The Parsha in a Nutshell In this week’s parsha we learn about the story of how the world was created, including all the animals and humans who live in it. God creates the world in six days and gives the world Shabbat, a day of holiness and rest, on the seventh day. One of God’s creations is Adam, the first…
…week’s parsha. Questions to Ponder Why do you think God needs to tell us how to be good? Shouldn’t we just know? The Core Idea One of the many detailed ark-building instructions given to Noach is particularly important: Make a tzohar for the ark and terminate it within a cubit of the top. (Bereishit 6:16) There is a difficulty understanding…
…We fight those flames by acts of justice and compassion that deny evil its victory and bring the world that is a little closer to the world that ought to be. [1] Bereishit Rabbah (Vilna), 42:8. [2] Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idolatry, chapter 1. [3] Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, translated with commentary by Walter Kaufmann, New York, Vintage, 1974,…
…146b. [2] Ibn Ezra, Commentary to Gen. 22:19. [3] Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial, Schocken, 1969. [4] Midrash Hagadol to Gen. 24:62. [5] Midrash Aggadah and Bereishit Rabbati ad loc. Why did God need to test Abraham? What do you think the message of the story of the “Akeidat Yitzchak”, the”Binding of Isaac” is? Who do you think has stronger…
…unfulfilled hopes. How can Rashi then say that all of Sara’s years were equally good? The Torah is similarly puzzling with its description of Avraham. Immediately after he buys a burial plot for Sara, the Torah says “Avraham was old, well advanced in years, and God had blessed Avraham with everything” (Bereishit 24:1). Seven times, God had promised Avraham the…
…Gen. 22:19. [3] Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial, Schocken, 1969. [4] Midrash Hagadol to Gen. 24:62. [5] Midrash Aggadah and Bereishit Rabbati ad loc. Do you think Isaac and Rebecca were good parents? What was the source of Isaac’s pain? How did love help to heal him? Do you think Isaac was being critical of his father by parenting differently?…
…these terms in the classic Midrashic or Talmudic literature. A similar expression appears in Bereishit Rabbah 39:8. A key text is Ramban, Commentary to Gen. 12:6, 10. It was widely adopted by subsequent commentators. [3] On this whole subject, see David Daube, The Exodus Pattern in the Bible, Faber, 1963. Was Laban a bad person? Why do you think the…
…the Dead. The Torah notes the attention the Egyptians gave to death. At the end of Bereishit, we read of how the Egyptians accompanied Joseph and his family in the funeral procession to bury Jacob. The Canaanites witnessed this and said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” They named the place, Abel Mizraim (Gen. 50:11). Note: they called…
…image. A sin against any person is a sin against God. In the first mission statement of the Jewish people, God said about Avraham, “For I have chosen him that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is just and right” (Bereishit 18:19). The way of the Lord is…
…wears a brooch engraved “Amor Vincit Omnia” (Love conquers all). The Prioress’ Tale is notorious for its antisemitism: it contains a 14th century version of the Blood Libel. This itself should give us pause. Why does love sometimes conflict with justice? Why do you think the Torah (especially the Book of Bereishit) is full of complicated family stories of love…