The name of the Parshah, "Bereishit," means "In the beginning" and it is found in Genesis 1:1.
G‑d creates the world in six days. On the first day He makes darkness and light. On the second day He forms the heavens, dividing the “upper waters” from the “lower waters.” On the third day He sets the boundaries of land and sea, and calls forth trees and greenery from the earth. On the fourth day He fixes the position of the sun, moon and stars as timekeepers and illuminators of the earth. Fish, birds and reptiles are created on the fifth day; land animals, and then the human being, on the sixth. G‑d ceases work on the seventh day, and sanctifies it as a day of rest.
G‑d forms the human body from the dust of the earth, and blows into his nostrils a “living soul.” Originally Man is a single person, but deciding that “it is not good that man be alone,” G‑d takes a "side" from the man, forms it into a woman, and marries them to each other.
Adam and Eve are placed in the Garden of Eden, and commanded not to eat from the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The serpent persuades Eve to violate the command, and she shares the forbidden fruit with her husband. Because of their sin, it is decreed that man will experience death, returning to the soil from which he was formed, and that all gain will come only through struggle and hardship. Man is banished from the Garden.
Eve gives birth to two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain quarrels with Abel and murders him, and becomes a rootless wanderer. A third son, Seth, is born to Adam; Seth’s eighth-generation descendant, Noah, is the only righteous man in a corrupt world.
Learn: Bereishit in Depth
Browse: Bereishit Parshah Columnists
Prep: Devar Torah Q&A for Bereishit
Read: Haftarah in a Nutshell
Play: Bereishit Parshah Quiz
According to the first of two completely conflicting creation stories in our sacred Torah, “earth brought forth vegetation, seed bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with seed in it” on day 3 of creation, yet Hashem did not place the sun and the moon into their respective places in the sky to create day and night until the next day, day 4. Anyone who knows anything about basic science (which accurately explains the world in which we live) knows that this creation story completely contradicts everything we know about science, and how plants and fruit bearing trees need the sun for photosynthesis in order to produce energy in order to exist. It all makes sense when one acknowledges that the ancient authors who wrote this creation story were obviously completely ignorant about basic science, and had no idea where the sun went when it got dark at night, so we can’t blame them for their ignorance.
It is obvious that the recounting of creation is not meant to be complete. Just the creation of LIGHT itself requires the creation of a host of laws, constants and interaction with other laws, mathematics and chemistry which just were not comprehended of before the so-called "scientific age". Yet He did all that with a word; totally coordinated and comprehensive with a Word. That really glorifies Him. We are to study these Words and continue to glorify Him.
the Torah is not a history book. Rambam himself said it. Trying to make it “fit” our understanding of Science is missing the point. it’s a manual for man to understand his place in the World. Stories in the Torah are for us to find meaning and symbolisms, to learn, be inspired, improve ourselves and have a positive impact. Specially Bereshit. Shabbat Shalom!
If He created the world in 6 days, as He said, then the plants would only be without light for one day. How does science negate that truth? It doesn't. "And he (Abraham) believed in the L-rd and he counted it to him for righteousness." One must take G-d at His word! It seems obvious that no man was there when God created. Therefore His testimony through the written word was given to man by the One who was there at the beginning.