Eve's Creation

"God built the rib that He took from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man." (Gen. 2:22)

The Midrash adds a curious detail to the Torah's account of Eve's creation. When God 'built the rib,' the Sages explained, He braided Eve's hair before bringing her to Adam. How do we know that God braided her hair? The Midrash brings a linguistic proof: in one language, the word for 'braid' is binita, similar to the Hebrew word binyan (building).

This idea that braiding hair is a form of building is not just a quaint notion; it has legal ramifications. The Talmud rules that it is forbidden to braid hair on the Sabbath, since braiding constitutes building (Shabbat 95a).

What is the significance of God braiding Eve's hair? Is braiding hair truly a form of building?

Satisfying the Soul

Generally speaking, there are two aspects to building a structure. The first is the utilitarian function, to provide shelter and protection from the elements.

But architecture has an additional aspect: the aesthetic value of a beautiful home. The stateliness and elegance of a well-designed residence serves to broaden one's outlook. An aesthetically-pleasing environment quiets the mind and soothes the heart (see Berachot 57b).

What is so important about the aesthetic aspect of building?

What makes human beings special and is, in fact, their true strength, is their spiritual side. Our natural desire for beautiful living quarters indicates that even that which would seem to be purely utilitarian — just to provide for basic physical needs — nonetheless should contain elements of beauty and harmony. One might think that the function of a house is only to protect us from rain and cold. But in fact, beautiful surroundings serve to uplift the soul. And it is this natural drive for beauty and refinement that causes all of humanity to strive for spiritual growth.

Now we can better appreciate the Midrashic contribution to the account of Eve's formation. The Midrash calls our attention to the fact that the very first construction undertaken for man's sake established this fundamental aspect of human nature.

Woman was created in order to meet man's most basic physical needs. Even so, her creation included the purely aesthetic act of braiding her hair. Thus we find that even for those biological aspects shared with the animals, the human soul requires that they be connected to the quality of beauty, thus refining and uplifting the soul. The act of braiding Eve's hair established this inner truth: the human soul cannot be satisfied with the fulfillment of only its physical, utilitarian needs. The soul's spiritual nature demands that the practical be combined with a higher, aesthetic component.

(adapted from Ein Eyah vol. IV, p. 237)

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