Weekly Parsha

The New Song of Creation

The word of G‑d brought everything into being: heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, and every living thing. In the beginning, G‑d called into existence the heaven and earth. Within six days He shaped a world order (Melody) and beauty (Harmony).

David HaMelech (King David) wrote: Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth when he brought the Mishkan (Ark of the Convenant) up to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).

To sing a new song is to create opportunities to grow. d

Paradise

"In the beginning of G-d's creating the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1) ... G-d blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because on it He abstained from all His work which G-d created to make (Gen. 2:3).

The Mishkan was a Divine-Human partnership. G-d asked for Terumah (Donations for the materials), and then He promised to manifest His presence among the people. Of corse G-d does not need anything from us since He is the possessor of Heaven and Earth, Gold and Silver, but He extends to us the opportunity to sanctify his name from our own substances and to create a dwuelling place for him. "Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8).

G-d asked for "gifts of the heart" to create a space for a place for Him. When we take the Gashmiut (materialism or physical pleasures") from our hearts, then we have space for the Ruchniyut (Spiritual pleasures). Gashmiut everyone wants, but once you have it, there is no feeling of fulfillment. Ruchniyut on the other hand, nobody wants, but when you have it, there is such a deep feeling of fulfillment. 

The Hebrew word for Temple is Beit HaMikdash. The Hebrew word for sanctuary is Mikdash, witch comes from the root word Kadash (to be set apart as sacred). We are suposed to be set apart as a sacred place, a holy place that represents something treasured, a place of beauty, refuge, worship and rest. That's the feeling of living in the Paradise. 

Kelipot

literally "Peels", "Shells" or "Husks" (from singular: קְלִפָּה qlippah "Husk"), are the representation of evil or impure spiritual forces, the polar opposites of the holy Sefirot. Kelipot are metaphorical "shells" surrounding holiness. The Shekhinah (presence of G-d on earth) is separated in Creation from the Sefirot by man's sin. The kelipah is the wall that separates us from living at the paradise.

Avodah

Adam and Chava had to start working as a punishment.

Self Worship

In time, Cain killed Abel.  God said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”  Cain said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”  God said, “Your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground so now this soil shall no longer give you strength and you shall become restless upon the earth.” And Cain replied, “My sin is greater than I can bear and someone will kill me”.

Abel brought what G-d asked him for. However Cain brought what he thought was the best of him. Abel worshiped G-d swith his divine soul (Nefash Alokis) and Cain worshiped himself with his animal soul (Nefash Beheima). He did not believe in G-d but he believed in the men.

Kosher Diet

G-d called Cain and Abel to teach them how to kill the lamb without suffering. They had to bury the blood, check the internal organs, removing and burning the forbiden fat (Helev) and preparing the skin to make clothes to cover their bodies. It is forbidden to slaughter the parent with its young on the same day (Leviticus 22:28)

Abel was a shepherd and easily could perform the offering asked by G-d. Cain had blood aversion decide to offer a basket of fruits and vegetables instead. Cain could have asked G-d to help him to handle the blood issue but he got anger and killed his brother because of jealousy. 

Blessing and Cursing 

After Abel’s murder, Adam and Eve beget another son, Seth. Seth, in turn begets Enosh, who begets Kenan, who begets Mahalalel, who begets Jared, who begets Hanokh, who begets Metuselah, who begets Noah, from whom, as survivors of the flood, we are all descended. To carry on the scriptures, the Torah recounts the generations between Adam and Noah, from which Cain is conspicuously absent. It means the blessing and cursing will go through the generations. If we do not walk according to the scriptures we will be left out of G-d's kingdom.

Mission

Methuselah (3074-2105 BCE) Son of Enoch and grandfather of Noah; a wise and righteous man.  G-d trusted Methuselah to 969 years to be able to carry on the scriptures he got from Adam to give it to Noah (the longest recorded lifespan in the scriptures). He lived 969 years and died seven days before the Flood.

The tests of life are not to break you,
but to make you.

Shabbat Shalom!

Ovadiah Tank

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