Shabbos Parashas Bereishis - 5778

Shabbos Parashas Bereishis - 5778

Rabbi Hal Miller

In the beginning of Creation, G-d created. [Bereishis 1:1] Many commentators ask why the Torah begins with Creation rather than with the first

commandment. They give many reasons, often centered on various ways of proving

Jewish ownership of the land of Israel. There are also other reasons for the placement

of parashas Bereishis at the beginning of the Torah.

Vayehi erev vayehi boker yom echad. The end of the fifth verse says, "and there was

evening, and there was morning, One Day." Contrast this with the way the Torah writes

the conclusion of activities on the other days: "yom sheini", "yom shlishi", "yom revi'i", etc.,

"a second day", "a third day", "a fourth day". In Hebrew, counting would be done: echat, shtayim, shalosh, arba'a. Ordering is done:

rishon, sheini, shlishi, revi'i. Here we have: echad, sheini, shlishi, revi'i, a complete

inconsistency of "one, second, third, fourth" instead of "first, second, third, fourth."

When the Torah presents an inconsistency, it is trying to teach us something. Ramban says on this: According to the simple understanding it is not possible to say "the first day",

because the second had not yet been made. For the first precedes the second in

number or status, but only when both of them already exist. The word "one" does

not indicate a second thing.

In other words, Ramban would only allow the word 'first' where there already existed

a 'second'. However, Rashi explains: It should have written "the first day", as is written with respect to the other days: second,

third, fourth. Why did it write "one"? Because the Holy One, Blessed is He, was solitary

in His world, for the angels were not created until the second day. So it is explained in

Bereishis Rabbah (3:8): "Thus yom echad is understood as "a day of the One".

Rashi says that G-d began his Torah with a clear statement of His "Oneness" or "Unity".

By the careful choice of just this one word, He has explained that all of Creation comes

from Him, that there was nothing previous to His existence.

This point comes into play just a few "days" later, in verses 26 and 27: "And G-d said, Let

us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness" and "So G-d created Man in His image, in

the image of G-d He created him."

One point in the Torah that non-Jews use to attack us is the issue of ownership of

the land of Israel, seen in recent decades as "occupation" of the portion of the land Jews

took back in 1967. Parashas Bereshis is the Torah's reply, that G-d owns all land and

distributes it as He sees fit. Another point that non-Jews use is the "plural" form for G-d's

activities in the description of the creation of man. Nachshoni says, "The form naaseh--let

us make--gives heretics an opening to question the unity of G-d. Rambam, Akeidah and

others explain the expression 'let us make' as an invitation to have the upper beings (angels)

and lower beings (creatures on earth) involved in the creation of man...the need was felt for

a creature that would link lower beings with the upper world...That is the essence of man."

A lesson this teaches is that "great" people should call upon "lesser" folk to join in efforts.

Rashi writes, "The humility of the Holy One, Blessed is He, we have learned from here.

Although the angels did not assist G-d in creation, and there is room for the heretics to claim

supremacy, the verse did not refrain from teaching us proper conduct and the trait of humility,

that the greater one should consult and take permission from the lesser one. And if it had

written, 'I shall make man', we would not have learned that He was speaking with His court,

rather with Himself. The rebuttal to the heretics it wrote next to it, 'And He created man'--it

did not write "and 'they' created." In other words, the Torah begins by telling us that the most important lessons for us to start

learning about His world are that He preceded all, He created all, and yet, in humility, He

included all His creations in His plan to continue Creation indefinitely. When it came down

to actual creation, G-d did it in the singular. Our role in the universe, our purpose for having

been created, is to act as G-d's partner in the continuing process of completing Creation.

The part we need to do is to build a bridge to those that are not close to G-d.