Dear TBZ Community:
That moment of transition from the last word of the Torah to the first word of the Torah is so powerful. We move from the end to the beginning, reminding us that we are always on a journey, as seekers of Torah and of meaningful life imbued by Judaism. As we move from the Holidays’ end through the Shabbat of the first Torah reading, we fall into the familiar cycle of starting over again. We keep going, we keep moving, we keep growing and learning, we keep living (hopefully better, hopefully deeper, hopefully more connected), we keep creating.
The world is created all over again, in the story for the genesis, and we, humanity, are created all over again. There is a possibility of a new start. We read the same stories, but we do not rely on what we have already learned in the narratives of Torah. We find new meaning and new opportunities.
וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
the Human became a living being.
To these words from Genesis 2:7, the Ba’al Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, wrote:
“The Human became a living being (soul)”
Onkelus translated – “A speaking being”.
The Ba’al Shem Tov of blessed memory wrote that a person’s inner soul, their very life and vitality is manifest in the power of speech inherent in a person.
That is why the verse says “God breathed into their nostrils a soul of life, and the human became a living being” which Onkelus translated as “a speaking spirit”. Thus, when a person speaks, the words she says are an expression of her core living being, it is her living self that she puts out in the form of words.
.כי ענין רוח האדם בקרבו, וחיות שלו, הוא כח הדיבור אשר בקרבו
a person’s inner soul, their very life and vitality is manifest in the power of speech inherent in a person.
The Ba’al Shem Tov explained that the life imbued to a person is through their words: הדיבורים ההם הן הן חיותו (words are their aliveness).
I read this as a reminder of the power of words and the ways we communicate in the world. Our words are holy, they are words that come from God’s creation. God created us through words and gave us the capacity to utter words, to communicate, to be in relationship with others through words.
And I think of words in the most expansive ways, not just speaking words, but as all forms of communication. We are in relationship, and we bring that which we have to share with the world and others in different ways, through different communication styles and mediums. The connections made from דיבורים divurim (speaking) are also a manifestation of the ways that God exists in this world.
This Shabbat, as we begin reading Bereshit (Genesis) again, we are honored to welcome Ruth Messinger, former CEO and President of American Jewish World Service, to speak and share with us her vision for Be the Change. A Jewishly inspired public art movement combining art and activism, it’s a project of JArts and features six artists, including TBZ’s Board member Sam Mendoza Fraiman.
Be the Change is about making space to talk about injustice – and to give us all action steps to be agents of change in our local and global communities. Through art, another manifestation of דיבורים divurim, we act, we create, we heal, and we change. We communicate in the world another way to experience the aliveness of the Divine.
The creation story is powerful because we are created: In a way, God is the first artist. But we are also called to be partners in creation, to be artists. And it is through the ways we bring words (in all its forms) to the world, words and actions, that we continue to be God’s partners.
May we all merit to receive these blessings of new creation and new possibilities of words.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing. And may we have a joyful, sweet, and peaceful Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Claudia