A Winning Argument
This week?s Parsha of Bereishit, the first Parsha of the Torah, begins with the creation of the world. The Torah states, ?In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth (Chap. 1, verse 1).? The commentaries ask why G-d began the Torah with an account of Creation. As the Siftei Chachamim formulates the question: ?The Torah was given to Israel only because of the commandments written therein, that they should fulfill them. Thus, all of these stories should not have been written in the Torah, but rather in a book unto itself, such as the book of Joshua or the book of Judges.?
The Question:
Why does the Torah begin with an account of the world?s creation?
The Answer:
Rashi (1040-1105) offers a famous answer to this question which, though written some 900 years ago, has particular resonance in our era. He writes: ?Rabbi Isaac said: It was not necessary to begin the Torah [with this verse], but rather from ?This month shall be unto you? (Exodus 12:2), since this is the first mitzvah that Israel was commanded. What is the reason that it begins with Genesis? Because ?the power of His works He has declared to His people in giving them the heritage of the nations? (Psalms 111:6). For if the nations of the world should say to Israel: You are thieves, because you have occupied the lands of the seven nations [of Canaan], they [Israel] should say to them: the entire world belongs to the Holy One Blessed is He ? He created it and gave it to whomever was deemed right in His eyes. Of His own will He gave it to them, and of His own will He took it from them and gave it to us.? Thus, according to Rashi?s explanation, the reason why the Torah contains an account of Creation is solely for Israel?s sake ? to rebut the arguments of those who suggest that the Jewish people have ?stolen? the Land of Israel.
The Lesson:
As America presses ahead with its war on terror in Afghanistan, there are persistent media reports that the Bush administration will shortly be issuing its own Middle East peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Despite a year of Palestinian atrocities against Israel, the American plan allegedly calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state along the lines of former President Bill Clinton?s failed initiative. In politics, as in comedy, timing is everything ? by issuing the plan in the coming weeks, the Bush administration will attempt to appease the Arab members of its anti-terror coalition, but it will also put Israel in an extremely difficult position. For if Israel rejects the proposal, it runs the risk of being blamed for tearing apart the coalition and interfering with the war on terror. This rather unpleasant prospect has many Israelis concerned about how to grapple the mounting pressure to compromise with the Palestinians that is sure to come.
As we saw above in Rashi?s explanation, the answer is clear and unambiguous, and we must not shy away from it: It was G-d who created heaven and earth and it was G-d who decided to give us the Land of Israel. We are not thieves or invaders or colonialists or occupiers. We are here by right, by Divine sanction and no amount of bluster can undermine this basic, fundamental truth. Reasons of history, security and necessity are all important, but we must never forget that the underlying basis of our right to the Land of Israel is because G-d promised it to us.
Indeed, if we look more closely at Rashi?s explanation, we see that there is another important element to his answer: when Rabbi Isaac asks ?What is the reason that it begins with Genesis??, he answers by quoting a verse from the Book of Psalms that seems directed solely at the Jewish people: ?The power of His works He has declared to His people?? Yet, if the account of Creation is included in the Torah to refute the claims of the nations of the world, as Rabbi Isaac suggests, then what is the relevance of this verse from Psalms, which is directed to the Jews? It seems, then, that Rabbi Isaac may be telling us that the Creation story is also meant to infuse us, as Jews, with renewed confidence in the justness of our cause. Before we go out to answer those would call us ?thieves? and ?occupiers?, we must be in a position to acknowledge and embrace ?the power of His works?. Armed with the knowledge and the certainty that our claim to the Land is of Divine origin, we will be able to face down anyone who would seek to divide G-d?s Holy Land.
The Choice is Ours
On the sixth day of Creation, G-d created animal life and then He made man. The Torah states, ?G-d made the beast of the earth according to its kind and the cattle according to its kind and every creeping being of the ground according to its kind and G-d saw that it was good? G-d created man in His image, in the image of G-d He created him; male and female He created them (Chap. 1, verses 25, 27).?
The Question:
After the creation of the animals, the Torah states that ?G-d saw it was good?. Why doesn?t the same phrase appear after the creation of man?
