Parshat Bereshit

We begin a fresh start with the Book of Genesis, imbued with new spiritual energies dormant within Sefer Bereshit. The Gemara relates (Shabbat 88b) the dispute between Moshe Rabbeinu and the ministering angels: when Moshe ascended on high to bring down the Torah, the angels objected and asked the Holy One, blessed be He, why He desired to give the Torah to mortal man: "Set Thy glory upon the heavens" (Psalms 8:2) — give the Torah to the celestial beings! G-d told Moshe to answer them. Moshe said: "I fear lest they consume me with the breath of their mouths." G-d said: "Hold fast to the Throne of My Glory and return them an answer."

Moshe Rabbeinu grasped the Throne of Glory and asked the angels: "What is written in the Torah? 'Thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal.' Is there jealousy among you? Do you possess an evil inclination? What relevance does the Torah have for you? Give the Torah to us!" Immediately the angels conceded, and each gave gifts to Moshe, even the Angel of Death. What was the inner depth of this debate? What did the angels truly desire from the Torah?

Every Jew must internalize a fundamental truth daily: why did G-d grant us the Torah? For two essential obligations: first, to take the Torah, expand it, delve into it, and innovate secrets that are not readily visible on the surface. When a person studies, it is insufficient merely to read the Five Books, the Mishnah, and Gemara; part of study is to extract deep insights hidden between the lines. Second, we are commanded to fulfill the commandments in practice, as we recite in the blessings: "and make the words of Thy Torah pleasant in our mouth... and study Thy Torah for its own sake."

The ministering angels did not desire the outer commandments like "Thou shalt not steal" — they possessed no evil inclination for theft. Rather, they craved the esoteric, mystical dimensions of the Torah. Moshe asked: how can you receive the inner soul of the Torah without its outer vessel? Since you have no physical struggles, the Torah was created exclusively for mortal man.

Here the Chatam Sofer reveals an astounding teaching: the Jewish soul was granted a unique acuity and profundity of intellect at Sinai, bestowed in secret, enabling us to penetrate the deepest strata of Torah, deduce one matter from another, and innovate concepts that standard human logic cannot perceive. A gentile with ordinary intellect cannot grasp these dimensions; this heightened perception was gifted exclusively to Israel. Therefore, when a Jew channels these sacred mental powers into worldly pursuits, he excels far beyond others, because he is utilizing Divine faculties gifted at Sinai for mundane affairs.

Now, as we start Genesis anew, that supernatural wisdom reawakens. A person who begins Bereshit with renewed dedication constructs his soul and attunes it to the Divine spirit that descended at Sinai, grasping the unwritten mysteries and upholding every word in practice.

The Gemara teaches (Shabbat 88b): "Those who are insulted but do not insult, who hear their disgrace and do not respond, who act out of love and rejoice in suffering — of them Scripture says (Judges 5:31): 'And they that love Him shall be as the sun when it goeth forth in its might'." Let us understand this through the creation of the sun and the moon.

At creation, after G-d formed both luminaries equal, the moon came before G-d and spoke slander (lashon hara) against the sun: "Can two kings share a single crown?" G-d diminished the moon and transferred its power to the sun. From that day on, the moon possesses no independent light; the sun acts with benevolence, sharing its illumination with the moon by night, and the moon returns that reflected light at dawn.

Here lies a monumental principle: because the moon spoke slander, G-d stripped its power and granted it to the sun. So it is with humanity: when one speaks lashon hara against his fellow or inflicts injury upon him, G-d takes the merits, Torah study, and virtues of the slanderer and transfers them to the victim! A person may study Torah, perform charity, and practice kindness for decades; yet the instant he slanders someone, he forfeits his spiritual wealth to the one he shamed. Therefore, those who are insulted and remain silent absorb the radiant power of their detractors, resembling the sun in its celestial might.

"The Woman Whom Thou Gavest with Me": The Root of Ingratitude

Following the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, G-d asked Adam why he ate. Adam replied: "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat" (Genesis 3:12). G-d rebuked Adam as an ingrate. Moshe similarly admonished Israel (Avodah Zarah 5a): "You are ingrates, descendants of ingrates, like your forefather Adam." Why was Adam called an ingrate if he merely recounted the factual truth that Chava persuaded him?

