Numbers in [square brackets] are the mitzva-count of the Sefer HaChinuch
Kohen - First Aliya - 34 p'sukim - 1:1-2:3 [SDT] Baal HaTurim points out that the G'matriya of B'REISHIT BARA is 1116, as is the numeric value of the phrase: B'ROSH HASHANA NIV'RA - on R.H. it (the world) was created. Furthermore, the letters of B'reishit rearrange to spell
ALEF B'TISHREI, the first of the month of Tishrei (or B'ALEF TISHREI - on
the first of Tishrei - same thing), "confirming" the opinion that the world
was created in Tishrei (R. Eliezer), rather than in Nissan, as the other
opinion holds (R. Yehoshua). The First Rashi of the Torah Rashi quotes Rabbi Yitzchak who explains why the Torah begins with B'REISHIT and not with the mitzvot and halachic texts in Parshat BO. He says that if the nations of the world will accuse us of stealing the Land of Israel from others who have occupied it through the generations, (or from those who claim that there is nothing Jewish in the archaeological finds of the Temple Mount), we will be able to point to the events in the historical portions of the Torah and see that G-d takes land from whom He chooses and gives it to whom He chooses. But what happens if the nations of the world do not accept the lessons of the Torah? Let's say that they reject the point that Rashi makes. Their problem. We have confidence in the prophecies of the time when the nations will recognize the G-d of Israel and accept our role in this world and our relationship with Him. Maybe we cannot expect Rashi to impress most of the non-Jews of the world. At least, not yet. We are the ones who need to see in and through the Torah that G-d is in control. This goes for Jews who feel that we are usurpers here, and this goes for proud Jews who feel that they have accomplished everything here without the help of G-d and without His okay. Whether the Arabs and other people accept what we claim from the Torah is one thing. Do we, the Jewish People, really believe that this Land is ours? That’s the $64,000 question. This Land is OURS. And we should not be squeamish about asserting our possession of Eretz Yisrael. The lesson of the famous first Rashi is for us. The Torah is not just a book of mitzvot and laws. It tells us other things. Hebron belongs to the Jewish People because Avraham Avinu bought it and passed its title to Yitzckak. It does not matter how many Arabs live there and how many Jews do or don't live there. Hebron is ours, Jerusalem is ours. Eretz Yisrael is ours. We do not have to apologize for it. We should seek ways of living peacefully with our neighbors, of dealing fairly and safely with the Arabs who live among us. G-d has repeated the promises to the Avot so many times in the Torah, that we should have no doubts as to whose claim is legitimate. Sadly, the protesters in Paris Square and their ilk, don't seem to get the point. But there are probably many other points from the Torah that they also don't get. Let us not forget the deal that goes along with the Land. We have to continuously "pay our rent" to the Landlord, in the form of faithfulness, keeping of the mitzvot, learning and living Torah. This is our commitment to G-d, our deal with Him. Let us hope that more and more Jews will make a stronger commitment to Torah and to Eretz Yisrael. “In the beginning, G-d created the Heavens and the Earth.
