This week we're starting the Torah all over again, with parashat Bereshit. Upon re-reading the portion, what struck me most was a reference to Enosh, grandson of Adam and Chava, and to the way that in his generation "men began to address God by name."

That's traditionally understood as the first reference to prayer in Torah...and it's the jumping-off point for this week's dvar at Radical Torah:

The sons of Adam made offerings to God -- and we know well the consequences of those different offerings and their different receptions -- but not until the days of Adam and Chava's grandson Enosh did humanity began to pray. Everett Fox translates the name "Enosh" as "Mortal;" it's also  possible to relate the name to words meaning "soft," "weak," "delicate." Perhaps the text means to subtly remind us that our first impulse toward prayer arises out of our weakness, our mortality, the places where we are soft.

Read the whole thing here: Speaking from our soft places.

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