The Questions Everyone's Afraid to Ask About Jews
6 min read
Our Sages tell us that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet were the building blocks of the creation of the world. Through these letters, God created the entire cosmos.1 More than just symbols, the Hebrew letters embody dynamic spiritual energies. They are channels through which reality was created and is maintained. The twenty-two letters and their permutations are manifest in every realm of the physical world. While scientists call atoms, molecules, and elements “the building blocks of creation,” these actually are just the physical manifestation of a parallel spiritual reality. All physical creations emanate from a spiritual source.
Consequently, the phenomenon of creation has been continually unfolding. Unlike a one-time catalyst set into perpetual motion, the renewal of creation is constant. Creation can be seen as an ever-present act of dynamic, evolving potential. Bereishit (In the beginning), the first word of the Torah, alludes to this regenerative process. Emanating from one infinite source, bereishit is the Divine impetus behind a profuse, ongoing creative energy. As an artist’s signature is upon his work, how much more so does God’s creation bespeak a Supreme Being. Bereishit expresses the signature of a Creator imprinted on everything in creation. It embodies the archetypal energies from which all of creation emanates.
Bereishit can be likened to the DNA code from which reality perpetually develops. It begins with the Hebrew letter beit—the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet—corresponding to the number two. Beit represents the concept of duality. Therefore, the word bereishit reveals that our world is permeated by an underlying dualism: the physical and spiritual interface in a seamless embodiment of dualistic wills. The ability to activate free will provides us with the opportunity to choose between good and evil. We can choose to act upon our instincts or to act above them. Humanity is endowed with the capacity to make choices freely and to bear the consequences thereof. These choices proliferate an ever-changing pattern of values and beliefs that interact against the backdrop of history.
From the outset, the personalities in the Book of Genesis represent conflicting character traits common to all. Their inherent duality poses ongoing friction and challenges. Adam and Chavah (Eve), along with their offspring, are enveloped by the gamut of human emotions. Stretching and testing the limits within their parameters of free choice results in ramifications that appear to alter God’s original plan—or does it? Was the plan static or dynamic, allowing for the possibilities of not adhering to the playbook?
Throughout the narrative, character development is a recurring theme—not in a literary context, but in the refinement of core ethical values.
The Book of Genesis introduces us to the concept of middot, the Hebrew word for “character traits” and also for “measurements.” Accordingly, each individual has differing degrees of positive and negative middot. They need to be balanced, refined, and, oftentimes, transformed. The underlying dynamics within the Divine plan are affected by the actions and choices of individuals.
The static trait of inertia is incompatible with the dynamic propensity for personal growth. Accordingly, the degree of one’s inner will to overcome inertia and advance beyond his or her natural inclinations fuels the progress of an individual. Wherever our starting point in life may be, we are here to learn how best to utilize and direct our energies toward positive change. We can only measure our achievements in comparison to our baseline. How far have we come in transforming our negative traits into positive, productive ones? How much more are we revealing and actualizing our inner potential? How close are we coming to projecting our real selves, in the best version possible? Not just what is seen, but what cannot yet be seen, is waiting just beneath the surface to be activated. How effectively are we bridging the disparity between who we presently are and who we could be?
With the birth of every baby, this arduous developmental process begins anew.
Subsequently, the word bereishit is the call to every human being from his Creator to become more. It is a single, multidimensional word that conveys a timeless message for every generation. It encapsulates the purpose of why we are here. Bereishit is the mandate bestowed upon every human being, by our Creator, to develop the innate ability for renewing ourselves and our narratives. Collectively, as families, as communities, and as nations, we are intertwined in life’s expanding tapestry. But just as a tapestry is formed by single threads woven together, humanity is refined and advanced by the actions of individuals. And so, our purpose unfolds incrementally. Because of bereishit, the future emanates forward as a blast from the past that never stops.
Life’s experiences necessitate the ingenuity and resolve to develop those skills that avail themselves to renewal. Both cognitively and physically, we spend a lifetime developing and redeveloping skills, beliefs, and perceptions.
Renewing ourselves and our environment is a natural response to the forces of entropy that surround us. As we progress through life’s journey, we perceive life’s lessons through an ever-changing kaleidoscope. Our vantage points continually expand. Past, present, and future interplay and interface as we recognize the true value of time. Time is life. Each second of life leaves its spiritual imprint on us. In terms of spiritual growth, the past, present, and future fuse together into a current that flows continuously toward an ultimate goal. They continue to resonate and reverberate, much like sound or light. Our words and deeds have impact throughout eternity. Just as we leave a carbon imprint on Earth, we leave an imprint, spiritually, on the fabric of the soul. It especially affects those with whom we interact within our spheres of influence. A word, an action, or an inaction has its own force that can be activated at any time through the power of memory. Nothing is ever lost or forgotten; everything is retained within the memory bank of accumulative time. There, it awaits rediscovery and reactivation, like that “eureka moment” when, as if by chance, you recover a nugget of wisdom or consciousness once known or experienced. Yet nothing happens as the result of chance—all is Divinely orchestrated, conducted, and notated on the score of life.
We yearn for connection to something outside of ourselves, so we form relationships. Yet still, our yearning continues unabated, and we yearn to connect to that which is above and beyond ourselves. We seek a higher purpose. The yearning for that higher purpose, much like a computer chip, is spiritually implanted within each individual. Yet, unlike a chip, it is intangible, abstractly experienced as a sense of angst and emptiness. Individualized within each person, it is innately programmed to extend throughout one’s lifetime. Man, in essence, yearns to interact with a force far greater than himself, to commune with the Divine.
Think of one character trait you would like to work on. Identify three specific actions that you can take to improve your behavior regarding that trait.
Recognize that through our imperfections, God shows each of us exactly what we’re here to work on.
We’re alive to grow through life, not merely to go through life.
