Parashat Bereshit 5786

by Rabbi Margie Cella

And so, we begin again. As we do each year, after closing the Torah with the death of Moses, we open it once more, returning to the opening verses of the story of creation. We read how God methodically made order out of the chaos of tohu vavohu, the raw materials that formed our world. The first two human beings, charged with caring for God’s creation, disappointed God by eating that which they had been instructed not to consume, resulting in their banishment from the Garden of Eden. They later suffered the loss of two sons when the older murdered the younger in a fit of jealousy, then was doomed by God to a life of wandering on the earth. A third son, Seth, finally provided a line of descendants. But ten generations later humankind had become lawless, causing God to regret having created them. As a result, God limited the lifespan of human beings to 120 years, the exact age that was attained by Moses before he died.

As we have watched the unfolding of the recent events in Israel, we realize that the complete sorting out of a peace plan after two years of war will take time. Just as God declared that each day’s creations were good, we, too, must celebrate each step of the process as it is completed. A ceasefire has been declared. A first step. And that is good. We have seen the return of our living hostages, and that is indeed very good. Oseh Shalom, Maker of Peace, may this be the beginning of a lasting peace for our beloved Eretz Yisrael.