Mitzvah d'var

In the beginning I was so glad I got to read this Torah portion, B’reishit, because I thought it was going to be easy …  easy to find, because it's the first portion from the entire Torah. It has short verses and a lot of repetition - “ va yomer/and G-d said”, vayehi erev vayehi boker, and “it was evening and morning”, ki tov -” it was good” and vayikrah - and G-d named.  Little did I know that a portion that on the face of it looked simple would be so complex.  

So many of the other portions in Genesis contain stories, like the story of Noah and his ark, the story of Abraham and Sarah and all their family exploits, and finally the story of how the Israelites ended up in Egypt. My portion B’reishit is not a story.  Other than Adam and Eve and later Cain and Abel  there are no people in it. Instead it is a narrative around how our world came to be. It is our origin story and one of many that exists throughout cultures and histories.  What all these origins stories have in common is that our earth and everything in it was created by some power or deity greater than us. The deities might be different but the final product, the earth, the skies, the sun, the moon, the animals, plants and humans are all the same. What makes our story unique is the presence of Divine speech - it is through G-d speaking that all is created. 

Most of you probably know the story of “B'reishit '' which is the first Torah portion from Genesis, the first book of the Torah.  It describes how G-d created the world and the order in which it was done. First the heavens and the earth, light and darkness, day and night on the first day, then water and skies on the second day, and then the land and vegetation on the third day.  On the fourth day, G-d created the seasons, and the sun and the moon.  On the fifth day G-d was busy.  On day 5,  G-d created animals, insects, birds, fish, and sea monsters.  On the sixth day G-d created humans and defined their role as stewards over all of creation - the plants, the animals, the fish, insects, the sky and the earth. As we all know on the seventh day G-d’s work was completed and G-d rested - thus creating Shabbat. 

It would be tempting to focus this d'var on Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden and about how they get expelled for eating from the Tree of Knowledge after G-d specifically tells them not to do so. As a teenager I would have a lot to say about the painful consequences of defying the authority figure in your home.  But I am not going to talk about that. You should be thankful, mom.

I could have also focused on the sibling rivalry between Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain and Abel and how that ended in Cain killing Abel because of his jealousy.  It’s so relatable being the youngest of three but I am not going to do that either.  You can thank me later, Gabbie and Emma.

I could have focused on how G-d commands us to take care of an earth that was already created before we arrived - humans according to this account never lived in a world without plants animals, fish birds, insects, water, sun, day and night, The question is “Would we take better care of the earth if we had watched it get created instead of being the last to arrive?” 

Another question I could have focused on was: “Could G-d have accomplished such a large scale creation project in just six days?”  According to Medieval commentator Rashi every day is the equivalent of a thousand years so those who argue that the creation story is not real might want to rethink their skepticism.  Six thousand years give or take sounds doable. 

But what I do want to focus on is the big question: When G-d says: 

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃ 

"Let there be light,” and there was light.

Who is G-d actually talking to?  And when G-d makes all of creation by speaking, who is it that G-d is addressing?

It’s like the philosophical question - if a tree falls in the forest and there is one there to hear it does it make a sound? So if G-d says something and there was no one there to hear it, because they haven’t been created yet, how do we know G-d said it? 

So why is it written this way? There are more questions than answers. 

What is the purpose of G-d speaking even if no one is around to hear what G-d has to say? 

Is it a literary device that helps us understand the relationship between us and a powerful entity that creates? 

Does it make it more real to us hearing that G-d created the world through speech?

Is speaking on G-d’s part the way that G-d lets us know that G-d was responsible and present? If things just appeared out of nowhere who would we give the credit to? Does it become more powerful when G-d speaks as part of this narrative? 

According to contemporary Rabbi Dan Lewin, “Part of this endeavor is contemplating how G-d’s speech brought the world into being — as we say in our morning prayers: “Blessed is He who spoke, and the world appeared.” Furthermore, this speech is the force that continues to sustain existence (every living being and object).

According to the Aish website ‘In Parashas Bereishis, we learn many important lessons, but none more powerful and enduring than the significance and holiness of words and speech. The Torah teaches us that G-d created the world through ten utterances: through Divine speech. With each holy command, our universe was formed. G-d implanted the gift of speech within humans. Of all earth’s creatures, only humans are endowed with the ability to verbally communicate intelligently. We must be ever mindful that, even as G-d created through “words,” on our own level, we too create through words.’

One of the meditations that we read earlier in our own prayer book states:  “Just as divine speech created the world, so too with human speech, what we give voice to becomes more substantive, more real.” (Siddur Lev Shalem, p.122).  This is something I have been thinking a lot about lately. 

As a person who is pretty quiet and is very careful about when I speak out loud, the things I thought about when studying this portion are: are ideas more powerful when we think them to ourselves or when we say them out loud? In other words, could G-d have thought about creation and it would have happened?  That’s not what happens in the Torah.  

I realize that if I keep thoughts or questions to myself I will never get answers, nor will I have the chance to teach others.  If I had kept my thoughts to myself today - there would not have been this d’var Torah. 

Last year in the beginning of school I never raised my hand once - even though I had thoughts about the topics we were discussing.  I was scared I would be embarrassed but by the end of the year I had gained more confidence and I didn’t let people make me feel a different way.  

I know the importance of listening - I do a lot of that.  Listening allows us to take in what others are saying. But I have come to understand the importance of speaking and saying things out loud.  

What if G-d didn’t speak out loud? Would anything have been created? Would we even be here today without G-d’s speech?

As Jews, we think of G-d as holy, and therefore, G-d’s speech as holy and special.  We are created in G-d’s image, as it says in B’reishit, and so we are meant to mirror G-d and try to live into G-d’s holiness.  We should speak with holiness: think about what you are saying before you say it, and know what it means. 

Sometimes, when people say something it comes out hurtful.. For example, at school people can talk so negatively towards each other, like putting others down for their looks, how they act, what they wear, how good or bad they are at their sport, and much more. What is the point of that? What are you getting out of putting others down? This is speech that destroys.

What I think is that positive words have a meaning and an impact. I'm not saying that I always have something positive to say, but every word or sentence that someone says can have an impact on a person, positive or negative. Like giving a complement, teaching someone something, giving positive feedback, and sharing ideas.

I now think I know G-d was not talking to anyone in particular. G-d was using speech to create. What I have learned from the study of the Torah portion is the importance of positive speech. Speech should create not destroy.  I have a lot of personal work to do in this area and will do my best to speak with kindness and intention and use my voice for good in this world. I hope the same for all of us. 

Shabbat Shalom