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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Bereshit
Certainly it’s true about the life of our Biblical heroes. Adam & Chava begin their lives in the most pristine & perfect environment imaginable – so elevated were they in that Paradise that they actually glowed with the light from Above. But then, in a flash, it all came crashing down; they are exiled, put to work & beset by horrendous "family issues." Adam, created just a tad lower than the angels, reverts to what his name implies: Adama, dirt, close to the ground, a "fallen angel."
Noach, the next Torah personality in line, must also undertake the most perilous of journeys. Not only Noach, but the entire world he inhabits, will undergo a "sea change" of massive proportions when the Great Flood destroys all humankind that "misses the boat" by sinning against their fellow man.
And Avraham & Sara, too, embark upon a great adventure when they are told by Hashem to pack up their monotheistic beliefs & set out for "the Land that I will show you" (A.K.A. Israel). As we who live here know all too well, life in EretzYisrael is incomparable – it doesn’t compare to life anywhere else on the planet!
What message is sent by these dramatic, compelling narratives, which our Rabbis call "Mitzvot in story form?"
The message seems clear: It’s all about Starting Over.
We may think we are going to have neat, orderly lives that build slowly but surely, step by step, year after year, in a predictable pattern. But it ‘ain’t necessarily so.
At various points in our life, we experience change. Change that can be sudden and dramatic. We grow up & must leave the nest to face the real world (like Adam). Or a great financial flood comes & washes away our hard-earned savings (Note: both the great crash of 1929 & the stock market fall of 1987 occurred during the week of Parshat Noach!). Or we re-locate, or feel a calling, like Av & Sara, an urge to change the world - or at least ourselves! - & set out on a new path in uncharted territory.
This is the beauty and the blessing of Bereisheit. We praise G-d in our Tefila for "benevolently creating the world anew each day." But guess what? We, too, are called upon to do the exact same thing!
Have you ever wondered why Bereisheit is not the 1st Torah reading of the new year? Shouldn’t it be? But Hashem orchestrated things so that our Sedra is always read immediately after Sukkot. For the dismantling of our Sukka & our move back to a "new" home reminds us that, no matter how old or set in our ways we may be, we are all really "In the Beginning."
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
Jewish Laws and Thoughts Shul “etiquette:” can we honor Hashem while respecting our fellow congregants?
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D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
