בראשית ברא אלקים
In the beginning of G-d’s creating. (1:1)
Targum Yerushalmi writes: B’chochma bara Hashem; “With wisdom Hashem created (the world).” While this is certainly true, we must endeavor to understand how we are to derive from the words, Bereishis bara Elokim, that Hashem created the world with wisdom. In his commentary to the pasuk, Rashi writes that Hashem created the world because of the Torah, which is referred to as reishis, as Klal Yisrael are called reishis. This means, explains Horav Eliyahu Svei, zl, that Hashem created the world for a specific purpose: Torah and Klal Yisrael; are the tachlis, purpose/raison d’etre, of Brias ha’olam, Creation of the world. Furthermore, adds the Rosh Yeshivah, not only is the Torah (which is studied and adhered to by Klal Yisrael) the purpose, it is also the means, the map, the architectural plans of the world. This is consistent with Chazal (Zohar 2/161:20), Istakeil b’Oraysa u’bara alma; “He looked at the Torah and then created the world.”
Hashem created the world with a tochnis, plan. It was created so that Am Yisrael could carry out Torah and mitzvos. Horav Yeruchem Levovitz, zl, famously said that Hashem did not create the world in a manner consistent with our line of thought. We think that, since man is the product of two parents, thus the Torah included in its corpus the mitzvah of kibud av v’eim, honoring father and mother. It is the inverse. Since the Torah, which Hashem authored, includes the mitzvah of kibud av v’eim, it was inherently necessary to create a world in which human beings descend from parents.
This, explains the Rosh Yeshivah, is the chochmah, wisdom, of bereishis. The fact that, at its very bereishis, beginning/onset, the purpose of creation – the Torah—was already in place, its purpose (the Torah) was already established, its path forward to successful living was already charted, makes this reishis a chochmah. It was not merely the start of a journey, but a rarified mission, in which the seeds that produce success or failure had already been planted.
This chochmah/reishis serves as the model for all beginnings. Beginnings matter, because they set the entire trajectory for what follows. Bishvil – because of (Torah and Klal Yisrael); before we begin anything, we must define its purpose and chart the path to successful completion of the undertaking. Without purpose, the beginning has little value. Life is like that. The first steps of a relationship shape its tone; the first steps taken in the morning define one’s priorities, as the first thoughts one has have a profound influence on his day. The Rosh Yeshivah supports this from Elisha ben Avuya/Acheir who became a heretic. Indeed, he himself attributed his spiritual downfall and disgrace to his father’s misguided and insincere goals in charting his son’s path for Torah distinction. He observed the extraordinary powers of the Tannaim who attended his son’s bris and said, “I want that for my son!” He did not properly value Torah. He saw the benefits and wanted them for his son. It is not about benefits; it is about fulfilling the ratzon, will, of Hashem. Elisha’s father failed to grasp Torah’s true significance, to internalize its essence and message. Thus, Elisha’s father sabotaged his reishis. His father planted the seeds of reishis, but in the wrong place. He therefore produced a son who rejected Torah when no one answered his questions to his satisfaction.
In his commentary concerning Noach’s first agricultural endeavor following the Flood (Bereishis 9:20), Va’yachel Noach; “Noach began,” Sforno explains: Noach began by planting a vineyard and imbibing of its product. This may seem, for all intents and purposes, to be innocuous, yet, it led to inappropriate consequences. Of all the forms of vegetation that Noach could have planted, he chose a vine, which produces wine that is used for ritual purposes. Such a project at the beginning -- the very first endeavor after surviving the greatest disaster that wiped out the world -- should have been planned accordingly. Had he engaged in intense cognition, thinking things through deeply and carefully, considering the consequences, he might have avoided his error. Instead, a minor flaw in judgment distorted his reishis, beginning, undermining the foundation of his endeavor.
A wealthy man approached a master architect and commissioned him to build a majestic palace. Money was no object, because this structure would reflect his legacy. He required an edifice whose perfection, endurance and strength would match its beauty. The architect listened and agreed -- upon one condition, “I must lay the first stone myself.” “Why?” asked the man. “it is merely a stone. If it means so much to you – fine – and then the workers will take over.”
The architect saw that the man was clueless to this first stone’s vital importance to the structure. He explained, “The first stones determine the alignment of the walls, the symmetry of the structure and the strength of its foundation. If I place it even slightly off, the entire building may tilt. Every part that follows is dependent on the accuracy of the beginning.”
And so it is with life: the first step; the first word; the first choice. These do not just mark beginnings, but the set the compass for the entire journey.
Every action we take carries consequences – some immediate; others which unfold over time. These consequences are the product of siyata d’Shmaya. The clarity of our goals, objectives and purpose, however, must serve as the lodestar guiding our every undertaking. I have chosen this d’var Torah as the opening of my thirty-sixth anthology, with the heartfelt prayer that this beginning will inspire, encourage and strengthen Torah study and its dissemination.
