The End Is Wedged in the Beginning
When we conclude the Torah we begin anew. While returning to the beginning we start all over on an entirely new level. The Genesis that we will read this year after concluding the Torah is an entirely different Genesis from the one we read last year.
Roshpursukahoshatzeretorah!
No that was not a typo. It is a combination of parts of every Holiday in the month of Tishrei: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkos, Hoshana Rabbah, Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. The reason for combining them was to underscore the symbiotic nature of al these Holidays.
Simchas Torah—the Holiday in which we dance with the Torah in seven circuits around the Bimah (the platform in the center of the synagogue upon which the Torah is read)—is not only the culmination of the Sukkos Holiday, it is also the conclusion of the entire series of Holidays we celebrate during the month of Tishrei.
Simchas Torah is also—not by accident or coincidence— the day in which we conclude the annual cycle of Torah reading.
It becomes quite obvious that Simchas Torah revolves around (pun intended) the theme of conclusion.
But Judaism has a unique view of conclusion.
Unique Concept of Conclusion
All cultures have a concept of reaching a milestone that involves the conclusion of one phase of life, such as graduations and other life cycle events. Birth is the end result of pregnancy. Puberty is the end of childhood. Marriage is the end of single life. Divorce is the end of marriage. Death is the end of life, and so on. When we come to the end of one phase of life we then, hopefully, go on to a more advanced and better place.
Judaism is no exception to this process. We too have graduations from one stage of life to the next. We also believe that when we conclude one phase we proceed onward to a higher level. However, Simchas Torah exemplifies Judaism’s introduction of a new dimension of what a conclusion of a phase is really all about.
When we conclude the Torah on Simchas Torah we do two things. We go on to the next level. We do this when we read a selection from the Biblical book of Joshua; the Biblical book that follows the Five Books of Moses that we just concluded.
However, even before we read the selection from the Book of Joshua, we go back to the beginning of the Torah—the Book of Genesis. Even as we are ready to go on to the next book and level, we return to the beginning of the text we just completed.
He way we look at Torah and of life we combine a linear and cyclical approach.
On the surface this sounds strange. To the superficial ear it sounds like the equivalent of saying that upon graduating from Elementary School and entering into High School we will simultaneously repeat kindergarten. Or, when we get married and end our status as single we simultaneously become single again?! This sounds preposterous!
The Same while Totally New
Upon deeper reflection this dual process—entering into a new and higher phase, while returning to the beginning— actually means that when we finish the Torah we start all over; but on an entirely new level. The Genesis that we will read this year after concluding the Torah is an entirely different Genesis from the one we read last year.
Translating this concept into our lives this means that when we reach a milestone, it does not suggest that we have departed from the preceding period. It really means that we take the preceding period with us into the next phase of our lives.
Taking Your Youthful Endeavors with You
For example, the Mishnah—in discussing the various ages for different levels of study—states:
“A five year old is for [the study of] Scripture, a ten year old is for [the study of] Mishnah, a thirteen year old is [the age of] Bar Mitzvah, a fifteen year old is for [the study of] Talmud…”
It is obvious that our Sages did not mean to suggest that after the child reaches the age of ten he no longer studies scripture. Nor does it mean to suggest that after the child reaches the age of fifteen and commences to study Talmud that he ceases to pursue the study of scripture and Mishnah and also ceases to be a Bar Mitzvah—one who is obligated to fulfill the commandments.
What it does mean is that when the child studies Talmud after concluding his five years of Mishnah and Scripture, his understanding of Mishnah and Scripture are greatly enhanced. It adds new depth and an entirely new perspective to these areas of study.
Similarly, when we finish the Torah reading on Simchas Torah we begin studying Genesis anew, but with a fresh and enhanced perspective. While the Torah we will learn this year will contain the identical words of last year’s study it will convey to us the same material with a deeper and more sublime message than it imparted to us in the past years.
With this introduction in mind we can understand why classical Torah commentators find it necessary to link the last words of the Torah with its opening words. It is not an exercise in mental gymnastics or casuistry; it is the way we are supposed to learn Torah. We proceed from the end to the beginning in a seamless fashion; just as we would go from verse one to verse two.
Eulogy and Cosmology
Let us examine the last verse of the Torah and its follow up verse, the first verse of Genesis.
The last verse of the Torah concludes the eulogy G-d delivers about Moses at the time of his passing. After stating that there will never be a prophet the same as Moses, it lists some of his accomplishments; the miracles he performed in Egypt. And then the Torah concludes with:
“And all of his mighty hand and all of his great awesomeness that Moses performed before the eyes of all of Israel.”
The Torah then continues in the beginning of Genesis:
“In the beginning, G-d created heaven and earth.”
What is the connection between the wonders Moses wrought before all of Israel and the narrative of G-d creating heaven and earth?”
