Wendy Rosenfeld’s Lesson Plan Notes on Genesis 1-5

B’reishit has, for a long time, been one of my favorite Torah portions, which I could talk about for months.   Besides the stories, this portion has a great deal of symmetry:  light and darkness, day and night, heaven and earth, sky and land and even sea.  There is also an emphasis on the numbers one and two.

For instance, there are two stories of creation, and some people consider them totally separate, which I did not do until preparing for this session.  I was of the view that while there appeared to be two separate stories of creation, there was really only one.  The first told the story of how the world we live on was created.  It was very methodical and purposeful so that each day, something that was created was necessary for the survival of what was to follow.  Plants cannot survive without sunlight, fish cannot live out of water, animals and people need the sun, earth to live on and water for sustenance, as well as plants for food. The order of creation was not random. 

The second story is about the creation of people, their development, and why people could not remain in Eden, where life was simple, peaceful, and easy (perhaps that is part of the reason, but I am jumping ahead).  I had felt that this story was just an extension of the first, where one directly followed the other, with the second providing more detail.      

However, try as I might, according to one of my college professors, I like putting things into neat little categories and linking information together.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not.  I even found a place to fit in dinosaurs with the creation of sea life and animals.  We have no idea how long a day lasted back then, so to me, it could be feasible. If we want to find a way, we will.   And while I may support my dinosaur theory, I am now under the theory that these are two separate stories of creation, in which either can merge back into B’reishit into one story, like a two- lane road that merges into one (with the story of Cain and Abel). 

Before we proceed, I want to make it clear that this session will not discuss the veracity of B’reishit, whether it is fact or fiction, or who authored the text.   That debate will be put aside to look at the content.  

Again, we have two stories of creation.  In the first, the world is created on a daily basis, until day 6 when man and woman are created and told to be fruitful and multiply.  This is an important point to remember.  After this all transpired, the seventh day created a time for rest and taking it all in, so to speak.  Pleasure, satisfaction, and fulfillment.  To recap:

Day 1:  Light from Darkness; evening and morning; first day

Day 2:  Divided water from water and created an expanse – Sky

Day 3:  Dry ground Earth and collected waters Sea; Vegetation, seed-bearing and fruit bearing

Day 4:  Separate Day from Night – Sun (greater to govern day) and Moon (lesser to govern the night and the stars)

Day 5:  Waters bring forth Birds and Sea Creatures

Day 6:  G-d made Wild and Domestic Animals

     Gd made human beings in the divine image, in the image of Gd, male and female

     Be fruitful and multiply (Poru Orvu); vegetation for food for all

     Male and Female to fill earth and tame it and hold sway over birds, sea creatures, and land animals 

Day 7:  Ceased from all creative work; blessed day and made it holy

Now looking at the second story of Creation:

Chapter 2:4- 2:7: 

This is the chronicle of heaven and earth when they were created, on the day G-d

made earth and heaven.  No shrub of the field was yet on the earth, no plant of

the field had yet sprung up – for G-d had not poured rain down upon the earth,

and there was not a soul to till the soil – though a flow would emerge from the

earth and water the surface of the soil.  Then G-d fashioned the man – dust from

the soil – and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that the man became a living being.    

Day 1:   Heaven and earth created, then Adam

• This is why the two stories of creation are not one – where the second picks up at Day 6 and the creation of people. In the first story of creation, day and night, water separated from land, vegetation, and other animals were all created prior to human beings so that they would have all they need to survive.  In the second story of creation, no plant or form of vegetation or animal as had yet been created, so the stories should be treated independently of one another.  The reason will soon be further explained.  

• Man was created from the earth.  “Breath of life” (Like CPR – breaths life back into a person)

• At the time of Adam’s creation, there were no plants to eat, just earth and water.  Any wonder why this was not enough for Man?  And while the creation of animals, shortly thereafter, was a help in terms of interaction and companionship, it was not enough.  People love their pets, regarded as members of the family, but human connection is also important and provide a needed and often craved form of support and companionship. 

• Adam’s arrival is similar to the expected guest who has arrived.  Do you have everything in place?  Not necessarily, so you need to scramble around and take care of getting everything needed.  Food, clean sheets, clean towels, etc. Did (the host) not anticipate what might be needed and prepare for arrival?  It is more of a do what is needed as it is needed way of thinking. Figure it out as you go along.

B’reishit 2:8- 2:9:

To the east, G-d planted a garden in Eden, setting the man there whom G-d (A) had formed.  Then, out of the soil, G-d (A) grew trees alluring to the eye and good for fruit; and in the middle of the garden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of All Knowledge. 

B’reishit 2:15:

So G-d (A) took the man, placing him in the Garden of Eden to work and keep it. 

Man must work and take care of the garden.  This is not a punishment, but rather a responsibility.  Must take care of what has been given to you.

Also, G-d seems to be creating and learning what is needed for what has been created to survive and thrive.  Go with the flow.  Step by Step. 

Chapter one – more planned out/thought out/agenda.  It is more structured.

