As is
usual with all Torah portions, the name of the first is derived
from the first word used in it: Bereshit, translated as "In
the beginning." Much has been written about how the Torah begins
with the letter Beit, the second letter, and not the first, the Alef. Beit
signifies duality and multiplicity. The word that translate as beginning
is Reishit, from the word Rosh, head. Therefore, despite Judaism's tremendous
emphasis on the unity of G-d, and how the whole world
is One, and we discussed in previous posts the importance of having
only one leader, one head, the Torah itself begins with a word that can
be easily understood as "Beit Reishit," two heads, two
beginnings. The answer to why the Torah begins in simple: although G-d is
absolutely One, by creating the world G-d introduced an element of duality and
multiplicity.
Rashi's
opening comment also appears to delve into this aspect of two beginnings
by asking why the Torah does not actually begin in a different place, in the
beginning of the discussion of G-d's commandments:
1. In the beginning of God's
creation of the heavens and the earth.
RASHI - In the beginning: Said Rabbi Isaac: It was not necessary to begin the Torah except from “This month is to you,” (Exod. 12:2) which is the first commandment that the Israelites were commanded, (for the main purpose of the Torah is its commandments, and although several commandments are found in Genesis, e.g., circumcision and the prohibition of eating the thigh sinew, they could have been included together with the other commandments). Now for what reason did He commence with “In the beginning?” Because of [the verse] “The strength of His works He related to His people, to give them the inheritance of the nations” (Ps. 111:6). For if the nations of the world should say to Israel, “You are robbers, for you conquered by force the lands of the seven nations [of Canaan],” they will reply, "The entire earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it (this we learn from the story of the Creation) and gave it to whomever He deemed proper When He wished, He gave it to them, and when He wished, He took it away from them and gave it to us.
RASHI - In the beginning: Said Rabbi Isaac: It was not necessary to begin the Torah except from “This month is to you,” (Exod. 12:2) which is the first commandment that the Israelites were commanded, (for the main purpose of the Torah is its commandments, and although several commandments are found in Genesis, e.g., circumcision and the prohibition of eating the thigh sinew, they could have been included together with the other commandments). Now for what reason did He commence with “In the beginning?” Because of [the verse] “The strength of His works He related to His people, to give them the inheritance of the nations” (Ps. 111:6). For if the nations of the world should say to Israel, “You are robbers, for you conquered by force the lands of the seven nations [of Canaan],” they will reply, "The entire earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it (this we learn from the story of the Creation) and gave it to whomever He deemed proper When He wished, He gave it to them, and when He wished, He took it away from them and gave it to us.
The
beginning of Rashi's second comment on this verse again points
to the theme of duality. G-d created the world for the sake of
two "firsts:" the Torah and Israel.
In the beginning of God’s
creation of: Heb.
בְּרֵאשִית בָּרָא. This verse calls for a midrashic interpretation as our
Rabbis stated: [God created the world] for the sake of the Torah, which is
called (Prov. 8:22): “the beginning of His way,” and for the sake of Israel,
who are called (Jer. 2:3) “the first of His grain.”
The
theme of duality is present in the Talmud (where there is a disagreement as to
whether the world was created in Tishrei or Nissan) as well as in the Jewish
calendar itself. While Rosh Hashanah is in Tishrei, the head of the months is
actually Nissan. The source for Nissan being the head of the months is actually
the verse quoted by Rashi:
2. This month [Nissan] shall be
to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of
the year. (Exodus 12:2)
The
duality between Tishrei and Nissan appears to relate to the contrast of the
role of Hashem portrayed primarily as the One that creates us, judges and
forgives us based on how we kept the Torah, and of Hashem as the One that
redeems us, collectively and individually, and brings us to the Promised Land.
Rashi's
first comment therefore can be understood as hinting to both beginnings,
Tishrei and Rosh Hashanah.
Rashi's
second comment is also related to this duality. While it is more common to
place Israel ahead of even the Torah itself in terms of
importance, Rashi first mentions the Torah, the blueprint of creation and
the standard by which we are judged in Rosh Hashanah, and only then mentions
Israel, which became a nation in Nissan at the time of the Exodus
from Egypt.
This
duality in the Jewish calendar is reflected in the Jewish people itself and in
their two prototypical leaders: Judah and Joseph. Judah represents Nissan. Tishrei
is represented by Ephraim, the son of Joseph (his other son, Menashe represents
the following month, Cheshvan). Judah is first and foremost a leader of the
people, while Joseph's leadership is more detached, in a sense more connected
to the Torah itself.
The
tension, balance, and contrast between Judah and Joseph is very apparent in the
way the Torah places the very parallel stories of Joseph and Judah side by
side,[1]
as well as in the depiction of their direct confrontation, in the Torah portion
of Vayigash.[2]
Even the names of these two tribes are similar, because Joseph sometimes is
called “Yehosef,” carrying the first three letters of G-d’s name, Hashem, just
like Judah.
