The first Parasha of the Torah, Bereshit (Genesis), describes the creation of the world and of humanity. It opens with the account of how HaShem created the universe in six days, and on the seventh day brought His work to completion.
In the beginning, God created the universe, including one special planet: the Earth.
On the first day, God made the light of the sun shine on the earth, creating the cycle of light and darkness that, for human beings, will be “day” and “night.”
On the second day, God separated the upper waters, the clouds, from the lower waters, the oceans, creating the atmosphere that drives the water cycle: evaporation and precipitation.
On the third day, God made dry land rise from beneath the oceans, forming the surface of our planet. On the land, which now had sunlight and rain, God created vegetation: plants and trees of every kind.
On the fourth day, God set the sun, the moon, and the stars in their final orbits. From there they will light the earth, keep it at a temperature that supports life, and mark the seasons, days, months, and years.
On the fifth day, God made the waters bring forth the first animals, the egg-laying creatures: reptiles, insects, amphibians, birds, and fish.
On the sixth day, HaShem created the mammals, and on that same day He created the human being, Adam, with a special capacity, the neshama, which allows him to understand the Divine commandments and to choose whether to obey them or not. God blessed the human being and commanded him to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.
On the seventh day, God completed His creation and sanctified that day, declaring it “Shabbat.”
The Torah now tells the story of the first human beings. Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, and God breathed into his nostrils a living soul. God planted a beautiful garden in Eden, toward the east, for man to live in, and asked Adam to work it and take care of it. In the middle of the garden, God planted two special trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
God allowed Adam to eat from every tree in the garden except the Tree of Knowledge, and warned him that if he ate from it, he would die.
God brought the animals to Adam so he could name them. Adam found no animal like himself, and he felt alone. So God put Adam into a deep sleep, took one of his ribs, and created woman, Eve. Adam recognized Eve as “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” and the two lived together in the Garden of Eden.
The serpent, the most cunning of all the animals, persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. She, in turn, shared the fruit with Adam. When they ate it, they both became aware of their nakedness and covered themselves with fig leaves. God confronted Adam and Eve over their disobedience. As a consequence, HaShem cursed the serpent, increased Eve’s pain in childbirth, and decreed that Adam would have to work hard for the earth to yield its fruit. Adam and Eve were also expelled from the Garden of Eden, so they would not eat from the Tree of Life and live forever.
After their expulsion, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Both brought offerings to HaShem. Abel offered the best animals of his flock, while Cain offered what was left over, what he had set aside. HaShem accepted Abel’s offering and rejected Cain’s, which made Cain jealous. Cain murdered Abel, and HaShem punished him: from then on he became a wanderer on the earth. Even so, HaShem placed a sign on Cain to protect him from anyone who might want to kill him.
The Parasha ends with a genealogy tracing ten generations from Adam. It highlights Chanokh, who “walked with HaShem,” and reaches Noach, who, in the middle of a corrupt generation, “found favor in the eyes of God.”
