As we begin Torah anew with the Book of Genesis, this week’s daily kavanot will each focus on one of the five books. This is an invitation to stop, to reflect, and to get a  taste of our most sacred text.

Recently, writing about a particular section of the Talmud for MyJewishLearning.com, I had the chance to reflect on the trend of American individualism—the phenomenon, coined 20 years ago by Robert Putnam, of Bowling Alone. Speaking about “social capital,” he notes that it “refers to connections among individuals—social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness.” More importantly, he describes the sorts of social connections that lead to social goods—we are stronger together, even as we live more and more apart.

The Book of Genesis is by no means a narrative of healthy social relationships. In fact, we might argue it describes the opposite. A family drama full of fratricide (both attempted and accomplished), theft, banishment, and more—Genesis often reads like a “how not to” primer on creating healthy family bonds.

Yet, Genesis opens with two fundamental questions; first, God asks Adam (and Eve) “Ayekha? (“Where are you?”) And then, Cain asks God: Am I my brother’s keeper*? Rabbi Joseph Telushkin suggests in his book Jewish Wisdom, “It is no exaggeration to claim that the rest of the Bible is a resoundingly affirmative response to Cain’s query.”

Torah—from Genesis all the way through—seeks to answer both of those questions, it asks us, challenges us, and inspires us to locate ourselves in relationship with and responsibility to: ourselves, the people and the world around us, and the Divine. Genesis begins, and Torah continues, with the reminder that cannot and do not exist only as individuals. We are, from the very beginning, inextricably bound.

— Rabbi Sari Laufer