Ohr Somayach :: Succos :: Parshat Bereishet

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Questions

Why does the Torah start with the account of Creation?
What happened to the light that was created on the first day?
Why isn't the word "good" associated with the second day?
How were the trees supposed to taste?
On which day were the sun and moon created?
Hashem blessed the birds to be fruitful and to multiply. Why did He not do so with the beasts?
In whose likeness was man fashioned?
What kind of food did Adam eat?
Why is "the sixth day" written with the definite article?
At the end of the sixth day what was the world still lacking?
Why was man made from dust gathered from the entire earth?
How is man superior to the animals?
Why was it not good that man be alone?
Where do we learn that one must not add to a commandment from Hashem?
What does it mean that Adam and Chava "knew that they were naked?"
Why did Hevel choose to be a shepherd?
What was the marital practice of the generation who lived before the flood?
What did Tuval-Cain invent?
Why did Chanoch die at a young age?
What was the sign that Shem was born with great propensity for righteousness?

Answers

All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated

1:1 - So that when the nations accuse us of stealing Eretz Canaan from the Canaanites, we can respond that Hashem, as Creator, has the right to give the land to whomever He sees fit, and He gave Eretz Canaan to us.
1:4 - Hashem saw that the wicked would be unworthy of it so He hid it for the righteous.
1:7 - Because the work with the water wasn't completed until the third day. Anything that is incomplete is not "good."
1:11 - The wood was to have the taste of the fruit.
1:14 - They were created on the first day and suspended in the firmament on the fourth day.
1:22 - He did not want the serpent, who was to be cursed, to receive a blessing.
1:26 - In the likeness of the angels.
1:30 - Vegetation.
1:31 "The" in Hebrew is the letter hey, which has a numerical value of five. Hashem created the world on the condition that it will endure only if the Jewish People accept the Five Books of the Torah.
2:2 - Rest.
2:7 - So that wherever he might die, the earth would receive his body.
2:7 - He was given understanding and speech.
2:18 - If he were alone, he would appear to be a god; The creation of woman emphasized man's dependence.
3:3 - From Chava. Hashem commanded not to eat from the tree but she added not to touch it. Because she added to the command she eventually came to transgress it.
3:7 - They had been given one commandment and they had stripped themselves of it.
4:2 - Since the ground had been cursed he refrained from cultivating it.
4:19 - They married two wives, one with whom to have children. The other one was given a potion which prevented her from bearing children.
4:22 - Murder weapons.
5:22 - Though he was righteous, he was easily influenced; therefore Hashem took him before his time to protect him from sinning.
5:32 - He was born already circumcised.

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