After they ate from the tree, Adam, Chava and the snake were all cursed. The thorn represents Adam’s curse (Breisheet 3:17-18): “…Accursed is the land because of you; by painful toil you shall eat all of the days of your life. It will sprout thorns and thistles for...
In Parshat Breisheet we find words that we are familiar with from Kiddush that we recite every Friday evening over wine as we begin our Shabbat meal (Breisheet 2:1-3): The heavens and earth were completed as were all their conglomerations. On the seventh day God...
Parshat Breisheet (Breisheet 2:10) describes the geography of the Garden of Eden:A river went out of Eden to water the Garden, and from there it divides into four headwaters.Verses 11-12 add:The name of the first is Pishon which surrounds all the land of Chavilah,...
Sponsored by Sharona and Josh Halickman in memory of Evelyn (Cookie) Halickman Seligman z"l, sister and sister in law of Mel and Myrna HalickmanWe read in Breisheet 2:16-17:And God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat;...
We learn about the Even HaShtiya, the foundation stone of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) in the Mishna, Yoma 53b:After the Ark (Aron) was taken away, a stone was there from the days of the early prophets (Shmuel and David) and it was called “Shtiya”,...
In Parshat Breisheet, after Chava and Adam eat from the forbidden fruit, man receives the following punishment (Breisheet 3:19):By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread until you return to the ground for from it you were taken for you are dust and to dust you...
Sponsored by Sharona, Josh, Dov, Moshe and Yehuda Halickman in honor of Myrna Halickman’s Eishet Chayil Award on Simchat Torah at Beth Zion Congregation, MontrealWhen humankind was created, God gave the following blessing (Breisheet 1:28) “Be fruitful and...
After Adam and Chava sinned by eating the fruit, their eyes were opened, they realized that they were naked and they made clothing out of fig leaves. They heard the voice of God and they hid among the trees of the Garden.In Breisheet 3:9 we read: “HaShem Elokim...
The first word in the Torah is "Breisheet", "In the beginning." Rashi asks why the Torah begins with the depiction of the creation of the world rather than with Rosh Chodesh (the new moon), the first mitzvah that the Jewish people were commanded as a nation.Rashi's...
In Breisheet 1:9 God said: “Let the waters beneath the heaven be gathered (yikavu hamayim) into one area and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. According to Yalkut Shimoni the word “yikavu” comes from the word tikva, hope. It means...
In Parshat Breisheet (Breisheet 1:31-2:1-3) we read about the completion of the creation of the world: “And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good. It became evening and it became morning, the sixth day. The heavens and the earth were...
Part of Chava’s punishment is (Breisheet 3:16): “I will greatly increase your suffering (itzvonech) and your pregnancy (heronech). You will give birth to children with pain (be’etzev teldi vanim)…” According to the Gemara in Eruvin...
In Parshat Breisheet 2:20-23 we read: And HaAdam assigned names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field; but as for man, he did not find an “ezer k’negdo”, helper corresponding to him. So God cast a deep sleep...
In chapter 2 of Breisheet, the first woman is created. The woman is called “Isha” as it says in Breisheet 2:23 “And the man said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man (ki meish...
In Parshat Breisheet 4:8 we encounter a perplexing account: "Kayin said to his brother Hevel. It happened when they were in the field (sadeh), that Kayin rose up against his brother Hevel and killed him."The pasuk never tells us what their conversation was...
The importance of observing Shabbat is emphasized in Parshat Ki Tisa.Shmot 31:13- ".You must still preserve (tishmoru) My Shabbat, for it is a sign between Me and yourselves for generations to know that I, HaShem am making you holy. You shall therefore preserve...
The Torah begins with the words "Breisheet bara Elokim et hashamayim ve‚et ha'aretz", "In the beginning God created heaven and earth."Rashi asks why the Torah begins with a description of the creation of the world. After all, isn't the Torah a book of mizvot,...