Bereshit

“The end is in the beginning and yet you go on.”

This line is a quote from Samuel Beckett’s play, Endgame.

Beckett was a playwright known for his presentation of the human condition in an absurd and Sisyphean way. In the feeling of futility and purposelessness that we often experience, Beckett finds humor, ridiculousness and compassion. 

“The end is in the beginning and yet you go on.”

Funny enough, this quote is a fabulous description of the entire structure of our Jewish tradition, ending at the beginning and then reading and re-reading the exact same book over and over again for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Here we go again. Beginning from Bereshit, beginning at the beginning… again.

It’s a strange thought, isn’t it… to yet again face the task of commenting on and interpreting the same book.

Think about it, think about a novel or a book that you like, think about writing a book report on each chapter every week — and then once you reach the end, begin all over again. 

One might think that at some point there will be no more left to say about the story, the characters, and the message which the author might have wanted to convey.

For how many cycles would the supply of new ideas last?

Maybe this isn't the right question to ask. In Peah in the Jerusalem Talmud, the following is written:

“Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: On them, and on them; all, like all; words, the words; Bible, Mishnah, Talmud, and Aggadah. Even what a competent student will discover before his teacher was said to Moses on Sinai. What is the reason? (Eccl. 1:10) “There is something about which one would say, look, this is new!” His colleague will answer, “it already has been forever.”

Here the Talmud tells us that there is nothing new to be said. Even the most brilliant Hiddush (scholarly innovation) said by the most brilliant student, was already said to Moses in Mount Sinai. Everything there is to say has been already said.

The question shouldn’t be, for how long could we come up with new ideas, because anything new is not, in fact, new at all.

This Talmudic conversation very appropriately quotes Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), which claimed right at the beginning of his speech that there was nothing new under the sun.

The Hebrew word for “new” is חדש or Hadash. A quick examination of the use of this root in the Hebrew language reveals something interesting.

The Hebrew word for “month” is Hodesh חודש. The word comes from the same root of חדש which means new. It is curious because, as we all know ,a month is a length of time which keeps repeating 12 times a year, over and over again. There is nothing new about it — quite the opposite. Even though there is nothing new, the use of the root for “new” is because the month is being REnewed.

Similarly, the word Hiddush (scholarly innovation) comes from the same root. But in this case as well as in the case of “month,” there is nothing new about added commentary to Torah or Talmud, but rather, the thought is being REnewed.

To my mind, the studying of Torah and the commenting on Torah must come from a place of humility. Thinking that we would always have something new to say, to me, is very intimidating. Personally, I am much more comfortable with the idea that everything was already said; that what we are in fact doing, when we offer commentary every year, over and over again, is discovering a REnewed way of understanding the same text.

Our changing understanding of the text is inevitable because we change. Because the world around us changes. 

Exactly a year ago, my commentary on this very portion that I am commenting on today - Bereshit, was published on Friday, October 13th. Less than a week after that horrible Shabbat. The title of my commentary then was - “Darkness over the Surface of the Deep.” Naturally, a year ago, that is what stood out to me out of the portion.

As Jews and as those who celebrate Judaism, we were given a powerful tool. We were given a mirror that we can stare at, and each time, see ourselves differently. This magic mirror has the power to constantly confront us with new aspects of our thoughts and of our emotions.  Because we constantly change, it is bound to happen in a REnewed way over and over and over again.

“The end is in the beginning and yet we go on.”

Wishing all of us a fascinating renewed journey of studying Torah and of REdiscovering ourselves.