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The Torah opens with the majestic declaration of Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Rashi on Genesis 1:1 famously asks why the Torah does not begin with the first commandment. The binding of Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19 is one of the most dramatic narratives in scripture, discussed extensively in Sanhedrin 89b.
The Talmud in Berakhot 2a opens with the question "From what time may one recite the Shema in the evening?" Pirkei Avot 1:1 teaches that Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua. Hillel's famous dictum in Shabbat 31a, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor," encapsulates the ethical core of the tradition.
Leviticus 19:18 commands "Love your neighbor as yourself," which Rabbi Akiva calls the great principle of the Torah. The Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4 declares God's unity, and Psalms 23:1 offers comfort: "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want." The book of Ecclesiastes opens with Ecclesiastes 1:2, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ (בראשית א:א). רש"י מפרש שהתורה לא היתה צריכה להתחיל אלא מ"החודש הזה לכם" (שמות יב:ב). במסכת ברכות ב. נאמר "מאימתי קורין את שמע בערבין". ובפרקי אבות א:ב שמעון הצדיק אומר על שלושה דברים העולם עומד.