This week is Shabbat Bereshit, a very special Shabbat as we open the Torah once again and return to the very first words: בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקים — “In the beginning, God created.” We often think of Bereshit as the story of how the world began, but perhaps one of its most powerful messages is not only about the beginning of the world, but about the way we begin again in our own lives.
Shortly after Adam and Chava eat from the forbidden tree, Adam hides, and God calls out to him with one simple word: אַיֶּכָּה — Ayeka? “Where are you?” Of course, God knew exactly where Adam was standing. He was not asking for Adam’s location. He was asking something much deeper: Where are you in your life? Where are you in your relationship with God, with the people around you, and with the person you know you are capable of becoming?
There is a beautiful story told about Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, who was once imprisoned and questioned by a government official. The official asked him about this verse: “If God knows everything, why did He need to ask Adam, ‘Where are you?’” Rabbi Schneur Zalman explained that this question was not only directed to Adam thousands of years ago. אַיֶּכָּה is a question God asks every person, in every generation, at every stage of life. We spend so much of our time looking around us, thinking about what others are doing, where others should improve, or where we need to get to next. Bereshit asks us, before anything else, to look inward.
As we begin the Torah again, perhaps this Shabbat gives each of us an opportunity to stop for a moment and ask: Where am I right now? What kind of person am I becoming? What do I want to do differently, strengthen, or bring more of into my life? The Torah begins with creation, and maybe that itself is a lesson. We may not be able to create a world, but every day we are creating something: the atmosphere in our homes, the relationships we build, the way we treat others, and the kind of community we help shape. We have the ability to create more kindness, more patience, stronger relationships, more Torah, more meaning, and more light.
Shabbat Bereshit reminds us that a beginning does not have to mean erasing everything that came before; it can certainly mean choosing what we want the next chapter to look like. What will your Bereshit look like?
May we all have the courage to ask ourselves אַיֶּכָּה — “Where are you?” and may this Shabbat Bereshit inspire us to move forward with greater purpose, growth, meaning, and blessing.
Wishing our entire Posnack community a meaningful Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Yisrael Amar
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