Where do we come from? Are our human origins pure and innocent? Or do we stem from the most unspeakable act of violence one can imagine? As Parashat Bereishit traces our earliest origins, we see a conflicted picture of what lies at the core of humanity. This tension about whether humanity has pure or troubled origins parallels an age-old debate about whether God created the world from scratch or from a preexisting mess. Giving voice to the messier, more troubled origins of humanity can actually bring us into closer relationship with God, and more fully part of the divine work of creating something beautiful from a terrible mess.

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