This book of Bereshith, which comprises a substantial part of the entire written Torah, contains within it almost no commandments and is basically a book of narrative tracing the development of one family – eventually seventy in number – and of the difficulties that this family encountered over generations.
So, what therefore is its main message to us living in a far different world, millennia later? I think that the message of Bereshith is the obvious one of family and its importance. The Torah purposely and in minute detail describes for us how difficult it truly is to create and maintain a cohesive family structure.
Every one of the generations described in Bereshith from Kayin and Hevel till Yosef and his brothers is engaged in the difficult and often heartbreaking task of family building. There are no smooth and trouble-free familial relationships described in the book of Bereshith. Sibling rivalry, violence, different traits of personality, and marital and domestic strife are the stuff of the biblical narrative of this book. The Torah does not sanitize any of its stories nor does it avoid confronting the foibles and errors of human beings.
The greatest of our people, our patriarchs and matriarchs, encountered severe difficulties in attempting to create cohesive, moral and cooperative families. Yet they persevered in the attempt because without this strong sense of family there can be no basis for eternal Jewish survival. There is tragic fall -out in each of the families described in Bereshith and yet somehow the thread of family continuity is maintained and strengthened until the family grows into a numerous and influential nation.
This perseverance of family building, in spite of all of the disappointments inherent in that task, is the reason for the book of Bereshith. It is the template of the behavior of our ancestors that now remains as the guideposts for their descendants. The task of family building remains the only sure method of ensuring Jewish survival.
Reprinted from the current website of rabbiwein.com
More Thoughts that Count for Our Parsha
And let them grow into a multitude ("veyidgu") in the midst of the earth (Gen. 48:16)
The Hebrew word "veyidgu," which means to increase and be plentiful, is etymologically related to "dag," meaning fish. Commented the 18th century sage known as the Chatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer): "The existence of the Jewish people is above and beyond nature, in the same way that it is not natural for a fish to live on dry land, 'in the midst of the earth.' "
Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise (Gen. 49:8)
The blessing Judah received from Jacob contains every letter of the Hebrew alphabet except for one: the letter "zayin," which means literally a weapon. This is an allusion to the eventual restoration of Jewish sovereignty in the Messianic era, which will come about through a descendant of Judah (in the person of Moshiach). The absence of the letter zayin indicates that Moshiach's victory will be accomplished without the help of the sword, as it states, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the L-rd of hosts." (Rabbeinu Bachya)
Reprinted from Parshat Vayechi 5762/2001 edition of L’Chaim
