This week, after the holiday of Simchat Torah, we begin the cycle of Torah reading again, with the first portion of the first book of the Torah, B’reishit. This week’s portion, also called B’reishit after the first word of the portion, the book and the Torah, tells two stories of the creation of the world. In the first story, Gd creates people and gives them dominion over the animals and gives them the green plants of the earth to eat. And then, Gd surveyed Gd’s creation, and found it “very good.” In the second version of the creation story, the Adam and Eve story, Gd placed the man in the Garden of Eden l’avda ul’shamra – to work and to keep. In both stories, therefore, Gd created the earth, and then gave humans the responsibility to work it and to care for it. That responsibility did not end with those first created but has passed down through the generations. It is now ours. read more