(5) You shall then recite as follows before Adonai your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation.
- How does this telling of who we are as Jews define us? What are the implications?
"ואהבת לרעך כמוך" – רבי עקיבא אומר זה כלל גדול בתורה. בן עזאי אומר "זה ספר תולדות אדם" – זה כלל גדול מזה.
12) "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18): R. Akiva says: This is an all-embracing principle in the Torah. Ben Azzai says: "This is the numeration of the generations of Adam" (Genesis 5:1) — This is an even greater principle.
- How does Rabbi Akiva understand the Jewish story? How does Ben Azzai? What implications do these interpretations have?
(א) בראשית. אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק לֹֹֹֹֹא הָיָה צָרִיךְ לְהַתְחִיל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה אֶלָּא מֵהַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, שֶׁהִיא מִצְוָה רִאשׁוֹנָה שֶׁנִּצְטַוּוּ בָּהּ יִשׂרָאֵל, וּמַה טַּעַם פָּתַח בִּבְרֵאשִׁית? [...] שֶׁכְּבַשְׁתֶּם אַרְצוֹת שִׁבְעָה גוֹיִם, הֵם אוֹמְרִים לָהֶם כָּל הָאָרֶץ שֶׁל הַקָּבָּ"ה הִיא, הוּא בְרָאָהּ וּנְתָנָהּ לַאֲשֶׁר יָשַׁר בְּעֵינָיו, בִּרְצוֹנוֹ נְתָנָהּ לָהֶם, וּבִרְצוֹנוֹ נְטָלָהּ מֵהֶם וּנְתָנָהּ לָנוּ:
(1) IN THE BEGINNING — Rabbi Isaac said: The Torah which is the Law book of Israel should have commenced with the verse (Exodus 12:2) “This month shall be unto you the first of the months” which is the first commandment given to Israel. What is the reason, then, that it commences with the account of the Creation? [...] For should the peoples of the world say to Israel, “You are robbers, because you took by force the lands of the seven nations of Canaan”, Israel may reply to them, “All the earth belongs to the Holy Blessed One; God created it and gave it to whom God pleased. When God willed it, God gave it to them, and when God willed it, God took it from them and gave it to us.”
- What defines the essence of the Jewish story according to Rashi? What are the implications with this interpretation?
- From this picture, there are many ways to tell our stories and they have many implications. What are the ways we want to tell our story? Who gets what story?