Monday, February 13, 2012

Perek Bet



Salutations, 


Perek 2 starts off with some words we should all recognize: 


  וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ, וְכָל-צְבָאָם.
  וַיְכַל אֱלkים בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה; וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּוֹם
הַשְּׁבִיעִי, מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה.
(It's Shabbat! Cool!)
Okay, so just a bit of a flashback. In Perek 1 the world is created. The Torah describes step by step what is created in different days. Everything is being created out of nothing, and the world is no longer a mess.We learn that man is created Btzelem Elokim. <-- Super, duper Important for Bereshit. Don't forget it!
God made trees appear and everything is super lovely there. There are details about the rivers that run through including the Tigris and Euphrates (remember them?).
In passuk 17 there is the first commandment in the Torah. ויצו- and Hashem commanded. Hashem's commandment is that they are allowed to eat from all the trees in Eden except not the Tree of Knowledge / of good and bad. 
Now, as we go into Perek 2, we are learning new things about Man's purpose in the world. We discover that man's purpose is larger, that he is different than animals. Adam names the animals, which establishes the hierarchy and reinforces the idea that  Adam is above animals. Since an animal couldn't be Adam's Ezer Kenegto, at the end of the perek,Chava is created. 
At the end of the perek, the Torah says that they were both naked, but they were not ashamed. This will come in use when we talk about  their sin, because then they'll realize their nakedness.
The Garden of Eden
Questions:
It mentions the Tigris and Euphrates. Do you think this is significant? Do you think the Garden is actually on earth? What's the deal here? 
What do you think about Chava being made from Adam's bones? Do you think this establishes men as being superior to women?

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