By Josh Friedman

So this week’s parsha is BeREISHEET! It’s all about the beginning of time, and what happened there. And trust me, a lot happens. It starts off with a description of how the world was created, starting with the creation of time and ending with the creation of the Sabbath. Then the parsha tells the classic story of the Garden of Eden, snake, Eve and Adam, trees, all that jazz. Following the moral awakening of Adam and Eve, G-d decides to kick them out because they totally can’t be trusted any more, and they gotta fend for themselves. Then they have kids, Cain and Abel, Cain kills Abel, boooo, and G-d curses Cain by making him a wanderer but says the ultimate curse won’t take into place for seven generations. Seven generations go by and some dude related to Cain kills Cain. The deed is done. So then bunches of people are born, the world becomes populated, and G-d does not like any of them. They all suck. Fortunately, at the end of the parsha a glimmer of hope in humanity comes from Noah. God likes Noah. For more explanation of this parsha go to this page.

First of all, this parsha is pretty cool. It’s not only means the beginning literally but a lot of firsts happen in this parsha, so it has multiple meanings. I’m not gonna go into detail, but you get it. What I’m saying here is that I could write a lot about this parsha. I’m going to try and focus in to specific parts, so as not to be vague and broad.

What can we as a youth movement gain from this? Well, let me tell you. The first part of the parsha talks about creation. I think its very telling in the way G-d creates the world. Since the first thing G-d creates is time, essentially G-d makes a schedule for the world. Then the process of physically creating structures takes place and then the creation of rest. Basically, the Torah lays out some cool ways of making things happen, first make a plan, then do it, then rest and reflect. Its important to note that the resting bit is essential. Resting is something that is not separate from work, but something that is part

of the cycle of work. This can be tied very directly to our view of hadracha. Hadracha is not something that you put on when you are around chanichim, but a way of life that you practice even in your spare time. Even when you are not at machaneh. SO

How do we follow hadracha in places that may not be the most moral places in the world? What kind of path are we “guiding?”

Then in the parsha, humans gain the capabilities of knowledge. Throughout this part, there are comparisons that imply that to eat from the tree would give you some god-like power, knowing good and evil. After that, humans are kicked out into the wilderness. I find it interesting that the first part of the parsha talks about what G-d creates, and then the next part is all about how humans sort of gain this god-like power, and then are kicked out into this nothingness. Its kind of like G-d sets up this opportunity for Adam and Eve to start creating good and evil themselves, since they are now out of the comfort zone of G-d. Well according to the Torah, they fail because things just start to go badly and G-d loses all hope in humanity, except for one person, Noah. I think it’s also important to note that the first person that murders another is in the second generation of people. SO

What sort of psychological factors affected Cain so that he was capable of murdering his own brother?

Does this story relate to the importance of passing down values to future generations? Does this also relate to the value of education and madrichim- chanichim relationships?

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