Feature Tidbit G-d's Gold Card The famous and very first Rashi of the Torah asks why the Torah begins with B'reishit, rather than with the first Mitzva commanded to Bnei Yisrael, even before they left Egypt - the mitzva of Kiddush HaChodesh. Rabbi Yitzchak's answer is that by starting with B'reishit, G-d is making clear to all that He is the Boss, Heis the Creator. And He gives the land to whom He chooses and takes it away from whom He chooses. I would like to explore another angle to the question, and focus on a significance of the opening words of the Torah in contrast to the opening words with which G-d revealed Himself to the People of Israel at Sinai. The question has been asked as to why G-d chose to identify Himself in the Aseret HaDibrot as the One Who took us out of Mitzrayim, rather than as the One Who created the World. In fact, we can say that He has identified Himself in both of those ways - one way in the Aseret haDibrot and the other way in the whole Torah. G-d did not just say to us that He took us out of Egypt. He, in essence, said, "I created the world AND I took you out of Egypt." What is He telling us? Maybe this is one way we can see things. G-d makes it clear to us that we are part of Creation. We are human beings, the special focus of the entire process of Creation. And as such, we share this World of His with more than 6,000,000,000 other humans, also created in His image. And countless other species of plants andanimals also share this world. We have privileges as humans, and awesome obligations. No matter what else we are, we cannot shirk our responsibilities to the environment, to the balance of nature, to a basic humane moral code. This is what G-d is saying to us when He begins His Torah with, "In the beginning..." But when we stood at the foot of Har Sinai - we as a distinct nation, not with all the people of the world, but we with 600,000 men plus women and children, plus the souls of all Jews past and future, G-d did not just say, "I Am... Who created the world". He said, "...Who took you out of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. This was a unique Jewish experience. By identifying Himself in this more exclusive way, He is telling us that the Torah is not for everyone. There are basic laws of moral conduct that are for everyone - including us. And then there is the matter of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah and everything that goes along with it. It is as if every human being is issued a membership card in the human race. It comes with obligations and benefits, and there are dues to be paid. Good people pay their dues, bad people don't. Or at least they try to pay less than they are supposed to and they try to reaps greater benefits, even if they are not entitledto them. Jewish people - hold onto your membership cards in the human race. In the beginning, G-d created everything and everyone. And, dear Jewish People, when you agreed to stand at the foot of Sinai and receive your special gold card - membership in the Jewish People, you understood that the dues are higher, and so are the benefits. A requirement of gold card holders is thet they meet all their obligations as good people. We've basically got two sedras to allow us to remind ourselves of that regular world membership - B'reishit and No'ach. Then we watch the development of the gold card holders through the balance of B'reishit. It is not always pleasant things to be reminded of. But we have many things to learn from the actions of our Avotand the Tribes. Then it is on into Sh'mot, where we witness a family turn into a nation. The point is - had the Torah started with THIS MONTH IS YOURS... it would be like turning in one's regular card when being issued the gold card. And then we wouldn't feel part of the whole world. We wouldn't be part of the world. And that, apparently, is not what G-d wanted. We did not trade Tishrei for Nissan when we cameout of Mitzrayim and received the Torah at Sinai - we have two beginnings to our year. This idea shows up in many of our prayers. Look at the two brachot before Sh'ma. The first speaks of Creation and does not specifically mention Torah and Mitzvot. The second bracha speaks of the deep mutual love between G-d and His People. The same idea is echoed in Birkat HaMazon. The first bracha refers to our membershipin the human race and our identification with all of G-d's creations. The second bracha focuses on the Land of Israel, the Torah, the Convenant of Brit Mila. This is a pattern that occurs over and over again. We have a dual mandate from G-d. We must relate to Him with B'REISHIT BARA ELOKIM... and also as ANOCHI HASHEM ELOKECHA. Each is its own challenge. We must be up to both of them. [The B'reishit Homepage]
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