B’reishit – בְּרֵאשִׁית (Genesis 1:1−6:8)
This Week’s Torah Portion: B’reishit – בְּרֵאשִׁית (Genesis 1:1−6:8)
The Book of Genesis begins with the stories of creation – first is God, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in them. Then God creates humanity – the one who is supposed to help God perfect the world. To correct what requires correction in the world – since the world was not created perfect – it requires correction, as it is said “And the Adonai God took humanity and placed it in the Garden of Eden to work and keep it.” (Gen 2:15)
Not only to maintain what exists but also to perfect it – to work and make the necessary corrections.
To achieve this goal, humanity was granted two things of enormous importance – freedom of thought and the freedom to choose between good and evil.