B’reishit 2:16-17:   

-d (A) then commanded the man, saying, “You may eat all you like of every tree in the garden – but the Tree of All Knowledge you may not eat, for the moment you eat of it, you shall be doomed to die.

Choose Life Over Knowledge:

“Unknown/Misunderstood Choice” -- Did Man possess enough knowledge to even understand this option?  Man (or woman, soon to come) had not yet eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, so while he/they could understand a simple directive of being told what not to do, was there a comprehension of reward and punishment or consequences?  This did not yet seem to have been experienced.

The type of life for Adam (and soon woman) at this point was to live simply, basic needs satisfied but not much more (maybe similar to living on a farm/rural/commune?)

Or

Choose Knowledge Over Everlasting Life:

Gain knowledge and insight, understanding and possibly craving more than the simple life; want to grow and take control of own life; independence; personal growth; expand boundaries.

Can’t have both –Why?  Too much like G-d? Too much power and control?

B’reishit 2:18-24:

Then G-d (A) considered, “It is not good that the man be alone – I will make him a helpmate.”  So G-d (A) formed the wild animals and he birds of the sky out of the soil, and brought the man to see what he would call each one; and whatever the man called it, that became the creature’s name.  The man gave names to every domestic animal and to the birds of the sky, and to all the wild animals, but for (himself) Adam found not helpmate.    

WOMEN’S COMMENTARY, P. 12 “HELPMATE” 

Helpmate (eyzer K’nedgdoh), a helpful counterpart

In the Bible, the word eyzer (helper) typically refers to G-d and thus lacks any overtone of inferiority.  And negdoh (opposite of him/it) suggests a spatial and metaphorical otherness, someone whom one confronts.  Psalm 16:8 envisions G-d in this position, illustrating the positive sense of the word.   

 Some scholars who assume that G-d seeks a remedy for human loneliness conclude that G-d creates woman to comfort and ease man’s life.  But G-d’s solution implies that what is not good about aloneness concerns the human need for a counterpart.  Since the adam both is inferior to G-d and superior to the animals, neither suffices as a partner.  Only an equal who is both “other” and “alike” provides the necessary dialogue for human maturation, meaning, and joy.       

The first human task is naming the world.  G-d’s unsuccessful experiment to discover a partner reveals G-d as one who learns from experience in the interaction with humankind, not one who foresees and plans all with precision.

Bereishit 2:21-2:24:

Then, throwing the man into a profound slumber, so that he slept, G-d (YHVH) took one of the ribs and closed up the flesh in that place.  Now G-d (YHVH) built up the rib taken from the man into a woman, an brought her to the man, and the man said, “This time – bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Let this one be called woman, for this one is taken from man.”   So it is that a man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and they become one flesh. 

Not the naming of woman, nor domination over, but rather an acknowledgement of the man’s perception.  (ish, isha)    

Isha – woman and wife

Woman taken from man:  Only after surgery in Genesis 2 do woman, isha, and man, ish, appear, marked by gender specific terms.  I one understands ha-adam (“the adam”) beforehand to refer to a non-gendered person, then this remark describes he division into two human categories:  woman and man.   Here ish designates “a (male) member of the human species,” and ishah “a (female) member of the human species.”  Both are fully and equally human.  The man’s proclamation indicates what the woman means to him; it also serves as an etiology to explain how women and men related to each other.  In addition, the etiology explains why ishah and ish sound so much alike.      

A man will leave his father and is mother:  Typically, in biblical texts, women join their husband’s household.  Most likely, this statement does not refer to a man’s residence but to his establishing a new alignment, with the couple as a new unity that supersedes the relation to parents.  In the ancient world, such a separation from a man’s parents frees the woman from the control of her husband’s family.        

Also, belief of ADAM originally being half man and half woman at the same time (old comedy routine):

In Midrash B’reishit Rabbah 8:1, Rabbi Jeremiah ben Leazar suggested that initially, G-d created one entity with both male and female sexual characteristics.  Only afterward, as described in Genesis 2:22, did G-d separate the female “side” to form the first woman from an essentially male entity.  The midrash makes the powerful point that man and woman were initially created as a united being to which they revert when they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24) in marriage.

Note:  In Genesis 1:  G-d referred to as Elohim

            In Genesis 2:4-4:25: G-d referred to as Ado nai 

EXCEPT WHEN REFERRED TO BY BOTH THE SERPENT AND EVE – THEN AS ELOHIM AND IN CHAPTER 5: 1-2

Different sides of G-d (often said)

Again, two (individuals) becoming one (couple) and then one family becoming two (original and married).   The original family must let children lead their lives.

CREATION STORIES COMPARISON CHART

Tree of Knowledge and Cain and Abel

Tree of Knowledge   Gen.2:16-17  -- Told Adam not to eat of Tree of Knowledge, even gave a reason.

However, the reason for Adam and Eve being sent out of the Garden was not necessarily made clear to them (an exception of explanation) but to angels and reader:

Genesis 3:22-24:

G-d (YHVH) then said, “Look, the humans are like us, knowing all things.  Now they may even reach out to take fruit from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever.”  So G-d (YHVH) drove them out of the Garden of Eden to work the soil from which they had been taken, expelling the humans and stationing Cherubim to the east of Eden, and the flaming blade of a flashing sword to guard the way to the Tree of Life.  

