On Beginnings, Endings, and the Gift of Today

By Julia Loeb, WLCJ International President

On Beginnings, Endings, and the Gift of Today

This Shabbat we return to the very beginning: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Each year, when we start reading the Torah again, it feels both familiar and new. We know the words, yet they open fresh possibilities, reminding us that creation, and re-creation, are part of our own human story.

Beginnings stand out in our memories. We remember our first day of school, our first job, our first kiss, the first time we held a newborn in our arms, or the first time we stood on our own and made a decision that shaped who we became. Those moments shine brightly, filled with anticipation, energy, and the sense of possibility that comes with “firsts.”

But what about the “lasts?” We often don’t recognize them as they happen. Recently, my son Ezra, who is completing his Ph.D., sent me a photo of his last first day of school, and it made me think about how rarely we notice when a “last” moment is unfolding. When was the last time we carried a sleeping child from the car to bed? The last time we felt completely carefree before life changed? The last time we said “I love you” to someone, not realizing it would be the final time? These moments slip quietly into the past, unmarked, yet they carry deep meaning, reminders of how precious and fleeting each moment is.

Bereshit teaches us that creation and completion, beginnings and endings, are intertwined. The Torah doesn’t stop with the story of creation; it keeps unfolding, generation after generation. Likewise, our lives are a series of new starts layered upon the endings that make room for them. Every ending opens space for something new to emerge, even when we can’t yet see what that will be.

As we transition from the introspection of the High Holy Days and celebration of Sukkot into the rhythm of the year ahead, we are given a gift — the chance to begin again. Each day offers us that same creative spark that God infused into the world, the ability to imagine, to rejuvenate, and to start fresh.

The Lev Shalem Machzor has a commentary about Rabbi Eliezer who once said, “Repent one day before you die.” His students asked, “But how can a person know which day that will be?” and he replied, “Then repent every day.” His wisdom reminds us that we never truly know when a “last” moment will come, and so we are called to live each day with purpose, kindness, and gratitude, and to see every ordinary moment as extraordinary.

May Bereshit inspire us to treasure our “firsts,” to honor our “lasts,” and to find holiness in the space between them, in the ongoing act of beginning again.

Postscript – The message above was written before the release of the hostages. That, of course, was an amazing “ending” that will long be remembered—remembered for the nervousness we all felt as to whether it could actually happen, the shock and visceral joy we felt when it did, and the videos of the emotional family reunions that are now etched in our collective memories.
At the start of Bereshit, the universe was only darkness, until God said, “Let there be light.” Our fellow Jews were kept in the darkness of the tunnels of Gaza, and now for the 20 released this week, they have finally come into the light. May that light that bring them speedy recovery and happiness into their lives, that of their families and all of Klal Yisrael.

And may the remains of those kidnapped by Hamas be speedily returned to allow the relatives and friends of those killed to have chance to properly mourn their losses and move out of the darkness.

Shabbat Shalom,

Julia Loeb
WLCJ International President
jloeb@wlcj.org

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