Bereishit
Here were are again, Breishit. It’s a beginning, it may be the beginning, but of what? What’s the hardest part of being Jewish? It’s not eating Kosher, it’s not the month of Tishrei, it’s not even the antisemitism. The hardest part is that our days start at night. How many times have you had to explain to stunned looking non-Jews that Shabbat starts the night before Sobota? Why do our days start at night? Simple it says in this week’s Parsha, “there was night, there was day,” for all six days of creation. Why though does darkness proceed light?
The second verse of the Torah, just after G!d’s starts creating the world tells us that the world was chaotic, formless and dark. Darkness precedes G!d ordering of the world. Darkness is the canvas on which light is expressed. G!d starts the creation of the world, and our days, with darkness to tell us that it is not a mistake or a sign of failure. Darkness is the prerequisite for all growth and light. This week G!d tells us that blessings are possible only because of the darkness that precedes them.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yehoshua Ellis