The Twin Themes: Creation and Liberation
One approach to this can be found in the analysis between the two themes: Moses’ wonders at the time of the Exodus and the creation of heaven and earth. These two themes— the wonders performed at the time of the Exodus and the Creation of heaven and earth—form the dual theme of the Kiddush prayer we recite every Friday night as we usher in the Sabbath. The Sabbath is both a remembrance of the Exodus and the Creation.
In the Ten Commandments, however, when G-d first introduces Himself to the Jewish people, he only mentions His role as the One who took the Jews out of Egypt.
The famous medieval Rabbi Yehudah Halevi asked a simple question:
Why is it that in the Ten Commandments, G-d identifies Himself as the One who took them out of Egypt and not that He is the G-d that created heaven and earth, which is clearly the greatest miracle of all; creation something out of absolute nothingness!
Many answers have been propounded, the most famous of which is that creation is something that we cannot see. We did not witness the process of creation. We did witness the process of liberation. We were a part of it. We felt the yoke of slavery and we were relieved when we were freed from that onerous yoke.
Moreover, our identification with the Egyptian Exodus is not just a matter of ancient history that we try to relive. In every generation, the Jewish people witnessed different forms of salvation from threats to their physical and spiritual existence that they emerged from intact as a people.
But creation? Who ever saw the emergence of something out of nothing? It is not something that we can appreciate. And it is therefore difficult for us to relate to something we can neither visualize nor comprehend. G-d therefore identifies Himself as the Liberator, the One who is involved in our lives, indeed, in the most dramatic way.
Once we see G-d’s involvement in our lives by way of His liberating us, collectively and individually, from exile—at the time of the Exodus as well as throughout Jewish history—we can begin to appreciate His role in the creation of the world as well.
The power of logic we possess allows us to draw the following inference: If G-d can control the world and even alter the course of nature, if He is its ultimate Master, He must also have a “hand” in the very creation of nature itself.
That is the message that we receive when we read the last verse of the Torah:
“And all of his mighty hand and all of his great awesomeness that Moses performed before the eyes of all of Israel.”
What did the eyes of all of Israel perceive? Moses’ channeling of G- d’s mighty hand and the miracles that accompanied the Exodus from Egypt.
A Higher Level of Perception: No More Inferences
However, when we start the Torah anew and read this last verse in conjunction with the next-first verse of the Torah it reads:
“Before all the eyes of Israel. In the beginning G-d created heaven and earth.”
This represents a higher level of perception. This refers to the next cycle where our eyes not only perceive the miracles that G-d performs for us. But, moreover, the eyes of all Israel can see the Divine power of G–d in creation as well. We no longer have to infer G-d’s role in creation from is role in Liberation. We can see it directly.
This direct approach to seeing G-d in creation is also alluded to in the very first verse of the Torah. The Hebrew word “bara” which translates as “created” also possesses another meaning: “revealed.” The verse can now be retranslated as “The primary thing is to reveal G-d in the heaven and the earth.”
This was G-d’s original plan for the universe and was made elusive for thousands of years.
However, with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai through Moses, it enabled us to open our eyes to seeing the Divine in everything.
This next cycle of “direct” realization of G-d’s role in creation will become manifest in the Messianic Age when—as the prophet Isaiah declares:
“The glory of G-d will be revealed and every flesh will see the word of G-d.”
This is interpreted in Chassidic literature to mean that even our fleshy eyes will perceive the Divine power of G-d’s speech vested in all of creation. In other words, we will not only be able to infer from G-d’s involvement in altering nature that He is the Creator of the universe; we will be able to see directly G-d’s creative power in all of creation.
The ability to see the Divine in every aspect of life, although it began with the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai, it was further enhanced by the revelation of the esoteric wisdom of the Torah, the teachings of Kabbalah and Chassidus.
Beresishis: The Great Luminaries of Kabbalah and Chassidus
It all began with Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai the author of the Zohar, the teachings of which were revealed only to a select few. Subsequently, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the Ari, began the process of widening the circle of Kabbalists, but it wasn’t until Rabbi Yisroel Ba’al Shem Tov the founder of the Chassidic movement, when these esoteric teachings were introduced to the general public in one form or another.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad Chassidic movement and the author of the Tanya, took the process of revealing G-dliness to us by rendering the heretofore esoteric teachings accessible to the human mind.
The final step of spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus to the entire word began with the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak. It was though his heroic efforts that these teachings spread to all the continents and translated into many languages.
All of this paved the way for our own generation’s readiness to greet Moshiach, through the leadership of the Rebbe, who has brought these teachings to an unprecedented number of Jews on all levels.
It is fascinating to note that all of these great luminaries who made the Divine closer our eyes are hinted in the very first word of the Torah: Bereishis. The Rebbe’s initials are also hinted in that verse in the word shamayim.
Within this word/verse one can find the initials of all the foregoing luminaries, whose contribution to the process of bringing Moshiach was pivotal. It was through their collective efforts—and many other—that the world is ready to greet Moshiach and be exposed to unadulterated G-dly light; light that our eyes can see without any filter or screen.
From the book Light from the Future: Simchas Torah by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
