpent's food" and "He will destroy death forever" and "awake and sing, you that dwell in dust..." to mean that until the resurrection the serpent will have the power to rule, seduce and mock mankind. He speaks of the male and the female sides of the serpent and the male sun and the female moon, saying that darkness and somberness never separate, as written in: "and there was a thick darkness."