B'reishit ~ בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית ~ Genesis 1:1-6:8 Making Torah Personal - Beginning with Joy

Studying selected verses of the parsha, enabling us to make a connection between the weekly portion and our own lives.

הַשֵּׁנִי הוּא הַשִּׂמְחָה, וְהוּא עִקָּר גָּדוֹל בַּעֲבוֹדָה
The second [branch of love of G-d] is joy, it is a great, essential principal in serving G-d. ~Mesillat Yesharim, JOY, 19:99

...in B'reishit, darkness precedes light and chaos precedes order...however, I am reminded that God's first creative act, even before God brought the sky and earth into being, was to create light. Darkness already existed on the face of "chaotic waters" (Genesis 1:2). Yet as God's spirit glided over it, God created light, choosing not to inject the light into the darkness, but rather to create it as a distinct entity which God proclaims to be good (1:3). ~Ellen M. Umansky, PhD

Bullet Points /key concepts:

Creation of the world in six 'days'
The world is created through speech
Day 1- Light and Darkness; Day 2- Hashem forms the heavens, dividing the “upper waters” from the “lower waters.” Day 3 - Boundaries of land and sea, Godcalls for trees and greenery from the earth. Day 4 - The position of the sun, moon and stars are fixed, timekeepers and illuminators of the earth. Day 5 - Fish, Birds, and Reptiles; Day 6 - Animals and Human Beings
Declaration of Day 7 as a day of ceasing creating
Hashem 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,” Hashem takes a "side" from the man, forms it into a woman.
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.
Exile from Gan Eden
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.

[The Torah is] using language not just as a direct conveyor of semantic meaning, but as a system of symbols and structures whose forms can be manipulated in order to send out all kinds of coded messages. The Torah, in other words, not only speaks to us directly, but also hints, winks, and signals to us, alerting us to multiple layers of meaning embedded in the text available to the close and careful reader. ~Rabbi David Kasher

תהילים ק׳:ב׳

(ב) עִבְד֣וּ אֶת־יהוה בְּשִׂמְחָ֑ה בֹּ֥אוּ לְ֝פָנָ֗יו בִּרְנָנָֽה׃

Psalms 100:2

(2) Serve Hashem in joy; come before the One's presence in exalted singing. [translation, RS}

בראשית א׳:א׳-ד׳

(א)בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃(ב) וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃(ג) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃(ד) וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹבוַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

Genesis 1:1-4

(1) When God began to create*When God began to create Others “In the beginning God created.” heaven and earth—(2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and the spirit / wind of God sweeping over the water—(3) God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.(4) God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

בראשית IN THE BEGINNING — Rashi: 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?

The light created by God is identified with the primordial light of consciousness, a light much brighter than the sun that shines on the deeds of the righteousness ~B'reishit Rabbah 3.6 and 3.8.

"the Divine presence rests on a person only through his rejoicing in a mitzva" ~Shabbat 30b)

It seems to me that the most straightforward way to interpret the message is to follow the logic of the strange grammar, to mean something like: In this book, the apparently plural elohim (all the powers in the world? all eternal things? all the old gods?) actually act as and are identified as a singular force.

That is quite a bold theological statement to be making so early in this book, though it will eventually turn out to be one of the Torah’s central claims: God is One...[t]he point here is that the first time this major claim is made, it is done in the form of an irregular grammatical construction. ~Rabbi David Kasher

The terms "heaven" and "earth" are relative. On the physical plane, "heaven" means the sky and all the heavenly bodies that appear to us to be in it, while "earth" means the ground. On a grander scale, "earth" includes the entire physical universe, while "heaven" refers to the spiritual realms. Similarly, various spiritual realms may be termed "heaven" and "earth" relative to each other. ~Chassidic insights

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

The early verses of Genesis, describing the chaos of darkness accurately reflects, I think, the muddiness of dark thoughts and the sense of aloneness that people often feel when they are literally or figuratively in the dark. In contrast, many of us equate light with physical and spiritual illumination — moments of clarity or meaning often accompanied with feelings of joy and gratitude. These are the moments in which I count my blessings, reminding myself of how many things in my life are good, instead of dwelling on that which is bad.
In those moments, I experience what B'reishit identifies as God's "spirit," ruach, as divinity itself: God, not as a being on high who zaps the light, and eventually the world and all living beings, into Creation, but rather God as a life-source and life-force who helps bring forth and sustains Creation. Ruach can also be translated as "wind" or "breath," words that, like spirit, convey motion. Spirit, wind, and breath can be felt and experienced but not seen. They are invisible forces that energize us, perhaps leading to an awareness of God... ~Ellen M. Umansky, PhD

משלי ח׳:כ״ב

יהוה קָ֭נָנִי רֵאשִׁ֣ית דַּרְכּ֑וֹ קֶ֖דֶם מִפְעָלָ֣יו מֵאָֽז׃

Proverbs 8:22

The Lord created me as the beginning of his way, the first of his works of old.

