[P>] and [S>] indicate start of a parsha p’tucha
or s’tuma respectively.
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).
“In the beginning, G-d created the Heavens and the Earth. And the Earth...” Here is one possible answer. 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 firsttime. 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 firsttwo 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 Torahwere 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, everyday and always, the Acts of B’reishit”. Without 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. [P>1:6 (3)] The next parsha is for the Second Day of Creation. The creation of the Heavens and the separation of the Upper and Lower waters. [P>1:9 (5)] The next parsha contains the Third day of Creation which 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. [P>1:14 (6)] Next we find the account of Creation on the fourth day. The Sun, Moon and stars (and other “heavenly bodies”) are placed in their appointed positions and orbits. 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 noticedthe 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. Fromour 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 “speaksto us in human terms”. That’s the only way, sometimes, to understand things. Other times, the Torah "tells it straight". [P>1:20 (4)] Continuing... Next comes the Fifth Day, with its account of Animal Kingdom, part one. Swarming insects, fish, birds. KI TOV. And P’RU URVU. [P>1:24 (8)] Next comes the largest parsha yet, 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 (and NFL teams), but aquatic mammals were (probably) created on the fifth day. The bat, although a mammal, (probably) preceded the mouse by a day. What aboutflightless 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 Then comes the formation of human beings, first as a single being both male and female (one explanation of the wording in the parsha) and then separated into two different beings, male and female (but with some “crossing” of characteristics). P’RU URVU. TOV ME’OD. THE sixth day. YOM HASHISHI. MITZVA WATCH: As mentioned in the STATS section, but not presented in the Sedra Summary, there is one mitzva in the Parshat B'reishit, namely, P'RI URVU, be fruitful and multiply. [1,A212 1:28]. The command to have children was originally given to Adam and Chava and is in the form of a bracha. G-d blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply... In the Navi, G-d says that His purpose in creating the world was to have people populate it; He did not create the world for it to be vacant. G-d repeated this command/ blessing twice to No'ach and family after the Flood. This Divine imperative to raise a family is considered to apply to all people on Earth, not just the Jewish People. [P>2:1 (3)] 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. We say this parsha in the Friday night Amida, right after the Friday night Amida, and at the Friday night table as the first part ofKiddush. This should tell us how important it is that we learn well (as best as we can) the Torah's account of 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.
The sin(s) of Adam and Chava are not just personal sins, but more
significantly, they help us define and understand (some of) human nature.
[S>3:17 (5)] And this parsha consists of Adam's "punishment" (same other
possibility) and G-d's act of Chesed, in clothing the naked. This act is one
of the many pointed to in our challenge to emulate the qualities of G-d.
[S>4:1 (26)] 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.
Kayin's response to G-d's query as to where Hevel was, echoes in our
collective Jewish Experience throughout all the generations: HASHOMEIR ACHI
ANOCHI? Am I my brother's keeper? Kayin said it to shirk his responsibility
for his brother. We are constantly challenged to be the kind of human and Jew
who knows very well thatwe are responsible for each other. It is possible that Kayin sired different species of humanoids. This is how some want to explain the evidence of the existence of pre-historic man. Kayin's whole line was destroyed in the Flood. (Almost, that is. Naama, who descended from Kayin, was No'ach's wife, the mother of us all.)
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.
[S>5:1 (5)] This is the Book of the Chronicles of Mankind... Adam and Chava
were created. Adam was 130 yeqars old when Sheit was born. He lived another
800 years after Sheit was born, during which time he fathered many sons and
daughters. He lived 930 years and then he died.
[S>5:28 (4)] Lemech 182, a son. He named him No'ach (note the different wording for the birth of No'ach)... + 595 = 777. [S>5:32 (5)] No'ach, 500 (note how much older than previous generations), Sheim, Cham, Yefet. The Torah now describes the deterioration of society... [P>6:5 (4)] and G-d's "regret" for having created Man, His decision to destroy the world (almost). No'ach alone found favor in G-d's eyes. Stay tuned for the continuation, next week. This last 4-pasuk parsha is reread for the Maftir.
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. From this reading 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 today with a special meal. The Haftara also serves as a source of the minhag of abstaining or reducing one's work on Rosh Chodesh... With Israel's history resembling the waxing and waning of the Moon, we see Machar Chodesh as a hopefilled message of a brighter tomorrow. The cycle continues until the Complete Redemption, when the Moon (and Klal Yisrael) will be completely restored. [The Parshat
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