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Click on the Parashah name to read the summary:
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Parashat "Bereshit-Noach"?
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According to Jewish tradition, this week's Torah portion is parashat Noach. However, since we just finished the Sukkot holiday and Simchat Torah last week, we only had a couple days to read and study parashat Bereshit - the foundational portion of the entire Torah - and therefore we will extend our time with Bereshit this week by including it with parashat Noach to have a sort of "double portion" of Torah. In other words, in addition to talking about Noah and the great flood, I will be continuing to write and share about last week's Torah portion. I hope that makes sense.
Moreover, since this "tight sequence" of readings occurs every year on the Jewish calendar, I propose that the weekly Torah reading schedule should be permanently emended so that we will have have sufficient time to study parashat Bereshit for the coming year.
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The Beginning of it all...
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In Jewish tradition, the word "Bereshit" can refer to either the very first Torah portion of the Bible (i.e., Gen. 1:1-6:8) or to the first book of the Torah itself (i.e., the book of Genesis). When it is used to refer to the Torah portion, it is called "parashat Bereshit," and the text covers the creation of the universe, including Adam and Eve, the subsequent transgression of Adam and Eve, the murder of Abel by humanity's firstborn son Cain, and the increasing depravity of the generations until the time of the calling of Noah. When it is used to refer to the book, however, it is called "sefer Bereshit," or the "Book of Bereshit," and the text covers everything from the creation of the universe to the descent of Jacob's son Joseph into Egypt in anticipation of the great Exodus. Note that the ancient Greek translation of the Bible (i.e., the Septuagint) called this book "Genesis," (Γένεσις: "birth", "origin"), a name that was carried over in subsequent Latin and English translations.
The first Torah portion of Bereshit opens with this succinct statement about the creative activity of God: "In the beginning (i.e., "bereshit") God (i.e., Elohim) created the heavens and the earth." Note immediately that the Scriptures therefore begin - not from the first person perspective of some man's understanding of God - but from an omniscient third person perspective, a Voice that reveals the Glorious Power that created the entire cosmos by means of His Word. The very first verse of the Bible, then, alludes to the triune nature of God, as further indicated by the use of the plural form of the name Elohim with the singular verb bara (he created). Indeed, the word bereshit itself includes the root idea of "head" (i.e., rosh), which suggests the "head of all things," that is, to the Messiah, the Creative Word of God who is the "head of all beginning and authority" and through Whom and for Whom all things were created (Col. 1:16; 2:10).
Genesis 1:1 Hebrew reading (click):
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After this astounding opening line, shrouded as it is in mystery, the Torah describes how Elohim created the universe yesh me'ayin - out of nothing (Heb. 1:3) over a six "day" period. On the first day God created darkness and light; on the second day He created the atmosphere, dividing the "upper" from the "lower" waters. On the third day He set the boundaries of land and sea and seeded the earth with trees and vegetation. On the fourth day He fixed the position of the sun, moon and stars as timekeepers and illuminators of the earth. Fish, birds and reptiles were created on the fifth day; and land animals, and finally the human being, on the sixth. God ceased from His creative work on the seventh day, and sanctified it as a day of rest: the very first Shabbat...
In addition to this general, "day by day" account of the creation of the universe by God, the Torah provides a more focused account about how God formed Adam's body from the dust of the earth and blew into his nostrils the "breath of life" so that he became a "living soul." Notice that the more detailed account includes reference to the LORD God, the first time the name YHVH is used in the Scriptures. Interestingly, in this second account the earth is described as a sort of "desert." The earth was barren of vegetation, no rain had yet fallen upon the earth, and the LORD formed the man from the "dust from the ground." After breathing into him so that he became a living soul, God planted a garden in Eden, "in the east," and there caused every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food to spring up from the ground. In the very midst of this orchard were two special trees: the "Tree of Life" and the "Tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע). God then instructed the man to tend the orchard and to eat from whatsoever tree he desired, though he was warned not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, "for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17).
For more on parashat Bereshit, see the following links:
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The Story of Noah...
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Secular scholars often scoff at the story of Noah and the great flood (המבול הגדול), suggesting it is a myth, but several ancient documents reveal striking parallels to the account given in the Torah (the most famous of these is the Babylonian "Gilgamesh Epic"). Moreover, sea archaeologists have discovered numerous ancient "submerged cities" throughout the world that lend credibility to the description found in this parashah.
Noah's name comes from the Hebrew verb nacham (נָחַם), meaning "to rest," or "to comfort" (i.e., give strength). He was so named by his father Lamech who said, "Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this this one shall bring us relief (זֶה יְנַחֲמֵנוּ) from our work and from the painful toil of our hands" (Gen. 5:29). Indeed, Noah was a "type" of the Savior to come who would rebirth the world by giving lasting comfort and rest (for more on this, see the page "Noah and Jesus").