"The beginning of all knowledge and morality lies in the recognition that God created the world. Akiva taught: 'Just as the existence of a house testifies to the builder and the existence of a garment testifies to the weaver, so the existence of the world testifies to God who fashioned it.'" Midrash T'murah 3, quoted in Etz Hayim, p.3-4

ספורנו על בראשית א׳:א׳:א׳

בראשית. בתחלת הזמן והוא רגע ראשון בלתי מתחלק שלא היה זמן קודם לו:

Sforno on Genesis 1:1:1

בראשית, at the beginning of time; this is the first moment which is indivisible into shorter periods. There had not been a concept “time” previous to this, i.e. there had only been unbroken continuity. [The author perceives “time” as one of the creations. Ed.]

The first lesson of our Torah, the very first thing that we learn about God, is not the oneness of God, but the profound otherness of God. God is not of the world, not subjected to laws of world. God is utterly transcendent, beyond time, beyond space. ~Rabbi Erin Smokler

Of the three modes of self-expression—thought, speech, and action—thought is the most intense and action the least: one can think much more and much more quickly than he can articulate, and articulate much more than he can do. Thought is therefore considered the mode "closest" to the individual's essence. Conversely, action requires more physical effort than speech and speech more effort than thought. Speech is thus in the middle of both continuums, similar to action in being removed from the individual's essence and similar to thought in how little effort it requires. Thus, by saying that God created the world through "speech," the Torah indicates, on the one hand, that the world is separate from God, just as one's words separate from him and "leave" him after he has spoken them (while one's thoughts remain within him), and, on the other hand, that creating the world did not require God to change, just as the effort expended in speaking does not require the exertion that action does. ~Chassidic Insights

...while the English translation speaks about a certain condition that was characterized by the ABSENCE of form or ‘FORMLESS,’ the original Hebrew describes the condition of the earth as ‘Tohu Va-Vohu’ which literally means an ’empty desert’ and is another word for a desert without water.
The big difference between the two descriptions – the English translation versus the original Hebrew – is that the English description makes one imagine a total mess and chaos. In contrast, the Hebrew description does not illustrate a mess but rather describes an empty, waterless land…a land without mountains, trees, rivers and so on – a land that ‘awaits’ to be developed. ~Hebrewversity

the original Hebrew word for ‘the deep’ is ‘Tehom’ {תהום} which in Biblical Hebrew actually means ‘water’ or more accurately the ‘ancient sea’ as can be found in a description from Psalms:
“You covered it with the DEEP as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.” (Psalm 104:6) ~Hebrewversity

בראשית ב׳:ד׳

(ד) אֵ֣לֶּה תוֹלְד֧וֹת הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם עֲשׂ֛וֹת יהוה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃

Genesis 2:4

(4) Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When God יהוה made earth and heaven—

Zohar Volume 3, 258a
Upon the name י-ה-ו-ה all states of being depend, for all states of being come from It, and testify to the Master of the World, Who was before all other states of being, is in all being, and will be after all being. And this is the secret, that all states of being testify to God: Was (hayah), Is (hoveh), and Will Be (yihiyeh).

בראשית א׳:כ״ו

(כו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכׇל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכׇל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

Genesis 1:26

(26) And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.”

It’s because of humans’ ability to think and to reason that it is said about humanity, “creating it in the image of God.” ~ Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed.

Were He not to create humanity there would be no one in the universe capable of understanding that he or she was created and that God exists. Only with the birth of humanity did the universe become self-conscious. Without us, it would be as if God had created billions of robots mindlessly doing what they been programmed to do for all eternity. So, even though by creating humans God was putting the entire future of creation at risk, God proceeded to create humankind.....The real religious mystery, according to Judaism, is not our faith in God. It is God’s faith in us ~Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

בראשית א׳:כ״ז-כ״ח

(כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣אאֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃(כח)וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹהִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤ת הַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכׇל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

Genesis 1:27-28

(27) And God created humankind in the divine image, creating it in the image of God—
creating them male and female.(28) God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.”

