Bereishit
It’s been a long week and a long month of Tishri. So many creations to be recognized in history these last 7 days alone. Among them … In 1861 the first transcontinental telegraph system was completed, making it possible to transmit messages rapidly from coast to coast. In 1877 a patent for a gas-motor engine was issued. In 1904, the song "Yankee Doodle Boy" was copyright registered. In 1940, Julian, Mayer, and Krause received a patent for cortisone. And in 1958 Tater Tots were trademark registered. We celebrate these creations which have helped to shape our world and add to the quantity and quality of our lives.
On the other hand, we note events that unraveled the beauty of the world that God created. In 1918 the cities of Baltimore and Washington ran out of coffins during the "Spanish Influenza" epidemic. In 1973 Arab oil-producing nations banned oil exports to the United States, following the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli war. In 1991 the Oakland Hills firestorm destroyed nearly 3,500 homes and apartments and killed 25 people. In 2004 an earthquake in Japan killed 35, injuring 2,200, and leaving 85,000 homeless or displaced. And tomorrow will mark the one-year anniversary of the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, which killed 11 and injured 7. We mourn the loss of life from these natural and man-made events in our history.
We have concluded the readings of our Torah cycle, and begin anew with Bereishit, this week’s parasha. The last word in the Torah, yisrael, ends with the letter lamed. This week’s parasha begins with the word Bereishit, with the letter bet. As we chanted the end of the Torah with the beginning of the Torah in one breath, we join those letters to spell the Hebrew word for “heart,” lev. Torah is the heart of our Jewish life. By its words do we choose to be God’s partner in creation, or we turn our backs on our obligation to heal that which is broken in our world. God asks Adam, “Ayeka – Where are you?” Surely God, who knows and sees all, does not need Adam to tell God where he is physically. But having gone through the test of eating from the fruit which was forbidden, it is now time to check in on where Adam stands, in his intentions for the future, and for his sacred relationships to come.
”Ayeka?” Where do we stand, now that we have celebrated a multitude of holidays over the past four weeks, being part of re-creating our innermost selves, tearing down the walls of our shortcomings, erecting the temporary shelters that are ever-changing in our lives, and celebrating the heart of our Judaism, the Torah? Are we ready to affirm our relationship with our selves, our fellow humans, and with God? Each of us has an opportunity, and an obligation to show up daily. Surrounded by the miracles that are there if we but open ourselves to them, we give meaning to the lives of others and to ourselves. “Ayeka?” Where you were yesterday is not where you are today, nor will it be the same place you are tomorrow. The sun was shining today, and even though the night may be dark, the sun will shine tomorrow. The Talmud teaches that when Adam, on the day of his creation, saw the sun sinking in the sky before him, he said, "Woe is me! Because I acted offensively, the world is darkening for me and is about to return to darkness and desolation—indeed, this is the death that Heaven has decreed for me." So he sat down to fast and to weep throughout the night, while Eve wept beside him. But when the dawn began slowly rising like a column, he said, "Such is the way of nature," and then proceeded to offer up a bullock.
It is easy to hide behind the metaphorical trees of the garden, pretending that we are not available to be seen. But who are we really hiding from? “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” says the prompt in the child’s game of hide and seek. Make yourself available, give meaning to your life and to the life of others. When you are asked “Ayeka?” – “where are you?” have the courage to say, “Hineni – here I am.” For by doing so, God will smile, and will say “Ki Tov M’od.” This is very good.
Ken y’hi ratzon – May it be God’s will.