The Answer:
The Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Lunczitz, 1550-1619; cited in MeOtzareinu HaYashan) says that the other creations were complete once they came into being, so it was possible to immediately determine what their nature was. Man, however, is different, for he was given free will and the ability to choose between good and evil. Thus, says the Kli Yakar, the phrase ?it was good? can not be said from the start about man. Rather, one must first wait and see how he will conduct himself and what will come of him. Hence, the phrase ?G-d saw it was good? does not appear after the creation of man.
The Lesson:
When we consider the horrific attacks carried out on September 11 against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the people who carried them out, it is hard to avoid using words such as ?madman? or ?lunatic?. The willingness of the perpetrators to not only kill themselves, but to murder as many innocents as possible, certainly would seem to qualify as highly abnormal behavior. However, the problem with such labels is that they unwittingly minimize the level of each person?s responsibility for his actions. When someone is deemed to be ?mad? or ?insane?, it implies that, on a certain level, they might not be making a conscious choice as to what behavior to pursue.
If the information in the media about the World Trade Center terrorists is accurate, they were anything but impulsive or rash in their behavior. They coldly and carefully plotted their terror for at least a year before carrying it out. As the Kli Yakar noted above, man is created with the innate ability to choose between good and evil. It is a choice each of us faces on a daily basis ? to be honest or to steal, to tell the truth or to lie. Whatever choices we make are our own, and we bear responsibility for them and for their consequences. The same applies to Osama Bin-Laden and his followers. They might be committed individuals, but they have sadly chosen to put their skills and knowledge to work in a manner that is evil, pure and simple. This is also true of the Palestinian Authority. The media may seek to uncover the reasons for the ?rage? and ?frustration? of Palestinian suicide bombers, as if that somehow justifies or explains what they have done. The fact is that it does not.
The terrorists faced the choice that every person must confront and they chose the path of evil. No one forced them to do it and they can not thrust the responsibility on anyone other than themselves. For the first time in years, it seems that the Western world, as well as the Israeli public, is now fully cognizant of this reality. Let us hope and pray that they will act accordingly.
This week?s Parsha of Bereishit, the first Parsha of the Torah, begins with the creation of the world. The Torah states, ?In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth (Chap. 1, verse 1).? The commentaries ask why G-d began the Torah with an account of Creation. As the Siftei Chachamim formulates the question: ?The Torah was given to Israel only because of the commandments written therein, that they should fulfill them. Thus, all of these stories should not have been written in the Torah, but rather in a book unto itself, such as the book of Joshua or the book of Judges.?
The Question:
Why does the Torah begin with an account of the world?s creation?
The Answer:
Rashi (1040-1105) offers a famous answer to this question which, though written some 900 years ago, has particular resonance in our era. He writes: ?Rabbi Isaac said: It was not necessary to begin the Torah [with this verse], but rather from ?This month shall be unto you? (Exodus 12:2), since this is the first mitzvah that Israel was commanded. What is the reason that it begins with Genesis? Because ?the power of His works He has declared to His people in giving them the heritage of the nations? (Psalms 111:6). For if the nations of the world should say to Israel: You are thieves, because you have occupied the lands of the seven nations [of Canaan], they [Israel] should say to them: the entire world belongs to the Holy One Blessed is He ? He created it and gave it to whomever was deemed right in His eyes. Of His own will He gave it to them, and of His own will He took it from them and gave it to us.? Thus, according to Rashi?s explanation, the reason why the Torah contains an account of Creation is solely for Israel?s sake ? to rebut the arguments of those who suggest that the Jewish people have ?stolen? the Land of Israel.
The Lesson:
As America presses ahead with its war on terror in Afghanistan, there are persistent media reports that the Bush administration will shortly be issuing its own Middle East peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Despite a year of Palestinian atrocities against Israel, the American plan allegedly calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state along the lines of former President Bill Clinton?s failed initiative. In politics, as in comedy, timing is everything ? by issuing the plan in the coming weeks, the Bush administration will attempt to appease the Arab members of its anti-terror coalition, but it will also put Israel in an extremely difficult position. For if Israel rejects the proposal, it runs the risk of being blamed for tearing apart the coalition and interfering with the war on terror. This rather unpleasant prospect has many Israelis concerned about how to grapple the mounting pressure to compromise with the Palestinians that is sure to come.
