"In the Beginning...Out of the Chaos"

26 Tishrei 5779
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Breishit - Mevorchim

One of the most notable facts that we read about in this week's parashah of Breishit is how HKB"H made order in His universe by making separations...

"...and God separated [יַּבְדֵּ֣ל] between the light and between the darkness...."

And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, and let it be a separation [מַבְדִּ֔יל] between water and water."

And God said, "Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to separate [לְהַבְדִּ֕יל] between the day and between the night,....

In each case we see the same root as the word havdalah which, as we understand from the close of Shabbat service, means to make a clear division and separation between two entities...

"...between light and darkness, between Israel [light] and other peoples [darkness], between the seventh day [light] and the six working days [darkness], between holy [light] and profane [darkness]...."

Shabbat - from its beginning and until its end - is not only a remembrance of this fact, but a weekly re-enactment of it. All of the mitzvot are about making Israel separate from the rest of the peoples of the world. They make us different. Contrary to the warped opinions of too many assimilated Jews today, this is a good thing - a wonderful thing - a thing to be celebrated - every Shabbat!

Order in the world depends on maintaining havdalah where it is called for and when it is abandoned in favor of "modern" concepts of egalitarianism and democracy, the result is a breakdown in order, i.e. a return to chaos.

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~