My grandfather used to tell me with pride

How his parents came to Canada to reside.

It was very hard for them he would tell

And inside me a special pride would swell.

This was not just a story of a pioneer  

My great-grandparents, who I never knew, I learned to revere

And to the building of Canada I could connect

Because my great-grandparents were part of the story and on me this had an effect.

 

 

So why have I told this to you?

What topic am I possibly going to pursue?

At the beginning of a new year

There are more important topics to pursue it is clear

But the truth is, that my introduction leads us to the topic at hand

That our family, even if we did not know them firsthand

Have an effect on how we think

Simply because of their special link.

Some relatives we will never consider a friend

And yet to them a special relationship we usually extend

For the simple reason that to us they have a special connection

And that gives them some sort of protection

Against their imperfection

And gives us some sort of caring injection.

Well, the characters in the book of Genesis are related to me and you.

And most importantly they started a special relationship with God that continues today to every Jew.

Today I will probably not tell you anything new

But I do hope to give more perspective to you.

Or at least to sharpen your mind

So that while reading the book of Genesis more connections to our people and our nation you will find.

It is easy to look at Genesis as a book of stories and events that are told

About creation, Adam & Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel & Leah and their children; including how Josef was sold.

But the book of Genesis is so much more

So, I want to point out some things to look for.

 

 

Yad Vashem used to tell the story of the Holocaust as a whole

But they found that people related better when told stories about just one soul

So they started a campaign telling stories about one person at a time

And people began to better understand the full impact of the crime.

This same technique was used in the Torah so many years ago

Carefully introducing us to a special family that did grow.

But this was not just any family of which we are told.

This is the story of our family which does unfold.

Just as I understand why to Canada my family came

And their pioneering adventure I like as my own to claim

The book of Genesis is the story of my family, too.

These are not just stories which are easy with our children and grandchildren to review.

They may be simple and easy to understand

But there is so much more which they command.

These are the stories which explain

Our connection to God and why everything is under His domain.

As well they give us the foundation

Of us as a people and a nation.

These stories are not abstract

And with each other they are meant to interact.

From them there is much which we are to extract

And finally upon us they should make an impact

                                                   

 

Would you send a child to the first grade

If they did not master basic numbers, colors and shapes without aid?

Would you begin to play a game

If you had no idea of the aim?

Likewise, in religion there are things that we need to know

Before we can understand the basics and begin in our knowledge and spirituality to grow.

In the book of Genesis many of these things are contained

And explained.

The significance of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the book does convey

And why they are still meaningful to us today.

It is not just to the individual stories that we should relate

But also how these events did create

Between us and God a bond

To which God continues to respond.

So we should take a better look

In this book

And look carefully at our foundations

And at God's expectations.

.

 

We claim to be not only the physical family of our forefathers in our prayers

But also their spiritual heirs.

So we should read the book of Genesis in this vain

 

 

 

 

 

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