In our Torah reading God revealed to Noah his intention of destroying all the inhabitants of the earth with a great flood (mabbul), and therefore instructed him to build a 450 foot long, three-tiered wooden teivah ("ark") coated within and without with pitch. Noah took his wife, his three sons (Shem, Cham, and Yaphet) and their wives, and two (male and female) of every sort of unclean animal (and seven of every clean) into the ark to be sheltered from the coming deluge. For more see the Torah summary pages as well as these resources:
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The Month of Cheshvan - חדש חשון
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On the Biblical calendar, the month of Cheshvan (חֶשְׁוָן) immediately follows the "holiday month" of Tishri, though it is sometimes called Mar-Cheshvan ("bitter Cheshvan") because there are no festivals during the month ("neither feast nor fast") and it marks the start of the cold and rainy season in Israel. The Torah records that God brought down the Flood that destroyed the world on Cheshvan 17 (Gen. 7:10-11), which lasted until Cheshvan 27 (Gen. 8:14) - exactly one calendar year after it began (the Jewish sage Rashi notes that the 11-day discrepancy between the 17th and 27th represents the 11-day difference between the solar and lunar year). Because Noah's Flood began and ended during this month, Cheshvan is generally regarded as "mar" - a time of judgment and hardship (the sages say that God gave Noah the sign of the rainbow to announce that God would never again destroy the world by a flood on the first day of the month of Kislev).
Despite its association with judgment, some Jewish traditions affirm that the month of Cheshvan will eventually lose its bitterness, because it will be during this time that the "third Temple" will be inaugurated. For Messianic believers, however, this future Temple will be the "Tribulation Temple," the place where the Messiah of Evil will betray the people of Israel about midway through the final "week" of Daniel's great prophecy. Indeed it will only be after Yeshua returns to save Israel at the End of Days that the Fourth (Millennial Kingdom) Temple will be established, and then all the surviving nations will come to Zion to honor the Jewish people and the LORD God of Israel...
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Rosh Chodesh Blessing...
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The following (simplified) blessing can be recited to ask the LORD God Almighty to help you for the coming new month:
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֵיךָ יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ
וֵאלהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁתְּחַדֵּשׁ עָלֵינוּ חדֶשׁ טוֹב
בַּאֲדנֵינוּ יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ אָמֵן
ye·hee · rah·tzohn · meel·fah·ney'·kha · Adonai · E·loh·hey'·noo
vei·loh·hey · a·voh·tey'·noo · she·te·cha·deish · ah·ley'·noo · choh·desh · tohv
ba'a·doh·ney'·noo · Ye·shoo'·a' · ha·mah·shee'·ach · ah·mein
"May it be Your will, LORD our God and God of our fathers,
that you renew for us a good month in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Amen."
Download Study Card
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Blessing before Torah Study:
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Some terms:
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- Parashah is the weekly Scripture portion taken from the Torah. Each parashah is given a name and is usually referred to as "parashat - name" (e.g., parashat Noach). For more information about weekly readings, click here.
- Aliyot refer to a smaller sections of the weekly parashah that are assigned to people of the congregation for public reading during the Torah Reading service. In most congregations it is customary for the person "called up" to recite a blessing for the Torah before and after the assigned section is recited by the cantor. For Shabbat services, there are seven aliyot (and a concluding portion called a maftir). The person who is called to make aliyah is referred to as an oleh (olah, if female).
- Maftir refers to the last Torah aliyah of the Torah chanting service (normally a brief repetition of the 7th aliyah, though on holidays the Maftir portion usually focuses on the Holiday as described in the Torah). The person who recites the Maftir blessing also recites the blessing over the Haftarah portion.
- Haftarah refers to an additional portion from the Nevi'im (Prophets) read after the weekly Torah portion. The person who made the maftir blessing also recites the blessing for the Haftarah, and may even read the Haftarah before the congregation.
- Brit Chadashah refers to New Testament readings which are added to the traditional Torah Reading cycle. Often blessings over the Brit Chadashah are recited before and after the readings.
- Mei Ketuvim refers to a portion read from the Ketuvim, or writings in the Tanakh. Readings from the Ketuvim are usually reserved for Jewish holidays at the synagogue.
- Perek Yomi Tehillim refers to the daily portion of psalms (mizmorim) recited so that the entire book of Psalms (Tehillim) is read through in a month. For a schedule, of daily Psalm readings, click here.
- Gelilah refers to the tying up and covering the Sefer Torah (Torah Scroll) as an honor in the synagogue.
- Divrei Torah ("words of Torah") refers to a commentary, a sermon, or devotional on the Torah portion of the week.
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Related Topics:
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Copyright © John J. Parsons
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