בראשית ברא אלקים
In the beginning of G-d’s creating. (1:1)
The Torah is not a history book. Thus, the words, Bereishis bara Elokim, have a deeper meaning than what we might expect at the beginning of a story. The word, bereishis, the mere fact that there is a “beginning,” indicates that the “beginning” is itself a part of Creation. Hashem is not a part of time. He is above time. He is not bound by past, present or future. He sees everything at once. Prior to creating the world, Hashem created z’man, time. The word “beginning” has no meaning in the world without time. We recite (Tefillas Baruch She’omar) Baruch oseh bereishis, “Blessed be He Who made the beginning” (literal translation). Likewise, we say (Tefillas Aleinu l’shabeiach), Laseis gedulah l’Yotzer bereishis; “To render greatness, glory to He Who creates the beginning.” What is the meaning of bereishis in the context of the above phrases? The bais of bereishis is a letter of shimush, preposition, meaning “in” beginning). How does “in” fit into the flow of the phrase? Horav Meir Tzvi Bergman, Shlita, explains that Hashem created z’man/reishis itself. Therefore, we note two concepts: that of bereishis, which is the creation of time, and maaseh bereishis, Creation, referring to the days of creating the world and everything in it, which followed the creation of time. Torah She’B’Ksav, the Written Law, commences with the significance of time. Likewise, Torah She’Baal Peh, Oral Law, begins with the laws involving time: the recitation of Shema, Mei’eimasai korin es ha’shema (Meseches Berachos).
Z’man plays a crucial role in Jewish life; the first personal mitzvah of Bris Milah, circumcision, hinges on time. The first mitzvah that was given to the collective nation was that of Kiddush HaChodesh, sanctifying the new moon. Concerning the overriding significance of time in Jewish life, the Rosh Yeshivah relates that he heard the following vignette from the Ponovezher Rav, zl. The Rav had studied in Telshe under the great Horav Eliezer Gordon, zl. Then he left for a short while to imbibe Torah and kedushah in Radin from the saintly Chafetz Chaim. When he returned to Telshe, the Rosh Yeshivah asked him to relate something about the Chafetz Chaim. [When someone reaches such an epic level of spirituality, everything that he does, even his mannerisms and one-liners, carries powerful lessons.]
The Chafetz Chaim cited the passage in Gittin 47A in which Reish Lakish bemoans the fact that he was about to take leave of this world and he had a vessel which he had purchased, but had not yet used. The sage questioned what seemingly mattered to Reish Lakish at the end of his life. Surely, he had greater things with which to occupy his mind. He explained that the accepted maxim, “Time is money,” is a misnomer. Actually, it should be the other way around! “Money is time.” In order to amass our material possessions, we must expend much time. Thus, we surrender our G-d-given, irreplaceable gift of time for money. This being the case, we had better be extremely circumspect in how and for what we spend our money. Reish Lakish regretted purchasing a vessel which he had not used, since this meant that he had wasted serious time which he could have used in a more constructive manner. When Rav Leizer heard this p’shat, he asked, Un azoi zagt ehr? “Is this what the Chafetz Chaim said?” [Apparently he was very impressed with the explanation.] The Ponovezher Rav replied, Nisht azoi, zagt ehr – nor azoi iz ehr, “he does not merely make such statements, he lives them!”
