…the Jewish people in their covenant with God? Identity without Universality: The Generation of the Flood Bereishit 6:9-13 Universality without Identity: The Generation of the Dispersion (the Tower of Bavel) Bereishit 11:1-9 Core Questions How are these two stories opposites of each other? Why is identity and universality important for all human beings? What is your particular identity and your…
…be a parent Bereishit 1:26-28 Core Questions What does the command to be ‘fertile’ mean? Why do you think this was the very first mitzvah given to humanity? Is this a mitzvah just for Jews? Avraham was chosen because he understood the value of family Bereishit 18:17-19 Core Questions The Hebrew uses the word כִּ֣י יְדַעְתִּ֗יו which could mean ‘because…
…parts of the Mishnah? Completing the task See Pirkei Avot 2:16 Core Questions Is it not a failure if you don’t complete the task? Is failure a bad thing? Can it be good? Why might this be the most important piece of advice for leaders and activists? A Palace in Flames See Bereishit Rabbah 39:1 See the Palace in Flames…
…the Education Companion section (below in grey). Educational Companion Torah Trivia: this week’s answer A: In Chayei Sarah which we read this week, we see Ephron begin his job as a police officer (shotair) – see Rashi, Bereishit 23:10 – and last week in parshat Vayera it was Lot’s first day as a judge (shofait) – see Rashi Bereishit 19:1….
…not want to be seen to fail. That may be why they came back and said, in effect: We cannot win against the Canaanites. Therefore, we should not even try. There were two exceptions, Caleb and Joshua. Caleb came from the tribe of Judah, and Judah, we learn in the book of Bereishit, was the first ba’al teshuvah. Early in…
…as does the book of Bereishit, with a scene of blessed order, there natural, here social, there divided into six days, here into twelve (2×6) tribes, each person in Bamidbar like each species in Bereishit, in his or her rightful place, “each with his standard, under the banners of their ancestral house” (Num. 2:1). So the wilderness was not just a…
…see a remarkable phenomenon. In Bereishit 1, God is described as Elokim. In chapters 2 and 3, He is called Hashem-Elokim. In chapter 4, for the first time He is called Hashem alone. Something changes in the course of these chapters: not God (who does not change) but the human perception of God. In the first chapter, which speaks about…
…Literature and Literary Theory, New York, Methuen, 1984, pp. 81-104. Can you think of a time in your life when your belief system was challenged, and you needed to advocate for your values or principles? What other times in Bereishit (and in Tanach) have name changes and the importance of names come up? What helps guide you when you are…
…proposition that loving God means loving His image, humankind. There is no greater challenge, nor, in the twenty-first century, is there a more urgent one. [1] Bereishit Rabbah 49:9. [2] Psalm 137:4. [3] Yoma 85b. [4] There was a precedent. In the Av ha-Rachamim prayer (See the Authorised Daily Prayer Book, p. 426), composed after the massacre of Jews during…
…in Britain, when a struggle was taking place over the leadership of both main political parties. I leave it to the reader to draw any comparisons, either with primate politics or the story of Korach. [3] Bereishit Rabbah 55:8. [4] Frans de Waal, Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are? New York, Norton, 2016, 168. [5] Following…