בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
בְּרוּךֶ אַתֶה חֲוָיָה שְׁכִינּוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדַשְׁתַנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיהֶ וְצִוְתָנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ אֱלֹהָתֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קֵרְבָתְנוּ לַעֲבוֹדָתָהּ וְצִוְתָנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
Blessings for learning and studying Torah
Berakhot 11b:
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Nonbinary Hebrew Project:
B’rucheh ateh Khavayah Shekhinu ruach ha’olam asher kidash’tanu b’mitzvotei’he v’tziv’tanu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Feminine God Language:
Brukhah at Ya Elohateinu ruach ha’olam asher keir’vat’nu la’avodatah v’tziv’tavnu la’asok b’divrei Torah
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים תּוֹצֵ֨א הָאָ֜רֶץ נֶ֤פֶשׁ חַיָּה֙ לְמִינָ֔הּ בְּהֵמָ֥ה וָרֶ֛מֶשׂ וְחַֽיְתוֹ־אֶ֖רֶץ לְמִינָ֑הּ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֩ אֶת־חַיַּ֨ת הָאָ֜רֶץ לְמִינָ֗הּ וְאֶת־הַבְּהֵמָה֙ לְמִינָ֔הּ וְאֵ֛ת כׇּל־רֶ֥מֶשׂ הָֽאֲדָמָ֖ה לְמִינֵ֑הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכׇל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכׇל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
And God created humankind in the divine image,
creating it in the image of God—
creating them male and female.
... Said R’ Yirmiyah ben Elazar: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created him [as] an androgyne/androginos, as it is said, “male and female He created them”. Said R’ Shmuel bar Nachmani: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created [for] him a double-face/di-prosopon/ du-par’tsufin, and sawed him and made him backs, a back here and a back [t]here, as it is said, “Back/achor and before/qedem You formed me” [Ps 139:5]. They objected to him: But it says, “He took one of his ribs/ts’la`ot . . . ” [Gn 2:21]! He said to them: [It means] “[one] of his sides/sit’rohi”, just as you would say, “And for the side/tsela` of the Tabernacle/ mishkan” [Ex 26:20], which they translate [in Aramaic] “for the side/seter”. R’ Tanchuma in the name of R’ Banayah and R’ B’rakhyah in the name of R’ Elazar said: In the time that the Holy One created Adam Harishon, [as] a golem He created him and he was set up from [one] end of the world and unto its [other] end – that’s what is written: “Your eyes saw my golem” [Ps 139:16]. R’ Yehoshua bar Nechemyah and R’ Yehudah bar Simon in R’ Elazar’s name said: He created him filling the whole world. From where [do we know he extended] from the East to West? That it’s said: “Back/achor (i.e., after, the place of sunset) and before/East/qedem You formed/enclosed me /tsartani” [Ps 139:5]. From where [that he went] from North to South? That it’s said: “and from the edge of the heavens and until the edge of the heavens” [Dt 4:32]. And from where [that he filled] even the world’s hollow-space? That it’s said: “. . . and You laid Your palm upon me” [Ps 139:5]...
The Gemara presents a mnemonic for the statements that follow: At the time, to the end, Aramaic. Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: At the time that the Holy One, Blessed be He, sought to create a person, He created one group of ministering angels. He said to them: If you agree, let us fashion a person in our image. The angels said before him: Master of the Universe, what are the actions of this person You suggest to create? God said to them: His actions are such and such, according to human nature. The angels said before him: Master of the Universe: “What is man that You are mindful of him? And the son of man that You think of him?” (Psalms 8:5), i.e., a creature such as this is not worth creating. God outstretched His small finger among them and burned them with fire. And the same occurred with a second group of angels. The third group of angels that He asked said before Him: Master of the Universe, the first two groups who spoke their mind before You, what did they accomplish? The entire world is Yours; whatever You wish to do in Your world, do. God then created the first person. When history arrived at the time of the people of the generation of the flood and the people of the generation of the dispersion, i.e., the Tower of Babel, whose actions were ruinous, the angels said before God: Master of the Universe, didn’t the first set of angels speak appropriately before You, that human beings are not worthy of having been created? God said to them concerning humanity: “Even to your old age I am the same; and even to gray hairs will I suffer you; I have made and I will bear; and I will carry, and I will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:4), i.e., having created people, I will even suffer their flaws.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, "Why Were We Created?" https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/bereishit/why-were-we-created/
The Talmud, imagining a conversation between God and the angels, is suggesting a tension within the mind of God Himself. The answer God gives the angels is extraordinary: “Even to old age I will not change, and even to grey hair, I will still be patient.” Meaning: I, God, am prepared to wait. If it takes ten generations for a Noah to emerge, and another ten for an Abraham, I will be patient. However many times humans disappoint Me, I will not change. However much evil they do in the world I will not despair. I despaired once, and brought a Flood. But after I saw that humans are merely human, I will never bring a Flood again.
