Chumash with Chayenu

Ahead of G-d’s promise to Abraham and Sarai that they would bear a son who would be their true legacy, G-d informs Abraham of the Covenant of circumcision, and instructs Sarai to change her name (identity) to Sarah. Abraham circumcises himself, his other son Ishmael and all male servants of his household.

After promising him offspring, G-d reiterated to Abraham His promise of the Land of Israel. Abraham requested a sign from G-d that his offspring would inherit the land. G-d told Abraham that they would inherit the land in the merit of the sacrifices they would offer up and in the merit of the exile they would endure before re-entering it. Despite G-d’s promise of offspring, Abraham and his wife Sarai had not yet had any children. Sarai therefore asked her Egyptian bondwoman, Hagar, to bear a child by Abraham, hoping that in this merit she would also conceive. Hagar indeed quickly conceived. Concluding from this that her spiritual merits were greater than her mistress’s, Hagar mocked Sarai, who thereupon told Abraham to send her away. Hagar miscarried, but was told by G-d’s angel to return and submit humbly to Sarai, and that in thismerit she would conceive again. Hagar obeyed and gave birth to Abraham’s first son, Ishmael.

After his victory over the invading coalition, Abram was concerned that his miraculous victory in battle was his full compensation for his accrued merits, thereby supplanting the other rewards G-d previously promised him, namely: offspring and the Land of Israel. G-d thereupon reiterated His promises to Abram. But Abram replied that all this was useless unless G-d would give him a child who would continue his work of spreading Divine consciousness.

The Land of Yisrael was invaded by a coalition of nations who captured Abram’s nephew Lot, forcing Abram to pursue them in Lot’s defense. After Abram miraculously defeated the invaders, he gave a tenth of the spoils of war to his ancestor, Noah's son Shem, who was then known as Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem.

A quarrel broke out between Abram’s shepherds and those of his nephew, Lot. In order to avoid conflict, Abram suggested they part ways. Lot chose to settle in Sedom, while Abram settled in Hebron. After this, G-d reiterated His promises to Abram.

In Egypt, Abram’s wife Sarah (who was initially named Sarai) wasabducted by Par’oh (Pharaoh). Sarai resisted Par’oh’s overtures, and G-d miraculously protected her. After returning from Egypt, Abram stayed between Beis El and Ay.

Responding to Abram’s efforts to restore the world’s monotheism, G-d informs him that he has been selected to found the Jewish people, whose mission it will be to inspire and instruct the world in G-d’s ways. In order to have a setting in which to demonstrate the beauty of G-dly life to the rest of humanity, G-d also promises the Land of Israel to Abram and his descendants, and instructs him to settle there. The first challenge Avram faced in the Promised Land was the famine that set in immediately upon his arrival, forcing him to temporarily relocate to neighboring Egypt.

At G-d’s command, Noah and his family entered the ark and the Flood began. The rain lasted 40 days, during which all land life outside the ark perished.

Noah becomes intoxicated and exposed. His elder sons discreetly protect his privacy, while the younger one takes advantage. As a result they’re blessed and he is cursed.

G-d makes a covenant with Noah, that He would never again destroy all life on earth. The sign of this covenant is the rainbow.

After the Flood, G-d promised Noah that He would never again destroy the world.

The rain lasted 40 days, after which the earth remained submerged for another five months until the water began to subside. It then took almost six more months for the water to recede completely.

The rain lasted 40 days, after which the earth remained submerged for another five months until the water began to subside. It then took almost six more months for the water to recede completely.

Noah, in contrast to the degeneration that characterized his times, remained faithful to the traditions of morality that had been inherited from Adam and Eve. G-d therefore chose Noah to survive the Flood and save the animals in order to repopulate the world in its aftermath.

Despite Chanoch’s positive example, humanity continued in its downward spiral of moral degeneration. The angels also tried to redeem the earth—by having G-d allow them to assume physical form—but could not. Eventually, G-d saw that the only remedy was to give humanity a fresh start, and decided to wipe out the world with a flood, after which He would repopulate the world from No’ach, the only righteous individual of that generation.

In addition to their sons Kayin and Hevel, Adam and Chavah had a third son, Shes. One of Shes’ fifth-generation descendants was Chanoch (Enoch), who resisted the degeneration into which the rest of humanity was sinking, and lived a righteous life.

The generations following Adam and Chavah began to worship the forces of nature and the idols they fashioned to represent or channel them.They profaned the art of music-making for idolatrous purposes.

Had Adam and Chavah (Eve) repented properly, G-d would have forgiven them and allowed them to remain in the Garden of Eden. But since they did not rise to the occasion, G-d banished them from it. Their firstborn child, Kayin, was presented with a similar opportunity: When G-d accepted his brother Hevel’s offering and not his, Kayin should have understood that this meant that he needed to repent; instead, he chose to kill Hevel. After repenting for his sin, Kayin married and built a city for his descendants.

The first human couple, Adam and Chavah (Eve), lived in the Garden of Eden, where they were meant to enjoy G-d’s creation in order to enhance their awareness of G-d and His goodness. However, they were seduced by the primordial serpent (who personified the temptation to increase their self-awareness) into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which G-d had forbidden to them.

After its account of the creation week, the Torah returns to the events of the sixth day, focusing on the details of the creation of the first human being.