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TEMPLE TALK | OCTOBER 25

10/30/2024 09:51:56 AM

Oct30

Senior Rabbi Benjamin Sharff

 

One of my favorite actors growing up was William James Murray, better known as Bill Murray. I thought Stripes (which I saw when I was way too young, but that is Gen X for ya), Caddyshack and Scrooged were all hilarious, but if we are being honest, my favorite Bill Murry movie has to be Ghostbusters. Though I have issued a takanah, a rabbinic decree, that we are never to speak of Ghostbusters II. 

But as we are beginning our Torah reading cycle again this week with Beresheet, I can’t help but think of perhaps his most important movie, Groundhog Day. In case you are not familiar, this 1993 film involves “A cynical TV weatherman (Phil Conners) finds himself reliving the same day over and over again when he goes on location to the small town of Punxsutawney to film a report about their annual Groundhog Day. His predicament drives him to distraction, until he sees a way of turning the situation to his advantage.”  But it is only through his understanding of how he can use the lessons he acquires each day to help his fellow human beings, does he finally find a way out of the predicament.

The Torah reading cycle, is in a way, somewhat similar to Groundhog Day. We relive the same stories, the same lessons, the same teachings year after year. As one Rabbi of the Talmud with perhaps the greatest last name ever, Rabbi Ben Bag-Bag, was quoted as saying, “turn it, turn it, turn it, for everything is in it.” Or to put it another way, Torah never changes, but we do. Which is why it can resonate with us so very differently each time we study it.

Tomorrow, we are going to hear two very wonderful speeches about Beresheet from our B’not Mitzvah. They will be speaking about lessons we can learn from the second story of creation, the one involving Adam and Eve and their sons Cain and Abel.

Speaking of which, there are two stories of creation in beresheet. Also contained in its words is the story of a loving brotherly relationship, and of the first fratricide.
Then there is Adam and Eve’s other son Seth and his progeny including the famous Methuselah.  It ends with the beginning of the Noah narrative, of which we will read next week.

When interpreting the words of Beresheet, we traditionally have been left with two alternatives.  The first is that Beresheet, Creation, is the true story of how the world came to be.  The world was created in six days with Shabbat as the final act of creation.  If you are from a more traditionalist background, the story of creation is truth, and science needs to reconcile with its inherent truth.  

The other way of interpreting Beresheet is through the lens of sacred mythology.  Many approach the Bible this way, that much of the Torah is sacred mythology, much like Greco-Roman myths, they are fun to read and teach us interesting lessons but are not necessary based on true events.    

However, there is a third possibility. The rabbis understood from early on that much of what was found in creation was not to be taken literally. Instead, they argue, we are compelled to interpret its words. We know this from the very first word Beresheet. There is a grammatical problem.  Beresheet bara Elohim, When God began to create (Blank). There is something missing.  Should it be time?  Should it be the universe? The text simply doesn’t say, thus the Rabbis felt compelled to unpack the creation narrative.  

They argue for example that towards the end of creation, right before God finished, God created all the miracles that were to take place from the mouth of the donkey that spoke to Balaam, to the rainbow in the story of Noah. God created at this time the copper rod of Moses used to protect the Israelites from a plague of snakes, and even the manna used to sustain the Israelites in their forty years in the desert where all created at this time.

Why? Well according to the rabbis, there are no supernatural miracles in the world, unless they were created especially before God was done creating the world. For other than them, the world has and will continue according to the ‘natural’ laws that sustain it.

This of course is a confounding notion. It would appear the rabbis are re-interpreting what we would like them to believe was a list of historical accuracy. But in truth, the Rabbis knew the ancient writers had a different view not just of history, but also of the world.

And in their interpretations, we find a new metaphor, a new way for looking at the story of Beresheet, of creation, and that is the creation narrative as metaphor, as an appreciation of the beauty and art in the world.  

The ancient writers were not concerned with the literal truth of how things came to be. If they were, why would the sun, the measure of time, come to be created not on the first day, but on the fourth?  No, our Torah, our tradition, on the other hand, is focused mostly on helping us to understand our place in the world.  It is a world filled with beauty and kindness, but it is also a world filled with violence and despair. It is an imperfect creation to say the least, whose problems often stem from the choices of humankind. This of course ties into the notion that it is our central duty to work to repair the world, Tikkun Olam. Or as Pirkei Avot teaches us, “it is not our obligation to complete the task, but we are not free to desist from it either” (Avot 2:16).

So, if the Torah and the subsequent interpretations are focused, at least in Beresheet, in helping us understand our place in the greater world, this idea can free us up in many ways. Creation as a metaphor as opposed to creation as fact or creation as sacred mythology means we know have the power to both interpret and appreciate this beautiful world we have been given. How it came to be is something astronomers, geologists, and the like have been wrestling with for ages. How life came to be is still a matter for debate. The answers to these central questions are elusive to say the least.

Yet the metaphors of creation are perhaps just as powerful. And that is, there is meaning in creation. It is not merely something mindless, but there is purpose in our being here.  In the words of the Plaut Torah Commentary, “That God, as Creative Force, provides all creation with purpose and that therefore to understand God means to understand one’s own potential.” 

This means the continued acts of creation are now in our hands.  

So, when we are wrestling with our understanding of creation, or when we are in despair by the suffering that takes place in the world around us, or when we are in awe of the beauty we encounter throughout the world, what we are really doing is striving to understand more about ourselves and more about the human condition.

One can argue that this was the same journey Phil Conners traveled throughout each repeated day in Punxsutawney. Over and over again, he learned more about himself and the world around him until he ultimately became the best version of himself. Now I personally would be curious to see how that notion would translate into a Groundhog Day 2, but given what happened with Ghostbusters 2, perhaps not.

So rather than ask, is this how the world was created, the better question is: for what purpose or purposes am I a part of this creation? What can I do to better the world? What can I do to be a better partner with God? What can I do to be a better partner with humanity? For these are the true questions raised whenever we read from Beresheet. 

Of course, it is easy to ask them, but it is hard to face them, especially given the troubling and challenging times we are living in. With the ongoing conflicts and wars in the Middle East. With over 100 of our brethren still in captivity including at least 7 Americans. With the tremendous rise and social acceptance of antisemitism; can we really be taking time to talk about the beauty and wonder of creation?

The short answer is: yes. The long answer is, we have to. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of a Phil Conners to keep trying to do the right thing over and over again, until we get it right. But what we cannot do is give up hope. To be Jewish, sadly, means to live in challenging times. And yet, we must stand strong. We must continue to embody the best that our tradition has to offer. We must continue to live loudly and proudly as Jews which includes celebrating simchas like tomorrow’s B’not Mitzvah even as our hearts continue to break. It means we must continue to wrestle with the questions large and small and argue with the answers. 

Beresheet may not be scientific fact, but in it we find the origins of our religious truths. The truth of being an Am Kadosh, a holy people. A people who keep trying each year to do a little bit better than the year before. And it is hard. It is difficult. But if we do this, there can and will be better days ahead. Right now may feel a little bit like Groundhog Day. But if we continue to represent the best of our tradition, we can find pathways to a better tomorrow.

Shabbat Shalom.

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Watch the entirety of Friday’s service here.

Temple Talk is a recap of sermons given from the Bimah for those who missed a Sermon or who wanted to revisit the words spoken at a previous sermon.

Fri, November 8 2024 7 Cheshvan 5785