Messages From A
Lost Israeli #7

Just last weekend, the entire Jewish community celebrated Simchat Torah, the completion and resumption of the Torah. This Shabbat, in synagogues throughout the world, we will renew the Torah reading cycle with parshat Bereshit. The opening phrase of the parsha is one of the most well-known in our tradition "Bereshit bara elohim", a Hebrew text which is typically translated to read "In the beginning, God created..." However, an alternative way of translating the Hebrew states: "When God created..." This somewhat different way of reading and understanding the text does not imply any definite beginning, nor any finite point in God's creation, as the great medieval commentator Rashi states:

"This verse does not come to show the order of creation, as if the heaven and earth came first. It was meant to show that at first, the heavens were created, etc..."

Rashi is teaching that God did not have a priority list in creation. The order simply existed, while every part of creation is equal. It alludes to the fact that there is no true beginning, rather there is a continuous cycle in everything we do. We model this concept in the way that we end and begin again the Torah reading on the same day - Simhat Torah. In this sense, parshat Bereshit becomes truly one part of our annual Torah reading cycle instead of being treated as the beginning of the year's rotation. While this is the first section of Chumash that I intensely studied with my Sabba, and while many students begin their education with this parsha, it is no more important than any of the other portions. This way of understanding the opening phrase of the text teaches the crucial value that it is our renewal which is most important; the cycle of reading the Torah, year after year, emphasizes that we are continually learning and gaining greater understanding of things, some of which are perhaps already familiar to us.

As teenagers, we are constantly learning both through formal academics and through informal experiences. Inside and outside of school, we develop our potential to become better students and people. We need a beginning for every subject that we study, and yet the first lesson is no more important than the following lessons. The key principle is that we continue the cycle of studying, a process which renews us as individuals, as a community and as a people.

All of us on Nativ learned this lesson of cycles this past Saturday night, when we attended Hakafot Shniyot. After the chag, many parks in Israel celebrate with live music and dancing, carrying around Sifrei Torah in honour of the holiday. It is amazing to see thousands of people singing and dancing in a park in the middle of Yerushalayim, proving that we will not be afraid, and that we will stand together. The security was evident, with guards at every entrance and police within the crowds - there was no reason to be scared.

I have read about and heard that more than three decades ago, in a land known then as the Soviet Union, Jews were persecuted when they attempted to openly practice their faith. USYers were among many youth organizations who organized marches in North America to raise money and show their solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Russia. It was a time for social action, and the period when this was most evident was on Simhat Torah night. In cities such as Moscow, thousands of Jews emerged, seemingly out of nowhere, to dance in the streets, singing Am Yisrael Hai (the people of Israel lives!). As Eli Wiesel describes in his book The Jews of Silence that the danger of the informers and the secret police remained but were somehow ignored on that one night of the year, on Simhat Torah, when young people in Russia (who were feared to be totally assimilated) danced with Sifrei Torah. For the Jews living under persecution, this night, dedicated to the renewal of our Torah, served as a courageous moment to outwardly demonstrate a renewal of faith.

Now, more than three decades later, with many Soviet Jews having gained freedom to live here in Israel, the people in this country move on with the Torah reading of Parshat Bereshit, and also move on with their lives. Over the past 3 years, Israelis have met suicide bombings, economic difficulty, job insecurities, and much more. But their strength is their ability to come together, to celebrate together, and to prove to terrorists that any attempts to halt society will not be successful. Israel will move on, and her people will continue the cycle of learning and living.

This coming week, our adult affiliate USCJ is having their Biennial Convention in Dallas. The leaders of the Conservative movement will be praying, learning, and teaching. It is important for us to remember that this cycle of studying does not stop after our teenage years - it continues throughout our lives. This idea will be further examined at this coming year's International USY Convention in Toronto, where the sessions will focus on cycles in our lives, the Jewish Life Cycle.

It is my prayer that we should all learn from the lessons of Rashi on Bereshit, Hakafot Shniyot and Simchat Torah, and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. We must pursue the example of continuing our cycles of learning and living, thereby gaining strength as individuals and as a Jewish People.

Shabbat shalom.