The last Torah Portion was Beireshit or “In Beginning,” where I suggest that the Creation narrative is a pattern repeated in Scripture until the perfect Human comes and flawlessly reflects the Image of God. This is a re-creation pattern that I learned from Rabbi David Fohrman over at Alephbeta.org.
One Day– The Ruach or Spirit above the waters as in Genesis 1:1-2 and Genesis 8:1;
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
“And God made a wind (Ruach) to pass over the earth and the waters subsided.”
Day Two– Upper and Lower Waters found in Genesis 1:7 and mirrored in Genesis 8:2;
“Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament (deep) from the waters which were above the firmament (heaven); and it was so.”
“The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped…”.
Third Day– God established dry land in Gen 1:9, which we see mirrored in Genesis 8:13;
“Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.”
“And indeed, the surface of the ground was dry…”.
Fourth Day shows the luminaries being for days and seasons. Genesis 8:22 replays Genesis 1:14;
“Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years.”
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”
Fifth Day– every creature “after its kind” came off the ark in Genesis 8:19 KJV, a repeat of Genesis 1:21;
“So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
“Every beast, every creeping thing and every fowl, and whatever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.”
Sixth Day-Be fruitful and multiply is a command given in Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 9:7;
“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that [h]moves on the earth.”
“And as for you, be fruitful and multiply: bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.”
In the first Beginning, we have the first Adam, who was given the duty of reflecting God’s image to the world. Here in Genesis 8-9, we have the world becoming full of evil and violence, causing God to regret making humankind. God starts over with Noach and his family as a sort of redo. Noach walks with God and is called righteous but somehow fails to reflect the Divine Image fully. The re-creation cycle does not end with Noach, as we will find as we adventure through this year of Torah Portions.
*Fohrman, Rabbi David. “Why a Flood, Of All Things?” Aleph Beta. Accessed 2022. https://www.alephbeta.org.
(Taken from the chapter labeled Snake Bite in ENEME: Understanding Satan From a Hebrew Perspective)
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