Rabbi Howard Morrison

A new Torah reading cycle begins today. We read once again our Torah from its opening pages. Will the reading and appreciation of our Torah be "a same old"? Or will we strive to find new meaning and purpose in this year's cycle?

How can Bereishit not be new this year after October 7 and Simchat Torah of this new Jewish year? How can Bereishit not be new with the release of hostages and a renewed sense of comfort, peace and unity found within Israel and the Jewish people? How can Bereishit not be new with many deceased hostages still in captivity in Gaza?

At face value, Bereishit seems far removed from Israel and the Jewish people. We read universal narratives of creation and humanity. When I was a child first beginning formal Torah study in a day school, we were introduced with Genesis chapter 12, the introduction to Abraham and Sarah, as if to suggest that the previous chapters were not Jewishly relevant, or least to eight year old children!?

In his Torah commentary, the most beloved of all commentators, Rashi, who lived in 11^th century France, asks the following: "Why does the Torah begin with creation, when the Mitzvot for the Jewish people do not begin until the second book of the Torah on the eve of the Passover liberation? Rashi makes clear that the Torah's beginning with creation is to demonstrate that the entire world belongs to God - lest the nations of the world come and say to the People of Israel - you have stolen the land of Israel. The People of Israel can respond that the land was given rightfully to them by God:

"All the land belong to God. God created it, and God gave it - To those upright in God's sight, God willingly gave the land (of Israel) to them (the Canaanites), and God willingly took the land from them and gave it to us, the Jewish people."

Why does Rashi transform a universal moment of creation into a particular moment connected to Israel?

It is because of the horrific times in which Rashi lived - during the Crusades, in which Jews were powerless, persecuted, and exiled from their Homeland. Rashi sought to remind his people that they have a Home with a capital "H."

Two years ago, our Home came under attack. The horrific stories of that day and its aftermath are known only too well by us. In Rashi's time, the Jewish people were unable to be sovereign in Israel; were unable to return to Israel. The Crusades prevented that. However, in our time, we are back in our four thousand year Homeland. Our history and our connection will no more be denied or undermined. 

Many Jews have come back to more formal expressions of Judaism in the last two years. We dare not lose the ties to our heritage. Hostages may be back, and peaceful co-existence with Gaza may be in the offing. However, make no mistake about it, Jew-hatred will not cease because of a peace deal. It became normative even before the IDF responded to October 7 two years ago. The world loves dead Jews, but we will not give the world that satisfaction.

Ha'Tikvah - We have not and will not lose hope!

Thank you President Donald Trump.

Thank you Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Thank you to the men and women of the IDF.

Thank you to the will and perseverance of the Jewish people.

May we all know of better times ahead.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard Morrison