Rashi says it’s not good for people to feel so perfected that they feel autonomous. The Ramban, the Maharal, and other commentators take a different approach. For people to grow spiritually they need to feel they lack something in order to avoid self-absorption.

The Torah emphasizes the fact several times that human beings are created in the “image of God” to teach us that all people share the following three dignities: (1) infinite value, (2) equality, and (3) uniqueness. ~Teaching of Rabbi Yitz Greenberg.

תהילים מ״ט:כ״א

(כא) אָדָ֣ם בִּ֭יקָר וְלֹ֣א יָבִ֑ין נִמְשַׁ֖ל כַּבְּהֵמ֣וֹת נִדְמֽוּ׃ {פ}

Psalms 49:21

(21) Man does not understand honor; he is like the beasts that perish.

[If humankind does not grasp the essence and does not understand his moral imperative, then he resembles the animals. Translation, RS].

בראשית א׳:כ״ט-ל״א

(כט) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּה֩ נָתַ֨תִּי לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־כׇּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב ׀ זֹרֵ֣עַ זֶ֗רַע אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כׇל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶת־כׇּל־הָעֵ֛ץ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ פְרִי־עֵ֖ץ זֹרֵ֣עַ זָ֑רַע לָכֶ֥ם יִֽהְיֶ֖ה לְאׇכְלָֽה׃(ל) וּֽלְכׇל־חַיַּ֣ת הָ֠אָ֠רֶץ וּלְכׇל־ע֨וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֜יִם וּלְכֹ֣ל ׀ רוֹמֵ֣שׂ עַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ֙ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֔ה אֶת־כׇּל־יֶ֥רֶק עֵ֖שֶׂב לְאׇכְלָ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃(לא) וַיַּ֤רְא אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם הַשִּׁשִּֽׁי׃ {פ}

Genesis 1:29-31

(29) God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.(30) And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” And it was so.(31) And God saw all that had been made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

בראשית ב׳:א׳-ג׳

(א) וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכׇל־צְבָאָֽם׃(ב) וַיְכַ֤ל אֱלֹהִים֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃(ג) וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ {פ}

Genesis 2:1-3

(1) The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array.(2) On the seventh day God finished the work that had been undertaken: [God] ceased on the seventh day from doing any of the work.(3) And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy—having ceased on it from all the work of creation that God had done.

[Rabbi Donniel] Hartman argues that God creates human beings in God's own image, to replace God, as it were. God sets up proxies in the world and endows them with tremendous power—to fill the world, master it, rule over it—so that God can return to being God in His infinite transcendence. God creates the world, loves it, imbues it with value, puts us in charge of its maintenance and then exits the scene, so to speak. “Shabbat is God’s goodbye party,” he says. ~Rabbi Erin Smokler

בראשית ב׳:ז׳-ח׳

(ז) וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩ יהוה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃(ח) וַיִּטַּ֞ע יהוה אֱלֹהִ֛ים גַּן־בְּעֵ֖דֶן מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַיָּ֣שֶׂם שָׁ֔ם אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָצָֽר׃

Genesis 2:7-8

(7) God יהוה formed the Human from the soil’s humus, blowing into his nostrils the breath of life: the Human became a living being.(8) God יהוה planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the Human who had been fashioned.

בראשית ב׳:ט״ו-י״ז

(טו) וַיִּקַּ֛ח יהוה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּנִּחֵ֣הוּ בְגַן־עֵ֔דֶן לְעׇבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשׇׁמְרָֽהּ׃(טז) וַיְצַו֙ יהוה אֱלֹהִ֔ים עַל־הָֽאָדָ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר מִכֹּ֥ל עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן אָכֹ֥ל תֹּאכֵֽל׃(יז) וּמֵעֵ֗ץ הַדַּ֙עַת֙ ט֣וֹב וָרָ֔ע לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ כִּ֗י בְּי֛וֹם אֲכׇלְךָ֥ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת׃

Genesis 2:15-17

(15) God יהוה settled the Human in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it.(16) And God יהוה commanded the Human, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat;(17) but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.”

