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Dear Friends,
I hope you will join us at services this Friday night, and especially this Shabbat morning, as we celebrate the aufruf of Katie Majors and Adam Becker. Mazal Tov to Katie and to Adam and to their families!
This Shabbat we read the beginning of the Torah once again! We read the creation story! And interestingly, the language of the Torah reveals to us that in the moment of creation, there was a startling shift.
The Torah tells us that God said: “Let the earth sprout vegetation, seed-yielding herbs and fruit trees producing fruit…and so it was.” Yet, as Sivan Rahav-Meir points out in her book, #Parasha, the Torah then goes on to describe what actually happened. And, this is what the Torah tells us:
“And the earth gave forth vegetation, seed-yielding herbs…and trees producing fruit.…”
God’s original plan was to have “fruit trees producing fruit” – that is to say that the trees themselves would taste just like the fruit they produced. But, in the moment of creation, the earth only brought forth “trees producing fruit” – that is to say that the trees did not taste like the fruit which they would eventually produce.
In the moment of creation, there was a shift. And, the reality of creation was different from the original concept of creation.
What can we learn from this?
Perhaps that the world we see and experience around us is not an accurate reflection of the ideal that God had in mind at the moment of creation! Our world contains a taste of God’s original conception in the taste of the fruit we eat. But, it is up to us to strive to increase the taste of fruit, the taste of blessing, so that the trees themselves embody the taste of their fruit! It is up to us to do whatever we can to bring greater joy and blessing into the world around us!
This Shabbat we will be reciting the prayer for blessing in the new Jewish month of Cheshvan. Rosh Chodesh Chesvan will be on Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday of this coming week. May it be a month of increased joy and blessing for all!
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Gilah Dror |
