B"H
BEREISHIS
The Chassidic Dimension
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I. There is a well-known maxim of the Rebbes,* the leaders of Chabad:1 Shabbat Bereishit affects the whole year, and the tone set on Shabbat Bereishit carries through the entire year.
Offhand this requires an explanation. What makes Shabbat Bereishit [the Shabbat on which the first section of the Torah is read] so unique? Why should the same not apply to that all-important day of matan Torah (the Day on which the Torah was given)? For that matter, surely all those sidrot with the only mention of certain mitzvot and other concepts, not repeated elsewhere in the Torah, are no less crucial to the whole year! Why, then, is Shabbat Bereishit so exceptional that it alone is said to determine the quality of the whole year?
II. The concept of 'In the beginning G-d bara (created ex nihilo, out of absolute nothingness2) the heaven and the earth", implies3 that of necessity creation is a constant process which takes place every minute and every moment. That is, the unique novelty of the 'Six Days of Creation/ namely the change from the original absolute nothingness into material being, is something which continues every moment: there is a new coming-in to-being at all times.
It is in this sense that the verse 'Forever, Eternal One, Your word stands in the Heavens'4 is explained at length in Tanya:5 strictly speaking, every creature per se is even now sheer nothingness, and its very existence is only by virtue of G-d's continuously causing it to be. Thus it follows that its ultimate being is Divinity.
III. We can now understand why Shabbat Bereishit affects the whole year. For the awareness of bereishit bara (in the beginning He created) is the very foundation of man's avodah (service of G-d) throughout the year.
When a Jew must transform his worldly affairs into instruments for Divinity, he may regard this as a difficult or altogether impossible task, contrary to the natural order. In reality however, 'Forever, Eternal One, Your word stands in the Heavens'! That is, ultimately there is no independent world, and everything exists only by virtue of the Ten Fiats by which the world was created:a 'And G-d said let there be light,' and therefore 'there was light.' This, of course, applies to all creation. The Holy One, blessed is He, looked into the Torah (i.e., the Ten Fiats) and He created the world.'6 Thus when remembering and being aware that the very existence and reality of the world is utterly contingent on the Ten Fiats in the Torah,7 one realizes that the world cannot possibly be an impediment to mitzvot. For the same Torah also states: 'I am the Eternal your G-d'8 and all of the 613 Mitzvot.
When man accepts the Torah as the true reality of the world, he will be moved to recite sayings of our sages, a Psalm, a chapter of Mishnah, or a chapter of Tanya, even when walking in the street and involved in his personal occupations. b Every good deed on his part will turn the scale for the whole world to the side of merit.9 In other words, man's recognition of, and contemplation on the inner meaning of bereishit bara affects all of Creation, the totality of 'the heavens and the earth and all their hosts.'
IV. The maxim that 'Shabbat Bereishit affects the whole year'10 thus means that this Shabbat relates to all matters, whether spiritual or physical.
The knowledge and awareness that 'Forever, Eternal One, Your word stands in the Heavens' relates not only to man's worship, his spiritual affairs; by implication it also relieves him of worry about physical matters. Any worry about his needs in 'children, life or sustenance'' is caused by momentarily forgetting that everything derives from G-d, as explained in Tanya.11
To remember that everything comes from G-d means also to know that 'no evil comes from Him'12 but only good, and this precludes any worries. As one realizes this fact one can see, even with the physical eye, how one's present condition is in fact good in a quite obvious and tangible form of goodness.
B
V. According to Jewish custom, mitzvot - i.e, aliyot, are sold on Shabbat Bereishit for the whole year.
The Rebbe, my father-in-law, explained that at the time of an aliyah, when ascending to the Torah, one ascends into 'the lower, second and third stories [planes],'d and still higher. This means that there is an ascent for the nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah and yechidah,13 culminating with the essence of the soul becoming bound up with the essence of the En Sof - with G-d Himself, as it were.