בראשית ב׳:כ׳-כ״ה

(כ) וַיִּקְרָ֨א הָֽאָדָ֜ם שֵׁמ֗וֹת לְכׇל־הַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּלְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּלְכֹ֖ל חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה וּלְאָדָ֕ם לֹֽא־מָצָ֥א עֵ֖זֶר כְּנֶגְדּֽוֹ׃(כא) וַיַּפֵּל֩ יהוה אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ תַּרְדֵּמָ֛ה עַל־הָאָדָ֖ם וַיִּישָׁ֑ן וַיִּקַּ֗ח אַחַת֙ מִצַּלְעֹתָ֔יו וַיִּסְגֹּ֥ר בָּשָׂ֖ר תַּחְתֶּֽנָּה׃(כב) וַיִּ֩בֶן֩ יהוה אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ אֶֽת־הַצֵּלָ֛ע אֲשֶׁר־לָקַ֥ח מִן־הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְאִשָּׁ֑ה וַיְבִאֶ֖הָ אֶל־הָֽאָדָֽם׃(כג) וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ הָֽאָדָם֒ זֹ֣את הַפַּ֗עַם עֶ֚צֶם מֵֽעֲצָמַ֔י וּבָשָׂ֖ר מִבְּשָׂרִ֑י לְזֹאת֙ יִקָּרֵ֣א אִשָּׁ֔ה כִּ֥י מֵאִ֖ישׁ לֻֽקְחָה־זֹּֽאת׃(כד) עַל־כֵּן֙ יַֽעֲזׇב־אִ֔ישׁ אֶת־אָבִ֖יו וְאֶת־אִמּ֑וֹ וְדָבַ֣ק בְּאִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וְהָי֖וּ לְבָשָׂ֥ר אֶחָֽד׃(כה) וַיִּֽהְי֤וּ שְׁנֵיהֶם֙ עֲרוּמִּ֔ים הָֽאָדָ֖ם וְאִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וְלֹ֖א יִתְבֹּשָֽׁשׁוּ׃

Genesis 2:20-25

(20) And the Human gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but no fitting counterpart for a human being was found.(21) So God יהוה cast a deep sleep upon the Human; and, while he slept, [God] took one of his sides*sides Heb. ṣela‘ot, trad. “ribs” and closed up the flesh at that site.(22) And God יהוה fashioned the side that had been taken from the Human into a woman, bringing her to the Human.(23) Then the Human said,
“This one at last
Is bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh.
This one shall be called Woman,[Heb. ’ishshah; so trad. More precisely in context, “a (female) member of the human species.](24) Hence a man [man So trad.; Heb. ’ish]leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife,[wife So trad.; Heb. ’ishshah] so that they become one flesh.(25) The two of them were naked, the Human[Heb. ha-’adam; trad. “the man.”] and his wife, yet they felt no shame.

בראשית ג׳:א׳

(א) וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙ הָיָ֣ה עָר֔וּם מִכֹּל֙ חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה יהוה אֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ף כִּֽי־אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּ֖ל עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃

Genesis 3:1

(1) Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that God יהוה had made. It said to the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?”

בראשית ג׳:ב׳-ג׳

(ב) וַתֹּ֥אמֶר הָֽאִשָּׁ֖ה אֶל־הַנָּחָ֑שׁ מִפְּרִ֥י עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן נֹאכֵֽל׃(ג) וּמִפְּרִ֣י הָעֵץ֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּתוֹךְ־הַגָּן֒ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים לֹ֤א תֹֽאכְלוּ֙ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְלֹ֥א תִגְּע֖וּ בּ֑וֹ פֶּן־תְּמֻתֽוּן׃

Genesis 3:2-3

(2) The woman replied to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden.(3) It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’”

The last verses of Genesis:

בראשית ו׳:ה׳-ו׳

(ה) וַיַּ֣רְא יהוה כִּ֥י רַבָּ֛ה רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכׇל־יֵ֙צֶר֙ מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת לִבּ֔וֹ רַ֥ק רַ֖ע כׇּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃(ו) וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם יהוה כִּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃

Genesis 6:5-6

(5) יהוה saw how great was human wickedness on earth—how every plan devised by the human mind was nothing but evil all the time.(6) And יהוה regretted having made humankind on earth. With a sorrowful heart,

בראשית ו׳:ז׳-ח׳

(ז) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יהוה אֶמְחֶ֨ה אֶת־הָאָדָ֤ם אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֙אתִי֙ מֵעַל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה מֵֽאָדָם֙ עַד־בְּהֵמָ֔ה עַד־רֶ֖מֶשׂ וְעַד־ע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם כִּ֥י נִחַ֖מְתִּי כִּ֥י עֲשִׂיתִֽם׃(ח) וְנֹ֕חַ מָ֥צָא חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינֵ֥י יהוה׃ {פ}

Genesis 6:7-8

(7) יהוה said, “I will blot out from the earth humankind whom I created—humans together with beasts, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I regret that I made them.”(8) But Noah found favor with יהוה.