October 16, 2020
Creating the World Every Day
Bereishit, 5781
How many times can we begin the Torah? If every year we start at the beginning, are we really beginning or just continuing?
One time the Vilna Gaon was sitting at festive meal on the occasion of a pidyon haben. One of the people at the meal asked the Vilna Gaon a question: It is recorded in kabbalistic sources that all 613 Biblical commandments are actually hinted to in parashat Bereishit. If so, where does the parasha refer to the mitzvah of pidyon haben?
The Vilna Gaon responded that the mitzvah of pidyon haben is hinted to in the very first word of the Torah. The first word of the Torah is bereishit and each letter of that word represents a teaching about the mitzvah of pidyon haben.
Like this:
BeREISHIT
Ben (a son)
Rishon (first born)
Achar (after)
Shloshim (thirty)
Yom (days)
Tifdeh (you shall redeem)
(Vekrata leshabbat oneg, volume 1, page 1).
What is the message of this esoteric Kabbalistic teaching as explained by the Vilna Gaon? Why would the first word of the Torah hint to this idea of a pidyon haben?
The very first word of the Torah hints to the idea that creation is an ongoing process that requires human involvement. Pidyon Haben represents the celebration of the opening of the womb and the creation of a child. The very first teaching of the Torah—and therefore the primary teaching of the Torah--is the obligation for us to strive to be creative in whatever way we can. Gd created the world and, so too, all of us must also strive to emulate Gd and be involved in the mitzvah of creating.
Even though the Torah starts with words formulated in the past tense -- “Bereishit barah, Gd created the world,” -- we also know that Gd is not bound by time. As it relates to Gd there is no past and no future. Therefore Gd could not have “created” the world in the past; rather, it must be that Gd is always creating the world.
The creation of the world by Gd is therefore an ongoing activity.
We emphasize this concept every day in our liturgy, “hamechadesh bekhol yom tamid maaseh bereishit, Gd renews every single day the creation of the world.” This is an affirmation that the creation of the world is an ongoing process of Hashem.
Typically we read a haftorah for Bereishit that comes from Isaiah, 42 (this week is the day before Rosh Chodesh, so we read the haftorah known as machar hachodesh instead). It is noteworthy that this passage from Isaiah begins with the words: “Hashem boreh hashamayim, Hashem who is constantly creating the heavens” (Isaiah 42:5).
The basic message of Isaiah is that this creation of the world was not a one-off historical event. Hashem is always creating the world. Our world is always being created anew by Hashem.
Isaiah couples this theological message with the messianic idea that the Jewish people are required to improve the world. Isaiah declares that it is the special responsibility of Jews to be a light onto the nations and to reveal light to the world:
“I the LORD, in My grace, have summoned you, And I have grasped you by the hand. I created you, and appointed you. A covenant people, a light of nations— Opening eyes deprived of light, Rescuing prisoners from confinement, From the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (6-7).
The implications of Isaiah’s message are twofold:
First, since the world is always being created, therefore it is also a missive to us never to give up on the possibility of human beings improving the old world by creating a new world; a world that is a redeemed world. We are not allowed to be cynical and give up on the possibility of a new and better world. Just as Gd is always creating the world anew, so too, we must always be pushing for a new and better world. This is why Isaiah couples his theology of Gd as a Constant Creator with another element—a human being as a partner to Gd. We humans must be Gd’s partner in working towards improving the world by, in the words of Isaiah, “rescuing prisoners from confinement.”
The second implication of Isaiah’s message is that the act of creating is synonymous with Gd. Thus, we too must be creative! Gd constantly creates and so too, when we create, we are fulfilling our divine destiny and responsibility.
Right after telling us that God is constantly creating, Isaiah commands us: “Shiru La-Hashem shir chadesh, sing to Hashem a new song” (45:10). We are commanded to seek ways to sing a new song.
Since creativity is a Gd like activity, therefore we should always push ourselves to be creative and to learn new tasks and new concepts.
We especially--as a community that seeks to grow spiritually—must embrace creativity and new developments even when such changes seem to conflict with the words of the Torah.
Change and creativity is our friend.
In his book, Enlightenment Now: The Case For Reason, Science ,Humanism, and Progress, Steven Pinker chronicles the incredible progress humanity has made in a multitude of areas as a result of the developments of science and the enlightenment. He gives many examples to prove his thesis.
One of his examples relates to our portion.
