Bereshit (parashah)

[35] When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing in appearance, and desirable as a source of wisdom, she ate some of its fruit and gave some to her husband to eat.

Deuteronomy 5:12–15 commands that one observe the Sabbath day, keep it holy, and not do any manner of work or cause anyone under one's control to work—so that one's subordinates might also rest—and remember that the Israelites were servants in the land of Egypt, and God brought them out with a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm.

The Gemara cited verses to support Rav Zutra's proposition: wisdom and understanding, as Proverbs 3:19 says, "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; and by understanding established the heavens"; reason, as Proverbs 3:20 says, "By His reason the depths were broken up"; strength and might, as Psalm 65:7 says, "Who by Your strength sets fast the mountains, Who is girded about with might"; rebuke, as Job 26:11 says, "The pillars of heaven were trembling, but they became astonished at His rebuke"; righteousness and judgment, as Psalm 89:15 says, "Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of Your throne"; and loving-kindness and compassion, as Psalm 25:6 says, "Remember, O Lord, Your compassions and Your mercies; for they have been from of old.

[104] It was taught in a baraita that King Ptolemy brought together 72 elders, placed them in 72 separate rooms without telling them why, and directed each of them to translate the Torah.

A baraita taught that tohu (chaos) is a green line that encompasses the world, out of which darkness proceeds, as Psalm 18:12 says, "He made darkness His hiding-place round about Him"; and bohu (desolation) means the slimy stones in the deep out of which the waters proceed, as Isaiah 34:11 says, "He shall stretch over it the line of confusion (tohu) and the plummet of emptiness (bohu)."

The Gemara again answered its own question by reporting that initially they assumed that it was merely happenstance that Alexander asked about the creation of the universe, and therefore there was no need for caution.

[112] Interpreting the words "God called the light (אוֹר‎, or) day" in Genesis 1:5, the Gemara hypothesized that or (אוֹר‎) might thus be read to mean "daytime."

The Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer recounted that in the Exodus, Moses cried out to God that the enemy was behind them and the sea in front of them, and asked which way they should go.

[122] Noting that Genesis 1:26 uses the plural pronoun when God says, "Let us make man," the heretics asked Rabbi Simlai how many deities created the world.

[129] It was recorded in Rabbi Joshua ben Levi's notebook that a person born on the first day of the week (Sunday) will lack one thing.

And the midrash taught that this is one of the texts that they changed for King Ptolemy (as they could not expect him to understand these explanations), making Genesis 2:2 read, "And He finished on the sixth day, and rested on the seventh."

Genesis 2:15 continues, "to till it (לְעָבְדָהּ‎, le'avedah)," and the Sabbath commandment uses a similar word in Exodus 20:9, "Six days shall you labor (תַּעֲבֹד‎, ta’avod)."

The punishment of the Flood must therefore be meant, as Genesis 7:23 says, "And He blotted out every living substance which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle," starting with the people.

But the one who said that Eve was created from a face explained the words "God built" as explained by Rabbi Simeon ben Menasia, who interpreted the words, "and the Lord built the rib," to teach that God braided Eve's hair and brought her to Adam, for in the seacoast towns braiding (keli'ata) is called building (binyata).

Abaye (or others say Simeon ben Lakish) observed that we are still not altogether removed from the benefits of the first decree, as we eat herbs of the field (which come forth without effort).

[154] Similarly, the Sifre on Deuteronomy 11:22 taught that to walk in God's ways means to be (in the words of Exodus 34:6) "merciful and gracious.

"[158] (The Talmudic commentator Maharsha read Samuel's teaching to relate to the view that the forbidden fruit of which Adam ate was wheat.

Rabbi Simeon thus noted that changing one letter in Genesis 4:10 would cause God's statement to read, "The voice of your brother's blood cries out against Me."

[163] Reading in Genesis 7:4 that God said, "every living substance (יְקוּם‎, yekum) that I have made will I blot out," Rabbi Abin taught that this included the one who rose up (יָּקָם‎, yakam) against his brother—Cain.

According to Rabbi Meir, when Adam saw that through him death was ordained as a punishment, he spent 130 years fasting, severed connection with his wife, and wore clothes of fig leaves.

The Gemara suggested an explanation to harmonize the two positions: The semen that Adam emitted accidentally caused ghosts and demons to come into being.

Rabbi Ḥaninah and Resh Lakish reasoned that Genesis 6:2 calls them "the sons of God" because they lived a long time without trouble or suffering.

Another explanation is that during "the seven days" God reversed the order of nature (בְּרֵאשִׁית‎, bereishit) (established at the beginning of creation), and the sun rose in the west and set in the east (so that sinners might be shocked into repentance).

[180] The heart speaks,[181] sees,[181] hears,[182] walks,[183] falls,[184] stands,[185] rejoices,[186] cries,[187] is comforted,[188] is troubled,[189] becomes hardened,[190] grows faint,[191] fears,[192] can be broken,[193] becomes proud,[194] rebels,[195] invents,[196] cavils,[197] overflows,[198] devises,[199] desires,[200] goes astray,[201] lusts,[202] is refreshed,[203] can be stolen,[204] is humbled,[205] is enticed,[206] errs,[207] trembles,[208] is awakened,[209] loves,[210] hates,[211] envies,[212] is searched,[213] is rent,[214] meditates,[215] is like a fire,[216] is like a stone,[217] turns in repentance,[218] becomes hot,[219] dies,[220] melts,[221] takes in words,[222] is susceptible to fear,[223] gives thanks,[224] covets,[225] becomes hard,[226] makes merry,[227] acts deceitfully,[228] speaks from out of itself,[229] loves bribes,[230] writes words,[231] plans,[232] receives commandments,[233] acts with pride,[234] makes arrangements,[235] and aggrandizes itself.

After doing so, people can learn that such description was only metaphorical, and that the truth is too fine, too sublime, too exalted, and too remote from the ability and powers of human minds to grasp.

[239] Judah Halevi taught that Adam lived on the land that contained the Cave of Machpelah, and it was the first object of jealousy and envy between Cain and Abel.

The two brothers wanted to know which of them would succeed Adam and inherit his essence, intrinsic perfection, and land—who would stand in connection with the Divine Influence, while the other would be a nonentity.

In the Jahwist's Genesis, this dissatisfaction repeatedly gets people into trouble, but the author still, in Oden's reading, finds this human trait admirable, the source of cultural advances.

Oden taught that Judaism never read the story as Original Sin or the Fall of Man, but as just one more instance of human beings getting into trouble, and God rescuing them and giving them another chance.

[261] Reuven Kimelman found in the "awake and arise" stanza of the Lekhah Dodi poem a play between the root or, from which stems the word for "skin" or "leather," and the homonym or that means "light."