Shabbat Bereshit
Written by Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire Wednesday, 03 October 2007
My eight year old daughter asked the inevitable question, ‘What was there before creation’?
The rabbis in Midrash Bereshit Rabbah (1.4) ask in the same vein and list the things that preceded creation: The six things that are needed to be present in order for the world and humanity to be created. These six things pre-exist creation because they are the raw ingredients which fused together will create a huge bang! Two of them are said to be actually present before creation and the other four contemplated by God but not yet formed.
The first is Torah itself. The Torah is needed as the blueprint for the creation. Creation in the Hebrew Bible is not merely an explanation of the origins of life in our universe and the material world but rather it is a moral explanation for life and the purpose of life (‘it is good’)! The Torah sets the design for a world where humanity has to attain goodness through free will. The Torah then is both a design for life as well as a description of life. The second thing to preexist creation is God’s glory; a manifestation of God that balances our free will with an awareness and awe of An Other, infinitely more than we are. We live in this paradoxical situation where God exists but at the same time humanity lives free to choose its own destiny.
Then there are the four contemplated things, not yet developed but in potential for when they are needed: the Patriarchs, the People of Israel, the Sanctuary and the name of the Messiah. What do these represent? They are the necessary means by which we can live in the paradox. The lives that we lead are fraught with obstacles and frustrations. We endure suffering and loss and we celebrate with joy and happiness. We love, we cry, we sometimes feel numb. How could an individual let alone a society go through all that without help. The Patriarchs are our spiritual guides, those who have taught us to witness God’s reality. Our People define who we are, more so than our practice or our beliefs which are so diverse and varied. Prayer in our sanctuaries is our expression of awe or our cry for help and to know the name of the Messiah is to know the character of the future and our destiny. The Midrash therefore suggest that there is always a potentiality in life and a need for spiritual leaders, community, prayer and an ultimate vision of the Good in order that we can learn how to cope and how to live. Without them we could not continue time and again to exert our will on the world or to understand God’s will for us.
Any beginning proposes a new direction and new path. This new year offers possibilities of new achievement, better focus and talents as yet undiscovered. We can rise to the challenge and impose our new found will or we can resign ourselves to what will be. However we don’t start ex nihilio. We bring to this new beginning potentiality from within ourselves, our previous mistakes, the experience of others and a willingness to learn and grow. We may ask what will this new beginning bring for me in the coming year? Perhaps though in the light of the rabbis’ exegesis, we should ask; what do I bring to this new beginning from before and who or what will come with me on this journey into the unknown whose potential I can release?
