Genesis, 1:1 – 6:8
This Week’s Torah Portion | September 22 – September 28, 2013 – Tishrei 18 – Tishrei 24, 5774

In A Nutshell

Beresheet (In the Beginning) is the first portion in the Torah (Pentateuch). It tells the story of the creation of the world in six days, and the rest on the seventh day. It talks about the creation of the man, his arrival at the Garden of Eden, and the creation of the woman. The portion also narrates the story of the sin of the tree of knowledge, Cain and Abel, the generations from Cain to Lamech, the ten generations from Adam to Noah, the corruption that engulfed their generations, and the renewed hope that emerged with the birth of Noah.

 Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

Beresheet contains more stories than any other portion in the Torah. In many ways it is also the deepest of the portions, as it discusses the basis of our being—the creation of the soul.

The common soul was created out of the will to receive delight and pleasure, or simply, “the will to receive.” That will is the soul’s core, and it’s affected by six qualities: Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod. These qualities penetrated the substance—the will to receive—and designed it in synchrony with the upper force, the Creator. The reason why man is called Adam is that the word Adam comes from the word Adamah, from the verse, Adameh la Elyon (“I will be like the most high,” Isaiah, 14:14), since he is similar to the Creator, the sublime bestowal, sublime love, to that upper force that gave birth to it.

Adam is the structure of the soul that is equal in form to the Creator and is in Dvekut [adhesion] with Him in the Garden of Eden. A garden means “desire.” The garden is the part of the creature, Adam’s substance—the will to receive. Eden marks the degree of bestowal, degree of Bina. Adam, who is on the degree of Bina, is in the Garden of Eden.

This does not pertain to our world or to the universe we know, but rather to the common soul that the Creator created. From the very beginning, the common soul undergoes a special preparation, the sin, because at its inception it was adhered to the upper force, which means that it had no authority of its own, nothing to its name, or any sense of independent existence. In a sense it is like an embryo in its mother’s womb—on the one hand it exists, on the other hand it is part of its mother, and each of its actions is ruled by its superior.

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“Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God.”

So begins the chapter on Noah, immediately confusing the reader with what appears to be a straightforward story about our world.

However, it confuses only those who aren’t yet ready to read the Bible differently, still finding the simple historical narrative about a person named Noah satisfactory.

Ask yourself, “Where am I in this story of Noah?” Or better yet, “What is the meaning of my inner Noah?” You must seek only one approach to the contents of this book: “Everything I read here is about me.” Noah, the righteous, his wife, kids, and all the animals, the ark and the Tower of Babel all exist within me. They are forces, desires that govern my inner and outer worlds. All I have to do is get to them and sense them, and the gates to all the secrets will open for me.

Finding the Point of Noah in the Midst of Our Desires

“And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.”

This means that all our desires are egoistic.

However, we still see amidst all that corruption a certain point, miniscule and lonely, which is completely opposite from everything else on the earth. This is the “point in the heart.”

At the first egoistic level, this point is called “Noah.” The Noah within us is our first spiritual desire. It may be tiny and barely discernible, but we already feel it living inside us. Thus, we have discovered Noah.

Noah’s spark lives inside every one of us. The problem is that we’ve surrounded it with piles of selfishness that continually drown out its soft voice. As the ego grew, it coated Noah with more and more layers, overwhelming it with incessant desires. The pursuit of pleasure distanced man from Noah, making him coarser and more egoistic as Noah’s voice grew more and more faint. Finally, he has become essentially silent.

But Noah didn’t go anywhere. He constitutes the basis of man’s soul. Indeed, he is eternal, and simply waits for the time when man will turn back toward him.

In fact, this point we call “Noah” is the very center of our desires and is directly connected to the Creator. It is also eternal, whereas the egoistic desires surrounding it are short-lived, fleeting, vain and empty. Only that which aspires upward to the spiritual world is eternal, and that is where our desire known as “Noah” aims.

Noah Saving Us from Harmful External Influence

Have you ever wanted to suddenly stop this crazy rat race we call “life,” shut your eyes, cover your ears, and feel the silence that lives inside of you? Have you ever wished to hear the inner voice, un-obscured by foreign influences?

