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Creation, Beginnings, and Imagining a New World

10/16/2020 12:28:53 PM

Oct16

            Shabbat Shalom! This week we read Parashat Bereshit in its entirety. After weeks of holidays, and getting the teaser at Simchat Torah last Shabbat, now we are fully read to start reading the Torah anew, beginning with creation.

            Creation doesn’t happen in just seven days, and it is not a one-time event. Our Torah gives us two chapters explaining creation, and they don’t quite jive with each other. Were there two attempts at creating the Earth? Toward the end of the narrative part of this parasha, in chapter four (chapters 5 and 6 are mostly geneology from Adam to Noah) Cain goes out and finds a wife and builds a city. Where did the wife come from and who inhabits the city if his family of origin were the only people on earth at that time? There are, of course, numerous midrashim and potential explanations for these things (Lilith before Eve, the intersex first human that was split into male and female, the Babylonian-informed creation story vs. the Canaanite-informed creation story, Cain married his sister, there were multiple “Edens”, etc. etc. etc.). But all of those are acts of creation of themselves. They are products of creative writing and early fan fiction, they are imaginings of human ingenuity, they have come about as more science develops that helps our anthropology and archeology. These explanations and fill-in-the-blanks stories continue to evolve as society continues to evolve, as we come to understand more about ourselves, each other, and the natural world.

            We reread the whole Torah every year, but I think that there is extra significance in rereading the story of Creation at the beginning of each new year. We have that opportunity to create a new world with every passing year, month, week, day. We have the opportunity to look around at all that is wonderful and all that is broken and say, “I am going to create a solution to this problem,” or “I am going to invent a tool to help people navigate this issue,” or “I’m going to write such a wonderful story/paint a beautiful picture, compose the most moving song that will touch people’s hearts and make their lives more enjoyable.” The work of creation is never really over, and it’s hard to say that it has a precise beginning, but there’s always the opportunity to pick up what you know, what has come before, and reinvent it in new, more useful ways.

            This Shabbat, may we celebrate new beginnings with innovation and hope, and may we create a beautiful new world where all are free and equal. Amen and Shabbat Shalom.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784