Why does the Torah begin with stories of human failings? Parshat Bereshit offers insight into human nature and the foundations of moral responsibility.
Adam and Chava are permitted to eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden except the Tree of Knowledge. Yet temptation gets the better of them, and they sin. Worse still, neither takes responsibility. When God asks Adam, “Ayeka?” (“Where are you?”), Adam blames Chava, who in turn blames the serpent. Their son Kayin becomes the first murderer. After killing his brother Hevel, God asks, “Where is your brother?” Kayin notoriously responds, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Once again, responsibility is evaded.
Nechama Leibowitz describes Parshat Bereshit as portraying the gradual “decline of man.” Adam and Kayin are followed by Lemech, who boasts of killing a man, and the bnei ha’elohim, who, now acting as a group, take women as they please, reflecting a widespread abuse of power. Perhaps this is precisely the Torah’s message: When individuals, and ultimately societies, fail to take responsibility for their actions, the consequences extend beyond the original wrongdoing, leading to further moral decline.
Yet Bereshit Rabbah offers a more hopeful perspective. After Kayin is judged by God, Adam asks about his sentence. Kayin replies that he repented and received a reduced punishment. Astonished, Adam exclaims, “Such is the power of teshuva, and I did not know!” He then recites the words, “It is good to give thanks to God” (Psalm 92), with the Hebrew lehodot suggesting both gratitude and confession.
By acknowledging wrongdoing and taking responsibility, we can break the cycle of blame and moral decline. Perhaps this is why the Torah begins with human failings: to remind us that moral growth begins with responsibility, both individual and collective. Shabbat Shalom -Karen Miller Jackson
