Page 41 - 24107

24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Cyan
24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Black
#24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Yellow
24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Magenta
2
Orchard of Delights # Bereishit
#
agriculture far easier. As a result of these two events, people had a was “last in deed but first in thought.” Perhaps our permutation
sense of respite from their unproductive and backbreaking labor. reflects this notion. For here, on the very first day of creation, the
Torah’s very first word foreshadows the six, active days of creation,
Given the meaning of his name and the rest he brought mankind,
it is no surprise that the Zohar links Noah to Shabbat, the day of and the seventh, culminating day of rest, the Shabbat. Another
rest (Tikkunei Zohar 54a). In Kabbalah and Chassidut a tzaddik, an allusion to this notion may be the fact that the first verse contains
exceptionally righteous person, is commonly called “Shabbat,” as seven words.
his or her state of consciousness even during the week continually Rashi cryptically comments that all that would ever be created
draws from and is connected to Shabbat. Noah in fact is the first was created in potential on the first day. Everything created on the
person referred to in the Torah as a tzaddik. first day can be understood to be hinted at in the first verse, and
Various Chassidic commentaries explain that Noah and his furthermore everything in the first verse is alluded to by the first
family’s experiences in the ark, riding upon the turbulent waves of word in that verse. (See the portion of Yitro for a fuller explanation
the Flood, mirror the reality of Shabbat. After a week of navigating of this concept.) The notion of all creation being contained in, and
the sometimes chaotic and unpredictable realities of this world, the emanating from, ever smaller units of reality has been substantiated
Shabbat provides a refuge and welcome rest from the difficulties of by the Standard Model of the Universe, also known as the Big Bang.
24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Magenta
making a living and dealing with the trials and tribulations of day- According to science the entire universe composed of tens of billions
#24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Yellow
24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Black
24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Cyan
to-day life. of galaxies was contained in an almost infinitely small and condensed
speck of matter that exploded and to this day is still expanding.
Based on the fact that the opening verse of the portion contains The Jewish tradition that all that would ever be created existed in
Noah’s name twice in succession – “These are the generations of potential on the first day of creation can now be understood quite
Noah, Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noah literally.
walked with God” – the Zohar speaks of a “higher rest” and a “lower
rest” on Shabbat (Zohar Chadash 3, 94a). Several times in his classic The importance of this scientific discovery cannot be overstated
work Netivot Shalom, the Slonimer Rebbe declares that a person who for it confirms the Torah’s account of creation as having a beginning.
meticulously keeps all the laws of Shabbat but does not experience The Greek view, which most scientists had previously adopted,
its joy and spirituality will certainly inherit the World to Come, but posited an eternal universe, with neither a beginning nor an end; such
in the World to Come he or she will only be a park bench. Just as a universe had no need of a supernatural force to initiate creation.
this individual’s Shabbat observance was static and joyless, his or Another permutation of “bereishit” is berit – aish (שא-תירב), “a
her reward in the World to Come will take the form of becoming covenant of fire.” Currently, scientific theory states that at the
an inanimate and static park bench. The lower rest is attained beginning of the universe all the basic forces of creation were unified
by observing the Shabbat prohibitions, whereas the higher rest is by what scientists refer to as an exquisite heat. Only as matter began
attained by connecting to Shabbat in the deepest way. Establishing to cool would the building blocks of particles, atoms, molecules, and
this connection allows the Jew to experience the awesome joy, elements be formed. So it is no surprise that the very first thing that
spirituality, and peace that the Shabbat holds. God created in the Torah was light, an initial manifestation of the
“covenant of fire.”
The Slonimer Rebbe offered a further derash (homily) relating the
symbolism of the ark’s three floors to the Shabbat. The upper floor When permuting the word “bereishit” in another way, we arrive
represents man’s thoughts, the middle floor his speech, and the lower at rosh – bayit (תיב-שאר), “the head of the house.” This alludes to the
floor his actions. A Jew can observe all the laws of Shabbat, but created universe being, as it were, God’s “house,” the place where He

56 41