The Book of Genesis: Exploring Deep Roots

By Dr. J Tamaren and L.R. Davidson

"The Book of Genesis: Exploring Deep Roots" provides an illustrated study guide for use in Hebrew school curriculum for 6th to 8th graders. The study guide focuses on exploring 18 stories in Genesis from a Jewish perspective and includes colorful illustrations and exercises to keep students engaged. "The

• Language: English
• Publisher: Caduceus LLC
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781087984018

Book preview

i n t r o d u c t i o n

This book is a collection of 18 stories from Genesis, the first book of the Torah. These happen to be my favorite stories. They have strong story lines. They have characters we get to know. They have elegant phrases. They have miracles and marvels. They inform our lives even today, as Jews. What is there not to like?

I have faithfully translated these stories from the Hebrew. These stories are ancient, with roots that go back as far as 3500 years. They have survived for a very long time. They have been venerated by Jews and others as well. They have been shared for millenia, from one generation to the next. That is the meaning of the Hebrew expression, L’dor va’dor — from generation to generation.

I did this work while teaching Torah stories at a Reform religious school in Lexington, Kentucky.

These ancient stories go back to a time when the Hebrews lived in the land of Canaan (present-day Israel). Canaan was a tiny sliver of land, flanked by mighty empires to the east and to the west. When Babylon was a great city to the east and Egypt a great empire to the west.

The kings and pharaohs of Babylon and ancient Egypt are long gone. Their languages and stories largely disappeared 2,000 years ago. Recently, we have discovered fragments of their writing, but very little. The Hebrew Bible has survived throughout.

S t o r y 1: Bereshit

Genesis I

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; and the earth was unformed and there was darkness on the face of the waters and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light! – and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided between the light and between the darkness. And God called the light Day and the darkness Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, Let there be light

God then said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide water from water! So God made the firmament and God divided between the waters which were below the firmament and the waters which were above the firmament – and so it was. And God called the firmament Sky, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Let there be sky.

God then said, Let the waters beneath the sky be collected in one place, so that the dry ground may be seen! – and so it was. And God called the dry ground Earth, and called the collected waters Seas.

And God said, Let there be land.

And God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth grow vegetation, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees that bear fruit, each true to its type, with its seed in it! – and so it was. The land brought forth vegetation, seed-bearing plants, each true to its type, and trees bearing fruit, each true to its type, with its seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Fruit trees that bear fruit.

God then said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the sky to divide between day and between night, to be markers for sacred seasons, for days and years; and let there were lights in the firmament of the sky to bring light to the land – and so it was. God made the two great lights: the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night and the stars. And God put them in the sky to bring light to the land; and to divide between day and night, to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Let there be lights in the sky.

God then said, Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let the birds fly over the earth, on the face of the firmament of the sky! And God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that creeps, with which the waters swarm, all true to their types, and every winged bird, each true to its type. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas and the bird multiply in the earth! And it was evening and it was morning, the fifth day.

Let there be life in the sea.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every type: domestic animals and creeping things and wild animals, each true to its type! – and so it was. And God made the wild animals each true to its type, and the domestic animals, each true to its type, and every creature that steps on the ground, each true to its type; and God saw that it was good.

Let there be life on the land...

And God said, Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness, and let him rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over the beasts, over all the earth, over all that creeps upon the earth. And God created Man in the image of God, male and female, God created them. And God blessed them, saying to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and tame it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, and over every animal that creeps on the earth.

Let us make Man...male and female God created them

And God said, Here I have given you all the seed-bearing plants on the face of the earth, and every tree that has its seed-bearing fruit – these are for you to eat. And to all the creatures of the earth and to all the birds of the sky and to all which creeps on the earth in which is the breath of life and to all green vegetation for food – and it was so. And God saw all that which He had created and here it was very good and it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day.

And the heavens and the earth and all their hosts were completed.

And God finished on the seventh day, and God rested on the seventh day of creation. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.

And God blessed the seventh day.

Summary

This is the story of Creation, how God created the world as we know it in a sequential and orderly process.

• Day 1 – The