Rabbi Gordon
ב"ה
Channels Yeshiva Rabbi Gordon Parshah With Rabbi Gordon Rabbi Gordon - Book of Bereishit Rabbi Gordon - Bereishit

Rabbi Gordon - Bereishit: 1st Portion

Autoplay Next

Rabbi Gordon - Bereishit: 1st Portion

Podcast: Subscribe to Rabbi Gordon - Chumash
Podcasts
Audio: Listen to Audio | Download this MP3
Topics: Bereishit, Parshah
By Yehoshua B. Gordon
Rabbi Yehoshua Gordon directed Chabad of the Valley in Tarzana, CA until his passing in 2016.
More from   |  RSS
© Copyright, all rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with Chabad.org's copyright policy.

More in this section

You may also be interested in...

Likkutei Sichot: Bereishis
Genesis 1:1-6:8
What the Rebbe Said: Bereishis
"In the begining"; A dwelling place for G-d
Bereishis
6 Comments
Keeping In Touch - Vol. 1: Bereishis
2 Comments

Join the Discussion

Sort By:
31 Comments
Posting Guidelines
Wade Tennessee September 7, 2022

I have listened to Rabbi Gordon for years. I appreciate his teaching and devotion. Reply

Jim Luney Belfast April 21, 2022

Great education tool 👍 Reply

Charles October 5, 2014

Maybe yes, maybe no I'll answer for R' Gordon (if I'mnot being too forward): it certainly is not a question of a heretic. Who knows about the worlds before us or after us. It's beyond man's understanding. You can always ask, but don't always expect an answer - since none of us know. Reply

Ann Throckmorton Atlanta, GA/USA October 24, 2011

Angels Please forgive this immature question from a square-one student (me); I will ask it hoping it is not considered to be the question of a heretic: In speaking of Angels associated with Creation: could these Angels (to whom G-d referred) possibly have been the Holy Souls Departed from another world (previous to ours) that, perhaps, had their own Holy Scriptures, etc.? Or by the teaching of the Torah, are we "it" and there are no others? Reply

Anonymous September 7, 2013

creation evening and morning 1st day, does evening begin at dusk and morning begin at first light and last until dusk, am really new to this.
thank you Reply

Rabbi Yehoshua B Gordon Encino, CA November 27, 2011

10 soul powers; man woman one entity The idea of the 10 soul powers mirroring the 10 Divine attributes is a basic axiom of Kabblah and Chassidus. There is very clear explanation on this in the beginning of book one of Tanya (the first five or six chapters) available on this web site.

The idea of a man-women is taught in the Oral Law and brought down by Rashi on Chumash (also available on this web site) in the section on creation. There are other opinions as well. Reply

M. Goldstein Palatine, IL November 26, 2011

What do you mean by 10 soul powers of Man? Did you say that these are like the attributes of G-d?
Thank you,
P.S. Your comment about the one entitiy man/woman creature, is that something all Jewish people agree with and believe? Or is that a Kabbala point of view? Reply

Dave NY, NY January 20, 2019

We now know through astrophysics that of course the sun is much larger than the moon. But from earth's perspective, they are just about exactly the same size. Why is this rather amazing coincidence not stressed?

They already are the same size. And it's hard for me to imagine how, even when Moschiach comes, the moon and sun would become the same size. It would throw off so many relationships in the solar system. If we believe the sun is the largest, as Rashi apparently does even though he was before Galileo, then he is accepting a fair amount of science. So how can he think all that machinery will stop working and transition to something else, in a survivable way, and even one that follows God's physical laws?

Easiest to say that, if "earth is the center of the universe", then we use earth's perspective and the sun and moon are already the same size. Reply

Yehuda Shurpin for Chabad.org March 31, 2019
in response to Dave:

It's not so much about the actual size of the moon, but that the moon will be as bright as the sun. Reply

J December 30, 2013

Sun v. Moon Maybe the Jews have come to be representative of the moon as opposed to the sun because though the sun is physically larger, the moon is a firmament, a piece of land, while the sun is not solid. Maybe God wants the Jews to give the law to the rest world as something to stand on, as opposed to those not following the Law who might (hopefully figuratively) sink into the molten sun & it's heat, left with nothing to stand on, only worldliness to be consumed by. Reply

Yizrael Rishon Letzion, Israel October 6, 2012

Ve'Et I liked the commentary on the reason for the addition of "Ve'et" which word is made of the first and last letters in the aleph-bet.