Can be created in Gd’s image, but not have same abilities, power, longevity. Life under total guidance and submission

Or

Independence, Freedom, Choices and Opportunities – for a finite amount of time

In my opinion, and perhaps in the opinions of others as well, Adam and Eve leaving the garden was not a punishment, but rather something that was inevitable. In the Garden of Eden, human begins were cared for and nurtured.  Their basic needs for food, water, shelter, companionship, and support were all there for them. 

This is similar to raising children/childhood.  Parents look after their children, feed and care for them, teach them what they need to know (to the best of their ability), and look out for their interests.  Perhaps one parent is more regimented, concentrated on the child’s education and future economic success (orderly, as in the first story of Creation) and the other parent is more nurturing and teaching of life lessons, and conversational (similar to the second story of Creation where G-d conversed with people).  And yes, parents can share and overlap on these traits. 

Due to our love for our children, we realize at some point, we need to allow our children to leave our home, hopefully well equipped with knowledge, lessons, and support, so that they may “spread their wings” and learn how to survive and thrive on their own.  Like G-d, we will always be there when needed, but we need to let go.  It may not be easy, but it is important for life to move forward.  While some may celebrate being an empty nester, others dread the time and are saddened and a bit lonely.   Perhaps while children move on, couples find time to reunite on their own.  Two becoming one once more.

Genesis 3:1-13 and 3:16-20

Toil in childbirth: not simple, hardship, anguish (just as in hard work – food preparation, taking care of children, washing clothes, cleaning house, etc.)

Only through anguish shall you eat of it:  hard work, labor. Man works the land from which he came.

Man born from the land.

• Promotes birth and life through the land.

Woman (Eve Chavah from Chayim– life) gives birth to children.

• Children come from her body as she came from Adam

• She has the power to create a new life, it just does not come with ease

Genesis 4:  Man becomes intimate with his wife

• Companionship   

Cain and Abel:  4:3-4:16

Cain (famer and older son) killed Abel (shepherd and younger son)

• Jealous that Abels’ offering was accepted but his was not

• Did he ask why?

• Did he examine what he could have done better? 

• Did he make an effort to learn and improve?

Unlike Deuteronomy, when all laws were made clear, there were no stated rules after the prohibition to eat from the Tree of Knowledge 

Genesis 4:11 (to Cain):  Now you are cursed by this very soil

                                      Soil will no longer provide its yield (lose occupation)

                                      Shall be a rootless wanderer on the earth

                                      Protected from death

Similar to Adam’s fate, the land will not be easy to take care of, but will take effort, and even strife.  Cain was forced to wander.   But is this as bad as it sounds?  Despite it being forced, Cain could be viewed as an explorer and could see the world.  Also, remember, Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden where they essentially grew up, and they were fine.   G-d still cared about Cain, which was proven by his explanation that Cain would be protected from hard/death from other peoples.  

SEE CHART OR SUMMARY

Finally, or as a footnote, each story essentially ends with consummation/sexual relations:

Cain - Genesis: 4:16-17:

Cain then went away from before Ado nai, and settled in the Land of Nomads, east of Eden.  Cain then was intimate with his wife, who became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch; he became founder of a city, and he named the city Enoch, after his son, Enoch.

Still a wanderer?  Perhaps Cain was finally able to settle in a land with his family.

Second Creation Story - Genesis 4:1:

The man was now intimate with his wife; and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain, saying “Both I and Ado nai have made a man.”  

Adam and Eve conceive Seth - Genesis: 4:25:

Adam once again was intimate with his wife, and she bore a son and gave him the name “Seth”    

• Naming power to the woman

Genesis 4: 26:

As for Seth, to him too was born a son, and he named him Enosh.  Then it was that people began to invoke God (YHVH).

Grandson of Adam and Eve

COMPARISON CHART

FIRST STORY OF CREATION	SECOND STORY OF CREATION
"Textbook" Explanation; "Facts"  The WHAT	Story; Explained with "Reasons"   The WHY
Methodical	Let It Happen
Organized	Go with the Flow and Learn as You Go
Aggadah	Halachah
Anticipate and Provide What is Needed	Provide on As Needed Basis
Basic Needs -- Food, Water, Companionship, etc.	Have No More Than What is Permitted; Rules
Observe From a Distance; Independence	Caring; Conversation; Emotions
Protector/Ruler	Protector/Parent
Bestow Independence and Freedom	Nurturing; Watchful; Guidance; Parenting at First
No Rules or Guidelines	Expose to All Experiences that Knowledge Brings
Created, and Sit Back and Watch/Enjoy	Teach Lessons; Reward & Punishment; Understand
Raise Strong; Self-Sufficient Children	Raise Children with Love, Compassion, Guidance
Learn on Your Own; Self-Reliance; Independence	Learn on Own with Supervision -- As Needed
Straight-Forward Life Path	Live and Learn from Experience; Trail and Error
Celebrates Empty Nester	Desire to Hold-On; Mourns Empty-Nester