Category Archives: Bereshit_1-2:4

Note for educators about the intertextual activity on ‘טוב’

 Note for Educators:

N.B. This could also be organized for students by putting each of these passages on a card and writing the translations of ‘tov’ from different English translations on the back of the card. First the students look at the passage and think about it themselves, then turn the card over and see the way ‘tov’ has been translated across different translators. Some examples are:

Translations found in English translation of the Bible

2:9:       good

2:18:     right

6:2        Fair, beautiful

15:15    ripe

16:6      right, appropriate

Leading Idea: What is ‘good’

Download pdf    Leading Idea:   What is ‘good’  (“וירא אלהים כי-טוב“)

 

The term ‘good’ is a valuative term; to use it is to judge something in positive light. While the term ‘good’ is often used in moral discourse (e.g.; what it means to be a ‘good person’), not all uses of the term point to ethical judgments – for instance, we often say of our food: “this is good!”, or someone might refer to their car as ‘a good car’. So there are moral and non-moral valuations of the word ‘good’, both in the Tanach and in the students’ daily lives.

We find the term ‘good’ woven throughout this first account of creation. What does it mean in this context? When the text says: “וירא אלהים כי-טוב” ( ‘And God saw that it was good” ) what kind of valuative judgment is being made?  Indeed a number of issues concerning valuations might emerge through reading the text. We might list these as the following:

  1. What is the meaning of the word ‘Good’ ?
  2. What is involved in recognizing something as being good
  3. “God Saw that it was good” – This involves both seeing something (being aware of it) and judging it.
  4. What is the difference between saying something is ‘good’ and saying it is ‘very good’?    Can there be different degrees of good? (v’s. 4,10,12,18, 21,25, to v.31, 5.
  5. There is also the issue of part-whole relations – what is the difference between judging each part of something good and judging the whole thing as good? (also     particularly relevant to Day 6.)

Because the phrase”וירא אלהים כי-טוב”   repeats itself several times in the text, there is an opportunity here to explore a different angle on each occasion. This would help develop a thicker and more textured appreciation of the meaning of the text overall.

Each of these issues and distinctions are explored in the exercises and discussion plans below.

Induction piece: As an induction piece we suggest sections A and B in the first discussion plan “Exploring different meanings of ‘good’” as it opens up the range of meanings ‘good’ carries in everyday life. Each of these give a very different reading to the act of creation. (Section C could come later, after the reading before or during their inquiry).

 

Discussion Plan: Creating something entirely new – ps,hs

Discussion Plan: Creating something entirely new

  1. When an artist creates a work of art, are they creating something entirely new?
  2. When the very first computer was created, was its creation entirely new?
  3. Can words create something entirely new?  (if so, does it need to be an entirely new word?)
  4. When we create things, does it always have to be out of something that already existed?
  5. Can shaping existing elements in totally new ways create something entirely new? (What about dreams? Fantasies? a language?)
  6. How do you think it is possible for an inventor to come up with a radically new idea?
  7. Is there anything we can create out of nothing?
  8. What about a problem? Can we create a problem out of nothing?
  9. If something is totally transformed – a larvae into a butterfly – is the entirely new thing (the butterfly) something created or something made?

In light of the discussion above, if the heavens and earth were created as an entirely new thing  – what might this mean?

Discussion Plan: Making and Creating – ps,hs

* Discussion Plan: Making and Creating, ps,hs

A. Consider what it takes to ‘make’ something in each of these  cases

  1. Can you turn a piece of fabric into a dress using a dressmaking pattern? If so, what form of activity does ‘making a dress’ involve? (what do you do to the fabric so that it is now a dress?)
  2. Can you make (or produce) a cake from flour, sugar, water and eggs? If so, what is involved in ‘making’ the ingredients into a cake?
  3. Can you make a face out of a lump of clay? If so, what is involved in ‘making’ the face?
  4. Can you produce a new song out of exiting sound clips? If so, what is involved in ‘making’ the new song?
  5. Can you make a work of art out of rubbish? If so, what is involved in ‘making’ it?
  6. Can you make/produce a new object that no-one has thought of before?  If so, what would this involve?
  7. Can you make up a story that no-one has imagined before? If so, what does this involve?
  8. Can you make a solution to a problem before anyone has even imagined the problem?  If so, how?

 For teachers: Here are some of the options for what ‘making’ might involve in the above discussion plan – but don’t limit your students to these:

Joining pieces together, mixing things together, uncovering something hidden within, moulding, reorganizing, transforming, reconceiving, inventing, intuiting.

 

B. Could any of these acts be acts of creating rather than of making?  If so, what would be the difference between them? (ie, between making a dress and creating a dress, making a cake, creating a cake, etc)?

