Aliya-by-Aliya Parashat B’reishit
“One traditional view holds that the first day of Tishrei of year number 1 was Day Six of Creation, the day that mammals, including humans, were created. The day that Adam and Chava were placed in Gan Eden.”
“Biblical scholars like to call the story of Cain’s murder of Abel an etiological (causational) tale of the origins of fratricide or murder. Some have even seen it as a struggle between shepherds and agrarians”
The Gift of God’s First Creation
“The more complicated our lives become, the more difficult it is to count our blessings. At times, we may become overwhelmed by feelings of anger, loneliness, frustration, despair, or sorrow. We may be wracked by physical pain or unable to free ourselves from serious bouts of depression.”
“This week’s parashah is the first parashah in the Torah, Bereshit. We are all familiar with the story of the creation that we read in these chapters of the Torah. However, the narrative still raised many questions for our rabbis and scholars.”
“Modern day religious people, influenced in part by philosophers and scientists, often veer from using concrete language in reference God since describing God anthropomorphically seems the farthest thing from a “true” representation of the deity. This dilemma is not lost on the Torah itself.”