Bereishit | "All That Is Created In My Name" (Yishayahu 42:5-21)

a.  Treasured Richness

 

The parasha of Bereishit is crammed with subject material.  It covers a period of several hundred years and is characterized by the theme of "beginning": there is the creation of the world and of humanity, the status of man, his sin and expulsion, Kayin's sin and punishment, the genealogy of the early generations, God's "regret" over His creation, etc. It is certainly no easy task to choose an excerpt from the prophets that can serve as a suitable complement to such thematic bounty.

 

Most communities the world over adopted as haftora for this week's parasha the prophecy of Yishayahu chapter 42 (customs differ slightly as to which exact verses begin and end the haftora).  Let us examine some of the ideas and messages contained in this prophecy and their connection to the parasha.

 

b.  Continuous Utterance

 

The prophecy opens with an immediate reference to God as Creator of everything: 

 

"So says the Lord God, Creator of the heavens and He Who stretched them out, He Who spread forth the earth and that which comes out from it..." (Yishayahu 42:5) 

 

This is clearly reminiscent of the opening of Sefer Bereishit: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." But the prophecy nevertheless contains some innovations:

 

1. Utterance – "So says the Lord God, Creator of the heavens..." Here, in contrast with the biblical description, the utterance precedes the subject.  This may hint at the fact that each individual act of creation was likewise preceded by an utterance.  As the creation unfolds, we see a series of utterances: "And God said..." Our Sages teach that the original act of creation was itself an utterance, as we deduce from the beginning of chapter 5 of Pirkei Avot - "The world was created with ten utterances," based on the clarification by the Gemara in Rosh Hashana 32b: "From where do we learn that Bereishit was also an utterance? As it is written, 'By the word of God the heavens were created.'"
2. Continuous creation – While the Torah describes God's action in the past tense – "In the beginning God CREATED...," here we find a description of God as "borei (creator)," literally – "One who creates," in the present tense.  The implication here is that God creates at all times, as we declare in our morning prayers, "and in His goodness He renews daily, always, the acts of creation."

 

Indeed, only a Creator Who is continually creating is constantly involved in His creation, bringing improvement or destruction.  And indeed, further on in the prophecy we find: "I will destroy mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation... and I will dry up the pools" (42:15).  This hints at God's regret over the creation, as we find at the end of the parasha, and the subsequent decision, "I shall wipe out man whom I have created... both man and beast and creeping things and the birds of the air..." (Bereishit 6:7).  In a dynamic creation, cataclysms and reversals are possible.

 

But God has a "partner," as it were, in bringing about these cataclysmic events – man.  Man's actions have the power to affect the fate of humanity and all of creation.

 

c. World, Man, People

 

Man is the pinnacle of creation.  He is created last, finding everything ready for him; his soul is carved from the Divine source: "And He blew into his nostrils the breath of life" (2:7).  He is created in the Divine image; it is with him that God speaks and to him that the destiny and challenge are presented: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it..." (1:28).  

 

The haftora speaks not of man but rather of the 'people' (nation): "He that gives breath to the nation (people) upon it (the earth) and spirit to them that walk therein" (42:5).  This nation joins in a covenant with the Creator, "a covenant of the people for a light of the nations," for the purpose of "opening the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison..." (7).  This juxtaposition of the beginning of creation and the endowing of a soul to the people serves to reinforce Rashi's commentary on the first pasuk of Bereishit: "For the sake of Torah, which is called 'reishit' (the beginning)... and for the sake of Israel, who are termed 'reishit.'"

 

The term "for the sake of" (bishvil) is not meant to express a feeling of superiority and exclusivity in the world, as if only Israel has a real right to exist.  Rather, it reflects the idea expressed in the Mishna, Sanhedrin chapter 4: "Therefore each individual should say, 'for my sake the world was created.'" Rabbi Nahman of Breslav adds, "- and I am responsible for working on its perfection." In other words, what is implied here is not a superiority warranting special privileges, but rather an expression of responsibility and mission of great magnitude.  The fate of the entire world rests on the shoulders of this nation.  

 

In fact, this prophecy contains a verse which eliminates any possibility of regarding one part or some parts of creation as the most important.  This verse teaches instead the ultimate purpose behind all of creation: 

 

"Everyone that is called by My name and for My glory - I have created him, I have formed him, I have indeed made him" (43:7).

 

This leads Rambam to teach that every part of creation is an end unto itself, and the Glory of God should, via all of creation, extend from one end of the world to the other: 

 

"Sing a new song to God, and His praise from the ends of the world... those that go down to the sea and all that is therein... let them give glory to God, and declare His praise in the islands." (42:10-12) 

 

d.  Exile and Redemption

 

Both man (in the parasha) and the nation (in the haftora) are punished with exile.  Man is exiled from the Garden of Eden as a result of his sin, and the nation is likewise expelled from its land: 

 

"This is a people robbed and spoiled... they are for a prey and no-one delivers them..." (42:22)

 

The prophet explains why this calamity has befallen them: 

 

"Who gave Yaakov for spoil... was it not God, against Whom we have sinned... and we did not listen to His Torah." (24) 

 

But while in the parasha man remains in his exile and does not return to the Garden of Eden, the prophecy speaks of return and redemption: 

 

"... from the east I shall bring your seed and from the west I shall gather you.  I shall say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from afar..." (43:5-6) 

 

Perhaps the connection between the parasha and the haftora teaches us that with the redemption of Israel, the cycle of man's wanderings, the exile of humanity as a whole, will also finally reach its conclusion.  The descendants of Adam will return to the place of their longing – to the Garden of Eden.  

 

In fact, the entire act of creation may be seen as a vision of redemption.  The prophet declares, 

 

"I shall give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison and those that sit in darkness from the jail." (42:6-7) 

 

According to the biblical description in Bereishit, before the world was created everything was darkness - "And darkness was upon the face of the deep" - until the proclamation of creation and redemption rang forth: "Let there be light!" The juxtaposition of this prophecy to the description of creation may have meant to teach us that redemption is comparable to the primordial act of creation; it is like the original creation of light.

 

The haftora contains yet another message of redemption from the sin of Bereishit.  The parasha teaches us that in the days of Enosh, "then people began to call upon God by name" (4:26).  Rashi, quoting the Midrash (Bereishit Rabba 23:7), explains, "At that time they began calling people and images in God's name, turning them into objects of idolatry and calling them gods."  This marked the beginning of paganism.

 

The prophet promises, "They shall be turned back, they shall be ashamed - they who trust in carved idols, they who say to an image 'You are our gods'" (42:17).

 

e.  God's Testimony is Faithful

 

There are two principal customs with regard to this haftora.  Sefardim conclude with 42:21, while the Ashkenazi custom includes chapter 43 up until verse 10.  Two messages seem to be emphasized in the two respective closing verses.  Sefaradim conclude with the words, "God wishes, for His righteousness' sake, to magnify Torah and to make it glorious." (42:21) This would seem to hint at the commentary mentioned above – "Bereishit – for the sake of Torah, which is called "reishit..."  The world was created for the sake of Torah, the eternal testimony of God as Creator.

 

According to Ashkenazi custom, however, the haftora concludes with a reference to other witnesses: "You are My witnesses, promises God..." (43:10).  All of creation testifies to the Creator, but Bnei Yisrael are specifically singled out to be aware of this responsibility and destiny – to be faithful witnesses "that I am He; before Me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after Me" (ibid).

 

(Translated by Kaeren Fish)