Genesis (1) Genesis 1:1 Bereishis Gen 1:1:1 א. בְּרֵאשִׁ יתבָּרָּ א אֱֹלהִׁ ים אֵתהַשָּמַ יִׁם In the beginning of God's creation of the וְּאֵתהָּאָּרֶ ץ: .heavens and the earth Who divided the Bible into Chapters and verse? Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury 1150 - 1228 C.E. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Torah begins with the ‘bais’ of ‘bereishis’ and ends with the ‘lamid’ of ‘yisroel’. So the entire Torah is contained between the letters ‘bais’ and ‘lamid’ ‘lev’ heart. Munk 141 Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .ְּב ֵרִׁאשית, ָּבָּרֱא אִֹׁלהים, ֵאתַ הָּשַמִׁים, ְּוֵאתָּ הָּאֶרץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. We may rearrange the letters in this first word of the Torah and it will spell ‘aleph beTishrei’. It tells us that the first day of Tishrei is the day the world was created. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Aleph-Bais - the Alphabet Every letter has a ‘guf, ‘ruach’ and ‘Neshamah’, a body, spirit and soul. Letters and words are the protoplasm of creation. ‘Dibur’ - physical process of speech. ‘Maamar’ - the intent, forethought, the motive of the speaker. BT Shabbos 104a Berechis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Torah starts with the letter ‘bais’ to make the point that we are expected to have already prepared ourselves for the study of Torah with a feeling of Emuneh (aleph, mem, vov, num, heh) - which starts with the letter aleph. So aleph is first for Emunah, then ‘bais’ for, Bereshis. The beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Almighty. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Why doesn’t the Torah start with the letter aleph? 1. Just as each book of the Talmud begins with page ‘bais’ - to show us that there is even more to learn than we have in our 2. To teach humility God told aleph, “I overheard you bragging that you are the most important letter of all” - that you start the 10 commandments - that you start the name of Abraham - that you start the song Adon Olam = master of the universe 3. To suggest that even before the beginning God was present in the Universe. The letter ‘aleph’ symbolizes God. It ids made up of a ‘vov’ and two ‘alephs’. The gematria of which is 26 the same gematria as “yud kay vov kay’ the tetragrammation. 4. Therefore, to teach aleph humility God decided to start the Talmud and the Torah with the second letter ‘bais’. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 Berachos 26b .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Adon Olam - Master of the Universe The morning prayers begin with aleph. This prayer was introduced by Abraham. Berachos 26b Abraham was the first person to address God with the title of master Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .ְּב ֵרִׁאשית, ָּבָּרֱא אִֹׁלהים, ֵאתַ הָּשַמִׁים, ְּוֵאתָּ הָּאֶרץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God reassured the letter aleph that he would start the 10 commandments with the letter aleph. Bereishis Gen 1:1:1 א. בְּרֵאשִׁ יתבָּרָּ א אֱֹלהִׁ ים אֵתהַשָּמַ יִׁם In the beginning of God's creation of the וְּאֵתהָּאָּרֶ ץ: .heavens and the earth Who divided the Bible into Chapters and verse? Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury 1150 - 1228 C.E. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Torah starts with the letter ‘bais’ which is shaped like a little house to signify that the Torah was given into an earthly repository. The letter ‘aleph’ represents the spiritual ‘bais’ represents the physical creation. The two together = ‘av’, to represent the relationship between father and son. When this relation is healthy it represents stability as Rashi says in Genesis 49:24 the word ‘avon’ rock, is a symbol of permanency. It is a contraction of the words ‘av ubein’, father and son. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The letter ‘bais’ stands for: comparison, between and between ‘bein u’bein’. This ability to distinguish is a highly intellectual task ‘Binah’ - understanding – wisdom - insight. (Shabbos 104a) Learn understanding, ‘aluf binah’. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. With the first letter ‘bais’, which implies: Understanding Between Compare Contrast Differentiate Distinguish Analyze Wisdom - ‘binah’ Aility to draw conclusions And disclose the truth Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Torah starts with a ‘bais’. - It is also the first letter of the word ‘berachah’, blessing. God wanted to start the world out with a ‘brachah’. - It represents duality the balancing in the world between water and earth, light and dark, male and female, sun and moon. - It starts with a ‘bais’ because we all know that something comes before the ‘bais’ of creation. Creation was not the beginning ‘aleph’ came before and did the creating and aleph is made up of a yud, vov and another yud the gematria of which is10-6-10 – 26 = God. By starting with the letter God let everyone know there are two worlds - this world and the world to come. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The ‘bais’ is enlarged to mean ‘bishveal’ - because of, because of Reshis was the heaven and earth created. Reshis means first – prime the prime mover – God. What is ‘Reshis’ 1. first 2. beginning 3. purpose 4. prominent 5. prime Torah Prov 8:22 Jeremiah 33:25 Israel Gen 2:3 Challah Num 15:20 Bereshis Gen 1:1:1 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning, ‘Bereshis’. Bais - Bitachan - faith in God Reish - Ratzon - willingness to follow Aleph - Ahavah - love of God Shin - Shetikah - silence – acceptance Yud - Yirah - fear of God Taf - Torah - Torah study Bereshis Gen 1:1:2 .ְּב ֵרִׁאשית, ָּבָּרֱא אִֹׁלהים, ֵאתַ הָּשַמִׁים, ְּוֵאתָּ הָּאֶרץ In the beginning created God the heaven and the earth. In the beginning created God Created is mentioned before God Why? Because a major method of recognizing God is by viewing what He created. Through the mightiness of the creation we appreciate the might of the creator. Bereshis Gen 1:1:1-4 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. - 10 commandments start with ‘aleph’ ‘anochi’. - First Mishnah tractate Berachot starts with ‘mem’ ‘me’ematai’ when. Gemorah in Berachot starts with ‘taf’, ‘Tanna’. Aleph mem taf spells emet truth. The last letters of the first three words of the Torah contain the letters for the word truth but not in the correct order. The last letters of the second, third and forth words also spell truth with the letters in the correct sequence. This suggests that after creation the jumbled chaos was made orderly. Bereshis Gen 1:1:2-5 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Emes - Truth Sheker - Falsehood The letters that make up ‘emes’ – have firm stable standing aleph mem tof The letters that make up ’sheker’’ falsehood are each unstable and stand only on one foot shin kuf resh. Bereshis Gen 1:1:4 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning God created ‘et’, aleph – taf. The first act of creation was to create the letters ‘aleph’ thru ‘taf’. The letters of the alphabet were the raw material of creation. Therefore, the Aleph-Beis predated creation. The utterance of the combinations of letters in prayer have the power to arouse spiritual forces beyond our imagination. Bereshis Gen 1:1:7 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The Torah was made to teach God’s laws. The first law is Shemos 12:1, “This month should be your first month”. But it started as it did so that Israel could say to other nations, God has the right to give land to whomever He wishes since it all belongs to Him. Rashi Bereshis Gen 1:1:4-7 .בְּ רֵאשִׁ ית, בָּרָּ אאֱֹלהִׁ ים, אֵ תהַשָּמַ יִׁם, וְּאֵ תהָּאָּרֶ ץ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Definite article ‘heh’ Definite article and emphasis ‘heh’ plus ‘et’. Emphatic article ‘et’ = The universe was created in complete perfection i.e., from aleph to taf.