10-16-2025 Breysheet

Two years ago, as we prepared for Simchat Torah, the  Jewish people faced the greatest acts of terror and murder  since the German Holocaust. It was a dark day in Jewish  history. As we began the yearly cycle of Torah reading in  5784, dark clouds hovered not only over the Jewish world  but also over the entire world. Ironically, two years to the  day, not only is the first stage of peace within sight, but  Israel has welcomed to the Knesset the President of the  United States, the United States Secretary of State and  Secretary of War. In less than a century we have gone  from the horrors of Auschwitz to the miraculous 2,000-year  hope of a reborn and determined Israel, a nation that has  made the desert bloom and become one of the strongest countries in the world.  

Now in this new world, and hopefully post-war world, we return to the simplest and most complicated book of Hebrew Scripture. No matter how often we study  Genesis, there seems to be more to learn. The book  appears to be a theological and philosophical well, a well  that never runs dry. Genesis opens with the words:  “B’reysheet bara Elokim…(meaning: In the beginning of–, G-d created…)” Or does it? Perhaps it is not “reysheet” (meaning “in the beginning of”) but rather “rsheet” (meaning “a beginning”). In that case, the sentence reads:  In a beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth.” 

The first Hebrew word of the first sentence – provides  enough material for long philosophical positions. For  example, if the word means “in the beginning of…”, then  where is the noun that should follow? If the word means  “in a beginning” then is Genesis arguing that there are  (and perhaps may well be) other creations or many new  beginnings? Genesis poses the problem: are we alone in  the universe? Is our universe infinite or finite? Is  creation permanent and static or dynamic, with a  consistency of births and deaths? Is time static or do we  live in a state of eternal new beginnings? 

No matter how one chooses to read Genesis’ first words,  one thing is clear. This week is a week of new beginnings  and rebirth. Can we break the cycle of hate that has  caused so much anguish? Can we become G-d’s partners  in creation? What is our role in Tikkun Olam? Tikkun  Olam is a Hebrew word meaning the constant repairing of  a broken world. Just as Genesis teaches us that even G-d  had to experiment with creation so too we must be  courageous enough to seek new beginnings not only on  the macro level for the Middle East and the entire world,  but also on the micro level for each of our lives.  

Simchat Torah 5786 is now part of history. It brought the  holiday season to its yearly conclusion and also reminded us that the creation of life encompasses eternal hope. It is  for this reason that Israel’s national anthem is Ha’Tikvah,  “The Hope.” As such we live with the hope expressed by  the Prophet Micah (4:4) when he dared to dream of a time  when “Each person shall sit under their vine and under  their fig tree and none shall make them afraid.” 

May 5786 be a year of new beginnings in your life, in the  life of the Jewish people and in the world.