Bereishit discusses the curse that Hashem places on Eve for her role in the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge.
Says the Torah:
“And to the woman He said, “I will make most severe your pangs in childbearing; In pain shall you bear children” (3:16).
Pinker writes:
“Just as difficult to appreciate is humanity’s impending triumph over another of nature’s cruelties, the death of a mother in childbirth. The God of the Hebrew Bible, ever merciful, told the first woman, ‘I will multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.’ Until recently about one percent of mothers died in the process; for an American woman being pregnant a century ago was almost as dangerous as having breast cancer today….
Starting in the late 18th century in Europe, the mortality rate plummeted three hundredfold, from 1.2 to 0.004 percent. The declines have spread to the rest of the world, including the poorest countries…. The rate for the entire world…is now about 0.2 percent” (Pinker, 58).
To what can we attribute the miraculous decrease in maternal mortality? The obvious answer is to medical and scientific advances. Traditionally there have been many religious figures who have viewed science as the enemy of religion and have therefore been skeptical of scientific claims and advances.
We see this today even within the Jewish community. We see some otherwise brilliant rabbis who have a blind spot in this area and reject science and therefore encourage people not to take vaccines, or to suck the blood at a circumcision, or most recently not to obey basic health advice like wearing masks to prevent the spread of Covid. These opinions are an absolute disgrace and worthy of public condemnation.
This rejection of science is foolish. More than that, it is also against the fundamental axiom on which the Torah is based. The Torah does not fear the creative advances of science. On the contrary, the Torah wants us to recognize the fundamental idea that the world was created for us to constantly be creating anew and improving the world.
Proof that it is our responsibility to transform the world and to nullify the curses of Hashem comes not only from the curse of Eve but also from the curse of the snake.
The Torah tells that because the snake caused Adam and Eve to sin the snake will be punished so that there will always be hatred between human beings and snakes (3:15).
But this curse is not intended to last forever. We are supposed to work everyday to create a world in which this threat is gone. Isaiah teaches us that in the time of mashiach children will play safely at the entrance to a cobra’s den (Isaiah 11:8).
In Talmudic times it was believed that the best way to defeat the poison of the snakes was through prayer and charity.
Indeed, the Talmud tells us a story about a poisonous snake being defeated through charity. On the day that Rabbi Akiva’s daughter was born a Chaldean astrologer came to Rabbi Akiva and told him that daughter would die from a snake bite on the day of her wedding. On the night of her wedding Rabbi Akiva’s daughter returned to her bridal room and removed her special wedding broach from her hair and stuck it in the wall. The next morning when she awoke she saw that without realizing it she had stuck the sharp pin right through the eye of a very dangerous snake.
She ran to her father, Rabbi Akiva, to tell him the story. He said tell me what you did yesterday so I can see why you merited such a miracle. She told him that when everyone was busy preparing for the wedding a very poor man knocked on the door to their home. No one else heard the knock as they were all too busy with the wedding plans. But she heard it and quickly ran to help him. She gave him plenty of food that was meant for the wedding and sent him on his way. Rabbi Akiva said to her that she was saved from the snake biting her as a result of her meritorious act of helping the poor man (Shabbat, 156b).
Today we should still believe in the power of charity and prayer to protect us but we also know that best way to treat poison is through the scientific advances of medicine. This is not a challenge to the Torah but a fulfillment of its essential goal.
There is however a great threat posed by science. It is not that science will contradict the essential teachings of the Torah. That is not a threat as we embrace creativity and progress.
The real threat can also be seen in the curse of the snake.
Hashem tells the snake: “You will eat dirt all the days of your life.” The commentaries wonder how this is a curse. If the snake has food that is always available then why is it considered a curse and not a blessing?
The midrash explains that because the snake always had its food readily available it therefore had no need to call out to Gd. Its true punishment was that it no longer had a relationship with Gd.
This is the real danger that science presents to the Gd fearing person. We may mistakenly believe that because science has given us so much that we therefore no longer need a relationship with our Creator. Such a belief is very sad as religion helps us in so many ways that science can’t even begin to touch.
Science can help us defeat the poison of the snake and lower the mortality rate of a birthing mother, but it lacks spiritual resonance. The Torah will lift our spirits and help us transcend the physical world. The Torah will urge us to create and to connect with others. Even with all the incredible advances of science and artificial intelligence, it is only the Torah that will give us life and strength in ways even science cannot imagine.
Shmuel Herzfeld
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