BERESHIT – 5782

GENESIS I – VI,8

The first chapters of the Torah are fascinating. The Bible describes in abundance of detail both the creation of the cosmos and that of our first universal ancestor Adam. Everything takes place in six days, and the seventh day Shabbat is declared to be the day of rest for all living creatures that were created. Unlike the other holy days in our calendar, Shabbat is proclaimed as the day when work ceases for all mankind and becomes an essential condition of the creation of the world. The weekly day of rest has nothing to do with the color of the individual’s skin or with the religion he professes or negates. This concept of the inherent right to rest is being expanded today in many societies where its members are granted two days of rest per week. And there is even talk of a third day of rest.

In the relatively medium-term future, we may have to face situations that require a greater number of these holidays to better distribute the existing work among many. In ancient times, on the other hand, the notion of a mandatory day of weekly rest was a revolutionary idea whose acceptance by the establishments of power required a serious readjustment.

Our Chachamim understood that the creation of the universe took place Yesh Meayin, creation “out of nothing”. God did not use any existing matter to create our universe, because there was no matter. In the beginning, nothing existed, save for God. Aristotle, on the other hand, considered that matter was always there, and that the universe was the result of the transformation of that matter. There are apparently valid reasonings that lead to conclusions like this thought of the Greeks. Jewish tradition, on the other hand, affirms that only God predates the universe. He, God, is the only Being, the only existence that does not follow the parameters of time and place, concepts and physical measures that belong to our world. 

Rambam in his 13 Ani maamin, a poem we recite in the synagogue and that summarizes thirteen principles, considers the eternity of God as one of the pillars of our faith. It begins with the words Adon Olam, Lord Eternal, which is a reference to God’s eternity.

The Parshanim, commentators of the Pentateuch are divided as to how the creation was carried out. Rashi, for example, considers that the entire creation was made in the first instant, (Big Bang theory). In the next six days, each of the elements of the creation was placed in its proper context. Thus, the sun and moon, which regulate our days, were created in the first instant. Their specific heavenly placement took place only on the fourth day. Other commentators share the notion that the universe was effectively created during these primordial six days. 

Obviously, there are many questions that lend themselves to these explanations. If the sun was created on the fourth day, how is the first day of creation measured? The length of a day depends on the sun, that is, the time of the rotation of the earth around its axis and that can be measured only through some external reference point. Therefore, the first day of creation may have lasted for seconds or perhaps it was a span of hundreds of millions of years. There was no point of reference to measure its duration.

In his first comment on the text, Rashi questions the beginning of the Bible with Bereshit, which is the account of the creation of the universe. According to Rabbi Yitsjak’s question, whom Rashi quotes, the Bible should have started with a different chapter. The chapter he suggests for Bereshit is the one in which the Jewish people are ordered to select a lamb to offer as a sacrifice before the departure from Egypt. It seems, then, that in Rashi’s conception, and surely in that of many others, the Bible is not a history book, but the document containing divine instructions for human behavior. Therefore, the Torah should have properly begun with the first teaching or instruction our ancestors received. 

According to the criteria of our Chachamim, each of the words contained in this Book of Books has to be analyzed and studied. Each verse demands reflection to deduce what can be learned from the biblical account. Incidentally, Rashi, as we point out, quotes Rabbi Yitsjak. Since Rashi’s father had this name, (the word Rashi is composed of the initials of Rabbi Shlomoh Yitsjaki) some believed the quote of this Rabbi Yitsjak was a product of Rashi’s imagination who wanted to pay homage to the name of his late father, since the primary source of this quote had not been found. The father of Martin Buber, a great researcher of the sacred texts, discovered an original text of the Midrash Tanchuma, and indeed, in that version of the Midrash, appears the comment of Rabbi Yitsjak. (This version of the Midrash is known as the Tanchuma of Bober).

The biblical language of the first chapters has special riches and treasures that have been incorporated into our folklore and everyday language. For example, at the end of each day’s creation, the Torah affirms, “andGod saw that it was good.” According to the Torah account, God did not complete His work on Monday, and the following day, Tuesday, God finished Monday’s and Tuesday’s work. Therefore, the expression “andGod saw that it was good” is repeated on Tuesday. Since at the end of Friday the work of creation is finished, the Bible says:  Vayar Elohim… vehineh tov me’od. “God saw… and it was very good.” Echoing these two particularities, Tuesdays and Fridays are especially favorable for the start of a new enterprise. For this reason, many people choose these days to move into a new home. Tuesday because of the repetition of the phrase Ki tov and Friday for the words Tov me’od.

This same verse Vayar Elohim…, “and God saw that it was good”, is also the subject of a very original comment. According to which the Bible seems to imply that God behaved like a human artist who after a few brushstrokes on the canvas, moves away from it to enjoy a panoramic view, and thus able to make a judgment on the work. It is as if God, at the end of creation of the day by saying Ki tov, issued a favorable judgment, approved of what He had done.

Some suggest that perhaps we should translate the word Vayar, in the sense of “show”, that is, instead of “and God saw”, we should understand “and God showed”, He made his creation visible. God created the world in a different dimension and then allowed His creation to be seen in our three-dimensional world. Therefore, the words Ki tov mean, “because He is good”? The reference is no longer to the completed work. According to this interpretation, Ki tov, refers to God, and means “because God is good”. God showed, or made visible His creation, because He is good. Kindness, therefore, means sharing. God made the world visible so that mankind could share in His creation. 

One of the first lessons we could learn from the biblical text is that being good means sharing. Being good means helping those who have less. The lucky one, must share what he has with the less fortunate, the rich must give to the poor. Sharing means “splitting” what we have with other human beings, just as God did in the act of creation. Because if we do not share there can be no existence and survival in our universe. Ki tov, being good, according to this interpretation, is an integral part of creation.

MITSVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARASHAH

CONTAINS 1 POSITIVE MITSVAH

1. Genesis I:28 Procreate and multiply (humans)