Parashat Bereshit - Sixth Aliyah

Lamech delivers a sharp song about vengeance and protection, and then the story returns to the house of Adam and Eve: “Shet… ki shat li Elohim zera acher tachat Hevel” (Seth… for God has appointed me another seed in place of Abel, Genesis 4:25), and out of the new line will come “Enosh” (Enosh) and the mysterious discussion of “az huchal likro beshem Adonai” (then it was begun to call in the name of Adonai, Genesis 4:26). After that the sixth aliyah opens a book of families: “zeh sefer toldot adam” (This is the book of the generations of Adam, Genesis 5:1). Humanity is described not as separate pages but as a continuous book, which begins with the theological foundation: “bidmut Elohim asah oto” (in the likeness of God He made him, Genesis 5:1), “zachar unekevah bera’am… vayikra et shemam adam” (male and female He created them… and He called their name Adam, Genesis 5:2). From there the Torah moves to the rhythm of the genealogy: births, years of life, “vayoled bidmuto ketzalmo” (and he begot in his likeness, after his image) with Seth (Genesis 5:3), and then again and again “vayamot” (and he died). Within this rhythm a stirring exception resounds: “vayit’halech Chanoch et ha’Elohim… ve’einenu ki lakach oto Elohim” (And Enoch walked with God… and he was no more, for God took him, Genesis 5:22, 24).

Eye-opening insights

• Lamech’s song, two opposite readings: his words “Adah veTzilah shema’an koli… ki ish haragti lefitz’i” (Adah and Zillah, hear my voice… for I have killed a man for my wound, Genesis 4:23) and “veLemech shiv’im veshiv’ah” (and Lamech seventy and seven, Genesis 4:24) are read in two ways. According to one reading this is a song of pride: Lamech boasts that he has killed, and declares that his vengeance will be greater than Cain’s. According to this reading the song is an anti-psalm to Abel’s offering: instead of an offering from the best there is boasting in power, and culture without ethics slides into violence. Rashi (on 4:23-24) reads the opposite: Lamech killed unintentionally, his wives separated from him, and he is appeasing them. If Cain, who killed deliberately, was given a reprieve of seven generations, all the more so he.

• Repairing the bloodline: the birth of Seth is drawn as a re-establishment, “ki shat li Elohim zera acher” (for God has appointed me another seed, Genesis 4:25). In place of a culture of vengeance grows a line that invites the building of calling on the name of God.

• “az huchal likro beshem Adonai” (then it was begun to call in the name of Adonai, Genesis 4:26): two well-known paths in the commentaries. Some see here the beginning of public prayer and of calling on the name of God (Ibn Ezra, Sforno), and some see a language of profanation, that people began to call human beings or idols by the name of God (Rashi). The two readings set up a crossroads: does culture rise to pure worship or slide into an exchange of values.

• A book and not a story: the opening “zeh sefer toldot adam” (This is the book of the generations of Adam, Genesis 5:1) draws human history as a written text. Every generation has a line in the book, and our responsibility is how the next paragraph will look.

• Likeness and image in continuity: of the first man it is said “bidmut Elohim” (in the likeness of God, Genesis 5:1), and of his son Seth “vayoled bidmuto ketzalmo” (and he begot in his likeness, after his image, Genesis 5:3). The image of God passes through the family chain, but an educational effort is also needed to make it shine in every generation.

• One name for two: “vayikra et shemam adam” (and He called their name Adam) on the day they were created (Genesis 5:2). This hints at the foundational unity of man and woman and at the shared dignity they received already at the moment of creation.

• The grey rhythm of “vayamot” (and he died): the chapter is played like a refrain of an immense lifespan that ends in an end. The literary emphasis teaches the centrality of death in the historical journey, until an exception appears that lights up the page.

• Enoch as a line of light: twice it says “vayit’halech Chanoch et ha’Elohim” (And Enoch walked with God, Genesis 5:22, 24) and right after “ve’einenu ki lakach oto Elohim” (and he was no more, for God took him, Genesis 5:24). Walking with God changes the relation to time and to the ending. Within the sequence of “vayamot” (and he died) grows a possibility of closeness that turns the signature of a biography into a sign of ascent. Rashi (on 5:24) reads it differently: Enoch was righteous but liable to turn back to wickedness, and therefore he was taken before his time.

• A forward-facing pattern: in every link the chronicle “vayoled banim uvanot” (and he begot sons and daughters) returns, alongside long years of life. The Torah draws a consciousness of a chain, in which the greatness of a life is not only in the number of years but in the ability to hand on the likeness and the image to the next generation.

Between Lamech’s song and the calling on the name of God lies the choice whether to turn talent into a tool for building or into a weapon.

The sixth aliyah seems to calm us with lists and years, but whoever listens to the rhythm discovers a delicate symphony: between “vayamot” (and he died) and “vayit’halech” (and he walked) our book is written. The question is not only how many years we will live, but how we will walk.