Bereshit
Genesis 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, with God resting on the seventh. The story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden are included in this weekly reading, as is the story of Cain and Abel.
Genesis 3:9 - “And God called to the man, and said to him, "where are you?"
With thanks to Erica Brown, my wonderful teacher who has written on this verse, I ask “where are you” (physically) as you read this? In front of a computer screen? Did you print it out and take it to shul to read during a boring part of the service?
More importantly, as you read these thoughts, where are you emotionally and spiritually? Having just completed the High Holiday process of self-examination and atonement, are you feeling uplifted or downcast? Do you feel secure or uncertain? Are you facing the coming year with hope or with concern?
In this verse, God calls to Adam because Adam and Eve had sinned by eating fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. By so doing, they gain knowledge - insight of a sort – and the well-known text which follows tells us that they suddenly see that they are naked, and that they are ashamed by it. They have also learned to fear God’s judgment.
We have less of an excuse to hide ourselves, because our self-awareness is far from a recent phenomenon. During Rosh Hashanah, we delved deeply into issues of good and evil, and on Yom Kippur we emerged from hiding and asked for forgiveness. As self-aware human beings, we are cognizant of our shortcomings, and fearful of the hazards we face in the year just starting.
Rashi teaches that God’s question “where are you?” was a compassionate and gentle way to engage Adam in conversation. By beginning our annual cycle of Torah reading with these words, we are reminded that God compassionately asks each of us, “where are you?” and that it is up to us to reply with a sense of thanks for the blessings we have received and with a sense of hopefulness for the year to come.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Be Joyous on Sukkot
Shabbat Chol Moed Sukkot
Exodus 33:12-34:26,
Ex. 34:6-7 –“Adonai, Adonai, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”
On the Shabbat which takes place during Sukkot, we read passages from Exodus, with the action taking place just after the Israelites had danced before the Golden Calf and Moses had shattered the tablets. Moses goes back up the Mountain, prays for the People, and returns 40 days later with a second set of tablets. When he returns, he brings not only a second set of tablets but also the Thirteen Attributes of God quoted here.
The Torah reading includes these verses so shortly after we have repeated them countless times one week ago during the Neilah service. I find this a profoundly hopeful concept: no matter how often we fall short of the mark, we can be forgiven.
But in addition to being hopeful, we must also be joyous. This is a holiday when we are commanded to be happy: (the Hebrew phrase is “u’smach-tem”). While all holidays have commandments associated with them, this is the only one for which happiness is mandated. Why Sukkot?
Part of the answer is that this is a harvest festival. Coming soon after Yom Kippur, a bountiful harvest was viewed as a tangible manifestation of God’s forgiveness and mercy, and a reason for joy. Second, when we live or eat in flimsy booths, we recognize that we can be happy with very little, and that we can rejoice with what we have. I contend that u’smach-tem is aimed squarely at the “woulda-shoulda-coulda” attitude that overtakes all too many of us. “I would have acted differently ...things should have been different… If only I could do this or that….” This attitude can overtake us when we forget the blessings we experience every day of our lives. U’smach-tem stands in stark contrast to a backward-looking, regret-filled point of view and insists that we be happy with what we have.
Exodus 33:12-34:26,
Ex. 34:6-7 –“Adonai, Adonai, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”
On the Shabbat which takes place during Sukkot, we read passages from Exodus, with the action taking place just after the Israelites had danced before the Golden Calf and Moses had shattered the tablets. Moses goes back up the Mountain, prays for the People, and returns 40 days later with a second set of tablets. When he returns, he brings not only a second set of tablets but also the Thirteen Attributes of God quoted here.
The Torah reading includes these verses so shortly after we have repeated them countless times one week ago during the Neilah service. I find this a profoundly hopeful concept: no matter how often we fall short of the mark, we can be forgiven.
But in addition to being hopeful, we must also be joyous. This is a holiday when we are commanded to be happy: (the Hebrew phrase is “u’smach-tem”). While all holidays have commandments associated with them, this is the only one for which happiness is mandated. Why Sukkot?
Part of the answer is that this is a harvest festival. Coming soon after Yom Kippur, a bountiful harvest was viewed as a tangible manifestation of God’s forgiveness and mercy, and a reason for joy. Second, when we live or eat in flimsy booths, we recognize that we can be happy with very little, and that we can rejoice with what we have. I contend that u’smach-tem is aimed squarely at the “woulda-shoulda-coulda” attitude that overtakes all too many of us. “I would have acted differently ...things should have been different… If only I could do this or that….” This attitude can overtake us when we forget the blessings we experience every day of our lives. U’smach-tem stands in stark contrast to a backward-looking, regret-filled point of view and insists that we be happy with what we have.
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