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Parshat Bereshit
2001
Partners in (completing) Creation
As we finished reading the Torah this week on Simchat Torah we started anew and experienced creation all over again. The parsha of Bereshit - "When God began to create" (Bereshit 1:1) - is not just about God creating the world but humankind's partnership in completing Creation. (Just stay with me, because it will be a little roundabout).
Bereshit
2:25 The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, yet they felt no shame.
After an unfortunate encounter with a snake, a tree, and its fruit:
3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.
As punishment for eating the fruit, God banishes (now named) Adam and Chava from Eden. Before the punishment is enacted...
3:21 And the Lord God made garments of skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
Midrash
Before God created the world, there was only God. When God decided to create the world, God pulled back in order to create a space for the world. It was in that space that the universe was formed. But now, in that space, there was no God. God created special Divine Sparks, light, to be placed back into God's creation. When God created light, and placed the light inside of Creation, special containers were prepared to hold it. But, there was an accident. A cosmic accident. The containers broke. The universe became filled with sparks of God's Divine light and shards of the broken containers. Our tradition teaches us that one of our tasks is to gather the sparks of God's light back together. In this way the work of Creation will be completed. This is called Tikun Olam, repairing the world. [From the Ziv Giraffe Curriculum]
Kesher
The kesher (connection) between the Parsha and the Midrash is that by providing dignity to Adam and Chava, by clothing them, God is performing the first act of Gemilut Chasidim. This simple act demonstrates for us the path that allows us to be partners in completing Creation.
A Word
When Bereshit describes God's statement about creation, it says "and God saw that it was good." It was not perfect or complete, just good. The perfection and completion of the created order are a result of our cooperation with God. We have a duty to find that which is good and right in the world and lift it up to God. As we perform Mitzvot, good deeds, Gemilut Chasidim, acts of loving kindness, and pursue Tzedek, righteousness, we lift the hidden sparks of light from the darkness and bring them closer together. When everyone across the world is pursuing lives of Tzedek, then the world will be complete.
Prepared by Aaron Katchen, Director of Jewish Campus Life Brown-RISD Hillel Foundation Participant, 2001 Hillel-Pardes Summer Learning Institute.
Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Bereshit at MyJewishLearning.com.
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