Questions tagged [parashat-bereishit]
The weekly Torah portion of Bereshit (Genesis 1:1-6:8)
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What's so bad about Kayin's flax?
Rashi (Bereishis 4:3) says
מפרי האדמה. מִן הַגָּרוּעַ, וְיֵשׁ אַגָּדָה שֶׁאוֹמֶרֶת זֶרַע
פִּשְׁתָּן הָיָה:
OF THE FRUIT OF THE GROUND —of the worst fruits (Genesis
Rabbah 22:5); there is an Agada ...
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Why didn't the Snake kill Adam only and keep Chava for himself?
Tosefta on Soytah (Liehbermann):
"הנחש בקש להרוג את אדם ולישא את חוה"
Rashi on Shabbos 146a:
"כשבא נחש על חוה - כשנתן לה עצה לאכול מן העץ בא עליה
דכתיב (בראשית ג:יג) הנחש השיאני לשון נשואין"
...
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Adam and Chava's lack of repentance
I searched but did not find this exact question. Were Adam and Chava's expulsion also in part due to their lack of repentance or was it specifically because of their disobedience?
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If Adam had eaten sooner, would he have survived?
According to Avos d'Rebbe Nassan 1:8 and Sanhedrin 38b, Adam was brought into Gan Eden in the ninth hour, was commanded not to eat in the tenth hour, ate in the eleventh hour, and was kicked out in ...
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The heart in Torah
בראשית ברא אלהים ... לעיני כל-ישראל
The Torah begins with the letter Bet – ב and ends with the letter Lamed – ל. Together they form the word Lev - לב
This seems to be a famous teaching which I ...
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Understanding the bestowment and receiving the greatest good (HaShem Himself)?
The Ramchal, in short, teaches (Derech HaShem) that HaShem is absolutely, completely and perfectly good; His essence/nature so to speak is the totality of goodness. Because of this He wanted to bestow ...
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Human v.s. Animal: spiritual v.s the most fine physical entity kind of soul?
If animals don't have spirits (Does anyone have a proof text that animals *don't* have spirits?), then what is the meaning of nishmat ruach chayim in Bereshit 7:22? And in what way does it differ ...
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How can Hashem make a mistake in thinking to make the world with Elokim (Midas Hadin)
Genesis 1:1 Rashi s.v. ברא א-להים:
ברא א-להים: ולא אמר ברא ה׳, שבתחלה עלה במחשבה לבראתו במדת הדין, ראה שאין העולם מתקיים, הקדים מדת רחמים ושתפה למדת הדין, היינו דכתיב (להלן ב ד) ביום עשות ה׳ א-להים ...
user5224
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Is there proof that we never skipped a day of the week? [duplicate]
Bereshit begins with the first 6 days and the Shabbat. The assumption is then that after that day, Mankind kept track of the day of the week all by themselves until today.
Are we sure that no one ...
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70 Souls of Jacob
In Bereshit 46 the Torah tells us that there were 70 descendents of Jacob who came to Egypt with him (excluding the wifes)
33 descendants through Leah
16 through Zilpa
14 throgh Rahel
7 through Bilah
...
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Translating Genesis 1:1 "בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית" to "in the beginning"
Apologies if this is a stupid question (or belongs in a different group). Since I'm not Jewish & only beginning to learn Hebrew I lack the background to pose an intelligent question.
English uses ...
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What did the animals eat before Adam prayed for the trees to grow?
We learn in chullin 60b that the trees and herbage only began to sprout on the third day and that they only grew fully when Adam prayed for the rain (Genesis 2:5). If none of the plant life grew yet, ...
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What's the simple meaning of the "upper waters", and where are they?
B"H
In the simple meaning of the verse of "He separated between the water that is below the sky (/beginning of "outer space"/"firmamemt") to the water that is above it&...
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Why didn't Hashem tell the snake that his power of speech would be removed?
B"H
In the curses Hashem tells the snake it says "because you have done this, you are cursed from all beasts of the field..", without specifying exactly what that means.
If you would ...
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Making sense of God's different actions of the creation
I'm trying to categorize different actions God takes in the process of creation as appears in Genesis.1:
Part of creation | Said? | Then | Then | Then
1. Heaven and Earth: | No ...
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(Why) Were animals expelled from Eden?
