In The Beginning . . .

B'Reshit bara . . .

(Genesis 1:1)

Tishrei 25, 5782/October 1, 2021

Once upon a time, "in the beginning," G-d created the heavens and the earth. He also created time and space out of emptiness and void, and emptiness and void out of... well, that we don't know. But G-d went on to create and shape and separate and define our planet, its continents and its seas, the heavens above it, the sun and the moon and the stars that populate the heavens. He created day and night, darkness and light, herbs and trees, swarming things, great serpents and fishes of the deep, all sorts of winged things, wild beasts and domesticated animals, and, last, but certainly not least - man.

And it was all "good" in G-d's eyes, in fact "exceedingly good!" When G-d finally finished all that He had set out to achieve after six days of creating, He rested and sanctified the seventh day, calling it Shabbat.

Some people say that this is all a fairy tale, but it's not. It's the G-d's honest truth! Other will concede that all that is written in the opening lines of this week's Torah reading, Bereshit - In the beginning - is true, but that once G-d completed His six days of labor, He checked out for all eternity, leaving His creation to fend for itself. But that, in fact, is the fairy tale. If we but read beyond Bereshit's opening lines we read the following observation made by G-d: "It is not good that man is alone; I shall make him a helpmate opposite him." (Genesis 2:18) Yes, G-d still has His eye on His creation, and the apple of G-d's eye is none other than man - Adam - whom G-d "created in ... His image; in the image of G-d He created him; male and female He created them." (ibid 1:27)

G-d has discovered a flaw in His perfect creation and G-d sets out to remedy that flaw. The flaw is loneliness, solitude, alone-ness. But who here is really lonely? And what does G-d, Creator of all and beyond all creation, know from loneliness? Is Adam lonely? If so, he hasn't said so. In fact, up to this point Adam hasn't said a single word. Adam is dwelling in Eden and all that he requires is but a stretch of the hand away. Adam has no wants. And that is the flaw in G-d's perfect creation! So      G-d fashions woman out of Adam's own being and sets her opposite Adam. And now the male and female created in G-d's image have been divided into two separate entities, separate but longing to be reunited. And so G-d has created the necessary flaw that He perceived was imperative to ultimately perfect His creation - loneliness - and the desire to overcome it! This was the catalyst needed to set things in motion. Now man would need to reach out, to become more than himself in order to become complete.

And so into this existential mix that G-d was brewing, He threw in the Tree of Knowledge, a serpent, temptation and the irresistable draw of taste and touch and visual beauty and the inner voice of conscience, and - lo and behold - man and woman realize their nakedness and go into hiding. In tasting of the forbidden fruit of knowledge, man and woman have tasted the knowledge of a reality beyond their own. G-d is no longer merely their Creator, but now the knowledge of His constant and enduring presence has been forever embedded into their consciousness, into the very fiber of their being.

And so G-d, perceiving that His children have gone missing, seeks them out, and calling for them asks what is perhaps the most profound and important question ever asked by G-d of man: "Where are you?" (ibid 3:9)

And so begins a love story that endures to this day. A rocky beginning, for sure, but a necessary beginning to jump start man's ongoing, (sometimes off and on), love affair with G-d, and G-d's love affair with man, throughout all the ups and downs, the disappointments and infidelities. Sometimes we find ourselves hiding from G-d, and sometimes we find ourselves standing upright before G-d. But G-d finds us always. G-d does not lose a beat. And if partaking of the Tree of Knowledge has made us mortal, so be it. And if that knowledge has made us G-d-like, being able to discern between good and evil, that is our burden, but also the key to our relationship with G-d. He, who created us in His image, has welcomed us into His world. And from now on, it is ours to share, to care for and to perfect. Together with G-d.

Are we up for it? G-d surely thinks so. Man is that last of G-d's solo creations. Now we are in it together... and forever. Shabbat shalom!

Haftarah For Shabbat Parashat Bereshit 

Isaiah 42:5-21: 

"Thus said G-d HaShem, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and what it brings forth, Who gave breath to the people upon it And life to those who walk thereon: 

I HaShem, in My grace, have summoned you, And I have grasped you by the hand. I created you, and appointed you A covenant people, light of nations…"

The Temple Institute

Tisha B’Av on the Temple Mount