The TV, radio, and newspapers spray you with their advertisements; people both familiar and strangers force their thoughts and desires on you. Money! Power! Fame!

Your inner voice has been suppressed, smothered by all that’s happening around you. As you run along the highway of life, you’re spurred on by foreign desires. It’s only later that you realize that you were wrong, that you never wanted any of these things, that they were simply dictated to you, forced onto you by someone else.

How blissful it feels to be able to stop and hear your own, single desire, pure and disconnected from the material world. It’s the desire to experience spirituality, which is known in the Old Testament as “Noah.” It lives on inside of you, whether you’re a president or a mass murderer.

If you can hear the Noah within you, this tiny altruistic spark called, “Noah the Righteous,” if you can sense the desire to ascend above this world, then you are ready to achieve the peace, security, and eternity that await you on your spiritual path.

Noah: The Point Leading the World to the Creator

We remember that the word “earth” (Eretz) stems from the word Ratzon – desire. Therefore, “The earth was filled with violence” and “It was corrupt” means that your desires are corrupted: you exhaust yourself in pursuit of another’s possessions, you are completely egoistic, and you live only for yourself.

But is there really no answer to all this? Sure there is. Find the “Noah” inside you and save your life, as the text says: “And, behold, I will destroy them with the earth…But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shall you bring into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.”

The whole world is inside you. You are at the highest degree of existence, the tip of the pyramid that includes all the animate, vegetative, and inanimate souls located below you. They are “bound” to you as the one true creature that has a soul and the responsibility to raise itself and the whole world to the level of the Creator.

Thus, this story describes how the desire called “Noah” inside you assembles all the corrected parts of the soul (human, animate, vegetative and even the uncorrected parts that aspire for correction), which is the meaning of “two of every sort,” and comes into the ark with them.

The ark is a kind of screen, a protective force field that you create around you, and that helps you resist external disturbances, meaning all the egoistic influences of this world.

With the help of the ark, the protective screen, you seek answers to the questions, “Who am I? What am I living for? What is most important to me in life?”

You are preparing yourself to find the answers, and you are already certain that your search will be successful, since the point in the heart within you has already awakened and won’t let you rest for a moment. This point maintains direct contact with the Creator, and as it grows within you, it forms a vessel that’s ready to receive the Upper Light. That is the voice you hear, telling you you’re on the right track and that you will definitely reach the Creator, even if you don’t yet feel Him.

“What Is the Meaning of the Story of Noah in the Bible?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.

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Learning to Perceive Reality

During the correction process one gradually learns to sense this world and the Upper World, and their interaction at the same time. Information descends from the Upper World into ours and manifests as matter. We see physical objects, plants, animals, birds, insects, and people. But if we possess spiritual vision in addition to the corporeal one, we can also sense the forces that govern matter.

It is precisely this perception of reality that everyone must achieve: to sense the Creator behind everything that exists and transpires. We needn’t believe it blindly, but actually see and sense it. This is what the Torah teaches us.

Preparing the Independent, Free Willed Creature

The Creator created the creature from the quality of egoism, which is opposite to Him. He filled the creature with the Light, and then emptied it, thereby lowering it to the state called “our world.”

In return, the creature ascends back along the spiritual degrees, thereby meriting pleasures far greater than what it had before its descent into this world.

A question arises: to reach equivalence with its Maker, why did the creature need to experience the worst possible state?

The fact is that the creature must have the strength and freedom to act freely in between two opposite qualities: its own ego and the Creator, to freely choose its own path and independently follow it.

To provide man with these choices means the Creator must a) completely distance the creature from Himself, b) give the creature the ability to develop and attain the Universe, and c) allow the creature freedom of choice.

The Creator provides the creature with these conditions gradually. The creature that senses the Creator, and is therefore filled with the Light, is not autonomous. Rather, it is fully controlled by the Light, which dictates its own terms and imparts to it its qualities.

