IN A NUTSHELL
In this parasha we learn about the story of how the world was created, including all the animals and humans who live in it. God creates the world in six days and gives the world Shabbat, a day of holiness and rest, on the seventh day.
One of God’s creations is Adam, the first human. God tells us that “it is not good for man to be alone,” and so He creates Ḥava. They live in the Garden of Eden and are allowed to eat from all the trees and plants, except the Tree of Knowledge. The snake convinces them to sin by eating from it, so God punishes them by making them leave the perfect world of the Garden of Eden.
The rest of the stories in our parasha, which continue into the next parasha, are tales of sadness and tragedy, and show how we can all make mistakes. For example, Kayin, Adam and Ḥava’s son, becomes the first person to kill another human being when he kills his brother, Hevel. By the end of the parasha, God sees how wicked man can become.
QUESTION TO PONDER
Why do you think humans make so many mistakes? How can God help us to stop this from happening?