13 Oct Bereishis

Creation 

This week we study about Creation. What is the purpose of Creation? We look at the world and see wonders all around. But what is the purpose of it all? We will use an analogy to express our point: A new complex was built on a well-kept, green campus. No one lived there yet, as the construction was only recently completed. A neighbor came by to explore the new complex and to discover its purpose. This is what he saw: One building had many modern suites. He understood that these were rooms for sleeping. There was also a large hall, with a kitchen next to it. A third building was a beis medresh. The visitor concluded that the purpose of this complex is either a yeshiva, where students will sit in the beis medresh day and night, studying Torah. Or it might be a hotel, where people come to rest up and relax from the pressures of life. These were the two possibilities that come to his mind, and the difference between these two options is vast. If it is a yeshiva, the main building of the complex is the beis medresh. The dormitory and dining room are so the bachurim will have strength to study Torah. But if it is a vacation resort, the primary rooms are where people can sleep and eat well. The beis medresh is of secondary importance for the vacationers, because even on vacation, they will learn a little, and daven with a minyan. This is the dilemma people have when they study the wonderful world Hashem created. What is the purpose of it all? Is it all just for recreation, so people can indulge in the various pleasures of life, or is there a greater purpose: to serve Hashem, to study Torah, etc.? Some think the world is for recreation. Others understand the world was created for serving Hashem. Which approach is correct? The Torah clarifies, Berashis and Chazal say, Bshvil Hatorah Shnikra Reishis the world was created for Torah, for serving Hashem. That is our primary goal, everything else is secondary.

Try, Try, Try, Try, Again 

Chazal (Bereishis Rabba 3:7) state, “Hashem created worlds and destroyed them, until He created this world.” This is hinted at in the pasuk (Tehillim 105:8), Davar Tziva Lelef Dor. For a thousand years Hashem was creating worlds, but they weren’t to His likings, until this world was created. What can we learn from this? Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz zt’l said that this teaches people to continue trying. Even if you failed a thousand times, try again. Perhaps this time you will succeed. During the yomim nora’im, and Succos, many people made kabalos, good resolutions, that will help them become better people. But it is so much easier to revert to our old habits. Changes are hard. Often, when Shabbos Bereishis comes around, we realize that we aren’t keeping up with all the resolutions and plans for improvement that we made at the beginning of the year. But that doesn’t mean our teshuvah failed. The process of teshuvah is to fall, and to pick ourselves up, and to try again. Perhaps this time we will succeed to make this kabbalah a new routine. If we fall, we can raise ourselves a third time, and a fourth time.6 Shabbos by Minchah we read the beginning of the next week’s parsha, but we don’t finish the parashah. On Monday and Thursday, we begin the parashah again, but we don’t finish it. On Shabbos we start from the beginning a fourth time and this time we finish the parashah. This indicates that one should start over and over again. In the end he will succeed. The Torah begins with Berashis. This means he should have Berashis, two beginnings. If he wasn’t successful with his first beginning, he should try again a second time. Perhaps this time he will keep to his resolve. We can also explain that the Torah is hinting that even if one is up to ‘á- stage two, because he tried once and failed, he should start again.  

Readjusting 

An English Yid owned many houses in the Golders Green neighborhood. He was cautious to rent them out to people he trusted would pay the rent. Around eighty years ago, the economy was very slow and many of his apartments were vacant. He decided it was time to be less fussy about potential tenants, and he rented his homes to the lower class citizens too. One tenant didn’t pay the rent for three or four months, so he brought him to court. The court asked the tenant, “What do you have to say for yourself?” The tenant replied, “I don’t owe him anything. The water in the house broke. The wallpaper began falling off the walls. When the winter began, we discovered the heating doesn’t work either. The landlord didn’t want to pay to fix the apartment, so I had to do so myself. I deducted what I invested in his apartment from the rent. That’s the reason I didn’t pay rent these past few months.” The judge was inclined to agree with this tenant, and to absolve him from the debt. The judge said, “If you paid the rent at the beginning of your rental period, that means you were serious about renting the apartment, and only due to the circumstances you mentioned you stopped the payments. However, if you never paid rent, that means you never planned on paying, and you must pay all the rent due”. Reb Elchanan Helprin zt’l, Rav of Radomishle, who lived in Golders Green, would repeat this story to teach the following lesson: On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur people did teshuvah and took on kabalos for the new year. But very soon they come up with many excuses to explain why they aren’t keeping their resolutions. Hardships of parnassah…, the children…, my chavrusah…, the kollel, etc. etc. If in the beginning of the year you tried to stick to your commitments this means you were sincere when those kabalos were made, and perhaps your excuses are valid. However, if from the very beginning you never kept your promise, that proves the teshuvah wasn’t sincere. It is evident that deep down, you never planned on keeping those kabalos. It’s indeed true that sometimes a person has to readjust the kabalos that he made at the beginning of the year, to make them more practical. When he made the kabalos, he thought he could keep them. But in real life, he sees he can’t. Shabbos Bereishis, is a good time to readjust the kabalos to a degree you can keep.