Bereisheet
Bereisheet. . .
Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan
Bereisheet. . .
In the beginning. . .in a
beginning. . .during the beginning. . .by means of a beginning. . .
Genesis/Bereisheet 1:1, the first word of the Torah
Open this book, say our
sages, and you will find that it contains the blueprint for right living on our
planet. Ecology, society,
individuality - all will be explained.
How do they know? It's all
in that first magic word, bereisheet.
In the book of Proverbs,
Wisdom says, "I was with God as an amon." What is an amon, the sages
wonder. They examine every occurrence
of the word amon in the Hebrew
Bible, to find the role that Wisdom played. Wisdom, they conclude, is a tutor, a judge, a hidden one, a
great city of architectural wonders, a vessel of faith.
The book of Proverbs also
says that Wisdom is reisheet -
the beginning. Thus, the sages
conclude that at the beginning, God relied on Wisdom: the hidden teacher,
setting the standard, mapping architectural wonders, testifying to the presence
of God.
The book of Proverbs speaks
of "wisdom and tradition"
and of "Torah and tradition."
Thus, the sages conclude that the Wisdom is the Torah. In the beginning, God relied on Torah,
not yet revealed but containing the standard for building a wondrous world that
could reach for holiness.
Bereisheet: by means of Torah, God created a world. Bereisheet: This book existed before the world that contains it
was created. Bereisheet: open this book and discover the world. Paradoxical? You bet.
Welcome to the world of altered consciousness through text study!
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