I always related to the sun as a blueprint of God and the moon as a blueprint of the Messiah. One cannot look upon the sun without going blind, but one is able to see the other great light in the sky which is actually the light from the sun, which the moon is sharing with us, so we still can enjoy it's witness in the sky. In fact, I'm not the only one, who can actually see a smiling-caring face on the moons surface. Just as a father would smile to his child who just woke up in the ICU and told his daddy he loves him. Just thought I'd share that :-) Reply

Ephraim California February 17, 2023
in response to Yizrael:

Wow, how beautiful. Reply

Anonymous Hayes October 23, 2011

Rebellious Trees? I'm enjoying this series very much! Thank you for making it available.

I must ask...surely you aren't literally saying that the trees were to taste like their fruit which accounts for the earth being cursed (& that in olam haba trees will taste like their fruit), are you?

Bereshit 3 says it was man's rebellion that caused the earth to be cursed, not rebellious trees. "'Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; "

Nature doesn't have a free will. It must do everything G-d instructs it to do (Yov, Mishlei...). Trees do differ in "kind" & each tree does in fact produce after it's own "kind" of tree, just as plants to. They weren't instructed to taste like the fruit they produced any more than a tomato plant was to taste like a tomato. Logic says that would spell instant disaster as the tree or plant itself would be eaten & become extinct, no? Reply

Anonymous taipei, taiwan July 21, 2010

Sun and Moon This was a tender point for me. I have not thought of the moon representative of me and the Sun representative of G-d. This representation is something for me to ponder deeply. Thank you. Reply

J December 30, 2013

Mitzvoh You talked about how the beginning of the Torah contains no law until the first ordered one upon Moses leading his people out of Egypt. I was just wondering your thoughts on why the Rabbi's did not interpret God's resting after the 6 days of creation, from which the Shabbat practice comes, as an Issuing of "law" from Him.
(Sorry if this is a foolish question. As you can tell, I am not Jewish.) Reply

Rabbi Yehoshua B Gordon Encino, CA November 27, 2011

Seven or Ten Attributes Indeed, there are altogether ten sefirot: Three intellectual and seven emotive.

1. Chochmoh (Wisdom)
2. Binah (Understanding)
3. Da'at (Knowledge)

1. Chesed (Kindness)
2. Gevurah (Severity)
3. Tiferet (Beauty)
4. Netzach (Perseverance)
5. Hod (Splendor)
5. Yesod (Foundation)
7. Malchut (Royalty)

You can study more about these by studying the beginning (first 5 or so chapters) of Book 1 of Tanya on this web site. Reply

M. Goldstein PALATINE, IL November 26, 2011

You spoke of seven attributres, but you used a hebrew words which I did not understand, please tell me what the seven attributes are.
Thank you, Reply

Naomi Van Nuys CA October 13, 2020

Oh how lovely to see my beloved teacher in his sukkah. Thank you Chabad.org for your service to the klal. Reply

Peter Cloverdale October 14, 2020
in response to Naomi:

Agreed! Reply

Anonymous Tainwan June 2, 2020

Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Gordon of the Most Blessed Memory!! AAA+++ Reply

farah sajid Pakistan November 28, 2015

Thank you Your teaching is such a beautiful gift for every one. Reply

sanford Port Washington, NY via chabadofthevalley.com October 3, 2014

It is a pleasure and special minutes to listen to your daily Torah study class. It offers inspiration and strength. Thank you Reply

Eileen Orlando. December 15, 2013

On line classes Dear Rabbi Gordon. Thank you so very much for all your teachings. You are such a good man. I converted to Judaism about 4 years ago and like a sponge I want to soak in as much as possible. I only just found you on line and am delighted at being able to learn as much as I can. Through the video archives I am able to start at the begging of the portion and continue on. You are a blessing in disguise of a Rabbi.
Thank you so much Reply

Rabbi Gordon
Study the daily Chumash with Rashi, Tanya and Rambam with master teacher Rabbi Yehoshua B. Gordon.
Related Topics