Bereishis: Shishi and Shevii

Bereshit – ShishiBereshit – Shishi Bereshit – Shishi and Shevii Manslaughter Lemech called his wives to tell them that he had accidentally killed both a man and a boy. (According to tradition, he had killed his ancestor Cain and his son, Tuval Kayin.) If Cain would be avenged seven times, Lemech said, then surely he would be avenged 77 times! (An alternative reading of 4:15 is that Cain would die after seven generations, which we see he did. According to this interpretation, Lemech is saying that, since he killed accidentally, his sentence should be suspended for 77 generations.) Meanwhile, Adam and Eve had another son, whom they named Seth (“Shais” in Hebrew). Shais had a son named Enosh, during whose lifetime idolatry started. The Torah now lists the generations of Adam’s descendants, indicating how long each one lived and the age at which they had children. (This makes it child’s play to calculate the timing of various events relative to the creation of the world.) Among the more notable of Adam’s descendants was Chanoch (a descendant of Seth, not the son of Cain). Chanoch was so righteous that G-d took him into Heaven alive, before he could become corrupted by others’ evil influence. By Rabbi Jack Abramowitz Listen to the shiur on OU Torah They Might Be Giants Chanoch’s son was Methuselah (Mesushelach), who holds the record for oldest recorded lifespan (969 years). Methusaleh’s grandson was Noah (Noach), so named because his father predicted that he would bring relief and comfort to the world. (“Noach” is derived from “yenachameinu” – “he will comfort us.”) Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham (Cham) and Japheth (Yefes). The population of Earth had grown significantly by this time. Powerful people (some would say “fallen” angels) would marry whomever they chose. They fathered “giants” – possibly referring to their height, possibly to their power. G-d decreed that the lifespan of a person – which until that time was often in the hundreds of years – would be reduced until it eventually reached an upper cap of 120 years. (Even then there would be exceptions, but they would be increasingly rare.) G-d saw that people were growing ever more evil. Everything they did, all day long, was corrupt. Not happily, G-d decided that he had to wipe out just about everything and start again. The only bright spot was Noah.By Rabbi Jack AbramowitzListen to the shiur on OU Torah Share:     Facebook    Twitter   OU.ORG  |  NCSY  |  NJCD  |  OU Kosher   |  JLIC  |  Jewish Action  |  Advocacy  |  OU Job BoardShabbat Shalom  |  OU Press  |  OU Torah  |  OU Israel  |  Synagogue Services   Unsubscribe  |  Forward to a Friend