This, indeed, is the reason why one is not to recite a blessing for the study of Torah shebe'al peh if one does not understand the subject matter.14 For an aliyah to the Torah, however, even a completely ignorant person, he who does not understand the very words he utters, recites a blessing. In the latter case, he may indeed not understand what he is saying in his present state, but by the ascent of his nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah and yechidah, there is a form of understanding which is drawn down from above: 'Mikra - the Written Torah (Scriptures) - calls forth and elicits.'15
The universe is related to Torah, as it is said that 'the Holy One, blessed is He, looked into the Torah and created the world,' and the Torah is referred to as the 'blue-print'16 used by the builder when constructing his building. An aliyah to the Torah, therefore, affects even the physical universe.
VI. Just as it is with aliyot to the Torah on any Shabbat, Monday or Thursday/' beginning with Shabbat Bereishit, so too with designating times for the study of Torah. Shabbat Bereishit is an auspicious opportunity to undertake an intensified study of both nigleh (the exoteric part of Torah) and Chassidut. That is, in addition to every one's undertaking during the month of Tishrei to learn Torah throughout the year, on Shabbat Bereishit one should add to the daily Torah-study - in the study of nigleh as well as in the study of Chassidut. In the supplemental study of Chassidut one should include a part of the expositions of the weekly sidrot in Torah Or and Likutei Torah.17
May the Almighty grant that everyone decide to accept this upon himself according to his true abilities - as much as he is able to, and in accordance with the root of his soul. The resolve on Shabbat Bereishit to increase the study of Torah also confers the very ability to do so in the course of the year and prevents many difficulties later on. This will also elicit abundant blessings in the physical realm of 'children, life and sustenance.'
The advantages of brevity are well-known, and thus to summarize: every one should accept upon himself to supplement both the study of nigleh and the study of Chassidut.
VII. This is the Shabbat on which we bless the month of Marcheshvan.1 The month is called Marcheshavanbecause it is the season for rain.17*
Chassidut explains the difference between tal (dew) and matar (rain):18 rain depends on the avodah of man and one must pray for rain; while dew is a manifestation of itaruta dile'eyla (an arousal from Above), and 'Dew is never withheld.'19 Since rain depends on human avodah, it follows that it is more difficult to attain.
Herein we find the difference between the seasons of summer and winter [in the spiritual context of avodah]. In the summer there is dew - itaruta dile'eyla. Winter is the season for rain - itaruta diletata (arousal from below)g Winter, thus, is a more difficult time.
There is another difference between the days of summer and the days of winter. In the summer, there is a strong radiation - in the spiritual sense - from 'The Eternal G-d is a sun and shield.'20 That is why even in the physical sense as well, there is then a stronger radiance of the sun, especially in the solstice of Tamuz. Winter, however, is a time for avodah by means of itaruta diletata. The Rebbe, my father-in-law, once declared that the service of G-d is easier in the summer than in the winter. The Shabbat on which the month of Marcheshvan is blessed confers the necessary strength and abilities for the months of rain. This Shabbat is still in the month of Tishrei - 'the seventh month satiated with everything,'21 that is why it confers the strength for the avodah of winter.h Though this avodah requires an itaruta diletata, man’s own dfforts, still there is a bestowal of strength for it. And as one performs this avodah of the winter, this Shabbat mevarchim Marcheshvan becomes a source of blessing for the whole year, in bothe the material and spiritual senses.
[Likutei Sichot, An Anthology of Talks by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, V. I: Bereishit, p.1-8]
*. [Hebrew and Yiddish words and expressions appearing in the text and notes without translation and explanation, are explained in the glossary.]
1. Sefer Hama'amarim 5711, p. 59.
2.[Genesis 1:1] The word bara signifies a creation ex nihilo; see the commentary of Ramban on this verse.
3. See Tanya, part II, chapter 2.
4. Psalms 119:89.
5. Part II, chapter 3.
a. [Avot V:l: The world was created by ten fiats/ - i.e., the ten utterances appearing in the first chapter of the Torah (Let there be light. . . Let there be a firmament etc.). Everything came into being, and is sustained in existence, by means of these ten fiats.]
6. Zohar II:161a. -
[The Torah preceded the world (see Bereishit Rabba 8:2), and in fact served as the blueprint for the creation of the world (ibid., 1:1, cited further on). In other words, the universe was created and fashioned on the basis of, and suited to the contents and requirements of Torah. This is what we mean when saying 'The Holy One, blessed is He, looked into the Torah and created the world.' Now, as the world, or nature, is created in accordance with the Torah, it is impossible that this world could stand in conflict with Torah or be an impediment to the 613 commandments which are contained in that self-same Torah.]
