CANDLE LIGHTING
6:06pm - Candle Lighting, Friday.
7:05pm - Havdalah, Saturday.
PARSHAH IN A NUTSHELL
G‑d creates the world in six days. On the first day He makes darkness and light. On the second day He forms the heavens, dividing the "upper waters" from the "lower waters." On the third day He sets the boundaries of land and sea, and calls forth trees and greenery from the earth. On the fourth day He fixes the position of the sun, moon and stars as timekeepers and illuminators of the earth. Fish, birds and reptiles are created on the fifth day; land animals, and then the human being, on the sixth. G‑d ceases work on the seventh day, and sanctifies it as a day of rest.
G‑d forms the human body from the dust of the earth, and blows into his nostrils a "living soul." Originally Man is a single person, but deciding that "it is not good that man be alone," G‑d takes a "side" from the man, forms it into a woman, and marries them to each other.
Adam and Eve are placed in the Garden of Eden, and commanded not to eat from the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." The serpent persuades Eve to violate the command, and she shares the forbidden fruit with her husband. Because of their sin, it is decreed that man will experience death, returning to the soil from which he was formed, and that all gain will come only through struggle and hardship. Man is banished from the Garden.
Eve gives birth to two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain quarrels with Abel and murders him, and becomes a rootless wanderer. A third son, Seth, is born to Adam; Seth's eighth-generation descendant, Noah, is the only righteous man in a corrupt world.
HAFTORAH IN A NUTSHELL
Isaiah 42:5-21.
The haftorah of this week's reading opens with a statement by "the Almighty G‑d, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who laid out the earth and made grow from it." This echoes the Torah portion's recounting of the creation of the world in six days.
G‑d speaks to the prophet Isaiah, reminding him of his life's purpose and duty, namely that of arousing the Jewish people to return to being a light unto the nations, "To open blind eyes, to bring prisoners out of a dungeon; those who sit in darkness out of a prison."
The prophecy continues with a discussion regarding the Final Redemption, and the song that all of creation will sing to G‑d on that day. G‑d promises to punish all the nations that have persecuted Israel while they were exiled. The prophet also rebukes Israel for their errant ways, but assures them that they will return to the correct path and will be redeemed.
SAGES ON THE PARSHAH
The Torah says: "I was the tool of G‑d's artistry." An architect who builds a palace does not do so on his own; he has scrolls and notebooks which he consults regarding how to place the rooms, where to set the doors. So it was with G‑d: He looked into the Torah and created the world.
(Midrash Rabbah)
G‑d looked into the Torah and created the world. Man looks into Torah and sustains the world.
(Zohar)
The Torah's first word, bereishit, is an acronym for beit reishit—"two firsts" (the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, beit, stands for the number two). This is to say that the world was created for the sake of two things called "first" (reishit)—the Torah (Proverbs 8:22) and the people of Israel (Jeremiah 2:3).
(Rashi; Midrash Rabbah)
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