Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 24 Tishri, 5783

Parsha Bere’shit – Genesis 1:1-6:18

A little over a year ago, we started the Torah journey. You can see where we were at when we began with the post below.

This morning we “Begin Again” in Genesis. It’s the fourth reading today, so we do need to catch up in the portions to get us back on track. This covers Genesis 1:1-4:18:

Today we approach the Torah hopefully more liberated and awake than we were a year ago.

In reading this genesis story again; we see full freedom and liberation in how Hashem formed the universe and the earth and the heavens. There was not restraint.

And, as we’ve learned; Hashem made the CHOICE to restrain Himself and confine Himself in our world. He chose to need us. To desire us. To want us.

As we’ve been discussing unrequited love, I think the theme this year’s Torah cycle for me is around this idea and concept of returning Hashem’s love- and our own (since His spirit is inside of us).

The Genesis story is the Genesis of Love. Hashem chose to make us. There is a need He has for our love to be requited.

If we cannot love ourselves – as His creation; how can we in turn Love the creator? Our internal battle around our guilt, shame, maybe even disdain for our inner selves demonstrates a disdain for Hashem.

If it is true we are His creation – and we do not love ourselves for who we are created – how can we hope to love the creator?

And yet- this is our journey.

Hashem took us from the dust of the earth to create us. Then- gave us the power to co-create with Him. He took His creation (man) and then used us to create woman.

Consider this; Hashem could have easily taken dust and created two beings- man and woman. Why didn’t He just do that?

I believe it’s because we are meant to be co-creators. With Hashem. And then? With each other.

And yet? We live in a world telling us that consumption is a better life. I look around and the forces of consumption drive us everywhere. We want resources so we can consume more. If we have less resources we consume less. This transactional world around us hides the reality of our purpose, promise, and design.

We are here to create. For six days. Then rest.

In what ways are we creating? In what ways are we consuming?

For me? A lot of what I WAS creating were all the ways my life could go wrong. I imagined worst case scenarios; things that could go badly. I have a vivid imagination- and that served me well as a crisis manager. I could anticipate everything that could go wrong and then prepare for it. It was a survival mechanism.

But that’s not my purpose. This past year, I began the process of creating positive things – imagining all the ways things could go right. And you know what? My imagination and creativity was stunted (it still is).

How are we creating? How are we co-creating? How are we consuming?

These are the questions the first four readings of the Torah inspire in me.

I’d love to hear how you create. How you consume! Please share!

Here is my commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 24 Tishrei, 5782

Parsha Bereshit: Genesis 1:1-6:18

Commentary From this morning’s Torah portion (First reading) in Genesis (summarized Genesis 1:1-2:3) from Rabbi Hayyim Soloveichik in the 19th-20th century:

The idea (from Rabbi Soloveichik) is that before Hashem created us, he consulted the angels – “let us make man in our image.”  More from Rabbi Soloveichik:

The angels quarreled – the angels of kindness and the angels of righteousness were in favor of man because we (humanity) would perform kind and charitable acts. However, the angels of truth and the angels of peace opposed our creation because they argued Humanity would be torn apart with lies and quarrels.

The idea is the inevitability of being torn by life when faced with a situation with an unresolvable dilemma. If we follow the path of truth, we offend our fellow human, disrupting peace. If we follow the path of peace, we are guilty of dishonesty, upsetting truth.

So what did Hashem do?

Hashem “took truth and threw it to the ground.” He “gave us the Torah here on earth, a teaching which guides us, in every area of life, in how to balance the sensitivities of truth and peace.”

My thoughts:

The issue is that truth and peace are in conflict with one another. Truth causes conflicts. Peace can obfuscate truth. But life isn’t one or the other. As humans, we are charged with daily deciding how to balance these issues MOSTLY within ourselves (how often do we convince ourselves of untruths so we can avoid inner conflicts) and then ALSO with others.

I know for a long time I have been out of balance when it comes to truth and peace. I have camped on the side of truth as much as I could. I am beginning to understand this is more out of complacency and an unwillingness to do the work every moment of every day of battling with these two concepts.

Both internally and externally.

And as we begin a new Torah cycle today, this is a great frame of reference (for me at least) in approaching the Torah!

Thank you Rabbi Soloveichik for your writings and giving me lots of thoughts this morning as I chew on the Torah!

One more bonus idea from this mornings reading:

The idea of Prayer is connected to the concept of rain. When we pray, we are not creating anything new; like the mist that rises from the earth and is collected and falls as rain, so too our prayers rise to Hashem and are collected, returning to us as blessing!