Parashat Bereishit 5777

26 Tishrei 5777
Erev Shabbat Kodesh

Headline story on JPost this morning...

UN official: Palestinians must have security and civil control of Area C

"...All Israeli settlements are in Area C of the West Bank."

The Condition of Creation

Parshas Bereishis

Posted on September 17, 2002 (5763) By Rabbi Pinchas Winston

BEREISHIS: In the beginning.

But not really, as Rashi explains, because the correct word for that interpretation would be ‘b’rishonah.’ Therefore, elucidates Rashi: BERESHIS, that is, B-REISHIS, “for the sake of ‘Reishis'” – Torah and the Jewish people, both of which are called ‘Reishis’ – G-d made Heaven and the Earth, and EVERYTHING ELSE for that matter.

While we’re at it, ‘Bereishis’ (bais-raish-aleph-shin-yud-tav) can also be broken into two words, ‘bara’ (bais-raish-aleph) and ‘shees’ (shin-yud-tav) which, in Aramaic (there are a few Aramaic words in the Torah) means, “He made six.” Indeed He did, as the Ramban and other commentators point out, for at the very first moment of creation, G-d created, in potential, all that would EVER be necessary for the SIX days of creation, and the SIX millennia that would follow them.

That is because at that very moment of ‘Tikun Olam’ – World Rectification – G-d ‘built’ the SIX sefiros of Chesed, Gevurah, Tifferes, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, the spiritual DNA for our six thousand years of history. That is the Sod of the very first word of the Torah. If you want to know the other 69 interpretations of this SIX-letter word, look at the beginning of the Holy Zohar.

There is something equally mysterious that Rashi says on this seemingly non-mysterious first verse of the Torah:

IN THE BEGINNING: Rebi Yitzchak said: The Torah should have begun with, “This month shall be for you the first of the months” (Shemos 12:1), which is the first commandment given to the Jewish people. Why does it begin with creation? Because of [the posuk], “He declared to His people the strength of His works, in order that He might give them the heritage of the nations” (Tehillim 111:6). For, should the peoples of the world say to Israel, “You are robbers, because you took by force the lands of the seven nations,” Israel can reply to them, “All the earth belongs to The Holy One, Blessed is He; He created it and He gave it to whom He pleased. When He wanted to, He gave it to them, and when He wanted to, He gave it to us.” (Rashi)

Maybe the problem today is that Rashi was never translated into Arabic. On the other hand, Rashi has since been translated into English, French, Spanish, and even Russian, and they’re still yelling at us from all four corners of the earth, “Stop! Thief!” Maybe we should send a Sefer Bereishis to all the members of the United Nations, with Rashi.

See the rest HERE.