Rabbi Roodyn

Shabbos Bereishis is a time for new beginnings.

We rewind our Sifrei Torah and start again, but this isn’t just an act of repetition and review. The familiar stories of Bereishis are read for us again, not to remind us of historical events, but rather to offer us a chance to delve deeper into the messages that are contained within them.

The world today is a very different place to the way it was a year ago. Events are unfolding, social change is abounding and the geopolitical reality is constantly shifting. The parshios of Bereishis are not just stories, they are the method that the Creator of the universe has chosen to communicate the most important life lessons to us.

The book of Bereishis is called Sefer HaYashar, the book of the upright to teach us that we have much to learn from our forefathers, and that these timeless lessons can be applied to all places and at all times. One of the early Chassidic masters said that the way that one keeps up with the times is through delving into the weekly sedra. I don’t think that this simply means that one can always find a (sometimes tenuous) link between the sedra and current affairs, rather that the Torah’s wisdom gives us messages and tools to be able to understand and cope with whatever situation we find ourselves in.

Rashi starts off his commentary to the Torah with the famous question, why does the Torah start with Bereishis, surely it should have started from Parshas Bo with the mitzvah of Kiddush Hachodesh, which is the first mitzvah we were given as a nation.  His answer is of tremendous relevance and importance in a week that has seen the land of Israel gripped in a wave of terror that seeks to destroy our morale and resolve to remain in the land. Rashi famously answers that should (or perhaps when) the nations of the world will deny our right to the land of Israel, claiming that we are a band of thieves, we can point to this parsha that establishes Hashem’s sovereignty and ability to give the land to whomever He wishes.

I have often wondered what help that will be, as it’s not as if the UN will turn around and say ‘OK you’re right, the land is really yours’ as soon as they are shown the start of Bereishis.  I think that it’s fair to say that this answer isn’t for them, it’s for us.

No one likes to be called a thief or branded as an occupier, it’s insulting and it hurts, especially if the other party is trying to take it away by force.  As we start the Torah, a Torah whose narrative is in essence a journey towards the promised land, we reaffirm our commitment to Eretz Yisrael. We declare with pride that לה’ הארץ ומלואה  Hashem’s is the land and all that is in it.  The land of Israel was given to us together with an awesome responsibility to build a model society through the Torah and teach the world by example.  We state unequivocally that this land belongs to us, not by virtue of force, but by force of virtue .

At a time when Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel is being called into question, and where Jews are paying the ultimate sacrifice across the country, we have to redouble our commitment to both the land and to the Torah that is our title deed to it.

May all those who have been injured have a refua shleima, and may Hashem avenge the blood of the kedoshim who have paid the ultimate price. May Hashem spread his protective wings over us all, always.