In the Very Beginning

It was Friday night, and the Chumash on the Shabbat table was glowing. Aviya opened it to the very first page — and the room melted away. The three sisters were floating in a deep, quiet dark. There was no floor and no sky, only water, dark and deep. Tzofia squeezed her sister's hand. Lielle blinked her big eyes. "Where are we?" Aviya whispered, and read the first words: the earth was empty and unformed, darkness was over the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the water.

Then God said, "Let there be light" — and there was light! It poured over the water like warm honey. Tzofia clapped and shouted, "Light!" Lielle laughed and reached for it with both hands. God saw that the light was good, and separated the light from the darkness. Aviya read: God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. "There was evening and there was morning," she said slowly, "day one."

On the second day there was water everywhere — above and below. God made a great expanse, a rakia, right in the middle, and it pushed the waters apart: some above, some below. Tzofia lay back and looked up and up. "It's the sky!" said Tzofia. Aviya nodded at the page. God called the expanse Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

On the third day, the waters rushed together into one place — and dry land came up! The sisters landed with a soft bump. God called the dry land Earth and the gathered waters Seas. Then grass sprang up between their toes, then plants with seeds, then fruit trees, each one making fruit with its seeds inside, every kind after its own kind. Lielle patted the grass. Tzofia sniffed a blossom. And God saw that it was good.

On the fourth day, God made lights in the sky — a great light to rule the day and a smaller light to rule the night, and the stars too. Aviya read why: they are signs, for seasons, for days and for years. "So that's how we know when it's Rosh Chodesh, and when it's a holiday!" she said. Tzofia counted stars — "one, two, three, lots!" — until Lielle fell asleep under the moon.

On the fifth day, the waters were suddenly swarming with living things, and birds flew over the earth across the sky! God created the great sea creatures, and every fish and every winged bird. Lielle squealed as a fish jumped. Tzofia flapped her arms like a bird. Then God blessed them: "Be fruitful and multiply." "The very first blessing in the Torah," said Aviya, "and it's for the fish and the birds!"

On the sixth day, the land brought out animals: cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts of every kind. A lamb nuzzled Tzofia. A lion yawned. Then God made people — in His image, male and female — and blessed them: fill the earth and rule over it. Aviya read the last words of the day very carefully: God saw everything He had made, and behold, it was very good. "Not just good," she whispered. "Very good."

The heavens and the earth were finished, and everything in them. Then came the seventh day, and God rested from all the work He had done. Aviya read: God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. Everything went quiet and golden. Tzofia whispered, "It's Shabbat." Lielle snuggled in. The sisters sat together and did nothing at all — and it was the best feeling in the whole world.

God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, full of trees that were beautiful to look at and good to eat. In the middle stood the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowing Good and Bad, and a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. Tzofia splashed her feet in the river. God put the man in the garden with two jobs. "To work it," read Aviya, "and to guard it." "We can help!" said Tzofia, and filled her little bucket.

God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man to see what he would call them — and whatever he called each one, that became its name. A giraffe went by, and a zebra, and a hippo. Tzofia jumped up and down: "I want to name one!" Aviya laughed. "Adam already did," she said. "Every single one." Lielle pointed at a duck and said, "Da!"

God had given one rule: do not eat from the Tree of Knowing Good and Bad. But the woman saw the fruit was nice to look at, and she took some and ate, and gave some to her husband, and he ate. Tzofia covered her eyes. Then God sent them out of the garden to work the ground. At the gate, keruvim stood with a flaming, turning sword to guard the way to the Tree of Life. The sisters held hands very tight. "One rule," said Aviya quietly. "That's all it was."

Many years went by, and the world filled with people. But people did not do what was good, and God was sad in His heart. Aviya turned to the very last line of the parasha, and the page began to glow again. "But Noach," she read, "found favor in the eyes of Hashem." Tzofia yawned. Lielle was already asleep. Aviya closed the Chumash on the Shabbat table and smiled. "Next week," she said, "we meet Noach."