Daily Aliya for Lech Lecha, Sheni (2nd Aliya)

Aliya Summary: Because of her beauty, Sarai was taken captive and brought to Pharaoh. G‑d struck the members of Pharaoh's palace with a plague, causing Pharaoh to hastily release Sarai. Pharaoh loaded Avram and Sarai with gifts and riches, and had them escorted out of his land. Avram returned triumphantly to Canaan.

In the same Aliya, Avram is tested by both poverty and wealth. When he was poor, he hid his only asset (Sarai) so that others aren't tempted, which is perhaps why he was worthy to gain other assets. It's a short yet powerful lesson to those seeking to gain assets and wealth.

Daily Aliya for Lech Lecha, Rishon (1st Aliya)

General Overview: Avram and Sarai travel to Canaan. Due to a famine in the land they temporarily relocate to Egypt, where Pharaoh unsuccessfully attempts to add Sarai to his harem. They return to Canaan with great wealth and Avram parts with his nephew Lot. Avram defeats the armies of the four kings who had taken his nephew Lot hostage. G‑d seals a pact with Avram, bequeathing the lands of Canaan to his descendants. Childless Avram marries Hagar and she gives birth to Ishmael. G‑d changes Avram's name to Avraham, and Sarai becomes Sarah. Avraham is circumcised at the age of 99.

Aliya Summary: G‑d commanded Avram to leave his father's house and homeland, and travel to the land that He will show him. As reward for doing so, G‑d promised to make Avram the patriarch of a great nation. Avram obeyed, taking along his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. Once Avram arrived in Canaan, G‑d informed him that He will eventually give that land to his descendants. Avram traverses the length of the land until a famine forces him to travel to Egypt. Fearing that the Egyptians would kill him in order to take Sarai, Avram asked her to allege that he was her brother.

Daily Aliya for Noach, Shvii (7th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: This Aliya recounts the story of the Tower of Babel. Noach's descendants gathered in the Babylonian valley and started building a tower, in an attempt to reach the heavens and battle G‑d. G‑d disrupted their "plan" by causing them each to speak a different language, thus destroying their communications. This caused them to disperse and settle in different lands. The Torah then lists the ten generations of Shem's descendants. The tenth generation is Abram (later to be known as Abraham), who married Sarai (later to be known as Sarah).

Commentaries contrast the two sinful generations in this Parsha. Dor HaMabul (floor generation) was destroyed because their sins included the destruction of society by total disregard of a person for his fellow. Dor HaPlaga (tower generation) sinned against G-d alone, not against each other. In both cases, the basic tenets of creation were ignored, and it documented for us to learn from.

Daily Aliya for Noach, Shishi (6th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: Noach planted a vineyard, made wine, became drunk and fell into a deep drunken slumber -- while naked. Noach's son, Cham, saw his father naked, assaulted him, and informed his two brothers of their father's state. The brothers, Shem and Yafet, modestly approached their father and covered him. When Noach awakened, he cursed Cham's son, Canaan, and blessed Shem and Yafet. This section then names Noach's seventy grandsons and great-grandsons, the antecedents of the "seventy nations," and their adopted homelands.

There are at least five different periods during which nature did not behave as we know it today:
(1) The "time" before this world - previous worlds, assuming they existed, did not necessarily have the same laws of nature; (2) the indeterminable time of B'reishit - G-d's act of Creation of something from nothing; (3) the Six Days of Creation, during which G-d commanded things to happen, no doubt in very different ways from the nature He also created; (4) the first 1656 years of this world, throughout the ten generations from Adam to Noach, when the laws of nature also seem to differ from what we experience today, (5) the "year" of the Flood. These "lapses" in the Rules of Nature can explain a variety of scientific issues related to time and the age of the earth... and everything in it.

Daily Aliya for Noach, Chamishi (5th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: G‑d told Noach that he is establishing a covenant to never again bring a flood to destroy the world. G‑d designated the rainbow as the sign of this covenant: "And it shall come to pass, when I cause clouds to come upon the earth, that the rainbow will appear in the cloud. And I will remember My covenant..."

Although rainbows can be explained by science, there's something so mercurial about them, and that lends itself to help bridge an understanding between G-d and all "flesh", as the Torah describes it. It's not something abstract, requires no understanding, it just needs to be seen to be understood. It's a fickle combination of colors, designed to make us stop what we're doing, look up, and hopefully remember a covenant that G-d made with us. Of course if G-d wanted to get rid of us there are many other ways, but the point is that we have an unbreakable bond with Him, and the gentle rainbow is meant to remind us of that, so we stop what we're doing, look up high, and hopefully start thinking even higher.