7. Tanya, part II, end of chapter 1.
8. Exodus 20:2 (Deuteronomy 5:6).
b. [Torah is to be studied and recited not only in the synagogue or yeshivah, but also 'when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way' (Deuteronomy 6:7; see Yorna 19b). To know certain sections of Torah by heart — be it Psalms, Mishnah, Tanya, etc. — and to recite these at appropriate times, even in the office or business, when walking or travelling, not only facilitates the observance of Torah-study but also is of immeasurable benefit to the person doing so and to his environment. It is an antidote to the spiritual pollution of man and the air around him. See Hayom Yom, p. 10, and also ibid. pp. 5, 9, 27 and 35, where this idea is explained in detail. Cf. infra, Vayigash, note 10.]
9. Kidushin 40b -
['A man should always regard himself as though he were half guilty and half meritorious: If he performs one mitzvah, happy is he for weighing himself down in the scale of merit. . . Because the world is judged by its majority and an individual (too) is judged by his majority (of deeds), if he performs one mitzvah, happy is he for turning the scale both for himself and for the whole world to the side of merit.']
10. The word shanah (year) is etymologically related to the word shinny (change). Kol hashanah (lit. the whole year) thus indicates 'all changes and variables/
c. [See Mo'ed Katan 28b for the expression 'life, children, and sustenance'; also Likutei Sichot II:p. 632 and IV: p. 1306.]
11. Igeret Hakodesh (Tanya, part IV), section XI.
12. 'Out of the mouth of the Most High do not issue evil things'; Lamentations 3:38 - ['No evil descends from Above (Bereishit Rabba 51:3) and everything is good, though it is not apprehended because of its immense and abundant goodness' etc.; Igeret Hakodesh, sect. XI, see there at length.] d. [Paraphrasing Genesis 6:16.]
13. Bereishit Rabba 14:9. -
[This Midrash states that in the Scriptures we find these five terms as names for the soul. However, they are not synonymous; rather, every one of these terms denotes a different gradation — in ascending order - of the soul. See the Glossary, s.v.]
14. Magen Avraham on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, end of section 50.
15. See Likutei Torah, Vayikra, p. 5b. -
[The word mikra, denoting Scripture, is of the root kara - to call; evoke. The very reading of Scripture, because of its infinite sublimity, calls for and evokes a manifestation of the Divine light.]
16. Bereishit Rabba 1:1.
e. [These, in addition to Holy Days and fast-days, are the days on which the Torah is read in public, as instituted by Moses, the prophets, and Ezra the Scribe (see Baba Kama 82a; Yerushalmi, Megilah IV:1; and Masechet Soferim, ch. 10).]
17. Torah Or and Likutei Torah contain the Chassidic discourses and expositions on the weekly readings of the Torah, by R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi, author of Tanya and Shulchan Aruch.
f. [On the last Shabbat of every month (except for £/«/) the date of the beginning of the new month is proclaimed, and special prayers are recited which invoke the Divine blessings for the new month. This Shabbat, thus, is called Shabbat mevarchim hachodesh - the Shabbat on which the month is blessed.]
17.* Cf. Aruch, s.v. Marcheshvan.
18. See Likutei Torah, s.v. Ha'azinu Hashamayim;' [part IV, p. 73a ff.]
19. Ta'anit 3a.
g. [General reference to the seasons, in our prayers and other sources, is as they are in the Land of Israel: the warm season of summer and the rainy season of winter.]
20. Psalms 84:12 -[See Tanya, part II, chapter 4, for the concept of the sun symbolizing G-d.]
21. Vayikra Rabba 29:8.
h. [The monthe of Tishrei is an all-comprenhensive month, affecting the year following, because it contains the special days of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.
The Parable of the Train. The whole gamut of avodah throughout the festivaals of Tishrei, up to and including the replenishment and the increase of the "light which is good" on Shabbos Bereishis, may be compared to a train journey.
