“So the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs [mi-tzalotav] and closed up the flesh at that spot. And the Lord God fashioned the rib [ha-tzela] that He had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22).

The Aramaic translations of the Bible render the word “tzela” as “rib”, as we do in our English translations. Yet the biblical exegete Abraham Ibn Ezra (Spain, 1092-1167) had a different understanding of the creation of man, as is clear from his translation of the word “tzela”: Mi-tzalotav – There were two sides, like ‘and for the other side [tzela] of the Tabernacle’ (Exodus 26:20). Ibn Ezra does not understand the term to mean “rib”, which is a meaning not attested anywhere else in the Bible, but rather as “side”, which is its usual meaning in the Bible, for example: “So David and his men went on the road, while Shim’i went along on the side [tzela] of the hill opposite him” (II Samuel 16:13).

Ibn Ezra’s linguistic insight derives from the Midrash:

Rabbi Yirmiah ben Eliezer said: When God created the first man, He created it androgynous, as is written “male and female He created them”. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahman said: When God created the first man, He created it diprosopon [with two faces], and He severed it into two backs, a back here and a back there. They challenged him: It is written, “He took one of his ribs”! He replied: From its two sides, as is said “and for the other tzela of the Tabernacle” (Exodus 26:20), which we translate “side of the Tabernacle” (Genesis Rabbah (Vilna) 8).

How does this midrash attempt to harmonize the two descriptions of the creation of man?
What values or moral messages underlie the approach chosen by the Midrash to harmonize the two descriptions? What are we meant to learn from this approach to the creation of man and woman?
In the wedding blessings, we say: “Make these loving companions happy, as You made your creation happy in the Garden of Eden”. In light of the sages’ approach to Creation, what does this blessing teach us about the ideal relationship? Is it significant that the word “creation” is singular?
What do think of this conclusion: “As for the relationship between man and woman, it should be noted that the structuring of their relationship as one of governor and governed was, according to the story told in Genesis, the result of sin. The human male and female were originally created – in clear distinction from the male and female of other creatures – in one body. The divine spirit was breathed into the unified male-female body, and the status of mankind as created in the divine image was thus established in relation to the male and female in it, in their mutual relationship, because only through this mutual relationship was their physical-spiritual uniqueness perfectly realized” (Eliezer Schweid, The Philosophy of the Bible as a Cultural Foundation in Israel, 331). What are the implications of this approach for marriage and for the mitzvah of procreation?