To create a fully autonomous and independent creature, the Creator must distance Himself from it completely. In other words, by freeing itself from the Light, the creature achieves independence in its actions.

The Torah: Instruction Manual to Repair the Soul

From the very first pages, this is exactly what the Torah speaks of: how to repair this unusable tool – our soul – and return to the Creator as a result. Like an instruction manual, it explains how one can ascend to the most supernal and perfect state, while still living in this world.

As was already mentioned, during the correction one exists between two worlds – the Upper and the lower. In the process of correction the soul acquires the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience for the correction. More importantly, one develops new sensations, new spiritual qualities. Thus, by achieving complete correction of the soul, one acquires the qualities that allow for existence in all the Upper Worlds – in eternity, serenity, and perfection.

Baal HaSulam, the Instructor of Our Generation

In order to pave the path for our generation the greatest Kabbalist of the modern age, Baal HaSulam, pleaded with the Creator to allow him to descend from the world of true perceptions to a lower degree, so he could communicate the way to the spiritual dimension using letters, words, and earthly emotions. When his request was granted, he penned the main Kabbalistic works for our generation, which we can use to enter the spiritual realm. His works are like a map without which you will surely lose your way in the labyrinth of corporeal life, lose hope, grow weary and pass away without ever learning the true purpose of your existence. Like a father responding to the suffering of his children, Baal HaSulam picks us up and carries us to the Light.

Just as one cannot exist in our world without understanding it, the soul cannot exist in the spiritual world after the body passes without acquiring knowledge about it beforehand. Therefore, all the achievements in the science of Kabbalah not only guarantee us a comfortable existence in this world, but also the opportunity to exist in the world to come.

“What Is Independence and Free Will According to the Torah?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.

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After Adam’s sin comes the exile, all the way down to our world. “By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Breaking as a Preparation for the Future Return

Why did the Creator conceive and execute this “operation” of breaking an exalted spiritual desire into many pieces, which fell into our world and clothed themselves in bodies? They forgot all about the fairytale garden and don’t perceive the spiritual world whatsoever. They feel no influence of the spiritual Light, but are occupied with themselves, catering to their petty corporeal desires, clashing their egos in wars, discord, and hatred. Indeed, what was the reason for breaking this great, unified soul of Adam?

The breaking allowed the most important thing to happen: the sparks of bestowal, the altruistic desires of Man (Adam) fell into the kingdom of egoism and saturated it with the “spirit of bestowal.” A “recording” was made in our egoism that there is such a great thing as a spiritual connection with the Creator, which is unbelievable joy that’s difficult to express in words.

It is precisely this feeling that will come into play later. It will remain dormant in our egos, waiting for an opportunity that will certainly come, for everything develops exclusively by the Creator’s design. Then, these sparks of spiritual experience, latent and biding their time, will illuminate the kingdom of egoism, and a path will appear in the total darkness. Like a seeing man leading the blind on a path, so will these sparks lead the egoistic desires toward the Light, toward correction.

The Time of Return Has Arrived

That time has come. Humanity realizes it has reached a dead end, that it cannot progress to a good life. We already feel the harm inherent in egoism, and we blame it for all the deadly sins: “…for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” We perceive it as dust from which nothing grows but war, depression, terrorism, and an endless string of suffering. This sensation signifies that the Creator is calling us to Him. He has “shone” His Light on us, and in it we saw ourselves as we really are – a sight so terrifying that we began to seek a way out of our selves. This is called “a prayer.”

It is precisely in this situation that the sparks of the soul of the first man awaken in us. They exist in everyone. Soon we will all feel them and realize we are parts of the one soul, one organism, and we’ll wish to return “Home,” living in unity with all the other souls, for without it we won’t survive.

Predetermined Path towards Perfection

Obviously, the act of the breaking was preordained. Otherwise, the “kingdom of darkness” would reign within us forever, and we would never awaken to feel the spiritual world as we crawl on the ground and consume dust like serpents.

Indeed, it is the Creator who has brought us to this state of futility, for there is no other force in the world – no demons, no devils, no witches – there is only the Creator. To compel us to independently ascend to His level, He has placed us in this situation.

