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.

But what was the very first divine utterance that created all of existence in which G-d later placed (by further utterances) the heavens, earth, seas, plants, beasts and human being?

The answer to this we find in the Talmud, which teaches that the first divine utterance that created all of the existing space (allowing for more creation within it) is actually the very first word of the Torah: בראשית (“In the beginning”). This word, tells the Talmud, is a מאמר (divine utterance) in and of itself – it is the very first utterance of creation.

But the question here is: if בראשית is the very first utterance, then why does it not say “And G-d said” in this verse too (the first verse of the Torah), just as it does by every other utterance? Did G-d indeed create the entire creation by saying (uttering) the words “In the beginning”, or did he not say it?

The answer to this, of course, is that since it does not say “And G-d said,” we can assume that there was no divine utterance here. But then how can the Talmud insist that בראשית is the first of the ten divine utterances?

The Kabbalists teach us that in order for G-d to be able to speak the words of the utterances which then created everything in the world; He first had to create the letters that generate and form all the words. This idea is alluded to us in our verse: “בראשית ברא אלקים – את”, in the beginning G-d created “את”, which hints to us that G-d first created all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, from א to ת. Only thereafter, did G-d use these letters to form the words, which He then uttered, which made the whole world come into being.

So now we know that the very first creation was the creation of letters. They were created by G-d’s thoughts, not speech (utterance), because one can only speak when there is already letters to form words. Without the letters, there can be no words and no speech, only thought. It is for this reason that the first action of creation is not recorded as “And G-d said,” because G-d did not speak the first utterance of creation, he thought it. In His thoughts He formed the letters of what he intended to create and only later – using those very letters that He thought of with which to form words, – did He speak it all into being.

The Zohar teaches us that just as G-d looked into the Torah and created the world, so too must man look into the Torah for guidance and lessons for living the proper way of life. From the very first verse of the Torah we can learn a great fundamental lesson for life:

Every word that comes out of our mouths ought to be preceded by letters of thought in our heads. Before we omit any words of conversation into our surroundings, we ought to pause for a second – or two – and think about what we are about to utter and say. G-d first thought about creating the world and only then did He speak it into being. The same should be true of every word we utter to one another. We must first think it through and evaluate its truth, meaning, purpose, justification and necessity. Will my words be forces of construction or destruction, burdensome or helpful? Will they encourage wrong-doing or serve to further goodness and kindness in my surroundings? These are the thoughts that we should form in our heads before we let the words of our speech out into the world around us. It is important to remember, that friendships have been destroyed, communities torn apart and horrific wars have started just over words uttered by people who did not first think about the consequences of their words. Each word should be carefully measured and thought through. That is the Torah way of life, the way of peace, as shown and given to us by G-d Almighty.

Peace and blessing unto all and Good Shabbos!

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Chassidic quote of the week:
“The way a person sets [conducts] oneself on Shabbos Bereishis, so goes the entire year.” – The Chabad Rebbes
In other words: The service of this Shabbos is a general one, associated with and influencing the whole year.
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[By Israel Krasnianski; based on Ohr Torah (bereishis 2a) by the Tzemach Tzedek, third Rebbe of Chabad. Additional referenced sources include: Pirkei Avot, Midrash Rabbah and Zohar].