In the Beginning....

 

בראשית א׳:

(א) בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹקִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

(ב) וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹקִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

 

Genesis 1:

(1) In the beginning, Gd created the heaven and the earth.

(2) Now the earth was unformed and void and darkness (was) over the surface of the deep and the spirit of Gd hovered over the face of the waters.

When I think about our lives and what has transpired over the last six months, the words 'unformed', 'void' and 'darkness' do not seem out of place.

How many of us have had to check our calendars to remind us of which day of the week we have been living through? How many of us listen to the news and try to make sense of the 'void' of Covid-19 that has overtaken our little blue planet? How many of us feel as though we are living in 'darkness'?

In the beginning, there was nothing.

The spirit of Gd may have hovered over the face of the waters, but below the waters, there was a deep, deep chasm with no end in sight.

And then…. 

(ג) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹקִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃

(3) Gd said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

And once there was 'light', what did Gd do?

(ד) וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹקִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹקִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

(4) Gd saw that the light was good, and Gd separated the light from the darkness.

Gd took that light and created a contrast between this light and the darkness.

He established this difference because, although He had created heaven and earth, until He had created the light and separated it from the darkness, the earth was void and unformed and plunged into a darkness that no human being or beast can envisage.

(ה) וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹקִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃

(5) God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.

The first day was when Gd established a boundary between night and day or rather, the light and the darkness - you can't have a 'day' or a 'night'  when the sun and moon are three periods away from being created.

The 'light' that Gd created, according to our Sages was a spiritual light which was set aside for the righteous to use for a future world that we have not yet seen (Rashi). 

In the last six months, we have been searching for some sort of light to illuminate a path in the darkness that has overtaken our world. Some of our loved ones were nearly subsumed into the darkness but were blessed to be pulled back from the brink. Tragically, many others were beyond our reach, and we deeply mourn their passing.

The Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 29.1) tells us something fascinating:

“.... It was taught in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, "The world was created on the twenty-fifth of Elul....”

So, when the Torah tells us that:

 “In the beginning, Gd created the heaven and the earth.

Now the earth was unformed and void and darkness (was) over the surface of the deep and the spirit of Gd hovered over the face of the waters.”

According to the Midrash, this took place on the 25th of Ellul , whose date will begin tonight at sunset. In six days’ time, on Friday night, we will have reached the Sixth Day, when Gd's last act of creativity was the formation of Adam and Eve - the very first Rosh Hashanah, for this very festival marks the anniversary of the creation of mankind. 

It is no coincidence that Ashkenazim mark the week which precedes Rosh Hashanah (from around 25th Ellul) by commencing the Selichot prayers, which we will recite all the way through the Eve of Yom Kippur and indeed, during the Fast itself, culminating in the exhilarating Neilah prayer at the end of the day. These prayers are our cries to Gd, begging Him to forgive us for the sins we have committed over the last year and at the same time, beseeching him to grant us a year of health and stability. To ensure that our world does not continue to be formless, void and dark. To bring us the light that we need to survive and thrive, grow and develop and become the best versions of who we can be.  We are asking Him to bring us a new Beginning - a new Bereshit.

May you and your families be inscribed in the Book of Life for a year of good health and success in all of your endeavours and may He banish the darkness from our lives in the new year of 5781.  

Shanah Tovah Umetukah, a happy and sweet New Year.