Questions tagged [parashat-bereishit]
The weekly Torah portion of Bereshit (Genesis 1:1-6:8)
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Bereishit vs. science
How does Judaism deal with the differences between scientific evidence of the beginning of the world and the account(s) in Bereishit?
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Do religious Jews generally believe the serpent of Garden of Eden was Satan?
Upon reading the recent CNN article, That Actually Isn't In The Bible, one not-really-in-the-Bible misconception they cite is the idea that serpent in the Garden of Eden was the Satan.
The article ...
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Why is the word for G-d in Genesis plural? [duplicate]
The word for G-d in Genesis 1:1 is plural in all the manuscripts, there's no debating that it's plural.
So really it should read "In the Beginning Gods created the heavens and the earth."
Why is ...
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Moral Culpability in the Garden
Did Adam and Eve have moral culpability in the Garden before they ate from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil? It would seem that they were like small children in that sense, they were amoral--not ...
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What does the term "sons of G-d" mean?
The term "sons of G-d" בני האלהים is found 5 times in the Hebrew Bible, once in Genesis (6:2), three times in Job (1:6, 2:1 and 38:7) and one time in Psalms (29:1). What does it mean? Does it have the ...
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Would Adam and Chava have been permitted the tree of knowledge if they'd waited?
I've long been somewhat troubled by the episode with the tree in the garden, because it seems like it was necessary for man to acquire knowledge (how else could we enter a covenant and accept the yoke ...
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How to reconcile Biblical Flood story vs science and history?
Genesis spends a good deal of time -- Chapters 6 through 11 -- discussing the "mabul mayim", a flood that killed all humanity outside the ark. Here is what the Torah's text says about the universality ...
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How does the tree of life work?
There were two special trees in Gan Eden. In the case of the tree of knowledge of good and bad, we know that eating from it once produced a permanent effect. Was this true for the tree of life too, ...
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On the interpretation of Genesis 1: 1
I'm an Italian noahide.
Here are some observations on Genesis 1: 1, about which I would very much like to know your opinion.
1 In most translations I have consulted, the verse is thus render:” In ...
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Did Cain and Hevel have דעת?
Kayin and Hevel were born before Adam and Chava sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. (See Rashi to 4:1.)
Did Kayin and Hevel ever receive the understanding that their parents got from the fruit?...
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Does Rambam take the 6 days of creation literally?
I was told in this answer to another question: "The Rambam did not take the '6 days' of Bereishis literally, as well as other details." The answer linked to Moreh Nevuchim (link) but I couldn't find ...
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Was Adam placed in Gan Eden to keep the service of HaShem?
Bereshit 2:15 reads: לְעָבְדָהּ וּלְשָׁמְרָהּ, but it seems that this can't be referring to: 'to work the earth and keep it', because after the chet (the sin) it reads in Bereshit 3:23 that Adam was ...
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Why name but five creations?
God is described as creating many things in B'reshis chapter 1: animals, people, stars, plants, etc. However, about only five of his creations does it say that he called them by a name:
"וַיִּקְרָא ...
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How did Hevel offer an animal sacrifice, wasn't it forbidden to kill animals?
In Bereshit 4:4, Hevel offers his choicest sheep as a sacrifice to G-d.
However, in Bereshit 1:29-30, Adam is told he is only allowed to eat vegetables, and Rashi explains that he was forbidden to ...
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Where did Hevel get the idea to offer an animal?
We know (Bereishit 4) that Hevel kept flocks (not for eating yet, but perhaps for wool and/or milk?), and on that fateful day he offered one to God which Rashi says God consumed in fire. Where did he ...
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Snakes talking?
I am wondering why snakes no longer talk. The Lord punished the serpent by making him crawl on his belly and eat dust, and be at odds with Eve's offspring, but it does not mention taking away the ...
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Why do all women deserve to suffer for the sin of one woman, Chava?
In the Torah, Bereshit 3:16, all women receive the curse of a painful childbirth and their subservience to men. This is all because Chava made the choice to make Adam eat from the tree. Why should all ...
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Age of Universe and Shabbat
If one believes that our world is billions of years old, i.e. accepting the idea of each day in Sheshis Imei Berieshit (the Six Days of Creation) as eras and not literal days, then how does one ...
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What drove humans to their first sin?
What caused Adam and Chava to sin; to do the wrong thing; to make the wrong choice: What was it in their human being, thats being called Tov me'od (Bereshit 1:31), that drove them into eating from the ...
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What is the meaning of יוֹם (yowm) in Bereshit?
I've heard conflicting reports of how the creation days' יוֹם (yowm), in Bereshit are interpreted in the Jewish community. How do actual Hebrew scholars define day in Bereshit? Six 24 hour periods or ...
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Rambam and Interpreting Bereishit as Allegorical
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin makes the following statement in his Sept. 27th, 2013 commentary on Bereishit in the Jerusalem Post:
Furthermore, Maimonides, in his Guide for the Perplexed, interprets
all of ...
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What's the difference between לְמִינוֹ and לְמִינֵהוּ?
B'reshis 1:11–12, :25; Sh'mini 11:15–22; and R'e 14:14–15 seem to use "לְמִינוֹ" and "לְמִינֵהוּ" interchangeably, and both words are generally translated the same way (usually ...
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Who is "us" in Genesis 1:26 if God is one?
Gen 1:26 says:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness
What does the word "us" imply here?
There are also other instances of this "us" found in Gen 3:22:
Behold, the ...
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Adam and Eve as parable or literal
Was the story of Adam and Eve meant as a parable for the dawn of civilization after human species evolved for millennia or is Adam and Eve to be literally read as the first humans to ever be created.
