In A Beginning

Genesis 1:1 “In a beginning”. A very powerful set of words. Notice I did not write “In the beginning” which most English translations have. The Hebrew says “b-rashith bra” which translates to “ in beginning he created” there is no “the” and , at least in the Hebrew version I have, it suggests the use of the word “A” as being more appropriate. In other words it was a beginning of a cycle of time which is what I want to speak to you about.

Today, even as I am writing this, Jews around the world are celebrating “Simcah Torah” or the completion and the starting over of the readings of the Torah cycle. It is done with dancing and singing while the Torah scroll is brought around the congregation and the scroll is kissed. It is literally celebrating the word of G-d and His laws. And it all starts with “In a beginning.”

So whats the big deal about this? It depends on how you see “beginnings.”

Most of us are taught that everything has an beginning and an ending and a straight timeline in between. This straight line is where we have our lives lived, we live, laugh and cry, eat, drink and sleep, get married, have children and grow old all within this line of time , hence we see that we had a beginning and we know that we have an end, so logic dictates that life is a linear thing from start to finish.

I disagree.

A Rabbi once suggested to me that life is actually circular not linear. He suggested that G-d doesn't just see one day on a particular date, but rather He can see all of the days of that date at the same time. In other words, today being “Simcah Torah” He doesn't just see today, but rather He sees all the Simcah Torah's that have ever been celebrated and will be celebrated all at the same time so that even as we pass from this world to the world to come, G-d still sees us in the cycle of life celebrating His holy days on those days because we have done so. In other words He sees the cycle of life and holy days constantly. It never ends.

Nature shows us the proverbial “circle of life” every day and season.

Look at the moon. Every month it goes from being completely dark ( New moon) to a full moon and then back again, it is constant, and sailors have been predicting the tides since time immemorial because of it's consistency.

We are currently in my favorite time of the year,fall. Yet I know that fall will slowly give way to winter, which will then lead to the renewal of spring and the full vigor of summer, then back to fall. Its a cycle that continually repeats.

One last example. Go out and take a hike in the woods and look for trees that have died. Many times you will find either new shoots or young trees growing out of the stumps or at least you will find various fungi and lichens, even in death, new life begins and is renewed. It's a cycle, circular, not linear.

All of these are an example of “a beginning” and a renewal of life. It is written as In a beginning on purpose, G-d and nature show this.

Now can I prove to you that our lives are circular rather then linear? No I can't. If my soul has been in the past I have no memory( though I believe our dreams play a role in helping us to remember) but I believe that the Jewish concept, that our spirits return to G-d after we die, is true, and if so, G-d may very well put us back into play to learn more. Just my humble opinion on this.

So as we celebrate the renewal of the laws of G-d and the renewal of the reading of the Torah, remember what this is truly about, in the end, and that's the next word in the line, Elohim. HaShem ( the name) G-d. “In a beginning G-d.” After that it's all commentary.