Today we read the first story of Creation. We took out the Torah and read the story directly from its source, in Hebrew and in English (abridged). The children had three jobs in today’s story:
The letter Bet, for בראשית
- To say, “טוב!” (“And God saw it was טוב.”)
- To conclude each day’s creation with the Torah’s phrase, “ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום” (“There was evening, there was morning.”)
- To make animal sounds when God creates the animals!
In the beginning, when God was creating the heaven and the earth, God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. God called the light Day. The darkness God called Night. אחד ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום
God said, “Let there be a space in the middle of the water.” God called the space Sky. ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום שני
God said, “Let the waters be in one place, and let there be dry land. God called the dry land Earth, and the water God called Seas. God saw that it was טוב. God said, “Let the earth grow plants!” And God saw that it was טוב. שלישי ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום
God said, “Let there be lights in the sky!” God made the bigger light rule the day, and the smaller light to rule the night, and the stars. God saw that it was טוב. רביעי ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום
God said, “Let the waters be filled with fish (דגים), and let birds (צפורים) fly above the earth.” God saw that it was טוב. חמישי ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום
God said, “Let there be animals on the earth.” God saw that it was טוב. God created people. God blessed them. God saw all that had been made, והנה טוב מאוד. הששי ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום
The sky and the earth and all their parts were finished. On the seventh day, God finished all the work of creation and rested. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
