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8 Tishrei 5762 - September 25, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Opinion & Comment
Bereishis: Wisdom Based on Yir'ah

by L. Jungerman

In the beginning of Bereishis, Rashi asks in the name of the Midrash: "Said R' Yitzchok: The Torah should have begun from `This month shall be unto you' which is the first commandment transmitted to Israel. Why then, did it begin with `Bereishis -- in the beginning'? The answer is that "Hashem declared the power of His works in order to bequeath to them the heritage of nations" (Tehillim 111:6). The nations of the world accuse Israel of unlawfully seizing the land of the seven nations. The Jews reply that the entire world belongs to Hashem, Who created it and allocated it to whomever He saw fit. When He wished, He gave it to the Canaanites, and when He wished otherwise, He seized it from them and gave it to us.

Ramban challenges Rashi: There is a deeper reason for the Torah beginning with Bereishis. Belief in Hashem having created the world is the root of our faith. Whoever does not believe this and thinks that the world always existed of its own is disclaiming a basic tenet and is denying the entire Torah.

Ramban explains that the act of Creation is really a profound mystery. It cannot be understood from the text alone except through the Oral Tradition transmitted to Moshe Rabbenu from Hashem. Those who understand this esoteric secret are bound to withhold their knowledge. This is why R' Yitzchok said that the Torah should not have begun from the story of Creation and the breakdown of what was created on the first day, what on the second and so on, an elaboration of how Odom and Chava were created, their sin and their punishment, the story of Gan Eden and the banishment of Odom therefrom. All this cannot be understood from the text alone, anyway. All the more so the chronicles of the generations of the Flood and the Dispersion, which seem somewhat superfluous.

People of Torah orientation should suffice without these accounts and should believe in general what is said in the Ten Commandments: For in six days did Hashem make the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is contained in it, and He rested on the seventh day. The knowledge of the full details should be relegated to those few to whom it applies, those who transmit the Oral Tradition given at Sinai and can understand it.

Ramban's words are puzzling. Why wouldn't we be able to understand parshas Bereishis sufficiently to be inculcated with the basic principles of faith? Even if we don't understand everything in depth, we should still know, first and foremost, that there is a Creator. This knowledge will naturally lead to the belief in reward and punishment, for no homeowner, no master of property, would allow his estate to be ruined or allow anarchy and chaos to reign.

The detailed data of Creation is also important to us because it provides us with clear, precise information about our world. We have the Torah scroll which has passed from person to person, generation to generation, without a single letter being changed or deleted, not even the lettercrown of the small yud. This was given a few thousand years ago to a generation that still remembered the original tribal heads, sons of Yaakov. And he, in turn, saw Avrohom Ovinu who saw Noach, who saw Odom Horishon. Thus, the Torah we possess is a testimony to the order of Creation of heaven and earth and all of their hosts.

This is a clear and reliable source of knowledge for the whole mystery of the world. This vital clarity is provided to us through parshas Bereishis. If so, why should Ramban maintain that Torah adherents could suffice with the commandments of the Torah alone, and not the narrative part?

Maran HaRav Shach shlita explains the nature of the understanding. There can be no purpose to the study of the order of Creation without the preface and premise of mitzvah observance. And this, we know, begins from the commandment of "This month shall be . . . " in Shemos. This is so because the marvelous Divine wisdom incorporated in parshas Bereishis is Torah wisdom that cannot be absorbed into the soul and can be of no avail if it is not preceded by piety.

If the learning is not based on G-d-fear, there can be no real wisdom. A person who does not put on tefillin and does not keep Shabbos will never fathom the secrets of Creation expressed in the Genesis of the world as depicted in the Torah. When the Torah of Hashem is whole and perfect -- it can revive and inspire. It is only based upon the observance of Torah and mitzvos through piety that there is any space to absorb the wisdom of the Torah as revealed in parshas Bereishis.

Midrash Rabba -- Mishpotim 30:12 tells how Akilas (Onkelos) once said to Emperor Adrian: "I wish to convert and become a Jew." The king exclaimed in astonishment: "You wish to join that nation? How I abused them and belittled them! They are the lowest nation in the world. What do you see in them that you wish to become part of them?"

Replied that Greek savant: "The puniest amongst them understands how G-d created the world. He knows what was created on the first, second and all consecutive days. He knows how old the world is and upon what it stands. And their teachings are true."

Said the emperor: "Go and study their teachings but do not circumcise yourself."

Said Akilas: "Even the cleverest sage in your kingdom or a veteran of one hundred years cannot study their Torah if he is uncircumcised, for it is written, `He tells His words to Yaakov, His statutes and ordinances to Yisroel. He has not done thus to any nation.' To whom did G-d teach His codes of wisdom? To the Jews."

This was Akilas' answer: Even the most insignificant one of them knows how and when the world was created, whereas a gentile, no matter how wise and venerable, is baffled by this. "Mishpotim bal yedo'um -- Ordinances which they cannot know." For if there is no G-d-fear, there is no wisdom. The genesis of the world is a branch of knowledge which cannot be grasped without one having studied Torah and relating to that study as "the Torah of life." Of this it was said: "A woman who fears Hashem -- she shall be praised." Only when there is the fear of Hashem can wisdom be absorbed.

Therefore, "The Torah should only have begun from the commandment of `This month shall be . . . '" This is the first mitzvah, and only where there are G-d-given commandments, that is, the fear of Hashem, can one absorb in one's soul the wisdom hidden in the aspects of Creation.

This is how we must understand another midrash: "R' Yanai said: The Torah should not have been subject to analysis (drush) up till the commandment of Hachodesh hazeh. Why, then, did Hashem reveal to Israel what was created on the first day and what on the second up to the sixth? It was in the merit of the Jews declaring at Mt. Sinai, "We will do and we will hear." Thereupon, Hashem immediately revealed those secrets to them.

As we have just explained, it was this unilateral declaration, this submission, that enabled them to absorb the profound knowledge of Creation. Without piety, there is no wisdom. Without carrying the mitzvos into practice, even the greatest philosopher or scientist cannot attain a true and clear picture of what took place at the time of Creation. At the same time, those who do keep the mitzvos, including even the youngest child who begins studying cheder, know the truth of how and when exactly the world came into being, in every detail. In each and every generation. This is the nature of, "Hashem's testimony is reliable; it makes the simple one wise."

In the merit of the Jews' declaration of Na'ase venishma, that is, in the merit of their accepting the commands of the Torah and assuming the yoke of G-d-fear, they immediately became privy to the secret of Creation, of what was created upon each day up till the end of the sixth. For where there is yir'ah, there is wisdom.


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