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Elohim plural singular [duplicate]
Reading many questions relating to mine and the comments that were given, made me wonder.
When Elohim thought of creating the human being (Bereshit 1:26) He spoke (singular): “Let Us make… and after ...
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Skin color Adam and Chava
What skin color did adam and chava have? I learned that if all people indeed came from them at least one of them had to have a dark skin color.
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Who was Cain's wife?
I saw this problem on reddit today and I think that we cursorily covered this in Tanach class. Who was Cain's wife? In בראשית ד' י"ז it says " וַיֵּדַע קַיִן אֶת-אִשְׁתּוֹ" but it never says who she ...
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Plants before the Sun in the Order of Creation
Why does plant life precede the Sun in the order of creation given that plants need the Sun to do photosynthesis?
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Connection between עָרוּם and עֲרוּמִּים
In the story of Adam, Eve and the snake the word 'עָרוּם' is used in two completely different contexts, yet they feature one pasuk after the other:
Bereishit 2:25 :
וַיִּהְיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם עֲרוּמִּים,...
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Why did people under 100 die in the mabul?
On Bereishis 5:32, Rashi brings an explanation that Noach had children when he was 500
so that Japheth, his eldest son, should not be liable for punishment before the Flood, as it is written (Isa. 65:...
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What was the purpose of the tree of life if Adam was created immortal?
What's the point of creating the tree of life if Adam was already immortal when created?
I can understand the tree of knowledge of good and evil, since Adam was lacking in this knowledge and if he ...
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Do any commentators say that Adam was not literally the first human being?
Bereshis seems to imply that Adam was literally the first human being (at least according to the normal translation). Do any commentators (preferably not modern ones) disagree with this?
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Who initially populated Chanoch City?
The Torah tells us (Genesis 4:17) that Kayin built a city and named it after his son, Chanoch. If Chanoch was only of the third generation of humans, how was the total human population at the time ...
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Why doesn't the second chapter of B'reishit begin at 2:4?
Why is the first chapter break in B'reishit where it is, and not a few verses later at the beginning of the second creation telling (where we place the aliya break)?
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Why Abel didn't ask Cain to bring his sacrifice?
The Torah declares that before Matan Torah, the firstborns were responsible for bringing sacrifices and Cohanim replaced them after the Golden Calf incident (Num 3,40):
:וְלָקַחְתָּ אֶת־הַלְוִיִּם ...
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Definitions of Creative Words
What is the difference between יצירה, בריאה, and עשייה? (Three terms for creation). The first is used in Genesis (1:1), the second in Genesis (2:7), the third in Genesis (1:11).
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What does Judaism teach about Eve's addition to divine commandment that she not touch the fruit?
In Genesis 2:17 we read:
But of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it, for on the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die."
Later, during Eve's temptation, we read:
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How widespread is the belief that Adam had a first wife?
I have heard of that the idea that Adam had a wife before Eve comes from Jewish tradition, and also about the idea that this wife was Lilith. From what I can tell the story of Lilith and the story of ...
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What was Hevel (Abel's) sin?
The Arizal says that Hevel was reincarnated many times to purify his sin. What was his sin?
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Why was Adam Embarrassed
Genesis (3:7) states that Adam and Eve realised that they were naked so they made loincloths from fig leaves:
וידְע֔וּ כִּ֥י עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם הֵ֑ם וַֽיִּתְפְּרוּ֙ עֲלֵ֣ה תְאֵנָ֔ה וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם ...
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Why do English translations use the name "Eve" rather than "Chava"?
When the Bible is translated into English, most Hebrew names are simply transliterated into Roman characters.
In a few cases though, a completely different name is used.
In the case of Hadassah/...
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Was man created before or after the animals?
According to Genesis chapter 1, it seems that the animals were created first. According to Genesis chapter 2, it seems that man was created first.
What are the different understandings that have been ...
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What is the purpose of the genealogy of Genesis 4:17-22?
What is the purpose of the genealogy of Genesis 4:17–22?
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"And it was evening, and it was morning, *one* day"?
Gen. 1:5:
וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם אֶחָד
And it was evening, and it was morning, one day
Gen. 1:8:
וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם שֵׁנִי
and it was evening, and it was ...
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What does HaShem benefit from making the human being?
HaShem made the human being with free will (to choose), but what does it mean to HaShem, or what does He gain/benefits from making the human being and why make this human being with the ability to ...
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Differences between Genesis 1 and 2
I understand that Judaism teaches "Torah Inerrancy", so I assume that Judaism does take the creation account as narrated in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 pretty seriously.
But as we all know, Genesis 1 ...
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Inner being: Soul or Spirit?
Bereshit (Genesis) 2:7 reads: 'vayipach beapav nishmat chayim vayehi ha'adam lenefesh chayah'
Is my inner being a 'soul' or a 'spirit', or am I a 'soul' or am I a 'spirit'? Let me make myself clear:
...
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Could animals in Eden eat the forbidden fruit of knowledge and what would happen to them?
I don't see an objection to the fact that the animals of Eden have different diets prior to Adam's sin. And many animals eat fruits: mammals, birds, worms, etc, especially "the tree was good for ...
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Source Midrash - why the first letter of the Tenach is a Bet
What's the source of the Midrash that talks about the reason why the letter Bet was chosen as the first letter of the Tenach and not the Alef? The reason being given in this Midrash is that it is ...
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How do we reconcile the order of creating animals betweeen Genesis and science?
https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/6932/does-the-torah-encoded-age-of-the-universe-match-science#comment53788_6932
The Genesis 1 creation account conflicts with the order of events that ...
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