Weekly Shabbat Parsha Thoughts – Breisheit - 10.1.2010

With Simchas Torah and the re-beginning of the Torah upon us, I wanted to take a moment this week to talk about the Jewish creation story. I think we as Jews rarely stop to think of the impact of the Genesis creation story.

This was the first time in history that a people's creation story was not out of destruction or a side effect, but was created for the purpose of a partnership between man and a greater power to perfect the world. And the concept that man is in partnership with God in the endeavor of perfection of the world, is the essence of the Jewish covenant and our purpose. The reason the world exists is to perfect the world through our actions in this world. This implies:

1. That it is not perfect, so the expectations of perfection are unfounded and pointless, and rob us of a purpose;

2. That it is this world, not some world to come, that we are supposed to be perfecting.

And it's important to remember that this is a long-term partnership, that has many stops and starts, but at its core still committed to that same purpose and ideal. Man in a growing partnership with God, here to help perfect Hashem’s creation. And the nature and scope of the work requires it to be done over the generations; which is one of the reasons why our covenant must be multi-generational.

This is our Jewish mission and story. In this imperfect world, Improvement through our hands is the point. And it must be through our hands, with other people.

The concept of Hashem and creation are ideas too abstract and infinite for us to even begin to understand. But by created a world, and humanity, in Hashem’s image we are given a vehicle to approach this challenge. When we look at perfecting this world through our hands and actions we get to act (in our own limited way) as an agent of the divine. This is how we can express our understanding of this perfection of God, how we interact with other creations.

The Genesis creation story flips our purpose and place in the world. We are not here as a byproduct or accident of a cosmic battle or forces. The narrative instead places our purpose at the center of the purpose of creation. And that purpose was to be a partner in creating a perfect world, here on this world, this plane, through covenantal living as an expression of our partnership with Hashem.

There is a great power in viewing the world and creation, as a point of order that places us at the helm of our own actions in making the world a more perfect place. We need to recognize the power of this story and what it gives us in terms of purpose and direction over the generations. We are Hashem’s business partners in this great endeavor, and what a spectacularly difficult and inspiring place that is to be. As we begin, once again, our journey through the Torah this year we should remember this every chance we get. It is what we are here to do.

Shabbat Shalom