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A Word for the Shabbos Table – Bereishis

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

“The word “bereishis” is also an [divine] utterance” (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 32a).

In the very beginning of chapter five of פרקי אבות we are taught that בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם (“the world was created by the means of ten [divine] utterances”). For example, when the Torah relates “And G-d said: Let there be luminaries,” the sources of light in this world came into being; and when “G-d said: Let the earth bring forth living creatures,” at that moment all animal kinds and creatures were created.

The Weekly Sedra – Bereishis – Let Us Make Man

by Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov Shliach to Jacksonville, FL

In 1798, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi was imprisoned. He was held in the Peter-Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the charge that his teachings of Chassidism undermined the imperial authority of the Czar.

Among his interrogators was a government minister who possessed broad knowledge of the Bible and Jewish studies. On one occasion, the minister asked the Rebbe if he could explain the verse: “And G-d called out to the man and said to him: Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). Did G-d not know where Adam was?

Rabbi Schneur Zalman first offered him the simple explanation that is presented in the classic commentaries: “Where are you,” was merely a prelude. . .

“What Rashi says I already know,” replied the minister. “I was hoping to hear a deeper interpretation .”

The Rebbe then offered the following explanation: G-d inquired of Adam “Where are you in the world?” I.e. Do you understand the nature and purpose of your existence? G-d obviously knew where Adam was; His question was did Adam know where he was. “Where are you?” continued the Rebbe, “is G-d’s perpetual call to every man.”

Man’s essential quality is his image; his higher human form. – The Magid of Mezritch

Bloomberg Wins Fight to Extend Term Limits

NEW YORK, NY [AP] — Arguing that New York needs his financial skill to guide it through the crisis on Wall Street, Mayor Michael Bloomberg persuaded City Council to amend the term-limits law Thursday so that the billionaire independent can run for re-election next year.