Return to Parasha Chart Parashiyot Summary: Breishit (Genesis)
Summary: In the first parashah of the Torah, God creates the world in seven days, teaching the world the importance of Shabbat. Adam and Eve are placed in the Garden of Eden, and are expelled after disobeying God's prohibition of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Cain and Abel fight and Cain kills his brother.
Summary: God chooses Noah to survive the flood that is meant to destroy the world and start afresh. Noah builds an ark, and a rainbow marks the covenant that God will never destroy the world again with a flood. The parashah concludes with the story of the building of the Tower of Babel.
Summary: Abram is commanded to leave his homeland to go to Canaan. Abram and Sarai go to Egypt because of a famine, and Sarai is taken by Pharaoh. Abram fights in a war. Abram and God make a covenant of circumcision. Abram's name is changed to Abraham, and Sarai's name becomes Sarah. Ishmael is born.
Summary: God appears to Abraham in the visit of three messengers who announce that Sarah will give birth. Abraham is also told of Sodom and Gomorrah's imminent destruction. Abraham pleads with God not the destroy the city if there are at least 10 righteous persons there. Isaac is born. Hagar and Ishmael are cast out. God tests Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac, but at the last minute, stops him.
Summary: Sarah dies at the age of 127. Abraham purchases a plot of land from the inhabitants to bury her. Abraham sends a servant back to his native land to find a wife for Isaac. The servant devises a test to see if God has directed him to find the right partner. At the well Rebecca indeed proves to be kind and generous. She returns with the servant back to Canaan.
Summary: Rebecca is barren, but finally conceives twins: Esau and Jacob. They are in constant conflict (even in utero!). Jacob 'buys' Esau's birthright with a pot of stew, and then (with his mother's encouragement) steals his brother's blessing. To escape his brother's wrath, he flees to Laban, his mother's brother in Haran.
Summary: Jacob leaves for Haran, and on the way has a dream of a staircase going to heaven with angels going up and down. When he arrives in Haran, he falls in love with Rachel, and arranges to marry her. Instead, he is tricked into marrying her elder sister, Leah. He then marries Rachel, and together (with their handmaidens) have 11 children over the next twenty years. Rachel has only one son, Joseph.
Summary: Jacob returns to Canaan with his entourage and learns that Esau (with 400 men) is approaching. That night, he wrestles with a mysterious 'man' who gives Jacob a new name: Israel. Jacob settles in Shechem. Dinah, his daughter is raped, and her brothers retaliate by destroying the city. Jacob leaves for Bethel, and enroute Rachel goes into labor. She dies while giving birth to Jacob's last son, Benjamin. Isaac's death is recorded here at age 180.
Summary: Joseph is Jacob's favored son, and his hated by his brothers. They plot to kill him, but instead sell him to caravan traders going down to Egypt. The brothers take his special tunic, dip it in blood and return to their father. The story is interrupted by the tale of Judah and Tamar. Back in Egypt, Joseph is falsely imprisoned, but even there, becomes famous for his ability to interpret dreams. He correctly predicts that the Pharoah's cup-bearer will return to his office.
Summary: Two years later, Pharaoh is troubled by a dream that no one can correctly interpret. Joseph is brought out of the pit, and Joseph explains that seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh places Joseph in charge of food collection and distribution. Joseph marries an Egyptian, Osnat, and has two children, Menasseh and Ephraim. Because of the famine, Jacob sends the brothers to Egypt (but keeps Benjamin at home). Joseph recognizes them, but they do not recognize Joseph. He then devises an elaborate plan to have them return with Benjamin. Jacob initially refuses, but finally relents. Joseph then secretly places his goblet into Benjamin's sack, and demands that Benjamin be kept hostage.
Summary: Judah stands up and pleads to allow Benjamin to return to their father. Joseph moved by his brother's loyalty tearfully reveals his true identity. He arranges to have Jacob brought to Egypt. Jacob and Joseph re-unite. The family settles in Goshen.
Summary: Jacob gives his final blessing to his children. Jacob is embalmed and buried in Canaan. Joseph dies at the age of 110, and requests that his bones be taken back to land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This parashah concludes the book of Genesis.