The Creator

I know what you’re thinking. You have to watch it at least twice.

Ok, now it all makes sense, right? Oh. Hmmmm….

A few years ago I was in a train station on the way back from teaching at a summer camp, when I noticed that a younger friend of mine, maybe 15 years old, seemed to be caught in a heated theological debate that was more than he was prepared to deal with. The topic of the debate seemed to be whether G-d could be a person. I immediately recognized the necessity to diffuse this conflict, but rather than appreciating that this was a sensitive religious issue that deserved better than an arrogant teenager in a train station, I decided I would simply win the debate in under a minute. As I approached the two theologians, I heard the man say “G-d is a human being. A completely perfect human being.” So I asked “How did G-d become perfect?” The man responded “He was created that way.” AHA! This was it. Check mate! All I needed to do was show him that he was talking about a creation, and not the Creator, and centuries of religious conflict would be over. “Oh,” I said, “then who created G-d?” The man paused, and then answered “I did. I’m the creator.” And then I realized what was going on here- he was delusional.

A few weeks ago when I was trying to think up an idea for the first in this series of animated cartoons, I went through several different stories that explained some idea associated with Parshat Bereishit and creation. The problem was that they were just that- explanations, when what I needed was an experience. And that’s when my mind turned to the man in the train station and how he took an intellectual idea and made it a reality for me. As far as I was concerned I was fully qualified to debate that idea (in a train station, no less)- which is proof of how little I actually understood it. But it took someone who really perceived his side of the issue as a reality, for me to begin to appreciate the reality of my own beliefs.

So I guess that’s what I was trying to do here – share my train station man with you. I hope you like him.