Parashat Bereshit (In the beginning…)
26th Tishrei, 5786 / October 18th, 2025
By Kyle Doberstein
This Week’s Readings:
Torah: Genesis 1:1 - 6:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 42:5 - 43:10
Brit Chadashah: John 3:10-17
In the beginning… Well, every good story starts with a beginning. I enjoy referencing The Lord of the Rings movies since they are some of my favorite stories. I loved the adventure of the heroic journey to destroy the secret ring. But even these great stories can have moments of failure. Times when hope feels lost or everything that was once good appears now to be broken. The Bible is full of these stories; mankind has a way of destroying things and causing havoc on something that was good. However, in this parashah we’ll see that although we can fall short of G-d’s commands, G-d still loves us and provides us with ways to be forgiven and to move forward smartly.
In the Torah portion, we learn of the creation of all things, and that it was all done by G-d. G-d created the heavens, earth, light, land, sea, plants, stars, animals, and finally humans to rule over all of it. He made humankind in his image and deems all these creations as “good”. Then on the seventh day, G-d rested, making the seventh day holy and blessed. Then the portion continues on and gives more details about the first humans, Adam and Eve, the garden of Eden, and the first command from G-d to man to never eat the fruit from the Tree of Life. It sounds like paradise, doesn't it? They can live there and not worry about hunger or thirst as long as they don't eat of this Tree of Life? Wow! I'm sure the humans will do just that. Wrong. A serpent tempts Eve to eat from the forbidden tree, and she gives the fruit to Adam so he can eat too. This brought knowledge to them, as their eyes were “opened” and they saw they were naked, and so they hid from G-d. This act brought sin and death into the world. But we all know we can't hide from G-d and Adam revealed to G-d what happened. Well, G-d wasn't happy. G-d curses the serpent, increases pain for Eve in labor, and makes the ground hard to work with. Then Adam and Eve are banished from the garden. Then later we have the first sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. Surely they will do better than their parents. Well wrong again. G-d favors Abel’s offering and Cain becomes jealous and kills Abel. G-d then punished Cain, making him a restless wanderer, but marks him so he isn't killed. Well, you would think sin would stop there after that. Well, unfortunately not. As people began to multiply on earth, so did sin. G-d regrets creating humanity and considers wiping them all out but, He finds favor in a particular person. You'll have to be here next week to hear the story of Noah.
The Haftarah portion calls us back to the beginning saying, G-d is the Creator of heaven and earth, and gives life to all. He calls Israel to bring justice and light to the nations. G-d reaffirms that He will keep Israel and deliver them. He also reaffirms not to worship anything else but Him alone. G-d calls everyone to rejoice for who He is and His mighty works. G-d will bring justice and defeat sin, but Israel does not see G-d despite being chosen by Him. Israel was punished by G-d for their disobedience and reaffirms the result of ignoring G-d. But G-d is understanding and reassures that His people are redeemed by Him. He promises to deliver the people of Israel from destruction because He loves us. G-d vows to bring us all together in the world and restore us because we were ultimately created for His glory!
The Brit Chadashah portion reassures us that G-d really does love this world He created. This is also kind of the climax to the story of G-d’s Earth. G-d gives us a way to destroy evil and sin through His one and only Son’s sacrifice and whoever believes in Him will never perish, just as it was in the beginning before humans ate of the forbidden tree. This is the Good News that we teach. This is the news we must spread too.
Yes, this was quite the journey, maybe not exactly like The Lord of the Rings but in some ways similar. But this journey isn't done. You see, G-d gave us all we need to destroy evil, all we need to do is believe in Him and the sacrifice Yeshua made for the redemption of mankind. Or in other words, G-d gave us Mount Mordor and all we have to do is deliver the ring there to destroy it. Yes, it's a very daunting journey and we may not be as brave as Frodo or Sam to do this task, but knowing that G-d loves us and that He did create this world to be good, I believe this world is worth fighting for.