We start the annual cycle of reading the Torah from Creation and the slow and painful process of humanity learning how to find the right way to live. We are going to start with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden learning that if only they can adhere to some simple, basic rules, they can have a life of…
Parsha Bereishit
Are There Two Versions of Creation?
The first Chapter of the Torah is the familiar Creation narrative in which the physical Heavens and the Earth are created in six “days.” In it human beings, male and female are created simultaneously. The seventh day adds a spiritual dimension to complement the physical. It’s the holistic combination of mind and body. The second chapter of Bereishit is very…
Original Sin
The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is really a parable about why we make the wrong decisions. One theory, proposed originally by Greek philosophy and then Christianity, is Original Sin. Humans are simply bad people more inclined to make the wrong choices in life rather than good ones. We are selfish and self-centered. Freud argued…
Do we take the Torah literally?
Are we supposed to take the Creation narrative literally or not? On the face of it, it contradicts everything we know about how the world developed. The process took millions of years, not seven days. Was a “day” the sort of 24 hour days we mean now? What was day then if the Sun and Moon were not in position…