A man in a hurry either takes an express train that speeds him to his destination nonstop, or the more common kind of train that picks up additional passengers who did not board it at the first station. The latter kind of train also serves travelers who cannot bear the speed of an express journey.
The stations along the way are also of two kinds. There are minor stations at which the train stops for only a few moments. At major stations it stops for a longer period so that it can be loaded with bulky baggage. Taking animals on board - oxen, ship, goats, donkeys or horses - requires a really long time, because they are afraid of the train and the siren and the journey. (In fact their fear is well grounded, because when they arrive at their destination they will become man's flesh and blood, and lose their animalistic identity...) Because they take so long, they are taken on board only at the major stations, where all kinds of things are loaded.
Before the journey begins a siren is sounded, for the benefit of waiting passengers who are busy with their luggage or who have completely forgotten that they have to travel somewhere. After a second and third blast of the siren, the train begins to move slowly: it means business... Only then does it gather speed and set out.
Now, everything in the physical world is the way that it is, because that is the way that is in the spiritual root. Accordingly, let us seek to understand the spiritual root of our subject.
Only In a Body Can a Soul Gather Speed. The train's speed alludes to the ultimate reason for which man was created and for which his soul descended to this world - that as a result of his avodah down here he should become a mehalech, someone who progresses. Angels are known as omdim (lit., "those who stand"), for even though they stand in love and awe of G-d for 2000 years, and for another 2000, and for another nearly 2000 years, and even ascend from one level to the next, their various ascents are orderly and graded. Before souls are dispatched to this world, they too are described as omdim (lit., "those who stand"), as in the verse, "By the life of G-d... before whom I stood." It is only by descending into this world and being garbed in a body, and toiling with both soul and flesh, that a soul becomes a mehalech - because this embodiment makes possible an ascent that leaps far beyond any gradual and orderly upgrading. Once it is garbed in a body, the soul takes a leap out of Seder Hishtalshelus (the chainlike scheme of descent by which the divine light is progressively contracted) into a realm that transcends it - until a point at which the soul becomes "absorbed in the person of the King," so to speak, and reaches the very Essence and being of the Infinite One.
Morever, just as there are two kinds of train, regular and express, so too the soul can embark on the above described odyssey by either of two modes - be'ita (at its appointed time) and achishena (I will hasten it).
The Gemara confronts the juxtaposition of these terms as follows. "It is written, 'In its time' [i.e., the Redemption will come at its appointed time], but [immediately thereafter] it is also written, 'I shall hasten it.' [Yet there is no contradiction:] If [the Jewish people] are found worthy, then G-d will hasten it; if they are not found worthy, it will come in its time."]
These two modes are exemplified in Yaakov Avinu's parting words to Eisav. Yaakov for his part was already prepared to proceed to Mount Seir. However, he explained, "the children are tender, and I am responsible for the nursing sheep and cattle, and if they are driven hard for even one day all the sheep will die," Therefore, he concluded, "I shall make my way slowly." In other words, the journey towards the Redemption ("And deliverers shall go up to Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Eisav") must proceed gradually, by the mode of be'itah - "in its time."
Days of Awe, Days of Dancing. In our analogy, the train sounded a siren before it set out, it stopped at stations along the way, and so on. These details, too, have their parallelism in the various festivals of Tishrei.
One should first note a statement of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz]: The month of Tishrei is the all embracing head of all the months. It includes days which serve as roots and sources for the entire year: Rosh HaShanah is the root and source for one's awe of G-d...; Yom Kippur - for repentance and forgiveness and atonement; the seven days of Sukkos - for love of G-d and for joy; and so on."
These days may be divided into two general categories: days of awe, during which one's avodah is characterized by tears of contrition, and days of joy ("the time of our rejoicing") during which avodah is characterized by exuberant dancing. As explained by my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz], the same spiritual goals which are attained on Rosh HaShanah by contrite frame of mind, are attained on Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah by means of joy.
These different approaches to avodah correspond to the various kinds of compartments which are made to suit the needs of the various kinds of passengers and freight.
[Proceeding Together, The Earliest Talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem M. Scneerson, Volume III, Tishrei-Tevet (1950-1951) p.84-86]