Can we understand that which is before time? Can we understand how the world was before it became as limited as we know it? Can we understand that which is beyond our concepts? If we can, it must mean that we are not really as limited as we think. If we can fathom the existence of eternity, we must have the potential for eternal existence. In so far as we are descendants of Adam, the first Man, we can therefore have some faint inkling of his trials and tribulations.
Bereishis — with the Original Purpose, Hashem revealed His ability to limit his influence temporarily, creating a new order called Elqhim. This order was based on giving (shamaim) and receiving (aretz), the aretz being prone to deficiency, limitation and physicality (tohu vavohu ... ) which the force of Elqhim would then rectify. He then created benevolence in the form of light and limited its benefit to those worthy and left the rest in darkness; the light he entrusted with the administration of the positive (Yom), and the night he gave dominion over the negative (Layla), the latter preceding the former, as deficiency precedes fulfillment.
The holy Torah explains at length how the backdrop was carefully set for Adam to step on stage. When he finally did he was created in the semblance of G-d as He was before creation; so much so that he was completely self-sufficient, till he asked to also be able to give, and was divided into Adam and Chava. So utterly aware was he of the endless benevolence of the Creator that he did not heed the above-mentioned faults Hashem intentionally embedded in Creation, and was led to think that all he did could not be other than good. Although created directly by G-d's Hands, Adam however succumbed to the temptation of the inherent fault in Creation, and could no longer be allowed to taste eternity in his deficient state. He was thus relocated in a different environment where the negative would be more evident, and there he would eventually yearn for the eternal sufficiently to indeed merit it.
Although all of his progeny was tainted with his shortcoming to some degree, one fine thread of progeny survived the temptations of the over-pleasant world they lived in and dedicated their lives to aspiring for the ultimate and eternal. They alone survived the temptations and the eventual ruination that even certain angels that were given bodies could not face. Thus, the first ten generations completed the first phase of creation, from Primal Thought to fruition.
Based on Rabbi Vali's book on Bereishis. Questions and subscriptions can be mailed to: the Yeshiva