The woman was formed from man. If the husband conducts himself with righteousness, his wife mirrors that goodness; if he declines spiritually, she follows. Chava stumbled with the serpent because Adam possessed an internal flaw; had Adam stood at a pinnacle of absolute sanctity, the serpent could never have swayed his wife. When Adam blamed the woman, it was the height of ingratitude: the spiritual decline began with him. A husband who conducts himself with dignity and fear of Heaven exerts an immense positive influence on his wife. The root of any spiritual decline in the domestic sanctuary begins with the husband.

King David declared (Psalms 144:4): "Man is like to vanity (Hevel); his days are as a shadow that passeth away." For nearly six thousand years since creation, humanity has reincarnated to rectify the sin of Adam HaRishon. When a soul departs this world, it is brought to the Cave of Machpelah before Adam, who inquires whether the departed repaired what he damaged. If he rectified his portion, he ascends; if not, he returns to complete his mission. When a person discerns his designated task in the world, his daily path becomes clear.

Adam lived 930 years and established human civilization; his son Hevel lived merely fifty days before being murdered by Kayin in the first heinous crime of history. Looking from the outside, one might conclude that Hevel's brief existence was an unmitigated tragedy that achieved nothing. Yet King David reveals: "Man is like to Hevel" — the cosmic weight and eternal achievements of Hevel's fifty days equaled the entire nine-hundred-and-thirty-year lifespan of Adam!

When an individual leaves behind Torah study or upright children who walk in G-d's ways, they serve as his extended arm, building what he could not complete. Even if one passes without physical offspring, the Torah he studied and the merits he sowed endure across generations, rising like a blossoming tree in due season. Never judge success by immediate surface impressions: life is measured across eternity.

Chanoch and the Will of the Tzaddik

The Torah states (Genesis 5:24): "And Chanoch walked with G-d, and he was not; for G-d took him." Rashi comments that Chanoch was righteous, yet of unstable mind and prone to revert to wickedness; therefore G-d took him before his time to become Metat-ron, the celestial scribe. How could a soul so holy be described as close to turning wicked?

When the Almighty desires to bestow an elevation upon a righteous person, He causes the Tzaddik to genuinely desire it, for "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him" (Psalms 145:19). When Chanoch's appointed hour arrived to ascend on high, G-d instilled in his heart an acute dread that mortal surroundings might tempt him to sin. Sensing this danger, Chanoch yearned to depart the physical world, and G-d fulfilled his pure yearning, elevating his soul to the supreme angelic sphere.

King David says (Psalms 34:7): "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." When an individual repeatedly proclaims, "I am poor, I have nothing," G-d hears his words, and he remains poor. A person should never utter declarations of destitution; let him rather say that he is experiencing a temporary lack, and plead with G-d to open the gates of Heaven. If one cries out constantly that he is impoverished, his speech becomes his destiny, for "a covenant is made with the lips" — whatever a person articulates with his mouth materializes in reality.

The Gemara recounts (Ketubot 23a) that the father of Shmuel redeemed captive maidens and placed guards over them. Shmuel asked: "Who protected them in captivity that they require guards now?" His father replied: "If these were your daughters, would you treat their honor so lightly?" Not long after, Shmuel's daughters were taken captive, because his father's words opened a mouth for the adversary. Similarly, when Shmuel comforted his brother Pinchas over the death of his son (Moed Katan 18a) and questioned his unkempt nails, Pinchas answered: "If you were in mourning, you would understand." Soon after, mourning struck Shmuel's family. Holy Baba Meir Abuchatzeira cautioned: think seven times before speaking, for words unleash formidable spiritual forces.

"The Lord is My Shepherd; I Shall Not Want"

King David declared (Psalms 23:1–2): "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." On the third day of creation, G-d said: "Let the earth put forth grass" (Genesis 1:11). The vegetation sprouted beneath the earth, but refused to break through the surface until Adam HaRishon was created and prayed for rain. G-d deliberately withheld growth because He desires the heartfelt prayers of His creations.

A person who feels dependent upon G-d like a babe in his mother's arms receives continuous divine providence. The Almighty waits for man to ask; without prayer, abundance remains locked. When a person recognizes that only Hashem is his shepherd, "G-d hath spoken once; twice have I heard this: that power belongeth unto G-d" (Psalms 62:12) — the potential decree becomes fully realized, showering his life with boundless blessing.