Genesis
There is something very exciting about beginnings – whether it's beginning the Torah, beginning a new school year, starting the first chapter of a book, starting a new job, or connecting with a new person, there is a sense of anticipation and unknown.
This weeks Torah portion begins at the very beginning -
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
When God began to create heaven and earth—
וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃
the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water—
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃
God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃
God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃ (פ)
God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.
These first few verses of Genesis are some of the most well known in the entire Torah. Everyone is familiar with the account of how God took six days to create the Universe and rested on the seventh day. God is incredibly productive over those six days, creating light, separating light from darkness, creating sky, water and land, plants, sun moon and stars, animals, and finally, as God’s piece de resistance, God creates human beings.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (whose commentary this d'var Torah is based on) describes this narrative as “the most revolutionary as well as the most influential account of creation in the history of the human spirit”. But Rashi, the medieval commentator, commenting on the first verse of Genesis, asks the question: Why does the Torah begin where it does - with the story of creation? The Torah is a book of laws, and therefore it should start with the first law, which doesn’t occur until Exodus 12:2.
Rabbi Sacks poses an interesting answer to this intriguing question. Perhaps the Torah begins with creation in order to highlight our own human power as creative beings. Just as God is creative, we are to be creative.
We learn in Genesis 1:28 that we were all created in God’s image:
וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹהִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤ת הַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכָל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.”
Because we’re created in God’s image, we are called on to imitate God. As it says in Leviticus 19:2 “Be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy”.
Out of all God’s creations, humans are the only ones given the ability to shape the world around us, to be active agents in the world, and to create worlds of our own.
When we create something, whether it is a poem, an artwork, a project outline, a chocolate cake, or a child, we start from a place of beginning, a blank state, an unformed void, just as God did. Whatever it is we create has never existed before, and we don’t know how it will turn out. The end product is unknown. Like with any new beginning, we may feel anticipation, excitement, as well as some fear. But creativity is essential, for it is part of what defines us as humans.
I wish for us all that we may we savor the new beginnings of this season, and may we feel the blessing of God’s favor in everything we do and create in the world.