And the LORD God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the man (in Eden). Genesis.2.19
I'm confused about what happened to the animal: God ...
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Why is the birth of Kayin written strangely?
In Bereishis 4:1, the Pasuk describes the birth of Kayin:
וְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת־חַוָּה אִשְׁתּוֹ וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד אֶת־קַיִן וַתֹּאמֶר קָנִיתִי אִישׁ אֶת־יְהוָה
Now the man knew his wife Chava, and she ...
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Does animal soul (Nefesh) come from the divine or the material?
[I assume] it is wildly accepted in Judaism that animals have souls (hence "anima"). In Hebrew, it is called נפש (Nefesh) and the Torah is full of this kind of references:
"וּֽלְכׇל־...
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Beracha and Kedusha referring to the generation of the desert
Rashi in his commentary on Bereishis 2:3 explains that the beracha of shabbos is in the future when the mannah fell during the week and an extra portion fell on Friday and kedusha is also in the ...
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Zohar's interpretation of Bereshit 1
The Zohar's interpretation of the words 'Bereshit bara Elohim', usually translated as 'In the beginning G-d created', seems not to understand the word Elohim to be the subject of the verb bara, but ...
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What was Adam's private name?
Interestingly, in English and other languages, we treat "Adam" as the private name, not as a noun, but in the Torah it is a noun, for example (Ber 2.25):
וַיִּהְיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם עֲרוּמִּים הָאָדָם ...
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The Aliyot in Parshat Bereisheet
According to the Hertz (Soncino Press) chumash, the aliyot for Bereisheet are (excuse my poor formatting)
Aliyah...…. begins at
2...…………..1:14
3...………….1:24
4...…………..2:4
5...…………..3:22
6......
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Why does Rashi specifically tell us his interpretation method on 3:8?
In Bereishis 3:8, Rashi makes the following comment about his method of interpretation:
וישמעו. יֵשׁ מִדְרְשֵׁי אַגָּדָה רַבִּים וּכְבָר סִדְּרוּם רַבּוֹתֵינוּ עַל מְכוֹנָם בִּבְ"רַ וּבִשְׁאָר ...
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Does Hashem create a Michshol?
There is a Jewish law forbidding putting a michshol, a stumbling block, in front of a blind person. This is extended also to mean that one should not lead others into sin, including providing the ...
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Does a killer with permission lose his צלם אלקים?
Haamek Davar (ad loc.) explains that צלם אלקים (in Genesis 1:26–27) refers to an angel, also called a person's מזל, which envelops each of us and protects him from harm. He (to 4:14) explains further ...
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A name adding to our development into who we are/become?
In Bereshit 2:19 Adam gets the honorable task to name the animals. The Midrash Genesis/Bereshit Raba 17:4 tells us that the first man, Adam, looked into the essence and nature of every creature and ...
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Does anyone discuss the similarities between these?
I noticed that the משנה ברורה and בראשית both talk about רוח ,מים, clothing, and 'ה seeing all in the beginning. The משנה ברורה seems to be alluding to the חומש here.
The first thing after the famous ...
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In Genesis 6:3, How Should the Context Affect Interpretation of "To Contend/Plead"?
Disclaimer: There are A LOT of pieces to this I don't understand, which is making it very difficult to ask: I would appreciate your suggestions!
1. Question :
Genesis 6:3 -... My Spirit will not ...
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Ages in Genesis 5 [duplicate]
Are the life spans in Genesis 5 meant to be taken literally? Wasn't the life span of ancient people drastically shorter back then? I have read that the numbers are spiritual numbers that are used to ...
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Overpopulation and the Tree of Life
Had it not been for the sin of Adam and Chava, I've read sources that say we would have been able to eat from the Tree of Life, which would means that humanity would never die. What would keep the ...
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Could animals in Eden eat from the tree of life and what would happen to them?
Following "Could animals in Eden eat from the tree of life",
Could animals in Eden eat from the tree of life and what would happen to them?
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Why did G-d choose to speak creation into existence
“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.” - Edward Hopper.
In Menoras Hameor R. Yitzchak Abuhav ...
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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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How did Rashi come to the conclusion that the heavens were created from fire and water?
