This morning we begin yet again a new cycle of Torah reading. The name of the first book of the Torah, as well as the first Sidra is Bereshit, which means at the beginning. The word comes from Hebrew word ROSH, which means head. The Shabbat has a special title: Shabbat Bereshit. The book should be divided into three distinct sections. The first 11 chapters tell us about the beginning of civilisation, until the nations dispersed in different directions. The second section begins in chapter 12 and ends in chapter 38. It deals with the life of the fathers of the Israelite nation and concludes with Joseph’s sale, as a slave, in Egypt. The final section tells us of Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt and Jacob’s migration, together with the 70 members of his family. The book ends with Joseph’s death at the age of 110.
The first section of the book is devoted, particularly, to the idea of instilling within our hearts and minds the belief in the unity and eternity of God, who is the creator of the world, its moral guide and the controller of its unfolding events. Secondly, this section emphasises the unity of humanity, through the story of Adam which shows that everyone stems from one single couple, Adam and Eve. When we compare the biblical creation story with other pagan legends that had widespread following in antiquity, in neighbouring cultures, in biblical lands, we realise that one of the most important missions of our holy Torah, was to fight against and ultimately eradicate the pagan legends, which were totally alien to monotheism.
The book contains many details about the lifestyle and customs which our forefathers followed and which now seem very strange. But archaeological discoveries, regarding the life of the Assyrians and Babylonians the Hittites and Egyptians, shed considerable light upon the life of our patriarchs. I have in mind, for example, the following stories: The marriage of Abraham to Hagar, her expulsion from his home after the birth of Isaac, the rift between Jacob and Esau regarding the birthright, the episode in which Rachel stole her father’s idols and the status of Abraham’s servant in his master’s household.
The first letter of the Torah, the Bet, is written larger than normal in the scroll because of its special status.The Masoretes refer to it as Bet Rabbati. There are other such letters, though not many. Two other very famous large letters occur in the passage of the Shema. They are the letter Ayin in the end of the word Shema, and the letter Daled in the word Echad. The reason for their large size is that together they make up the word ED, which means a witness. When we recite the Shema, we fulfil our obligations of testifying to the unity of God.
It is striking that the story of creation is based on the number seven. The name of God occurs 35 times throughout the story, which is 7×5; the word ERETZ, which means Earth occurs 21 times which is 7×3; the expression describing the creation as good, or very good, occurs exactly 7 times. The first sentence in the story contains seven words. The final passage, which describes God cessation of work on Shabbat, contains three consecutive sentences, each comprising seven words. Some Israeli Scholars, notably Cassuto and Hartum, regarded this phenomenon as exceedingly important and maintained that this numerical harmony proved that this story was written with great literary skill. They, therefore, called it a poem.
At the end of each day we read the following sentence: “There was evening and there was morning”. There are two possible explanations for this statement. The first interpretation is that after a long period of Boker, light, there was Erev, evening, namely, darkness. This was followed by morning when it was light again. At this point, it was the end of the day. According to this interpretation, the day precedes the night. The second interpretation is that the sentence is here referring to the original darkness which prevailed, throughout the universe, before God declared: “Let there be light.” After the period of light, the day ended. According to this interpretation the night precedes the day. This is how our Jewish tradition understood it and it explains why all our holy days begin in the evening.
One of the striking sentences in the story of creation is when God decided to create Adam. He said: Let us make Adam. Whom was He addressing? According to Jewish tradition he consulted the Angels, although they played no part in the creation itself. Rashi, following his normal practice, derives an ethical teaching from it. It is called in Hebrew: Derech Eretz. The teaching is that it is very important for a leader to consult his followers before he makes a significant decision. We should always work as part of the team, whatever our position in the organisation.
God’s declaration of intent signifies Adam’s extraordinarily special status in the scheme of the creation story. It emphasises his desire to create man and his excitement to see this project succeed. It teaches the idea that God has a personal relationship with human beings. All the other living beings came out of the Earth automatically, like plants, but Adam was God’s own handiwork. He created Adam in God’s image in the sense that he endowed Adam with the intelligence to control the natural world around him. Other commentators explain God’s image in the sense that human beings have been granted a sense and awareness of spirituality.
In chapter 2 verse 2 we read that the Almighty completed his work on the seventh day. This sentence has perplexed the commentators throughout the ages. After all, he must have completed his work at the end of the sixth day! Our rabbis understood that, on the seventh day, God created the very concept of rest. For us it conveys the important lesson that Shabbat also needs to be created. We have to make a conscious decision to stop working just as we make a conscious decision to work. At times, the decision to rest for 25 hours, without attending to our business, is as difficult and challenging as the business itself. This is why God had to create rest on the seventh day. It did not just happen.