 

Leading Idea: Creating and Making

Download pdf      Leading Idea: Creating and Making

In this first story of creation God is busily engaged in creating the world. What is creating? Is creating something different from making something? In the Torah, the verb בָּרָא is used to speak of bringing into existence something entirely new, astonishing or wonderous, and unforeseen – for example, (i) when speaking to Moses at Sinai of wonders he will create that have never before appeared ( Shemot 34:10) and (ii) in Bamidbar (16:30) when Moses uses it to warn Dathan and Abiram to describe the punishment God will deliver to those involved in Korach’s rebellion as something entirely new and unheard of – never before seen (opening the earth to swallow the people). Torah also leaves creation in the God’s hands – people make, God can creates. This has led people to see creation as being the (Divine) ability to produce a result (something) out of nothing. Whereas Human ‘Making’ requires prior raw materials, ‘creation’ does not.

What does it mean to create something entirely new? Something without precedent? Something astonishing in its newness? To see the creation of the world this way is to open it up to a new attentive wonder. This discussion plan explores this sense of creation.

Induction piece: As an induction piece we suggest the first discussion plan “Making and Creating” as it opens up the range of ways ‘making’ something can happen and gets students thinking about what the difference between making and creating is – and thus to think harder about what the characteristics of ‘creating something’ are. If you do this, make sure to link this to the text they will be reading. While this will narrow the scope of what they might look to see as interesting in the text, you can follow this with a less directed reading in another lesson. We urge you to read the text on induction pieces n the section on leading ideas.

Bereshit_Bereshit-1-2:4 – בְּרֵאשִׁית

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A note about the text and translation

Some of this translation is a little different that you might be familiar with – it is a combination of the standard JPS translation and Everrett Fox’s translation. I have preferred Everrett Fox where possible as it both uses (i) a more child-accessible vocabulary (e.g.; ‘dome’ instead of ‘firmament’) and (ii) attends to the Hebrew poetics and connotations of the verses ( ‘And there was a setting and a dawning, One day’ rather than ‘ And there was morning and there was evening, one day’).  In some cases I have gone with JPS because of its familiarity. (e.g.; “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth” (JPS) rather than “At the beginning of God’s creating of the heavens and the earth” (Fox) which is closer to Rashi’s reading of the text.

א  בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.

 1 In the beginning, God created, the heavens and the earth.

ב  וְהָאָרֶץ, הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ, וְחֹשֶׁךְ, עַל-פְּנֵי תְהוֹם; וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, מְרַחֶפֶת עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם.

 2 And the earth was unformed and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep; and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

ג  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר.

 3 And God said: ‘Let there be light’ And there was light.

ד  וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאוֹר, כִּי-טוֹב; וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ.

 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

ה  וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם, וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם אֶחָד.

 5 And God called the light ‘Day’, and the darkness He called ‘Night’. And there was a setting and there was dawning. One day.

ו  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי רָקִיעַ בְּתוֹךְ הַמָּיִם, וִיהִי מַבְדִּיל, בֵּין מַיִם לָמָיִם.

 6 And God said: ‘Let there be a dome [firmament –a vault or arch] in the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.’

ז  וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-הָרָקִיעַ, וַיַּבְדֵּל בֵּין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ, וּבֵין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מֵעַל לָרָקִיעַ; וַיְהִי-כֵן.

 7 And God made the dome, and divided the waters which were under the dome from the waters which were above the dome; and it was so.

ח וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָרָקִיעַ, שָׁמָיִם; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם שֵׁנִי.

 8 And God called the dome ‘Heaven’. And there was a setting and there was dawning, a second day.

ט וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶל-מָקוֹם אֶחָד, וְתֵרָאֶה, הַיַּבָּשָׁה; וַיְהִי-כֵן.

 9 And God said: ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.

י  וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לַיַּבָּשָׁה אֶרֶץ, וּלְמִקְוֵה הַמַּיִם קָרָא יַמִּים; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב.

 10 And God called the dry land ‘Earth’, and the gathering of the waters ‘Seas’; and God saw that it was good.

יא  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע, עֵץ פְּרִי עֹשֶׂה פְּרִי לְמִינוֹ, אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ-בוֹ עַל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיְהִי-כֵן.

 11 And God said: ‘Let the earth sprout forth sprouting growth, plants with seeds put forth seeds, and fruit-trees yielding fruit, of their kind, in which are their seeds, upon the earth.’ And it was so.

יב  וַתּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע, לְמִינֵהוּ, וְעֵץ עֹשֶׂה-פְּרִי אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ-בוֹ, לְמִינֵהוּ; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב.

 12 And the earth brought forth sprouting growth, plants with seeds brought forth seed of their kinds, and trees that bear fruit, in which there are seeds of their kind,; and God saw that it was good.

יג  וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי.

 13 And there was a setting and there was dawning, a third day.

יד  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם, לְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הַיּוֹם וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה; וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים, וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים.

 14 And God said: ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the heaven, to separate the day from the night; that they may be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;

טו  וְהָיוּ לִמְאוֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם, לְהָאִיר עַל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיְהִי-כֵן.

 15 and let them be for lights in the dome of the heaven to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so.

