Bereshit and Noach: On Wisdom and Rest
Last week we began the annual torah-reading cycle over once again with the reading of Parshat Bereshit – the first chapters of the book of Bereshit /Genesis. This week we continue the narrative with Parshat Noach (Noah) , which includes not only the story of Noah and the flood, but also the Tower of Babel. As many of you are aware that there are certain portions in the Torah that are combined when it is not a leap year in the Jewish calendar and separated in leap years (when an entire extra month is added). Though Bereshit and Noach are not two such portions, I decided to treat them as if they were and see what might happen. The first thing that struck me was the name of this new double portion – Bereshit Noach . This could be translated as "In the beginning. … rest." This new name fascinated me for many reasons. For in the beginning of the Creation narrative there was chaos and formlessness. This is followed by an almost frenetic six days of creative activity on Go...