Crimes of Passion - A Feasible Start for Humanity

The beginning of the Flood is described twice in Genesis Ch. 7. First in Gen. 7:12, "And the rain was upon the earth forty days... Then again in Gen. 7:17, "When the Flood was on the earth forty days, the waters increased..." The rain came down as a last attempt to awaken mankind to repent. But since they did not, it became a flood that wiped out the world. The first ten generations rebelled against      G-d with defiance, transgressing intentionally to anger the One Above. Their defiance was to such an extent that even as the floodwaters came down, they refused to repent.
 The generations between Noach and Abraham also acted immorally. And yet they were not wiped out. Rather, out of these ten generations came Abraham, who began the proces of making G-d's Kingdom down here in this world. In fact, even when these generations openly rebelled against G-d, they were not punished severely (Gen. Ch.11). Furthermore, we also see in Abraham's interaction with Pharaoh and later with Abimelech, that both these kings repented immediately when they realized they had acted against G-d will (Gen 12:17-20, Gen. 20:3-17).
The Torah is teaching us here that there are two kinds of negative energies in the world. One type of negative energy is so empty that the only way to deal with it is by washing it completely out of one's life. The other negative activity is also self-centered but nevertheless it can also come to benefit others and make the world a better place by transforming it into a constructive activity. One energy is based on a dogmatic selfishness, around which a whole system of laws and relationships is built. The other immorality manifests itself in the form of passion and heat.
In our own lives, there is a dogmatic selfishness that can only be washed away over time through the "floodwaters" of life's travails. Our passions, on the other hand, can be transformed and channeled always towards a positive and creative purpose.

What doesn't Begin, and never Ends?

"In the beginning, G-d created the Heaven and the Earth" (Gen. 1:1). This is how the Torah begins. And the astute reader asks, what are the words, "in the beginning", coming to teach me?

The Torah is a book of laws for upright moral behavior but it is also a portal between the physical dimension and G-d. How can the two connect? How can the limited and finite connect with the unlimited and infinite. These are what the words, "in the beginning", are describing. They are describing the connecting piece between us and G-d. "In the beginning" means that prior to creation was created already the potential for G-d and created beings to connect.

Inside the world, is nested the potential for bridging that gap. However, this also means that the Five Books of Moses are predicated on the understanding that there is the One Above who has no beginning and no end, and it is our intention to bond with Him through our observance of His Torah. "In the beginning" also means that our world has a beginning, but our G-d does not. He is not defined or limited.

The giving of the Torah is compared to a marriage. The first stage in a marriage is that the newly-weds come closer - they open up to each other. Nevertheless, any good relationship hinges on the recognition that there will be aspects of the other person that I will never understand or relate to. The Torah can describe to us certain aspects of G-d and bring us closer to Him. But it is predicated on the understanding that there are aspects of the relationship that go beyond words and these aspects we cannot even "begin" to describe