טז  וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-שְׁנֵי הַמְּאֹרֹת הַגְּדֹלִים:  אֶת-הַמָּאוֹר הַגָּדֹל, לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַיּוֹם, וְאֶת-הַמָּאוֹר הַקָּטֹן לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַלַּיְלָה, וְאֵת הַכּוֹכָבִים.

 16 And God made the two great lights: the greater light for ruling the day, and the lesser light for ruling the night; and the stars.

יז  וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים, בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמָיִם, לְהָאִיר, עַל-הָאָרֶץ.

 17 And God placed  them in the dome of the heavens to provide light upon the earth,

יח  וְלִמְשֹׁל, בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה, וּלְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב.

 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

יט  וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם רְבִיעִי.

 19 And there was a setting and there was dawning, a fourth day.

כ  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים–יִשְׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם, שֶׁרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה; וְעוֹף יְעוֹפֵף עַל-הָאָרֶץ, עַל-פְּנֵי רְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמָיִם.

 20 And God said: ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly above the earth across the open dome of heaven.’

כא  וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים; וְאֵת כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת אֲשֶׁר שָׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם לְמִינֵהֶם, וְאֵת כָּל-עוֹף כָּנָף לְמִינֵהוּ, וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב.

 21 And God created the great sea-serpents, and all living creatures that crawl about, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and all  winged fowl after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

כב  וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים, לֵאמֹר:  פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ, וּמִלְאוּ אֶת-הַמַּיִם בַּיַּמִּים, וְהָעוֹף, יִרֶב בָּאָרֶץ.

 22 And God blessed them, saying: ‘Bear fruit, and be many, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl be many on the earth.’

כג  וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי.

 23 And there was a setting and there was dawning, a fifth day.

כד  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה לְמִינָהּ, בְּהֵמָה וָרֶמֶשׂ וְחַיְתוֹ-אֶרֶץ, לְמִינָהּ; וַיְהִי-כֵן.

 24 And God said: ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, herd animals, and crawling  things, and the wildlife of the earth after their kind.’ And it was so.

כה  וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת-חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ לְמִינָהּ, וְאֶת-הַבְּהֵמָה לְמִינָהּ, וְאֵת כָּל-רֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה, לְמִינֵהוּ; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב.

 25 And God made the wildlife of the earth after their kind, and the herd animals after their kind, and all the crawling things of the soil  after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

כו  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ; וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם, וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל-הָאָרֶץ, וּבְכָל-הָרֶמֶשׂ, הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל-הָאָרֶץ.

 26 And God said: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness; and let them have command over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, animals,, and all the earth, and all crawling things that crawl about on the earth.’

כז  וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ, בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ:  זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, בָּרָא אֹתָם.

 27 And God created human beings in God’s own image, in the image of God they were created; male and female,  they were created.

כח  וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתָם, אֱלֹהִים, וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם אֱלֹהִים פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, וְכִבְשֻׁהָ; וּרְדוּ בִּדְגַת הַיָּם, וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם, וּבְכָל-חַיָּה, הָרֹמֶשֶׂת עַל-הָאָרֶץ.

 28 And God blessed them; and God said to them: ‘Be fruitful, and be many, and fill the earth, and bring it under your control [subdue it]; and have command over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and all living things that crawl upon the earth.’

כט  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת-כָּל-עֵשֶׂב זֹרֵעַ זֶרַע אֲשֶׁר עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ, וְאֶת-כָּל-הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר-בּוֹ פְרִי-עֵץ, זֹרֵעַ זָרַע:  לָכֶם יִהְיֶה, לְאָכְלָה.

 29 And God said: ‘Here, I give you all plants that  bear seeds, that are upon the face of all the earth, and all trees, in which there is fruit of the tree  that bears seeds—for you they shall be for eating.

ל  וּלְכָל-חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ וּלְכָל-עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְכֹל רוֹמֵשׂ עַל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר-בּוֹ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, אֶת-כָּל-יֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב, לְאָכְלָה; וַיְהִי-כֵן.

 30 and also for all the living things of the earth, for all the fowl of the heavens, and to all that crawls about upon the earth, in which there is a living soul, [I have given] all green plants for eating.’ And it was so.

לא  וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, וְהִנֵּה-טוֹב מְאֹד; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי.

 31 And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was a setting and there was dawning the sixth day.

א  וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ, וְכָל-צְבָאָם.

 2:1 And so they were finished, the heavens and the earth with all they contained.

ב  וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה; וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה.

 2 And God had finished, on the seventh day, his work that he had made; and the he ceased, on the seventh day, from all the work which he had made.

ג  וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת-יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ:  כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ, אֲשֶׁר-בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת.

 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy; for on it God had ceased from all his work, that by creating, God had made.

ד  אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ, בְּהִבָּרְאָם: …

 4 These were the generations of the heavens and the earth, their being created….