In the beginning G-d created ("Bereishit bara Elokim") (Gen. 1:1)
When the final letters of "Bereishit bara Elokim" (tav, alef and mem) are rearranged the result is the word "emet," truth, spelled alef, mem and tav. These are also the opening letters of the Ten Commandments ("Anochi"), the Mishna ("Me'eimatai") and the Gemara ("Tana"), as it states in Psalms (119:160), "The beginning of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever." (Iturei Torah)
In the beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1)
The first verse in the entire Torah consists of seven Hebrew words - "Bereishit bara Elokim eit hashamayim ve'eit ha'aretz." These are symbolic of the seven days of the week, the seven years of the Sabbatical cycle, the seven Sabbatical years in a Jubilee, the seven celestial firmaments, the seven lands, and the seven planets in the sky. (Baal HaTurim)
It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help to match him (Gen. 2:18)
As we learn from G-d's actions in the creation of the world, every man is obligated to do three things, and in this particular order: build a home, plant a vineyard, and marry a woman. For indeed, the Holy One, Blessed be He, first built a house (i.e., created the world), filled it with various provisions and means of livelihood, and only afterward created Adam and his wife. (Yalkut Reuveini)
The L-rd G-d called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? (Gen. 3:9)
From this we learn that one should never burst into another person's home unannounced. Indeed, we derive proper manners from G-d Himself, Who "stood" at the entrance to the Garden of Eden and initiated a conversation with Adam before entering. (Derech Eretz)
Reprinted from the Parshat Bereishit 5762/2001 edition of L’Chaim.
