One Day

Bereshit

Gen. 1:1 - 6:8

 

Précis: The first Book of the Torah, Bereshit (Genesis, literally “in the beginning” or “When God began to create”) begins with the familiar story of creation. The world is created in six days and God rests on the seventh. The stories of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden are included, as is the story of Cain and Abel.

            We begin the annual reading of the Five Books of Moses immediately upon its conclusion. Why? Perhaps it is because with each passing year, our experiences allow us to understand more of what life has to offer, and what the text has to offer. Yohanan Ben Bag Bag said (Pirke Avot 5:25), “Turn it, and turn it, for everything is in it. Reflect on it and grow old and gray with it. Don't turn from it, for you have no better standard of conduct.”

  

Gen 1:5 “And God called the Light "Day" and the Dark "Night." And there was evening and morning, a first day.”

            Rabbi David E. Levy, writing in ReformJudaism.org (10/23/16) made note of two different sources of insight which I personally find interesting. One is a podcast called “99% Invisible” which has a premise of “uncovering ... all the thought that goes into the things we don't think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.” The second was a work by Thomas Cahill, “The Gift of the Jews” (Anchor Books, 1998).

            Levy notes that our usual translation for “a first day” is incorrect. The Hebrew says “yom echad,” literally “one day.” All of the other days are listed as “the second day, the third day, etc.”

            Why this discrepancy between a cardinal number and ordinal numbers for the following days? He cites Rambam’s explanation: “... it is not possible to say, 'the first day,' since the second one has not yet been made; as ‘the first’ is before the second in counting ... [only] when they both exist ...” Rambam is suggesting an additional “invisible” creation: the concept of linear time. This is precisely the kind of analysis one can frequently find on the podcast I noted at the outset: something which is apparent only when one thinks closely about the specifics.

            Thomas Cahill notes in his book that the concept of linear time was something new to humanity, introduced by Jewish thought. All other peoples thought nothing ever changed (it’s always been that way”), or that time was somehow circular. As Cahill says, “Since time is no longer cyclical but one-way and irreversible, personal history is now possible and an individual life can have value.”

            What does this small difference really mean to us? By recognizing that time is linear, we are reminded first that this is a New Year, and that we and our world can change. Progress is possible. A new future is possible, and we need not repeat the errors and mistakes of our past.