Bereshit
Bereshit (Genesis) is a masterwork narrative that incorporates ancient pieces to serve as a prelude to everything that follows in the TaNaKh (Judaism’s foundational literature).
Its primary focus is on the construction of the universe’s permanent order and the connections amongst its inhabitants.
The book elucidates humanity’s primordial, elemental, principal, and essential qualities. It also encourages pondering on what is cosmically first and how humans fit into the bigger picture.
Bereshit, despite its limited number of commandments, functions as a prelude to the laws that are primarily found in the second and third books of the Torah (Shemot = Exodus and Vaykra = Leviticus) by explaining why the laws are necessary and for what types of human infirmities and challenges.
All in all, Bereshit compels readers of all ages to grapple with timeless questions of right and wrong.
Eventually, the Babylonian practice of reading the five books of the Torah in their entirety in a single year became universal. The study of the book of Bereshit was concluded in twelve weeks under this system, with each division referred to as a parashah (pl. parashot or parashiyot) or sidra(h) (pl. sedarot). A practice I follow in the following commentaries.
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The TaNaKh is not necessarily religious literature
The TaNaKh is not necessarily religious literature. Yet, even when it speaks of the mundane it invariably hints at the sublime. That’s what makes it
The Sacrifice of Reason Rather Than Isaac’s
It has often been said that Gen. 22 is one of the most beautiful narratives in the Jewish Foundational Literature, one that also has a
Are Jews a People?
In Jewish tradition, Abraham is referred to as ‘Avraham Avinu,’ the father of the Jewish people. Lately, however, it has become sort of trendy to question
Offsetting Evil
Genesis chapter 18 spells out the dilemma of having to confront societies that not only violate the human rights of their citizens but, endanger civilization
Origins, History, Destiny, Cultural Individuality, and Unique Collective Solidarity.
“Those whose identities are rarely questioned and who have never known exile or subjugation of land and culture,” wrote Anthony D. Smith, Professor Emeritus of
Abrahamic Religions?
The saga of Abraham, Israel’s first ancestor, occupies about fourteen chapters, or roughly twenty pages, in the biblical book of Bereshit (Genesis) “More than
There is Truth, and There Are Lies
the humanity that speaks from this Book today, as it has always done, is the unity under one divine direction that divides right from wrong
The Hanging Threat of Chaos
The creation story in the first chapters of the Torah would be misunderstood if read simply as an intended report of an event that happened
The Meaning of Life
The book of Genesis (Bereshit in Hebrew) purports to answer several vital questions regarding Judaism’s understanding of human life and how it should be conducted. One could say that the first words of Bereshit are there to answer the question of what it means to be a human being.