As we saw above in Rashi?s explanation, the answer is clear and unambiguous, and we must not shy away from it: It was G-d who created heaven and earth and it was G-d who decided to give us the Land of Israel. We are not thieves or invaders or colonialists or occupiers. We are here by right, by Divine sanction and no amount of bluster can undermine this basic, fundamental truth. Reasons of history, security and necessity are all important, but we must never forget that the underlying basis of our right to the Land of Israel is because G-d promised it to us.
Indeed, if we look more closely at Rashi?s explanation, we see that there is another important element to his answer: when Rabbi Isaac asks ?What is the reason that it begins with Genesis??, he answers by quoting a verse from the Book of Psalms that seems directed solely at the Jewish people: ?The power of His works He has declared to His people?? Yet, if the account of Creation is included in the Torah to refute the claims of the nations of the world, as Rabbi Isaac suggests, then what is the relevance of this verse from Psalms, which is directed to the Jews? It seems, then, that Rabbi Isaac may be telling us that the Creation story is also meant to infuse us, as Jews, with renewed confidence in the justness of our cause. Before we go out to answer those would call us ?thieves? and ?occupiers?, we must be in a position to acknowledge and embrace ?the power of His works?. Armed with the knowledge and the certainty that our claim to the Land is of Divine origin, we will be able to face down anyone who would seek to divide G-d?s Holy Land.
The Choice is Ours
On the sixth day of Creation, G-d created animal life and then He made man. The Torah states, ?G-d made the beast of the earth according to its kind and the cattle according to its kind and every creeping being of the ground according to its kind and G-d saw that it was good? G-d created man in His image, in the image of G-d He created him; male and female He created them (Chap. 1, verses 25, 27).?
The Question:
After the creation of the animals, the Torah states that ?G-d saw it was good?. Why doesn?t the same phrase appear after the creation of man?
The Answer:
The Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Lunczitz, 1550-1619; cited in MeOtzareinu HaYashan) says that the other creations were complete once they came into being, so it was possible to immediately determine what their nature was. Man, however, is different, for he was given free will and the ability to choose between good and evil. Thus, says the Kli Yakar, the phrase ?it was good? can not be said from the start about man. Rather, one must first wait and see how he will conduct himself and what will come of him. Hence, the phrase ?G-d saw it was good? does not appear after the creation of man.
The Lesson:
When we consider the horrific attacks carried out on September 11 against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the people who carried them out, it is hard to avoid using words such as ?madman? or ?lunatic?. The willingness of the perpetrators to not only kill themselves, but to murder as many innocents as possible, certainly would seem to qualify as highly abnormal behavior. However, the problem with such labels is that they unwittingly minimize the level of each person?s responsibility for his actions. When someone is deemed to be ?mad? or ?insane?, it implies that, on a certain level, they might not be making a conscious choice as to what behavior to pursue.
If the information in the media about the World Trade Center terrorists is accurate, they were anything but impulsive or rash in their behavior. They coldly and carefully plotted their terror for at least a year before carrying it out. As the Kli Yakar noted above, man is created with the innate ability to choose between good and evil. It is a choice each of us faces on a daily basis ? to be honest or to steal, to tell the truth or to lie. Whatever choices we make are our own, and we bear responsibility for them and for their consequences. The same applies to Osama Bin-Laden and his followers. They might be committed individuals, but they have sadly chosen to put their skills and knowledge to work in a manner that is evil, pure and simple. This is also true of the Palestinian Authority. The media may seek to uncover the reasons for the ?rage? and ?frustration? of Palestinian suicide bombers, as if that somehow justifies or explains what they have done. The fact is that it does not.
The terrorists faced the choice that every person must confront and they chose the path of evil. No one forced them to do it and they can not thrust the responsibility on anyone other than themselves. For the first time in years, it seems that the Western world, as well as the Israeli public, is now fully cognizant of this reality. Let us hope and pray that they will act accordingly.