The opening chapters of Genesis have sustained generations of interpretation. We investigate how their language and structure can bear more than one layer of meaning, and whether modern scientific knowledge can make aspects of those layers newly accessible.
Read the passage as a whole
Our approach draws on the Bible, rabbinic literature, and commentators including Maimonides, Nachmanides, and Ramchal. Proposed readings are examined through vocabulary, context, sequence, and the coherence of the complete passage. The relationship between an interpretation and its scientific framework is part of that examination.
Creation as an enduring field of study
Maase Bereshit brings questions about the physical world together with questions about its origin and meaning. We explore how the interpretive resources of Torah can support fresh inquiry while preserving the distinction between the text, its commentators, and a new proposal.
Questions guiding our work
- How can one passage speak on more than one level?
- What makes a proposed reading faithful to its text?
- How should interpretation respond to developments in scientific understanding?