Judaism: The Creation of the Universe

Today we read a portion of the creation story from the Torah, one of Judaism's sacred texts:

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. 

The earth was without any form. Darkness was upon the face of the deep. The Spirit of God moved upon the waters. 

God said, Let there be light: and there was light. God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. 

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The students discussed aspects of the creation story that surprised them. 

 Gresh said that he was surprised that God rested on the seventh day, because this part of the story makes God seem more human than Gresh would have expected.

We also talked about the creation of fish and birds (on Day 5) prior to the creation of land animals (Day 6).

Stewart explained that other details in the story make clear that God was initially focused on the elements of water and air (rather than the earth). Therefore, said Stewart, it makes sense that God first created the creatures living in the water and air, and then moved on to create the creatures that live on the earth.

We discussed the statement that "God created man in his own image" and asked whether this means that Jews believe God looks like a human being. 

Gardiner helpfully pointed out that the phrase "in his own image" might mean that God thinks like a human being, rather than looks like a human being.

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Musical Mondays: Today, we listened to traditional Indian music.