Daily Aliya for Noach, Revii (4th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: G‑d commanded Noach to leave the teivah, along with all his fellow teivah-mates. Noach built an altar and offered sacrifices. This pleased G‑d, who then promised to never again curse the earth as He had just done. Instead, the regular seasons (which had not functioned during the year of the mabul) would continue perpetually. G‑d then blessed Noach and his sons: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." G‑d allowed mankind to eat meat, but prohibited murder, suicide, and the consumption of a limb ripped from a living animal.

What changed? Now that G-d enacted a "do-over", the changes are that there will now be seasons, basic laws must be followed, and man must procreate. The theme? Structure. Without rules and structure everything falls apart, and seasons and basic laws help facilitate a natural order of things. And having kids? Not only is having children a structured event, but raising them requires even more structure and discipline. Only after we work out our own issues by dealing with seasons and laws, we can then continue to bring new life to the world.

Daily Aliya for Noach, Shlishi (3rd Aliya)

Aliya Summary: The torrential rains lasted for forty days and nights. The waters rose to great heights and covered even the highest mountains, killing all humans and animals; everything died aside for Noach and the other occupants of the teivah. After the waters raged on the earth another 150 days, G‑d caused the waters to subside. The teivah eventually rested on the Ararat Mountains, and shortly thereafter the mountain peaks came into view. Noach opened the window of the teivah and dispatched birds to see whether it was time to leave the teivah. First he sent a raven, which refused to execute its mission and just circled the ark. He then sent out a dove. On its second attempt the dove went and did not return, signaling that the earth was once again habitable. After one full year in the teivah, the earth had dried.

Commentators explain that G-d's anger subsided and turned into mercy because of Noach's prayers. Apparently, prayer has a soothing effect on G-d, something not overlooked by future traditions, but this could have been the seed and blueprint for the prayers that have evolved since.

Daily Aliya for Noach, Sheni (2nd Aliya)

Aliya Summary: Of kosher animals and birds, Noach was commanded to take seven pairs of each species (as opposed to one pair of all other species). Noach, his family, and the required animals boarded the teivah and the mabul began: "The springs of the great depths burst forth and the windows of the heavens opened."

The Talmud (in Pesachim) points to G-d's instructions to take "Animals that are Tahor (i.e. Kosher) and those that are not Tahor", as a lesson in speaking with a "clean" language, i.e. not vulgar. The Torah could have used the word TAMEI (unclean) but chose a longer periphrasis to use more pleasant terms. Commentaries ask, if this is so, how come the Torah uses the word TAMEI in many other contexts. The answer is, that when the Torah is setting down Mitzva and Halacha, it must use straightforward terms to avoid any possible confusion. When recounting a story (and for us, whenever possible) it is preferable to use more polite language.

Daily Aliya for Noach, Rishon (1st Aliya)

General Overview: In this week's reading, Noach, Noach and his family, along with at least one pair of each living creature, survive the Flood by taking refuge in an Ark. The erection of the Tower of Babel angers G‑d, and leads to the dispersal of Noach's descendants. Abraham and Sarah are born.

Aliya Summary: While society as a whole descended into a state of anarchy and utter corruption, only Noach remained righteous and faithful to G‑d's ways. Noach was informed by G‑d that a mabul ("flood") will soon destroy all of civilization, and only Noach and his immediate family would survive in a teivah ("ark," boat) that he was to build. G‑d gave Noach the exact dimensions of the teivah he was to build, and commanded Noach to bring along into the teivah specimens of every species of animal and bird to repopulate the world after the mabul, and to stock the boat with food to feed all its inhabitants.

Daily Aliya for Bereishit, Shvii (7th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: The next three generations are chronicled in this Aliya -- concluding with Noach, the tenth generation from Adam. At this point in time, the wickedness and immorality of the people on earth reached such proportions that G‑d regretted creating man. G‑d gave the world 120 years to clean up their act or be destroyed. Noach, on the other hand, was an exception. He was righteous and found favor in G‑d's eyes.

The Midrash Rabah records the following important story/lesson: A gentile asked Rabbi Joshua ben Korchah, “Do you not admit that the Holy One, blessed be He, foresees the future?” Rabbi Joshua replied to him, “Yes.” He retorted, “But it is written: and He became grieved in His heart!” Rabbi Joshua replied, “Was a son ever born to you?” “Yes,” the gentile replied. “And what did you do?” Rabbi Joshua asked. He replied, “I rejoiced and made everyone rejoice.” “But did you not know that he was destined to die?” he asked. The gentile replied, “At the time of joy, joy; at the time of mourning, mourning.” Rabbi Joshua said to him, “So is it with the work of the Holy One, blessed be He; even though it was revealed before Him that they would ultimately sin, and He would destroy them, He did not refrain from creating them, for the sake of the righteous men who were destined to arise from them.”

