This morning we read the very first portion of the Torah,
B'reishit. In
particular, we read about the creation of our world as we know
it. We began
study of the Torah from the beginning - anew. So the "renewal",
if you will,
continues. Back in Elul, the month before Rosh Hashanah, we really
started
this process: examining ourselves to find where we had done well and
where
we had fallen short. From Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur we asked
forgiveness
from others for our misgivings with them and likewise forgave them
theirs.
On Yom Kippur itself, we pleaded for forgiveness from God and asked to
be
sealed in the Book of Life, a sign that we would start the New Year on
sure
footing. Hopefully, we followed Alan Pollack's suggestion and
made a commitment
to perform at least one Mitzvah this year that we hadn't done
before. So
here we are, with a rebirth in our lives just as we begin reading the
Torah
from the beginning again. Everything is as it should be.
A lot happens very quickly in this first parasha:
the world - from light
to human beings in God's own image - is created in six days. A
day of rest
is set aside as holy. Man is given a help meet and the pair is
instructed
to name all the living creatures on the earth. Humankind
receives its first
negative commandment from God, and almost immediately disobeys
it. This
portion also tells the story of the first couple's children,
particularly
Cain and Abel, the first example of sibling rivalry and violence
between
those created in the God's image.
God made us "be-tzelmo" - in his likeness. The
Hebrew word for camera
or to photograph is the same word that appears in Genesis to describe
how
we were created: Letzalem. Yet, from that very beginning and
until now,
we strive to emulate the One who created us as his "photograph", if you
will.
Jews praise God three times a day everyday for His thirteen precious
attributes.
How we wish we had them too! Why is it that we don't seem to have
them all,
all the time? After all, we were created in God's image: he has
them, so
why not us? In my opinion, we do have them - all of them.
God made us like
Him; he didn't fail us! We just forget sometimes how very good we
really
are!
As we read in this parashah, we fell short in this
regard from the very
beginning and continue to do so to this very day. The sages say,
and I tend
to agree, that our troubles started because we lacked faith and trust
in
our Creator: Adam ve'Hava ate from the forbidden tree, thinking nothing
would
really happen even though they were commanded not to. They were
expelled
from Gan Eden. Cain killed his brother Abel, an act he must have
known was
wrong because he then tried to hide it from God. He too had to
leave his
home. As we know, humankind, and later the Israelites, suffered
calamity
after calamity as a direct result of not listening to and trusting
God's
wisdom and judgment throughout the entire Tanach and until
today. On the
other hand, God kept faith with His people, making and fulfilling
promise
after promise, always giving us another chance. I won't give an
historical
synopsis of human history; I think the evidence is well known.
How sad,
though, that in over 5763 years we still haven't learned! Or if
we have,
we haven't consistently applied these teachings to our lives to make a
difference!
Why? Of all the creatures God made, He gave only to us the ability to
reason
and free will. We can choose whether to follow His commandments
or not,
to walk in His way or not. In my opinion, He gave us a
double-edged sword.
The "freedom" we have can either bring us closer or pull us away from
our
greater good (His likeness). We want so much to emulate God's 13
attributes,
yet when it comes to the nitty-gritty, we opt to bypass the path He has
shown
us. We want to do our own thing, our own way. And, as we
all know, there
are consequences for our actions. When we choose do something
loving in
a caring, silent and selfless way, what a great reward we get! No
words
can express the wonderful feeling we have! On the other hand, if
we so much
as offend someone for our own selfish purposes (often just to get
even),
no words can express how awful we feel afterward - maybe not right
away,
but eventually. I believe we learn from our mistakes but
sometimes we don't
put what we learn into practice - we choose an easier path, and so we
fall
again.
Let's all try this year to commit to making wise, loving choices
so we can
grow closer to the "tzilum" (image) of our Creator. That's what He
wanted
for us from the very beginning and still does! He is ever
faithful to us,
giving us new opportunities every year, every day, every minute for
Teshuvah
and renewal.
In closing, I would like to remind everyone of the
last paragraph I read,
the one about the seventh day. We read this paragraph every Erev
Shabbat
as a reminder of the holiness of the day of rest. At this point
in human
history, it's not a commandment but a blessing. "Ve-yevarech
Elohim et Yom
Hash'fi'I veyekadesh oto ki bo shavat mi kol melachto asher bara Elohim
lasot."
"And God will bless the seventh day and make it holy because he
finished
all the work which he had created to make." May we strive to keep
this day
holy and special, a day different from all other days - as it was from
the
very beginning of Creation!
By
Barbara Lewis