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Vocabulary
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CREATION

Summary

When God began to create the world, there was nothing. The world was dark and covered with water – a great sea. A wind from God swept over the water and said “Let there be light”. Suddenly the world was filled with brightness! God then separated the light from the darkness. The light was called Day, and the dark was called Night. God saw this as being good. Evening came and then morning. This was the very first day.

On the second day, God separated the water from the sky – so that the water was below and the sky was above.

On the third day God divided the sea from the dry land. The dry land was called Earth and the water was called Seas. God saw that this was good. Then God said “let there be plants and trees and all sorts of vegetation. And it was so, the land was filled with all sorts of plant life. God saw all of this and said it was good.

Next, on the fourth day, God created lights in the sky to separate day from night. God wanted these lights to be signs marking the passing of time: of days and years. God made a small light that would shine at night, which was the Moon, and a great light that would shine during the day. This was the Sun. God was pleased with all of this, seeing it as good.

God then decided that the time had come to fill the Earth with life. So, on the fifth day God created fish and all sorts of creatures that live in the water birds and flying creatures that also creep on land. God saw this as being good, and blessed these animals, telling them to fill the waters and the skies.

On the sixth day God created all the land animals: mammals, creeping animals like insects and reptiles. God was pleased, saying it was good. Finally the first people were created in God’s image, male and female. God blessed them and told them to have children and to fill up the Earth. They would rule all the animals and plant life that had been created.

Finally, God saw all that was created and saw it all as being very good. On the Seventh Day God stopped the work of creation. God blessed this day and made it holy, because on this day God was finished with creation and rested.

This is how the Torah describes creation.

Vocabulary

When God began creating -בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים

heaven- הַשָּׁמַיִם

The Earth-הָאָרֶץ

Chaos-תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ

light-אוֹר

darkness-חֹשֶׁךְ

and it was evening-יְהִי־עֶרֶב

and it was morning-וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר

In the image of God-בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים

human-אָדָם

Activities

Vocabulary Activities and Games: https://quizlet.com/292074617/creation-flash-cards/

Creation order: https://www.purposegames.com/game/what-was-created-on-what-day

What does the Story of Creation teach us?

  • In the torah we learn that we were created in God’s image (B’tzelem Elohim/בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים). What do you think that means?
  • What are different ways that you can act like you were created in God’s image? Think about school, home, and online.
  • Kavod HaBriyot/כְּבוֹד הַבְּרִיּוֹת literally means “Honoring God’s Creations”. It also can mean “Human Dignity”. How do you think the two definitions connect to each other?
  • What can you do to respect God’s creations? What shouldn’t you do?
  • In the Torah we read that God told the first people that they are commanded to tend and till the earth. This is where the Jewish value of Protecting Nature – שְׁמִירֵת הֵטֶּבַע comes from. What do you do to help tend and till the earth? How can you work to protect nature? How does this relate to the other two values we’ve learned about?

To Think About.

  • Why could people NOT be created on the second day?
  • Look at the order of creation. Does that order make sense to you? Does each step make the next step possible? If not, why not?
  • In the Torah we read that God told the first people to “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it” What does this mean?
  • Why do you think God wanted to create the world?
  • In the creation story, God separated light from darkness, water from sky, the sea from dry land, and people from animals. What did God separate on the seventh day?

And God rested

On Day 7 God rested. And God then made it a special day…called Shabbat. Here’s more info about that: http://bje.org.au/course/judaism/kids/shabbat/

How do you think you can “do” Shabbat?

Creation! Kahoot!

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/e54a4b10-640d-426c-8872-8960f2865cbc