There’s nothing like a Chassidic explanation to give some perspective.
So, this first mitzvah in the Torah. It’s a big deal, I know. It really is a big deal, not just because it’s important but because it’s actually a big deal to fulfill. My kids are sure to remind me of that, every day, and every night, at all hours.
I know it’s important to bring people into the world. I know how important it is to raise them, to love them and nurture them so they can grow into their very best potential as adults in our society. It’s important, and I get it. But honestly, for something I’m dedicating two to three decades of my life, often to the exclusion of so many other important causes, does is really match up?
Well, let’s have a look at that pasuk that contains this impossible super-difficult commandment for some amazing Chassidic insight:
וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם אֱלֹהִים פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁהָ וּרְדוּ בִּדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבְכָל חַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת עַל הָאָרֶץ
And G-d blessed them, and G-d said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the earth.” (Bereishit 1:28)
Let’s talk about some of these words for a minute: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” – well that’s pretty clear – “and subdue it.” Hmmm. What does that mean? What needs to be subdued? And how does it connect to the rest of the sentence? If it were referring to other people it would say “subdue them,” wouldn’t it? But it says “subdue it” – referring to the earth. Fill the earth and subdue it?
There are several answers posed by the commentators, which for various reasons don’t fully satisfy the question. I’m not going to go into them here, but instead we’ll go straight into the Chassidic solution that is just so on-point.
The Chassidic Perspective
Which goes something like this:
“Earth” is not just the name of a planet. “Earth” is a concept. Earth represents the opposite of heaven; the physical versus the spiritual; the secular rather than the holy; logic rather than faith.
To subdue the earth is to rise above it.
It’s to quiet the voices of physicality, the natural selfish drive, to conquer bad habits and replace them with proper ones. It’s to rise above hedonism, beyond the obsession with self, and teach ourselves altruism – to think about others. To conquer Nature and our nature, and to be greater than it.
This is a great mission. Those familiar with Chassidic thought have heard of this idea: in other words, creating a home for G-d and for holiness in this lowly physical world – a dira b’tachtonim.
G-d created a world that defies all awareness of Him – and then He created man with the challenge to conquer it. Subdue the earth and rise above it. Make the world a place that will know Me, even though its nature is to deny my existence.
So it isn’t just an important mission.
It is THE mission.
And well, being THE mission, it is also a very hard mission. What’s cool about it, though, is that it is accomplished mainly through the little things. Little individual people doing their individual work in their own little circle of influence. And the combination of them all, eventually, changes the world.
So What’s the Connection?
It’s no coincidence that this mission is directed to us in this pasuk, in the same phrase as the command to have children.
It’s one phrase because it is one thing. The fulfillment of this mandate is completely contingent on our fulfillment of this mitzvah. It’s all about the children. The children who will soon be adults and join you in this mission. Who will join US in this mission. Because every child – every person – has his slice of the world that only he can reach. His nature, abilities and situation are unique: designed and prescribed by G-d to serve in The Mission by fulfilling his will.
And so, when you are blessed with the opportunity and ability to bring a child into this world, realize how truly important it is, and give it all you got.
And for that matter, don’t ever worry that you’re sacrificing your own mission for that of your children. Because the fact is, there is no one can teach you altruism better than they can. They will teach you to rise above your own needs and wants, rise above your hot coffee in the morning and your eight hours of sleep, to rise above your craving for a week at the beach, to rise above your dreams of a perfectly kept house, to rise above your impatience and your apathy – to rise above it all.
So they help you in your personal mission, while you make theirs possible in the first place.
Is there a more meaningful and important way to fill your life than this?