Tishrei 26, 5782 / October 1-2, 2021
Parashat Bereishit
Torah Reading - Genesis 1:1 - 6:8
Haftarah - Isaiah 42:5 - 43:10 (Ashkenazim); Isaiah 42:5-21 (Sephardim)
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Elisheva bat Minnie Leah, Feigel bat Kreina, and D'vorah bat Feigel.
Lunch and Learn resumes on Tuesday, October 5. We'll be
completing our study of Rambam's Hilkhot Teshuvah - The Laws of Repentance.
Then we'll be learning something NEW! Proposed text study ideas welcome!
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver
and our various programs, at:
https://bnaihayim.org/
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has
a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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JUST SAY “NO”
"So God created humanity in His image; in the image of God He created them;
male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27
Much has been made of this verse. What does it mean to be created in the image
of God? What does it say about us? What does it say about God? What
does it tell us about how we should relate to each other and to God?
There are numerous midrashim, commentaries, philosophical works, etc., old and
new, which attempt to answer these questions. We could spend a long time,
not hours but days, weeks, months even, discussing them. They are crucial
theological questions, primary existential questions, moral questions of the
highest order.
There is an interesting little comment on this verse offered by "Haderush
V'ha'iyun". "Of all God's creatures, only man has the ability to do
what he considers to be correct, in accordance with his will.
In that, man resembles his Creator. 'And the advantage of man over the
beast is not' (Ecclesiastes 3:19). The advantage that man has over the beast is
'not' - that he has the ability to say 'no'. That is 'in His image, in the
image of God.'"
Many of us laughed years ago when Nancy Reagan started her "Just Say
No" campaign. But she was on to something. The ability to say
"no" is the ability to exercise self-control, to go against instinct,
to resist animalistic urges. It is a divine attribute which exists in no
creature other than us. It is what makes us "in His image". Thus, the Midrashic compilation Sifre Deuteronomy tells us that "to walk in all His
ways" (Deuteronomy 11:22) means to emulate God. But unlike for God, saying
"no" is for us a learned behavior. For example, we can choose
kindness and say "no" to cruelty, only after we learn how to be kind.
We can choose, even after we become addicted, to say "no", not to
debase ourselves with drugs and alcohol, once we understand and
acknowledge that maintaining the health of the body and soul is a holy act,
because God gave them to us.
If we are going to begin learning to act "in God's image", if we are
going to begin teaching our children how to act in God's image, what better time
than today - "in the beginning"?
Shabbat Shalom!
Richard A. Flom, Rabbi
Emeritus
TBH/CBM
Sherman Oaks, CA
".איזה הוא חכם? הלומד מכל אדם"
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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