Two Beginnings
The Torah begins with the story of Creation. But, the real beginning is the story of the flood. The flood represents a paradigm shift of the Messianic Age. The entire world will be deluged with positive G-dly energy.
Why Little Preparation for such a Big Parsha?
This year the Torah portion of Bereishis was read just one day after the concluding parsha of V’zos Haberacha was read. This is the only instance where there is such a short gap between one Torah portion and the next one. V’zos Haberacha, which is read in Simchas Torah, can occur either on a Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday. It never occurs on a Shabbos.
The question begs itself: Why was the Jewish calendar set up in such a way that there is never a full week between the completion of one cycle of the Torah reading and the beginning of the next cycle?
Moreover, it would seem that parsha Bereishis deserved a full week of preparation. After all, Bereishis, in many ways, is the most important parsha of the Torah, inasmuch as:
a) It is the very beginning of the Torah, as its name underscores.
b) In addition, it discusses G-d creating the universe, one of the most fundamental principles of Judaism. Maimonides devoted a significant part of his Guide for the Perplexed to establish the principle that the Universe has a beginning and was created by G-d. In addition, Maimonides listed this belief that G- d preceded all else as one of the 13 Principles of Faith.
c) It is also one of the longest portions and covers an expanse of time from creation to the flood a period of over 1,500 years.
Certainly, then, a portion so big, quantitatively and qualitatively, should have at least as much time to prepare for as all the other Torah portions.
Three Answers
Three answers come to mind.
Jewish tradition looks at the reading and study of Torah as an endless cycle, which is why we read the first section of Bereishis immediately after finishing the Five Books of Moses on Simchas Torah. To further appreciate this endless process, we never allow ourselves the luxury of a full week between the two portions.
Second, by limiting the gap between the two portions, we are compelled to reflect on the organic relationship between the end of the Torah and its beginning, highlighting the Kabbalistic idea found in the most ancient work of Kabbalah, Sefer Yetzirah, that “the end is wedged in the beginning and the beginning is wedged in the end.” There is a certain dynamism and powerful energy that can only be experienced at the beginning and at the end.
In terms of the Torah, the very last word of the Torah is Israel, and the very first word is Bereishis-In the Beginning. This suggests that G-d’s original thought in creation will be actualized by Israel. The Jewish nation was chosen to implement G-d’s plan for the creation.
Third, the six days of preparation before the
Shabbos Torah reading was designed to make it possible to fully digest the subject matter of the Torah. “Bereft” of these days of preparation, we find ourselves humbled at the very beginning of the Torah cycle. We can’t claim to have mastered the entirety of Torah, for we have not even begun to master its beginning. In essence, while we might cover the entire Torah in the course of a year, we actually never really began reading the Torah.
This notion is further hinted in the selection of the letter Beis to start the Torah. By commencing our Torah study with the second letter of the Alphabet, we imply, ever so humbly, that we have never even began learning the Torah.
In summation: The lack of a seven day period for Bereishis underscores: (a) the endless nature of Torah, (b) the intertwining of the end and the beginning of the Torah, (c) we have not even begun to study the Torah.
Thus, the first full week of preparation for a Torah reading commences this week with the reading of parshas Noach that discusses how Noach was righteous and saved from the catastrophic flood that destroyed the entire world.
Why Morbid Beginning?
Since, the first “real” beginning of a weekly parsha, one that involves a full week of preparation, is Noach, we ought to reflect on the selection of such morbid subject matter for this beginning.
Upon deeper reflection, and based on many of the comments of our Sages in Midrashic and Chassidic literature, parshas Noach also has a positive dimension to it.
Paradigm Shift
Water in Biblical symbolism is indicative of knowledge. Water that covers the person—as in a Mikveh—Maimonides writes is symbolic of one whose entire being is submerged in knowledge. Hence the flood waters actually allude to the world going through a “paradigm shift.”
The flood endowed the world with a chance at seeing things in a new light. In a sense, Bereishis begins all over again, as our Sages pointed out that the waters that covered the world was reminiscent of the state of the world before it was formed, covered completely with water.
Portent of the Future
Indeed, it has also been suggested that the flood is a portent of the future Age of Redemption concerning which the prophet Isaiah writes “and the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea.”
Even living for a year in the Ark with all of the animals has been likened to the original state of existence in the Garden of Eden. All of the world’s creatures lived together harmoniously. None of the animals harmed the people or other animals. This is precisely the state of affairs the prophets predicted for the Messianic Age, where the “wolf will lie with the lamb.”
Thus, underlying the tragedy of parshas Noach is also the introduction of a potential for a new world; a world that acquired the capacity to submerge itself transform itself into a world submerged in the purifying and refreshing waters of G-dly knowledge.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Noach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
