Netvort Bereishis 5773:           First Things First

By Rabbi Joshua (Prioritizingly known as the Hoffer) Hoffman

 

Rashi, in his opening comments to Parshas Bereishis, cites a question raised by Rabbi Yitzchok in the Midrash Tanchuma (See Hagos biParshiyos HaTorah by Rav Yehudah Nachshoni for the various sources from which Rashi might have drawn this question).  Why, he asks, did the Torah begin with Bereishis rather than with the section of the sanctification of the new moon in Parshas Bo, which is the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people? This question presupposes the concept that the purpose of the Torah is to record the mitzvos given to the Jewish nation, and therefore the Torah should begin with the first of those mitzvos. Ramban asks that, actually, it is very important to teach that God created the universe but that could have been done in a curt way, without the details presented in Parshas Bereishis, which we aren’t able to understand fully in any case. Moreover, why is there a need to record the history of the forefathers and their families? These points, he implies, are included in Rabbi Yitzchak’s question. Rashi answers that the Torah wanted to establish our claim to Eretz Yisroel by teaching that God created the world and can give the land to whom he wants. How does Rashi’s explanation answer Rabbi Yitzchak’s question? In what way does our claim on Eretz Yisroel connect to the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people? 

 

The Maharal explains that Eretz Yisroel is essential for the fulfillment of many mitzvos, including agricultural laws such as Terumos and Ma’asros, and the mitzvos related to the Beis Hamikdash, such as the bringing of sacrifices. Perhaps, we can add, the mitzvoh of sanctifying the new moon is an example of such a mitzvoh, since under ordinary circumstances, it can only be fulfilled in Eretz Yisroel. Moreover, the Ramban says that the ideal place for the fulfillment of all of the mitzvos is Eretz Yisroel. For this reason, the Torah, which is essentially a record of the mitzvos given to the Jewish people begins with our claims to Eretz Yisroel as that is the place where all of the mitzvos are ideally fulfilled. 

 

Another explanation of Rashi’s answer to Rabbi Yitzchak’s question can be given when we take it in conjunction with Rashi’s further comments that the word “Bereishis,” commonly translated as “In the Beginning,” can be understood in a homiletic way, to mean “for the sake of reishis,” meaning for the sake of Yisroel, the Jewish nation, which is called “reishis” in scripture. Rav Kook, zt”l, in the beginning of his work Oros, writes that there is an intrinsic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz Yisroel. The Land is part of the very essence of the nation and not only the place where the mitzvos are fulfilled. Since the world was created for Yisroel, and Eretz Yisroel is part of the essence of the nation, it is important to begin the Torah with the basis of our claims to Land. 

 

On a different note, Rav Yehudah Nachshoni suggests that when Rabbi Yitzchok says that the Torah should have begun with the mitzvoh of the sanctifying of the new moon he is referring to the account of the redemption from Egypt, which begins with that mitzvoh. In Parshas Va-Eira, God tells Moshe to tell the nation that He will release the nation from their burdens, save them from their servitude, redeem them, and take them unto Himself as a nation (Shemos 6:7). These four assurances are referred to by the Rabbis as the four expressions of redemption. Actually, there is a fifth expression used by God, “And I will bring you to the Land” (Shemos 6:8). Why, then, don’t the Rabbis refer to the five expressions of redemption? My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveitchik zt”l, explained that none of the other four stages of redemption are complete without the factor of Eretz Yisrael. We can therefore explain that the Torah began with our claim to Eretz Yisroel rather than with the redemption from Egypt as without Eretz Yisroel, the redemption is not complete. In order for redemption to be complete, therefore, our claim to Eretz Yisroel had to be established, and this is the purpose of the Book of Bereishis.