This
balance and tension has continued throughout our history, most notably with
King David and King Shaul, the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel (also called
Ephraim in the Torah), and even eventually with the coming of two Mashiachs, ben
David and ben Yosef, also known as Mashiach ben Ephraim.
The
following are excerpts from the Kabbalah of Time's appendix, further
discussing this duality:
The
Jewish calendar actually has two beginnings, one in Tishrei, on Rosh Hashanah,
the head of the year, and the other in Nissan, on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the head
of “the head of the months.” There is
even a debate in the Mishnah regarding which of these days is linked to
Creation (because, as mentioned above, Rosh Hashanah actually celebrates the
creation of man, on the sixth day, the creation of the world would have been
five days prior, either on the 25th of Elul (as is the final ruling) or the 25th
of Adar). Both in the months of Nissan and Tishrei, Tachanun, supplication
prayers, are not said.
There
are also various important parallels and contrasts in both these sequences. For
example, both Passover and Sukkot fall on the15th day of the 1st or 7th month,
depending from which month the counting begins. Similarly, Tu B’Av and Tu
B’Shvat fall on the 15th day of the 5th or 11th month, depending on which
sequence is followed.
Interestingly,
there is a custom to use the twelve days preceding Tishrei, from the eighteenth
of Elul (Chai Elul) to Erev Rosh Hashanah to atone for the twelve months of the
year, with Chai Elul representing Tishrei and Erev Rosh Hashanah representing Elul.
In contrast, in the thirteen days from Rosh Chodesh Nissan to the thirteenth of
Nissan, it is the custom to read the offerings brought by the princes of the
tribes during in honor of the inauguration of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. Each
tribe brought their sacrifices on a different day. As explained previously,
each tribe represents a different month, and the sequence of tribes’ offerings
goes according to the months of the year, beginning with Judah (Nissan) and
ending with Naftali (Adar I) and Levi (Adar II).
It is
also fascinating that the Alter Rebbe’s birthday is on Chai Elul, the first of
the twelve days, representing Tishrei, while the birthday of the grandson he
raised, the Tzemach Tzedek, is on Erev Rosh Hashanah, the last of the twelve
days, representing Elul itself. Furthermore, the Tzemach Tzedek’s yahrzeit is
also on the last day of the reading of the princes, the thirteenth of Nissan. The
yahrzeit of the Rebbe Rashab, the Tzemach Tzedek’s own grandson, is on the
second day of Nissan, at the very beginning of the reading of the princes.
In
Kabbalah, another difference between Tishrei and the ensuring “winter months”
and Nissan and the accompanying “summer months” (both of which have twenty six
weeks) is that Tishrei represents the concept of Ohr Chozer (reflective light),
while Nissan represents Ohr Yashar (direct light). On Tishrei, we initiate our
return to G-d, and G-d responds accordingly – that is why the month is spelled
with the last three letters of the Hebrew alphabet, in descending order,
mirroring/reflecting the first three letters in ascending order. On Nissan, G-d
is the one that initiates the relationship, taking us out of bondage,
independently of (or even despite) whether or not we merit it. This contrast is
connected to the kabbalistic concepts of Ita'aruta de L’tata (arousal from
below) and Ita'aruta de L'Eila (arousal from above), and which of the two come
first.
It is
interesting to note that in the “winter months,” from Tishrei to Adar, the
animals in Perek Shirah comprise of birds, flying insects, and water animals,
while those from Nissan to Elul are all land animals. From Tishrei on, we must
first ascend to G-d, and in turn he descends to us. From Nissan on, Hashem
first descends to us, and only then do we ascend to Him.
Rabbi
Moshe Wolfsohn explains that this division is reflected even in the current
differences between Chassidic and Lithuanian/non-Chassidic. Similar differences
seem to exist between Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and baalei teshuvah (those who
return to G-d, acknowledging their mistakes) and tzadikim gemurim (righteous
one, who never sinned in the first place). Joseph is the prototype of the tzadik
gamur, while Judah of the baal teshuvah.
The
prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the Holy Chariot, Hashem’s holy throne, has a lion
on the right (the symbol of Judah) and an ox on the left (the symbol of
Joseph). The same prophet Ezekiel, in the haftorah reading for Vayigash, is
told by G-d to collect one stick for Judah and one for Ephraim, and to join
them together, symbolizing that in future Yosef and Yehudah will become
completely united.[3]
The
Jewish calendar also contains another duality and synthesis: its days are
counted in accordance with the cycles of the sun and the moon. While the West’s
calendar (based on the Roman one) is purely solar, and the Islamic calendar is
purely lunar, the Jewish calendar has aspects of both. Each month in the Jewish
calendar follows the moon, yet, as mentioned in Week 22, the Jewish year often
contains two Adar months. This way, Passover always occurs in the spring, and
all other months correspond to particular seasons accordingly. Here also,
Joseph appears primarily associated with the year as a whole (countering Esau),
while Judah appears to be primarily connected to the lunar months (countering
Yishmael).