God created humanity because God has faith in humanity. Far more than we have faith in God, God has faith in us. We may fail many times, but each time we fail, God says: “Even to old age I will not change, and even to grey hair, I will still be patient.” I will never give up on humanity. I will never lose faith. I will wait for as long as it takes for humans to learn not to oppress, enslave or use violence against other humans. That, implies the Talmud, is the only conceivable explanation for why a good, wise, all-seeing and all-powerful God created such fallible, destructive creatures as us. God has patience. God has forgiveness. God has compassion. God has love.
“This one at last
Is bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh.
This one shall be called Woman,
For from a Human was she taken.”
Yalkut Shimoni, American Jewish World Service translation
God gathered the dust [of the first human] from the four corners of the world - red, black, white and green. Red is the blood, black is the inards and green for the body. Why from the four corners of the earth? So that if one comes from the east to the west and arrives at the end of his life as he nears departing from the world, it will not be said to him, "This land is not the dust of your body, it's of mine. Go back to where you were created." Rather, every place that a person walks, from there she was created and from there [she belongs]."
ויפח באפיו. עֲשָׂאוֹ מִן הַתַּחְתּוֹנִים וּמִן הָעֶלְיוֹנִים, גוּף מִן הַתַּחְתּוֹנִים וּנְשָׁמָה מִן הָעֶלְיוֹנִים
ויפח באפיו AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS — He made him of both, of earthly and of heavenly matter: the body of the earthly, and the soul of the heavenly.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, "Parashat Bereishit: Man and Earth," https://www.jpost.com/judaism/torah-portion/parashat-bereishit-man-and-earth-680719
The ground has a special quality: In and of itself, it lacks content, but it conceals within it the power of growth and flourishing. A person can plant a single seed, which will eventually become a flower, a vegetable, or a fruit tree. Humans reflect this incredible trait of the ground. When man does not strive to realize the divine light within him, he becomes empty of significance; but he has the ability to make the divine seed within him grow, to illuminate it. Because of this characteristic that man shares with the dust of the ground, he is named for it.
“And God said, let us make humankind...”: With whom did God consult? R. Joshua in the name of R. Levi said: with the works of the heavens and the earth He consulted, like a king who had two advisers, without whose counsel he did nothing. R. Samuel ben Nachman said: He consulted the work of each day, like a king who had an adviser, without whose counsel he did nothing. R. Ami said: With His own heart he took counsel. This may be compared to a king who had a palace built by an architect, but when he saw it, it did not please him. With whom is he displeased--with the architect!?! Thus, “Then YHWH was sorry that He had made humankind on earth, and it pained Him in His heart” (Gen. 6:6). R. Yosi said: This may be compared to a king who did business through an agent and suffered loss. With whom is he displeased--with the agent!?! Similarly, “and it pained Him in His heart.”1 (8:3)
Prof. Marc Zvi Brettler, "Differing Conceptions of the Divine Creator," https://www.thetorah.com/article/differing-conceptions-of-the-divine-creator
The nature of the God of the first creation story is well-expressed in Psalm 148:5; וכי הוא צוה ונבראו, “for it was He who commanded that they be created.” God is extremely powerful, and His (yes—this God is masculine) words cause the primordial chaos (see 1:1-2) to restructure itself into the well-organized world that we know, where everything occupies its proper place. Although powerful, He has a divine council with whom He sometimes deliberates, as made clear in the plural נעשה, “let us make” in 1:26. (see Rashi and the sources he cites from b. Sanhedrin 38b and Tanhuma). This suggests that God is king—it is kings who have such advisors, and engage in massive building projects.
[...]
Genesis 2:4b depicts a very different God. He is not king, but much more parent-like and personal. He walks the garden (3:8) and talks to people (3:9-19)—this is unimaginable for the royal, distant, powerful God of the first story. He makes mistakes. First He thinks that land animals or birds might be suitable mates for the man (2:19). Then He makes the same error of all young-parents—He does not know how to define limits, and says “You can do everything but this,” not realizing that all children will of course gravitate to “this,” here, eating of the tree. But God remains parental, for example, replacing the primordial couple’s fig-leaf with a more permanent, leather garment, dressing them Himself (3:21). Kings never do that to their subjects!
[...]
I think that this is the strength of the Bible rather than a weakness. Different people relate to one or another of these divine portraits—some of us are drawn to an approachable God, and being that is more be like us, while for others, a majestic, distant deity is more “Godlike.” Sometimes this can even shift with time and need—the very same person may sometimes need to connect to a God who walks about the Garden at the breezy time of the day (Gen 3:8), while at other times they may need to connect to a God who insists that all is ordered and in its place, good, indeed very good.
Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein, "Bereshit: lo tov heyot levado," https://e46dcf.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Bereshit-lo-tov-heyot-levado.pdf
Just as the first act of Creation was for the Divine to make space so that something new could exist, just as the first Divine observation about the human condition is that we should have an Other with whom to interact, we enact our role as Divine Image when we make space for an Other, when we seek relationship not just with God, but with each other. We enact our unique human role by remembering that we all come from the same source, AND by acknowledging the distinct mystery at the heart of creation: that no human being can fully know another’s mind, and the divine play of trying to understand each other is what brings us closer to the holiness.
It is not good for the human to be alone. In this new cycle of torah, let’s remember to make space for each other, and also to reach out and bridge the gaps between us.