Moreover, on our way back to Him we will need to undergo trials.

These trials are prepared for our benefit, for by overcoming them we form a single desire – to return to our previous state of our own volition, and live in accordance with the law of unity and love.

“Why Did Adam Sin in the Garden of Eden? What Is Today’s Outcome of Adam’s Sin?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.

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And the serpent said unto the woman: ‘You shall not surely die; for God knows that in the day you eat thereof, your eyes shall open, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil.’”

What Is the Serpent and Why Does the Serpent Appear?

The “serpent” is your egoistic desire, your nature.

You would be right to ask, “What is the reason that the serpent (our ego) revealed itself?” Why didn’t it just go on living in the Garden of Eden, as any other living creature, without leading man to sin?

The answer is that man would then remain on the level of an angel, “infertile,” while the goal is for him to become human! This is why the serpent (ego) reveals itself. It is precisely what man needs to rise from the level of the Garden of Eden to the Creator’s level, and of his own volition.

Why, then, Does the Serpent Go through Eve?

Eve is that concealed ego that already exists in Adam (the desire to bestow). Eve is the bridge that links Adam to the real, powerful ego (man’s nature, as ego can only be connected through ego). So when the time comes to execute this connection, the serpent appears before Eve: “And he said unto the woman: ‘Indeed, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden.’’”

Because Eve is the egoistic part of Adam (the quality of bestowal), she resists the serpent because she wishes to keep Adam pure, an angel, so she can stay with him in the Garden.

Becoming Human by the Serpent’s Advice

However, according to the Creator’s plan, Adam must become truly human, and grow from the state of Katnut (infancy) he is in, to the state of Gadlut (adulthood). He will achieve this after finally demonstrating his ego to the full extent, but using it exclusively to benefit others, for the sake of the Creator.

This is why the true ego insists: “And the serpent said unto the woman: ‘Ye shall not surely die; for God knows that in the day you eat thereof, your eyes shall open, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil.’”

In other words, our “serpent” insists that this is the only way to actualize a true act of bestowal toward the Creator. That is, carrying out a true act of bestowal toward the Creator involves attaching the whole egoism, and achieving the goal of Creation, namely equivalence with the Creator, all in one go. (The serpent didn’t lie. He was speaking from the end goal when this will happen one way or the other. He had only the best intentions.)

The Eve in man thinks that he really will be able to deal with his ego. He feels confident and doesn’t doubt for a second that he will not stumble off the spiritual path.

Revealing the Egoistic Self through Eating from the Tree

This Bible story describes what happens when Eve (the egoistic desire that’s not connected to the spiritual, to Adam) joins forces with the serpent (the primordial, earthly egoism) and heeds his words: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise…”

In other words, you thought this action would bring you to the goal, that it was “good for food,” just as the serpent claimed. That is when the strongest egoistic desire enters you – your Adam, your most ardent desire to attain the spiritual state. This causes the “breaking of your Adam,” the pure spiritual desire, and this is “the fall of man” (Adam).

“…she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” You were certain you’d prevail, that you would do it for the sake of advancing spiritually. That was your sincere intention. The Adam in you “eats,” meaning attaches to himself egoism he has never used before. Naturally, he did not prevail; he began to use the pleasure for himself.

Indeed, they discovered the Light of Love, the Creator’s Light that surrounded them all that time. “And the eyes of them both were opened,” but then they also saw each other in that Light, and realized that they were absolutely opposite to Him.

They understood that they were egoists and couldn’t be like Him, having felt their corruption, their disparity from the Creator on the one hand, and their individuality, uniqueness and ability to achieve correction on the other hand. You could say this was the first manifestation of man’s “I.” Until that moment, he existed in the general Light, fully devout to the Creator, when suddenly his “eyes were opened”: There is my “I,” there is my ego.

“What Does the Serpent Mean in the Bible Story of the Garden of Eden?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.

 Purchase Paperback »

 Purchase ePub & Kindle »

 Download PDF Free »