And the Earth...” This is one possible answer to that question. The first two p'sukim of B’reishit describe the totally, exclusively Divine aspect of Creation of Something from Nothing — YEISH MEI'AYIN. Before “B'reishit”, perhaps nothing existed — except G-d. With the Divine Command of B'reishit, everything that now exists came into existence for the first time. All matter, all energy, thoughts, concepts, time — everything. According to this point of view, SHAMAYIM and ARETZ mean everything in the universe. The first form that all of Creation had was TOHU VAVOHU, chaos. That's the second pasuk. And, this stage of Creation occurred BEFORE Day One. Not on the first day - before the first day. And not a day before, not an instant before nor and eon before. It is pointless speculation to attempt to give a time-frame for the first two p'sukim, because TIME has meaning only in the context of the ordered world that began to take shape on Day 1. No wonder we are not supposed to concern ourselves with what had happened before the world was created! “And G-d said: Let there be light...” And how long was one of these days of Creation? Maybe they each were a thousand years long. Or an eon. Or maybe they each were 24 hours long. Either that Torah talks "our language" or not. Take your pick. Either answer fits. Shabbat B'reishit is a time of rediscovery and re-creation. just like on Pesach and Shavuot when we read of the events of Egyptian slavery and the Exodus on the one and the events of Matan Torah on the other, and we try to put ourselves into the events, to make them fresh, as if today we came out of Egypt, as if the Torah were given today, so too should we enthusiastically read and hear the description of Creation and put ourselves into the position of discovering G-d through the world and nature that He brought into existence for us. Don't just see things as "once upon a time..." — get excited, because G-d “renews with His Goodness, every day and always, the Acts of B’reishit”. Without really going into detail, here is a breakdown of the first Aliya for your consideration. 2 p’sukim, as mentioned above, for the first phase of creation. Notwithstanding the argument above that broke these two p’sukim off of the description of the first day (so to speak), they are part of the first PARSHA, together with the creation of Light, etc. 3 p’sukim for Day 1, the creation of light, the separation of light and dark- ness, and their being identified as day and night. One KI TOV. The day is called YOM ECHAD rather than RISHON, because RISHON has meaning only if there is a SHENI, which there wasn’t yet. 3 p’sukim for the Second Day of Creation, one parsha. The creation of the Heavens and the separation of the Upper and Lower waters. The Third day of Creation consists of two “sections”. First, two p’sukim for the “gathering of the lower waters” into different areas and the formation of dry land. And the “naming” of Land and Seas. KI TOV. And then the Divine command to the Land to spring forth with vegetation. 3 p’sukim with another KI TOV introduce us to the Plant Kingdom. 6 p’sukim for the Fourth Day. The Sun, Moon and stars (and other “heavenly bodies”). KI TOV. The Sun and the Moon are identified as the great luminaries. Then it is the Sun that keeps that name and the Moon is called the lesser light. In addition to MIdrashic explanations of this change in name for the Moon, there is another way to understand and appreciate both ways of describing the Sun and the Moon. Except for the Sun and the Moon, all stars, planets, etc. in the sky APPEAR to us a points of light. Stars which we know to be unbelievably larger than the Sun still SEEM to us to be mere points of light. The Sun and the Moon appear as fairly large disks. In fact, they appear to be the same size. If you’ve ever noticed the Sun shining through a cloud, it often looks very much like a full moon. Actually, the Sun is about 400 times the diameter of the Moon and about 400 times more distant from us. This is why the two look to be the same size, and this explains why the Moon just about covers the body of the Sun during a solar eclipse. From our perspective, the Sun and Moon are the two great luminaries. From our perspective. And that is how the Torah presents them to us. But from an objective perspective, the Sun is a far greater light than the Moon. And that too is how they are presented in the second instance of identification. The Torah most often “speaks to us in human terms”. That’s the only way, sometimes, to understand things. Other times, the Torah tells it “straight”. Continuing... 5 p’sukim for the Fifth Day, with its account of Animal Kingdom, part one. Swarming insects, fish, birds. KI TOV. And P’RU URVU. Next comes 8 p’sukim (some quite long) with the formation of
Animal Kingdom, part two. Land animals (most mammals). “Creepy things”
probably includes most reptiles as well. Fifth day creatures and sixth day
creatures do not necessarily divide along modern biology’s taxonomic
guidelines. For example, Dolphins and bears are both mammals, but aquatic
mammals were (probably) created on the fifth day. The bat, although a
mammal, (probably) preceded the mouse by a day. What about flightless birds?
Don’t know. And mammals that spend much time in the water, but do come onto
land at times? Don’t know. One KI TOV This relatively long first Aliya concludes with the 3-pasuk parsha introducing us to Shabbat B’reishit, the day that G-d blessed and sancified because He “rested” from Creation. And that’s without going into detail.
