Genesis 1:1-6:8 · 7 aliyot, maftir and haftarah from Isaiah
Parshat Bereishit opens the Torah: the six days of creation and Shabbat, Adam and Chava in Gan Eden, the sin of the Eitz HaDaat, Kayin and Hevel, the ten generations to Noach, and Hashem's decision to bring the flood. It is leined on the Shabbat after Simchat Torah, when the yearly cycle starts again. About 31 minutes of leining, recorded aliyah by aliyah by a Master Baal Koreh with every word highlighted as it is read.
The six days of creation, from light on the first day to man on the sixth, and Hashem resting on the seventh. This aliyah ends with Vayechulu, the pesukim also said in Kiddush on Friday night.
Leining tip: Here's your chance to shine. You are starting the first aliyah of the first parsha in the Torah. Make it memorable. Take it slow, remember to enunciate.
If you are leining on Simchat Torah, there is a slight change in the way each day is read. You will finish each of the first 6 days of creation by stopping before the words "ויהי ערב ויהי בקר" and let the kehillah say that first, and then you will chant that pasuk.
Man is formed from the earth and placed in Gan Eden to work it and guard it. The command not to eat from the Eitz HaDaat. Adam names the animals and finds no partner among them.
Chava is formed from Adam's side. The serpent persuades Chava to eat from the tree, Adam eats too, and Hashem pronounces the consequences for the serpent, the woman and the man.
Four pesukim: Lemech and his two wives, and their sons Yaval, Yuval and Tuval-Kayin, the first herdsmen, musicians and metalworkers. The shortest aliyah in the parsha.
Lemech's song to his wives. Sheit is born, and the generations from Adam to Chanoch, who walked with Hashem. The years and names repeat in a fixed pattern, and so does the trop.
Metushelach, Lemech and the birth of Noach. Mankind grows corrupt, Hashem regrets creating man and decides to wipe out life, but Noach finds favor in His eyes.
The last four pesukim of the parsha, leined again as the maftir: mankind's wickedness, and Noach finding favor. This is the lead-in to Noach introduction in the next parsha which carries his name.
