Art by Sefira Lightstone
A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT BY RABBI MORDY
And so it begins. We concluded the Torah on Simchat Torah, this past Wednesday, with joy and singing and dancing, only to immediately turn around and begin again. The same but different cycle to be sure, the beauty found in seeking new meaning in the Parsha—we are have all changed from our internal and external experiences throughout the year! We are ever-evolving beings after all and our perspectives can surely evolve as well. So let us look at our very first Parsha, Bereishit, meaning, “In the beginning.” It starts with the creation of the world until Adam and Eve are created to live in the Garden of Eden; G-d gives the commandment not to partake in the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. If they obey, they will reside in the perfect Garden of Eden forever and will live happily ever after. Spoiler alert—they partake. And as a result, they don’t live happily ever after. In fact, happily ever after looks more like a pipe dream when they have two sons, Cain and Abel, who subsequently fight to the extent that Cain kills Abel. Let’s pause for a moment. Does this give any hope to society to come? Do we really think that in some way, shape or form people will all turn out well and truly work to refine our imperfect world? This is just the beginning! It will get worse from here to be sure but to say it began on rocky footing is an understatement. Our original parents couldn’t resist temptation for just a few hours. The first siblings kill each other. Why not just throw in the towel and call it a day?