"It is not good that man shall be alone" is explained in different ways, including that only G-d is singular. Man needs to know that as great as he can become, as much as he can accomplish, he is not a god. All creatures were brought before Adam as "candidates" for partner- to-Adam. None was found suitable, but Adam named them all (as people have done throughout the ages). In the first account of Creation, Man was the final act of Creation, but not so much the purpose and focus of creation. In this second account, Man is presented as the focus of creation. We must see things both ways in order to maintain a healthy perspective on this world, our role in it, and our responsibilities towards it and all elements of nature.
Next the Torah tells us cryptically of the episodes of the Serpent's enticement of Chava, the eating from the Tree, the punishments for the Serpent, Chava, and finally, Adam. The sin(s) of Adam and Chava are not just personal sins, but
more importantly, they help us define and understand (some of) human nature. R'VI'I - Fourth Aliya - 21 p'sukim - 3:22-4:18 The Torah continues with the "births" of Kayin and Hevel and
Kayin's killing of Hevel following the attempt of each to make an offering
before G-d. Chamishi - Fifth Aliya - 8 p'sukim - 4:19-26 The Torah mentions more descendants of Kayin and their roles as the "firsts" in various fields of human activity. Yaval (son of Lemech and Ada) was the “first” tent-dwelling animal raiser. His brother Yuval was a musician. Tuval- Kayin (son of Tzila) worked with iron and copper. His sister was Na’ama. Rashi (quoting B'reishit Rabba) says that she was the wife of No'ach. What is significant about that is that Kayin's line was not completely severed by the Flood. Although we refer to all of mankind as Bnei No'ach, who descended from Adam through Sheit, on the mother's side there is Na'ama and before her, Kayin. This portion also contains Lemech's lament for having killed Kayin. (Rashi adds that Lemech also killed his son Tuval-Kayin (accidentally, in his grief), because he (TK) directed the blind Lemech’s hands with bow and arrow to kill what he thought was an animal, and turned out to be Kayin. By the way, in case your Chumash does not have the same
Aliya breakdown as is presented here, don't worry. There are different
opinions. Shishi - Sixth Aliya - 24 p'sukim - 5:1-24 Shishi concludes with mention of Chanoch, who was taken from
this world (possibly not by death) at the relatively young age of 365. Sh'vi'i - Seventh Aliya - 16 p'sukim - 5:25-6:8 The generations continue to be counted until No'ach appears
on the scene. No'ach alone found favor in G-d's eyes. Haftara - 25 p'sukim -Shmuel Alef - 20:18-42 The connection between the Haftara and Erev Rosh Chodesh is obvious. The opening words are: And Yonatan said to him, tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh... The real question is why the Sages decided on a special Haftara for Erev Rosh Chodesh in the first place. No other "erev" gets a special reading. Why does Machar Chodesh? Perhaps it is because Rosh Chodesh is so understated and often ignored. This became a way - in addition to Rosh Chodesh benching - to say: Hear ye hear ye, tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh. It seems that the connection is mainly in the opening words. Rabbi Jacobs points out in his A Haftara Companion that there are some lessons we learn from this passage in the Navi, and the knowledge makes us more aware of the specialness and sanctity of Rosh Chodesh. We see that Rosh Chodesh was celebrated with a special meal which was to be eaten in a state of ritual purity. Many have the custom today of marking Rosh Chodesh with a special meal. The Haftara also serves as a source of the minhag of abstaining or reducing one's work on Rosh Chodesh. Rabbi Jacobs refers to a deeper connection between Rosh Chodesh and the Jewish People (which might explain why we take the extra opportunities to highlight Rosh Chodesh). The cycle of the Moon alludes to Jewish History. For 15 days (or so) the Moon increases in brightness and fullness, corresponding to the 15 generations from Avraham Avinu to Shlomo HaMelech. This is followed by 15 days of decline, matching the 15 generations from Shlomo to the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and the Babylonian exile. But this is followed by MACHAR CHODESH. Tomorrow will see the brightening of the Moon and the fate of the People of Israel. The cycle continues until the Complete Redemption, when the Moon (and Klal Yisrael) will be completely restored. [The
B'reishit Homepage]
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