In his commentary of Beresheith/Genesis 1:1, Rashi states:
And a further proof that the heavens and earth were not the first
thing created is that the heavens were created from fire (אש) and
water (...
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How could Kayin have married his sister, if it was prohibited?
The Rambam writes in Melachim uMilchamot (Ch. 9) that six different mitzvot were given to Adam. One of these mitzvot is the prohibition of incest and adultery.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 38b) says that ...
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And it was so? Perhaps mistranslated?
A speaker of modern Hebrew would translate the following expression from Genesis 1:
וַיְהִי-כֵן
"And it will be so."
But every translation of Torah I have seen says "and it was so."
Couldn't it ...
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How can constant creation of new stars explained theologically?
"... we get on average about one new star per year, and one star dying each year as a planetary nebula in the Milky Way.... therefore there are about 275 million [born] per day, in the whole ...
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G-d and the serpent, what happened?
G-d said: "Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'"
And the serpent said: "Ye shall not surely die; 5 for G-d doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall ...
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Elohim - Female Image of G-d
There is a group that teaches that analyzing the words in Genesis 1:26 :
And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and they shall rule over the fish of the sea and over ...
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In the wake of the banishment from Eden, Adam and Eve start their family
In the wake of the banishment from Eden, Adam and Eve start their family:
וְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת־חַוָּה אִשְׁתּוֹ וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד אֶת־קַיִן וַתֹּאמֶר קָנִיתִי אִישׁ אֶת־יהוה׃
Bereshit 4:1 "And ...
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How are humans that were formed "from dust" different from animals that were formed "from earth"?
"וַיִּיצֶר ה"א אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה" Genesis.2.7
"וַיִּצֶר ה"א מִן־הָאֲדָמָה כָּל־חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה..." ibid. 19
So according to Rashi and others, Adam was ...
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Where is there a discussion in any source, where a woman refers to herself, literally or figuratively as worn-out or aging or decaying?
Where is there a discussion in any source, from Talmud to Midrash, where a woman, whether as the only wife or one of several wives of the same husband, refers to herself (or is referred to), literally ...
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In Beresheit what is the difference between the light in 1:3 and the light in 1:14
I notice that in 1.3, the word אוֺר ("ore") is used, but in 1.14, the word מְאֹרֹת
(morot) is used. I see that both contain aleph and reish.
Both have something to do with light and lighting up. ...
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Why was Adam created age 20? [duplicate]
The Midrash says Adam and Chava were created age 20.
Why so? Looking mainly for an answer as to why they weren't made babies and raised like we are (rather than asking what's special about 20?).
Happy ...
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Understanding Bereshit 1:30
Bereshit 1:30 says
וּֽלְכָל־חַיַּ֣ת הָ֠אָרֶץ וּלְכָל־ע֨וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֜יִם וּלְכֹ֣ל ׀ רוֹמֵ֣שׂ עַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ֙ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֔ה אֶת־כָּל־יֶ֥רֶק עֵ֖שֶׂב לְאָכְלָ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃
And to all the ...
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Can the word "eitz" mean "a thought" in the Torah?
Is there support in the Talmud or later rabbinical literature to interpreting the Torah term "eitz," commonly translated as "tree," to also mean "thought". This of course, is a common usage in Yiddish,...
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Order of Creation: why the creation of man was grouped with animals and did not stand alone?
On the 6th day, God created both animals and humans, according to the main creation narrative (Gen 1). I would speculate that it would be more reasonable to dedicate each day to a specific niche: a ...
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and daughters were born to them (bereishis 6:1)
There is a strange way of saying that the human population increase on parsha Bereishis (6:1). The pasuk says:
וַֽיְהִי֙ כִּֽי־הֵחֵ֣ל הָֽאָדָ֔ם לָרֹ֖ב עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה
וּבָנ֖וֹת יֻלְּד֥וּ ...
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Which sources tell how Eve got to know they could not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil?
The command not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil is given to Adam in 2(17) before the creation of Eve.
In 3(3) and with Rashi's comments we read that Eve knew of the prohibition.
...
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why Adam and Eve felt shame?
after Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it says:
"And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were nak-ed, and they sewed fig leaves and made ...
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