Genesis 2:22

Once the Creator finished His process with Eve, calling us to unity after fragmentation, He made it clear to us the necessity of our complementarity in everything. Therefore, expressions like "build" וַיִּבֶן (Va-yiven) invite us to embrace the process of creation from its structuring, meaning understanding that the woman, being a constructed being, has a specific purpose and function within creation: to build lives, to give birth, to guide those children, and to foster unification.

The very expression "rib" from another perspective אֶת־הַ צֵּלָּׁע (et-ha-tzela), צֵּלָּׁע (tzela), tells us that, being fragments, we need to add ourselves together, to unite our parts, with Eve being, in Adam's case, "the other half", created to be beside him and assist him in that purpose. The expression לְ אִ שָּׁ ה (l'ishah) - "to be a woman", אִ שָּׁ ה (ishah) אִ יש (ish), meaning "man", shows us that profound connection and interdependence between man and woman, and thus between all humanity.

Referring to וַיְבִ אֶהָּׁ אֶל־הָּׁ אָּׁ דָּׁ ם (va-yevi'eha el-ha-adam) - "and brought her to the man", the verb וַיְבִ אֶהָּׁ (va-yevi'eha) implies an act of presentation, suggesting that He not only created the woman but introduced her into Adam's life as his perfect complement. Therefore, the gematria of בָּׁנָּׁה (banah - build) 57 (ב =2, נ =50, ה=5) once again presents us with the act of creation as a process of formation, which involves our construction, beginning with the verbal, with renaming what was created. אִ שָּׁ ה (ishah - woman), with a value of 306 (א =1, ש=300, ה=5), has the capacity to be the channel of life so that this relationship reconnects us with the spiritual through the physical.

The woman is presented not as a secondary being but as a divine construction that completes man, reflecting the Creator's intention that humanity should not be alone, but in a relationship with what was created. We are destined to live in connection and reciprocity, thanks to deep and meaningful relationships that require effort and construction. It is not just about finding someone, but about building a relationship based on respect, love, and shared purpose.

And although we struggle to understand the timelessness of the story, as well as the fact that in some contexts it is said that when He created us in His image, He created us male and female, using a plural and simultaneous term, it must be clear to us that the process of leading man into a deep sleep so that while he slept, one of his ribs (צלע) could be taken to make woman only confirms this separation, followed by the invitation that they could voluntarily become one flesh.

Kabbalah and the Zohar explain both stories on their different levels, since one is the level of the soul (neshamah). Adam was created androgynous: he contained within himself both polarities: masculine and feminine. A unity that represents the essence of the human soul before entering the world of duality.

“But then on the material level, the Creator makes us with two faces” – (Zohar, Bereshit), separating the level of the body from that of consciousness. The separation of the feminine from within man is therefore an expression of multiplicity in the physical world. The feminine is created from within him, but as another: so that there may be recognition, choice, and relationship. The verb used for "made" woman is וַיִּבֶן (va-yiven) = "built," which implies structure, beauty, and spiritual complexity.

A profound principle of mysticism that speaks to us of initial unity, then shows us the separation for the sake of voluntary reunification toward the higher. This undifferentiated unity (Adam and Eve as one) did not allow for our recognition.

Separation creates the possibility of relationship, choice, and free love. The conscious reunification between masculine and feminine is higher than the original unity: it is no longer passive or unconscious, but constructed. This cycle is also the map of the human soul and the universe according to Kabbalah.

And although woman was "created separately," Kabbalah insists that every human being has both energies within them: Man contains Nukvah (hidden feminine) and woman contains Zeir Anpin (hidden masculine), so the spiritual work is to recognize and balance both internal forces. This is called tikkun ha-nefesh — rectification of the soul.

Thus, Eve, Eve, is brought to man as negedo — "before him." “kenegdo” (כְנֶגְדוֹ ) has a double meaning: as a helper (ezer) and as an opposite or opposite to him (neged)—that is, someone who challenges and completes him at the same time. She is not an extension of man, but an other with whom a unity greater than the sum of its parts can be built.

The feminine energy is within man, but it was externalized so that he can recognize, honor, and love it. Duality does not contradict essential unity, but rather reveals it through relationship. Kabbalah teaches that the spiritual purpose is to unite the masculine and feminine, both externally (in a couple) and internally (in the soul). Eve, although emerging “from” Adam, is a complete, independent, and divinely structured being, a reflection of the Shekhinah in the world.