Daily Aliya for Bereishit, Shishi (6th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: Lemech accidentally killed his great-great-great-great-grandfather Cain in a hunting accident; the blood of Abel was finally avenged. Adam and Eve gave birth to a third son, Shet. This Aliya then chronicles the first seven generations of mankind, from Adam to the righteous Enoch.

Lemech's wives knew of the impending flood, and that almost everyone would be killed, and therefore stopped having kids. Lemech complained about them to Adam, and Adam argued that "You perform your commandments, and He will do His", meaning that we do what we're supposed to do, and let G-d deal with the consequences. The wives countered that Adam should take his own advice, to which he stood corrected, and proceeded to have Shet, of whom Noach was a descendant, who did survive the flood, and who led the new world!

Daily Aliya for Bereishit, Chamishi (5th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: The sixth generation descendant of Cain was Lemech, who fathered several children -- seventh generation descendants of Cain.

This Aliya contains the story of Lemech, the great-great-great-grandson of Kayin and his accidental killer, Lemech's two wives Ada and Tzila. The Torah mentions more descendants of Kayin and their roles as the "firsts" in various fields of human activity. This portion also contains Lemech's lament for having killed Kayin.

Daily Aliya for Bereishit, Revii (4th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: Adam and Eve were then expelled from the idyllic Garden of Eden. Eve gave birth to two sons, Cain and Abel. When Abel's offering to G‑d was accepted, while Cain's was rejected, Cain murdered his brother in a jealous rage. G‑d punished Cain, designating him to be a lifelong wanderer, but postponing his ultimate punishment for seven generations.

It may be no coincidence that as soon as Adam lost his innocence by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, he had children, who are born with that same initial innocence. As children are raised, their parents try to shelter their innocence by protecting them from the harsh realities of life and the world around them. In a way, we all try to get back to the bliss of the Garden. In a world filled with information on demand, we often forget that in reality we should always have a filter in place - not everything is meant for us to see and understand. We must know our place, our role, our limitations.

Daily Aliya for Bereishit, Shlishi (3rd Aliya)

Aliya Summary: G‑d caused Adam to fall into a deep slumber and formed a woman, Eve, from one of his sides. Adam was delighted with his new mate. The serpent, at the time the wisest of all animals, sweet-talked Eve into eating from the fruit of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. Eve shared the fruit with Adam, and imbued with a new sense of knowledge and awareness, they were ashamed of their nakedness and clothed themselves. The fallout was quick to come: G‑d cursed the serpent, Eve, and Adam too, with various maledictions.

Why did G-d have to make Adam fall asleep to give him Eve? The Gemara explains that had Adam seen where Eve came from, she would have been repulsive to him. The question is what would have been so repulsive. Is it because he is no longer whole, and requires a partner to be complete? Is it because he understood that the process of courtship would be difficult for some, impossible for others? Was it because the process would create so much heartbreak in the world? All because he wanted an external partner? Interesting points to ponder.

Daily Aliya for Bereishit, Sheni (2nd Aliya)

Aliya Summary: This section discusses the events of the sixth day of creation in greater detail. After Adam was formed from the earth, G‑d placed him in a garden just east of Eden. G‑d permitted Adam to eat from any tree in the garden, with the exception of the Tree of Knowledge. Adam named all the animals and birds, and G‑d decided that Adam needed a mate.

In the first account of Creation, Man was the final act of Creation, but not so much the purpose and focus of creation. In this second account, Man seems to be the focus of creation. We have to see things both ways. The accounts of Creation are very cryptic. Why have them at all? Perhaps it is to challenge each of us to understand some tiny point in this whole grand portion of the Torah that can make our existence more meaningful.

Daily Aliya for Bereishit, Rishon (1st Aliya)

General Overview: In the Torah's opening reading, Bereishit, G‑d creates the world in six days and rests on the seventh. Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge and are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Cain slays Abel and is punished accordingly. Enumeration of the ten generations between Adam and Noach, the birth of Noach, and the degeneration of mankind.

Aliya Summary: This Aliya recounts the story of creation in six days. On the first day G‑d made darkness and light. On the second day He formed the heavens, dividing the "upper waters" from the "lower waters." On the third day He set the boundaries of land and sea and called forth trees and greenery from the earth. On the fourth day He fixed the position of the sun, moon and stars. Fish, birds and reptiles were created on the fifth day; land-animals, and then the human being, Adam, on the sixth. G‑d ceased work on the seventh day, and sanctified it as a day of rest.